Casteel’s eyes slammed shut, and then he was in front of me, one hand fisting my braid and the other cupping my cheek. Both hands shook.
“Cas,” I breathed.
He kissed me, and there was nothing slow or gentle about it. It was a fierce clash of tongues and teeth. It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t a seduction or a reward. It was a devastating claim, full of desperation and anger, yearning and fear. It was too much, yet not enough as I clung to him, and his grip tightened. We kissed until we were both breathless. Until the blade-sharp edge of all those emotions eased a little. We kissed until there was no more time left, and it took everything in me not to hold on to him when his mouth left mine.
Casteel’s hands were still trembling as he dropped his forehead to mine, his eyes open and wide, the golden hue pierced with swirling streaks of eather and crimson-laced shadows. His throat worked on a swallow, and his lips parted.
I placed a finger over them. “I love you, Casteel Da’Neer,” I whispered. “And I will return to you.”
CHAPTER 55
POPPY
The moment Attes and I shadowstepped into Pensdurth, I knew I was surrounded by Death.
I felt it in the bitter dryness clinging to the unnaturally cold air and seeping through my clothing, leaving my skin feeling like it was coated in slime. It was also in the oppressive heaviness of the air. I could see it in the chalky gray grass, the bare branches that framed the road leading to Seacliffe Manor’s entrance, and the dark, gray clouds tinged in crimson. I could also smell it in the stench of stale lilacs that had replaced the briny scent of the sea. I heard it in the utter absence of life and the unnerving silence of the city.
Death.
Kolis.
I looked behind me. The inner Rise was tall, but Seacliffe Manor sat on a bluff overlooking Pensdurth. No one was on the Rise. Or in the streets. I saw no horses or livestock of any kind, and everything was gray and washed out for as far as I could see: the rocky hills leading up to the bluff, the tall, reedy grass of the meadows surrounding the inlet that led to the Bay of Pensdurth… Everything was dead.
My gaze drifted over the ships filling the bay. They loomed like phantoms, their sails slack in the still waters. I started to turn when something in the water caught my attention. Isquinted. Even with my improved vision, it was hard to make out what I was seeing. There were lots of shapes—bloated, floating…
Oh, my gods.
They were bodies.
Hundreds of them.
I jerked back, horror clamping down on my chest. Sucking in a sharp breath, I quickly turned away. My eyes clashed with Attes’s.
His jaw was tight. “You will likely see worse than that.”
Swallowing the bile threatening to choke me, I looked at Seacliffe.I can handle this. I’ve seen horrors before. “Great.”
Attes followed my stare. “You ready for this? To do what it will take to get close to him?”
Something like this can’t be okay.
I did what I’d been doing from the moment the thing that called herself Isbeth had shown and delivered the summons. I didn’t give myself a chance to think as I faced him. “Yes.”
His gaze returned to me. “Your mind isn’t on your husband?”
“My mind is always on him.” I adjusted the sleeve, making sure the bone dagger was hidden. “But he’s not my focus right now.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. “You do realize he’s going to show up here.”
“He won’t.”
“Penellaphe—”
“Poppy,” I said. “And he won’t. I made sure of it.”
Surprise flickered over his features, tugging the skin around his scar. “What did you do?”
“Made a deal with a Fate.”
