I wanted nothing more than to believe that love was all that mattered. That it could somehow erase the suspicion that he was keeping something from me. That I could justbelieve. But I would be fooling myself.
And I had stopped doing that the moment I tossed the veil aside.
Breathing in his scent as I cupped his cheek, I pulled back and met his stare. “We—”
“Poppy?” Tawny’s voice rang out from the Solar.
Casteel sighed. “I don’t think it’s been a few minutes.”
My lips curved into a small smile as I lowered my hand. “It’s been longer than a few minutes.”
“I wonder if Delano still has his balls and all associated appendages.”
I laughed and slipped away. “For Perry’s sake, let’s hope so.” I drew in a shallow breath and took a long drink. “Coming,” I called.
Somehow, Casteel ended up in front of me. I wasn’t even sure how.
Tawny came to an abrupt halt. “Not this again,” she muttered. “Are you going to try to throw me out?”
I started to frown.
“I’m considering it.” Casteel remained in front of me for a few minutes. “But, no,” he said, stepping aside.
I took a breath—
The first thing I saw was a blur of white curls that’d once been honey-brown rushing forward.
“No need to run,” Casteel muttered.
“No need to guard Poppy,” she retorted, scanning the chamber.
Her gaze landed on me then, and she jerked to a halt, going completely still. Only the burnt-gold skirt of her gown swayed as white eyes—everything but the pupils—that were once a warm brown locked with mine.
Suddenly, I understood why I had been filled with dread when I thought of her. There was no faint tingling along my neck that I had begun to associate with thevadentia, but I still knew why I was so uneasy. It wasn’t anything she had done.
It was whatIhad donetoher.
Tawny shrieked, startling me, the sound close to that of a large bird of prey.
“Gods,” Casteel breathed.
She sprang forward, arms opening wide. A smile broke out across her pretty face, and my lips started to mirror hers despite what I’d done—
Casteel’s features sharpened with wariness, his posture stiffening with coiled tension as Tawny lunged.
She’s okay,I assured him quickly, understanding his reaction—knowing why Kieran and the others had reacted so strangely to Tawny when she first arrived in Oak Ambler.
Tears clogged my throat as I stared at her. They’d sensed the…wrongness. What went against the fundamental balance of life and death. Without even understanding why.
“Poppy!” she yelled a second before she all but threw herself at me.
When she wrapped her arms around me, holding on like a tree bear, I didn’t think about what I was doing or if I should. I simply returned her embrace. And that was all we needed for a few moments. I didn’t even think about what I had done to her anymore.
“I feel like I keep saying this,” she said, her voice hoarse, “but I’ve missed you.”
I drew in a stuttered breath and caught the faint scent of…stale lilacs.
Death.
