“Out of everyone in this chamber or realm, shewouldbe the safest.” He finished off the last of my fish. “Relatively speaking.”
“Because she’s a badass Primal god now?” Tawny asked.
Before I could say anything, I felt Casteel lean forward. “Youdidknow,” he said to the draken, and the temperature in the chamber dropped.
My heart started pounding as Reaver’s eyes met mine. “I always knew,” he said. “Not everything, but the basics.”
I looked away, having no idea what to say to that. Or what to think. How to feel.
Across from us, Emil frowned. “Why do I feel like I’m missing a very important part of this conversation?”
“Agreed,” Malik muttered, his gaze flicking between us.
“Son of a bitch,” Casteel snarled.
I turned to him. His flesh…had begun to thin.
“Oh, shit.” Emil straightened. “Is he about to shift? I don’t want my day to end almost being eaten.”
“Well, now I have even more questions,” Tawny murmured once more from around the rim of her glass.
I had no idea how I could quickly explain it, but I wasn’t worried about him shifting into a cave cat. As tiny bumpserupted on my skin, I was more worried about him going full Primal.
“Did it, at any point, occur to you to tell us?” Casteel demanded, tendrils of shadowy eather piercing the whites of his eyes. “That having that piece of information might’ve been helpful?”
“He has a point,” I whispered, reaching under the table to place my hand on Casteel’s leg.
“I couldn’t.” Reaver took a drink.
“Bullshit,” Kieran snapped.
“It’s not bullshit.” He set his glass down. “I was sworn to keep my mouth shut.”
“By who?” I demanded.
“Nyktos.”
My mouth dropped open.
“How?” Kieran leaned forward. “You were still asleep when he was awake.”
“That wasn’t the only time he was awake,” Reaver said. And he was right. Nyktos had said he’d been awake on and off. “And he was already awake when we were awakened. I spoke with him before I left Iliseeum. And you don’t disobey Nyktos.”
“Why?” I asked, unable to understand why they wouldn’t want me to know as soon as possible. “Why would he demand that of you?”
“He wanted Seraphena to be with you when…” Reaver trailed off.
He didn’t need to finish. I knew what went unsaid. Nyktos wanted Seraphena to be with me when I learned about Sotoria. That…
I looked at Casteel, seeing his glare still fixed on Reaver.Cas?
Jaw ticking, his gaze shifted to me.
That makes a difference.I squeezed his knee as I opened thenotamto Kieran, telling him the same.It does.
Neither looked like they agreed, and I understood their anger. I did. Could having that information have assisted them when I was under Kolis’s influence? Maybe. Maybe not. But Reaver shouldn’t have been the one to explain any of that anyway. I would’ve had questions he likely couldn’t have answered. And—
“Is someone going to tell the rest of us what you are all talking about?” Malik answered.
