“No,” both Reaver and I answered at the same time. But the draken continued. “Someone has to handle the business of running a kingdom.”
I growled, and the sound was distinctively…feline.
“Besides, I was about to leave,” Reaver tacked on.
Bull. Shit.
The draken smirked at me.
My grip tightened until I saw a flicker of pain in his slitted eyes.
“Let him go,” Malik urged. “He can’t leave unless you do, and that’s what you want.”
I didn’t want to let him go. In fact, I wanted to see him bleed.
Malik cursed under his breath. “Cas,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “You should be with Poppy.”
My head snapped in his direction, and whatever my brother saw in my face had him dropping his hand and taking a step back. He got an eyeful of my fangs, too.
Malik’s shoulders tensed. “She needs you.”
The only other person—besides Poppy—in this realm or beyond, who could’ve gotten through to me would’ve been Kieran. At least at one time.
But those three words…
Fuck.
I released Reaver, forcing myself to take several slow, measured steps away. Both sides of his neck were red. “Leave and do not come back.”
The draken looked like he wanted to put me through a wall, but he turned and started walking, then stopped and looked over his shoulder. “The next time you do something like that, I will not hold myself back.”
I lifted a hand and extended my middle finger.
Muttering under his breath, Reaver stalked down the hall, shaking his head.
Blissful silence followed.
“Cas,” Malik started.
Of course, it did not last. I turned back to the chamber, my gaze immediately going to Poppy.
“I’m not sure if you realize this or not,” Malik went on, ignoring me, “but you were just holding a draken in the air with one arm.”
From where I stood, I could see her chest moving steadily. Barely. I left the door ajar and turned to my brother. “I’m aware.”
“No one, not even a god, should be able to do that.” Malik watched me closely. “But things are different now. You’ve changed.” He paused. “So has Kieran.”
Yes, things had changed.Thingscontinued to change when Poppy reentered stasis.
Malik’s features hardened. “You haven’t told me what was really going down with Poppy when you had her in that cell.”
And I didn’t plan to.
All he needed to know was what we’d toldallthe necessary parties. Kolis was very much active among us, even if he could not be seen, and the Ascended needed to beprotected.
“And you’re still not going to tell me anything about what’s going on with you,” he finished.
I sighed. “I’ve told you everything I know. I don’t know what any of these changes mean. And that’s not a lie.”
