“Reaver said I got my ability to sense emotions from Nyktos,” she said as we started across the bridge over the Nye River. “I wonder if Ires has the same ability.”
“Possibly,” I said, tracing a circle around her navel.
“It’s kind of strange for a Primal of Death to have that ability,” she noted.
“It actually is. The ability is similar to the empath bloodline,” Kieran said, talking about the Senturion bloodline from which we had briefly thought Poppy was descended. “And from what I remember, that was a bloodline tied to—”
“Penellaphe.”
Poppy twisted around to look at me as Kieran looked my way.
“What?” I grinned down at her. “That bloodline descended from the gods of Mount Lotho. I do recallsomeof my lessons.”
I saw her smile in the shadow of her hood before she faced forward again. “Perhaps,” she said, “I have an ancestor from that Court.” She turned her head. “And so would you. Right? If you truly have a changeling in your ancestry.”
Kieran snorted. “The belief that I have a changeling in my bloodline is more of a story your husband likes to tell.”
I started to grin before I caught myself, my jaw clenching, I turned my attention to the sea and the moonlight reflecting off the still waters.
“I think you—” Poppy stiffened as we left the bridge and entered Croft’s Cross.
I pulled my gaze from the sea. The top of her cloaked head grazed my chin as she sat forward. Her hands stilled, no longer idly stroking Setti’s mane. And between Kieran and I, Delano’s ears flattened.
“Do you feel that?” she asked.
I scanned the jagged, moonlit terracotta rooftops that lined the hills of Stonehill like a broken spine. This area of Carsodonia was full of the working class who paid just a little more than those who lived in the crowded, stacked-upon-one-another apartments in Croft’s Cross.
Yeah, I felt it.
Emil slowed his mount until he was to my left. His gaze met mine, and I knew he was thinking what I was. The air felt like it had the night I’d entered the Luxe. Heavy and thick. Oppressive.
“I do.” Tightening my arms around her, I drew her back against my chest.
Kieran guided his horse closer to ours. “What exactly did Naill tell you?” he asked since we hadn’t spent much time questioning Emil after he told us there were mortal deaths. We took just enough time for Poppy to put on her boots and don a harness and a dagger—a shadowstone blade instead of the bloodstone. I’d have to question her about that later, but I had a feeling it had to do with who the bone had belonged to.
None of us was that eager to learn what awaited us.
“All I know is that we have…” His strained tone drew my attention. It wasn’t like the Luxe, where he’d mainly been confused by what he saw and how he felt. He cleared his throat. “We have a lot of bodies.”
“How many?” I asked, swiping my thumb back and forth across her stomach.
Emil’s brow furrowed. “About fifty.”
“Gods,” Poppy gasped, causing Delano to swing his massive white head in our direction.
“Yeah,” Emil answered. And that was all he said as we climbed a street near the Temple of Saion, the God of Earth, Wind, and Water.
Emil guided us to our left, where the road veered and began a steady upward climb. The homes here weren’t dark like they were on the lower streets. Lamplight spilled from the windows, illuminating the shadowy figures of those watching from within.
Emil noted where my attention had gone. “They were asked to stay inside until we could figure out what had caused this…incident.”
My gaze flicked up as the road ahead grew darker. Thick clouds seemed to hang over Stonehill, blocking out the moonlight. “Good call.”
“It wasn’t me,” Emil replied. “It was Malik.”
My head cut to him. “My brother is out here?”
He nodded. “He’s the one who notified Naill.”
