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)
A spasm of raw power rolled through me. “No.”
“Casteel,” the Primal began.
My fingers pressed down. “I’ll do it.”
“You can’t.”
“You might want to rethink that,” Kieran advised as my fingers stopped pressing down and began to tap. “Because there’s nothing he can’t do for her.”
Did he honestly believe that?
Clearly not. But I kept that to myself. Now wasn’t the time.
“There’s nothing to rethink,” Attes whispered harshly. “He cannot do it. Neither can you.”
I took a deep breath.
“Care to explain why?” Kieran shot back.
“Remember when I said I knew how to prevent it from burning straight through her?” Attes raised the strap from his shoulder and laid the satchel behind him. “It’s something I can do.”
Kieran shifted closer, his head lowering. “You’ll need to go into detail, friend.”
“Do we have time for that?” Attes snapped.
I slowly lifted my gaze from Poppy and met the Primal’s eyes. Whatever he saw in my stare caused him to shift back. “Yes.”
That muscle in his jaw ticked in unison with my fingers. “The blood will burn through my flesh first, dampening its potency enough to not go too deep into hers,” he said quickly and quietly.
Kieran lurched on the other side of me. “You’re going to…?”
“I’ll gladly let it burn through my flesh,” I said.
“Do you want to lose all your fingers?” he shot back.
My lips spread into a closed-lip smile. “I’ll still have five more.”
“And your hand and likely your entire arm?” the Primal retorted. “Because that’s what will happen. The draken blood won’t just eat away at your flesh. It will destroy muscle and bone. You willing to do that?”
I tilted toward him, my smile increasing as I saw the eather flare in his eyes. “Gladly.”
“You are…” Attes looked away, shaking his head.
“And why would you be willing to do such a thing?” I challenged, my fingers continuing to drum away. “For someone you’ve never met?”
“Do you think the same will happen to me?” His head swung back to mine. “I was old before the first Atlantian was even a flicker of a concept.” A low chuckle rumbled from him. “I’m far stronger than you.” He paused. “Who is a boy—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Kieran muttered.
“Compared to me,” he finished.
“Boy?” The laugh that left me was dark, and a chill hit the air.
“I will heal with a few days of stasis,” the Primal continued. “You, on the other hand, would end up with one hand and not be fine.”
“Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough,” I replied. “Or perhaps your hearing—or maybe your mental faculties—have weakened in your old age, worsening your comprehension skills.”
“Cas,” Kieran snarled under his breath. “Look at me.”
I held Attes’s glare.
“Godsdamn it, fucking look at me, you jackass,” Kieran hissed. “And listen.”
The Primal arched a brow.
Fingers stilling, I turned my head to Kieran. “Looking.”
“Thank you,” he bit out.
I smirked.
“Now, listen.” Kieran leaned in. “Besides the fact that we need that limb and appendages…”
I opened my mouth.
“I wasn’t done,” he growled. “How do you think Poppy will feel when she wakes up and sees that you’ve lost more fingers, a hand, and possibly an arm?”
I shut my mouth.
“How do you think she will feel knowing it was because of something you did for her?” he pressed.
I didn’t have to think about that. It would destroy her.
Kieran’s shoulders lowered. “She doesn’t know him.” He jerked his chin at Attes. “She isn’t going to care.”
“That’s rude to acknowledge,” Attes murmured.
“Cas,” Kieran said, dragging his lower lip between his teeth. “This”—a golden glow pulsed behind his pupils—“isn’t about you.”
My gaze cut back to Poppy, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Kieran was wrong, and he knew it. Poppy would still care. Maybe not as much as she would if it was me, but…
But his overall point was correct.
“Fine,” I forced out.
“Great.” Attes already held the vial in his hands when he glanced at Poppy. His gaze lingered on her. “She hasn’t woken at all,” he said, more to himself, and something akin to concern pulled at the corners of his mouth. “She won’t stay that way.” He looked at us. “One of you should go to her other side.”
Understanding why he suggested it, I rose without a word and stepped over her, settling on her other side. Kieran inched closer to her lower body and placed one hand beside her. I had a sudden flashback to the ruins of Irelone.
Fuck.
That was the last thing I needed to be thinking about.
“Okay.” Attes reached under his left arm and gripped the hilt of his dagger. “I’m just using this to pierce the vial.”
I could tell Kieran had questions as Attes unsheathed a dull-white blade. His eyes met mine. We both recognized it. It was the same kind the Revenant had used and what Callum had cursed Kieran with.
“What kind of dagger is that?” Kieran asked.
“Ancient bone,” Attes answered. “It’s the only thing that will pierce basalt. Not even shadowstone will do it.”