Chapter A Soul of Ash and Blood: PRESENT VII

“How badly did you want to stab me when I took that diary from you?” I laughed, the sound echoing in the quiet chamber. “I imagine it was a lot. Would’ve been worth it, though.”

Dipping my chin, I pressed a kiss to the top of Poppy’s head. She was tucked against me, her head resting on my chest and my legs bracing hers. Delano was still at the foot of the bed in his wolven form, a big mound of white fur. Still, I knew he was awake and alert. He hadn’t strayed far from Poppy’s side.

It was near evening, and Kieran was currently making use of the adjoining bathing chamber. Poppy remained as she was, but I didn’t think her skin was as cold as it had been before, and the shadows under her eyes had faded even more. A nearly untouched plate of sliced meat and fruits sat on a nearby table. I managed to eat a few bites and hadn’t fallen back to sleep, but oddly, I wasn’t tired. Neither was Kieran, who hadn’t slept or eaten much more than I had. Sure, there was weariness, but it stemmed from concern. Otherwise, I felt fine, and there was only one thing I could think of to explain that. The bond between the three of us. Poppy’s life force—all that eather in her that Nektas had spoken of—fueled us, keeping us strong. I didn’t think either Kieran or I felt particularly worthy of that strength.

“But when I saw you standing on that ledge? I was furious. I couldn’t even fathom what the hell you were thinking,” I continued. “I couldn’t stay mad long, though. Not after realizing what you had to do just to be able to read a book of your choosing.”

Old anger that was never quite far away rose, and it was hard to push back down. This wasn’t the time or place for that kind of emotion. “I’m glad you took the diary. You know how much I fucking love that book.”

The thing I loved more about Miss Willa’s journal was how pretty Poppy flushed whenever I or anyone else brought it up. Well, that and the throaty sexiness of her voice when she read from it—and how wet she became doing so.

Fuck.

My dick swelled against the curve of her ass. Now wasn’t the time for that.

I tipped my head back. “I suppose we have Miss Willa to thank for many things,” I murmured, thinking of how the Atheneum was the first time I’d called her Poppy. And how that was who she’d become to me after that night. “I should’ve known then, and maybe I did on some subconscious level because that’s when I started rethinking my plans, wondering how I could give you choice and freedom. I think I knew even then, before we spent time under the willow and left Masadonia, that I couldn’t just send you back to the Ascended. But I didn’t know how to acknowledge it. I don’t think I was capable of doing so then, to be honest.”

“But Kieran knew, or at least he started to suspect as much because of what I wanted to do to the Duke,” I said, and Delano’s ears perked. “Killing him wasn’t in the initial plans. If he had been somewhat decent, he could’ve lived, or at the very least, his death would’ve been quick.” My lips thinned. “It wasn’t.”

I ran my fingers through her hair, brushing the silky strands back from her cheek as I thought back to that day in the Duke’s quarters. “I didn’t even know the full extent of what he had put you through—what he’d allowed—until much later. And, gods, I’ve lost count of how many times I wished I could go back and make it even worse for him.”

A warm breeze flowed through the chamber. “But I made it hurt, just as I told Kieran I would.” A cold, brutal smile spread across my mouth. “I’ve taken lives I’ve regretted. But the Duke’s? That is one death I will regret.”