Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Yeah, part of me recognized that. She was the draken’s Liessa—their Queen. Well, maybe not since Seraphena was awake. I didn’t fucking know. And I didn’t care at the moment. “But you did.”
“She’ll be fine.” He paused, frowning as he looked over his shoulder. “Well, I suppose fine is relative—”
The blow I landed knocked the draken’s head to the side, driving him down to one knee. “Son of a dakkai.”
I reached for him, halting when I heard a soft moan. I spun toward the sound, my heart clenching.
Poppy.
Her hands twitched and then flattened against the floor. She pushed up, her face shielded by a thick curtain of velvety-red waves.
Seeing her snapped me out of my blood-soaked rage. It wasn’t like I wasn’t still pissed, but breaking Reaver into pieces wasn’t my priority anymore. She was.
Acid simmered in my gut as I let my newly found senses stretch. What I picked up from her would haunt me for a long time. The suffocating confusion I’d tasted from her since she woke was still there. The bitter taste of distrust was stronger. But, gods, the pain. The pain. It alternated between a red-hot burn and an icy freeze. I would do anything to take it away.
Feeling a sharp prickle on my fingertips, I watched as the claws retracted and started toward her.
The draken cursed and grabbed my shoulder. “You need to stay—”
Whipping around, I gripped Reaver by the throat and pushed him into the wall. A muscle flexed along my jaw as I forced a slow breath in and out. I had to remind myself that, for some reason, Poppy liked this draken. I held on to that thought. “You have no idea what it’s taking for me not to end your life right now.”
“The feeling is mutual,” he bit out, planting a hand on my chest and thrusting me back. “You need to get away from her.”
“Not going to happen.” I turned to Poppy. She was on her knees, arms trembling, and that fucking broke me. I called to her, but she gave no indication that she heard me.
“Listen to me.” Reaver darted in front of me, blocking my path. “There is something wrong with her. I can sense—”
I tried to sidestep Reaver as I felt the energy suddenly ramp up in the chamber. Reaver felt it, too. The scent of stale lilacs tainted every breath I took as he turned, and I stepped to the side.
Holy shit.
I stared at Poppy in shock as she stood. I was used to seeing the other side of her. Her ability to heal and even restart a heart that had gone quiet. I was familiar with all the warmth of life she could give. But there wasn’t even a hint of warmth in Poppy now as her gaze flicked up to mine. There was something else—a glint I’d seen lurking behind the ravenous hunger since she awakened.
Something that reminded me of the dark, bloody cells the Blood Queen had kept me in.
Only the faintest hint of gold and silver were visible among the streaks of midnight-hued Primal mist swirling around her legs. A few slender tendrils of essence thickened, rising at her sides and moving with the sinuous grace of a pit viper as she lifted her head. Through strands of hair, I saw her eyes.
Since she’d awakened, they hadn’t resembled the pure silver orbs of a god I’d briefly seen. Nor were they the fractured silver and green.
They were a multitude of colors now.
The hue—like spring grass—was familiar, and the silver wasn’t entirely new. But instead of a luminous sheen forming an aura behind her pupils or even streaks, it was scattered blotches throughout the green—almost like tiny starbursts. There were streaks in her irises, though. Ribbons of gold and—fuck, there it was in her eyes. Faint bands of shadowy crimson. The mass of eather twitched and snapped in the air, ready to strike at any moment.
“Fucking gods,” Reaver muttered.
“Poppy.” I gentled my voice as I stepped forward.
“If you think to handle her now, you’re out of your mind,” the draken snapped, throwing his arm out to stop me. “She’s about to go full Primal on your ass. You can’t do shit against that.”
I knocked his arm aside. “I can handle her.”
“Really?” The draken’s laugh was harsh. “You think she can’t tear you apart? End your life?” he asked, and my gaze cut to him. “In case you need it spelled out for you—yes, she can kill you and your wolf, bond be damned.”
“She would never,” I seethed.
“Poppy would never. But that, right there,” he said, jabbing a finger at her, “that is not the Poppy you know.”
Every part of my being rebelled against what he said, but there was a stark truth in it, which settled inside me like an unwanted visitor.
The air in the chamber thinned as Poppy turned her head toward the draken.