“You’re wrong, by the way,” Kieran stated when I was halfway down the hall.
I stopped, looking back at him.
“The reason I won’t hurt her has nothing to do with her being half-Atlantian or because she’s one of us.” Kieran faced me. “It has everything to do with the fact that I was right.”
I lifted my brows. “About what?”
“You. Her.” His head tilted to the side, and when he spoke again, his voice was low. “She’s yours, and you care about her. That’s why. And don’t even try to deny it. Not after the lengths you’ve gone to in order to keep her safe.” He took a step forward. “The lengths you are about to go to, to ensure that what happened in that cell doesn’t happen again.”
A faint tickle of sensation hit the nape of my neck. There was no point in denying it. “I do. I care about her.”
Kieran smiled like a kid who’d just run off with a handful of sweets.
“That wasn’t the reaction I expected,” I stated, tone dry.
“Honestly?” He lifted his hands. “I’m relieved.”
My brows inched up. “Really?”
“Yeah. It proves you aren’t the piece of shit I knew you weren’t.”
“How in the fuck does it prove that?”
“Because being with her wasn’t about getting off. It’s because you care about her. That changes things.”
Everything had changed.
Kieran shook his head. “In any other situation, it would be funny for you to fall for her—”
“Fall for her?” My stomach dipped as if I were standing on the edge of the cliffs in the Skotos. “I said I care about her, Kieran. I didn’t say I’d fallen in love with her. Lust? Yes. Respect and admiration for her? Fuck yes.”
Kieran’s brows creased further as he looked at me like I was missing half a brain. “What do you think lust, respect, admiration, and caring for someone adds up to?”
“Not what you think it does. Maybe for some people, but not me. I don’t—” I stopped myself, but what I didn’t say hung in the air between us.
I didn’t deserve to be in love—to experience that. Not after my actions had led to Malik’s capture. Not after Shea. Not with all the blood on my hands. Not after what I’d done to Poppy.
And Kieran knew that. He just didn’t want to say it. However, this otherwise pointless conversation about love and shit sparked an idea. A fucking insane one, but one that would not only give me what I needed and Poppy what she deserved, but so much more.
“Cas,” Kieran started.
I held up my hand, stopping him. My mind raced, filling in the blanks. This would give Poppy all the protection she’d ever need and then some while ensuring the Blood Crown did anything they could to prevent the knowledge of what she was. No one would dare touch her—not Atlantian or Descenter. Not even my father. My lips curved up.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Kieran asked.
“Look, I do care about her, but that’s not the point here. She is one of us, and there’s no way they didn’t know that.” I crossed the space, stopping in front of him. “Think about what that means.”
“For once, I’m not sure I follow.”
“The Blood Crown rules through lies, Kieran. Everything about them and everything they tell their people is a lie. And Poppy?” I jerked my chin at the chamber door. “She is the foundation of those lies.”
Kieran’s eyes widened as it began to click. “They’ve told the people she’s Chosen by the gods and, fuck, maybe she is, but we know she’s half-Atlantian.”
“And based on the lies they’ve told? Wouldn’t that make her half-monster?” I said, smirking. “And wouldn’t they do anything to prevent that knowledge from getting out?”
Kieran nodded as a slow smile began tipping up his lips. “Fuck yeah, they would, because if it’s revealed that she’s part Atlantian?” He huffed out a laugh. “It would begin their end, collapsing all their other lies.” His smile faded. “But how are you going to prove that? Better yet, how are we going to keep her alive? Alastir will still come, and half-Atlantian or not, your father could still make demands.”
“My father can.” I started backing up, my smile spreading. “But he won’t.”
Kieran stiffened. “Cas.”
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “I have a plan.”
“But that does worry me.”
I laughed, the sound traveling down the hall. “Keep watch over her.”
Leaving Kieran to do just that, I made my way to the main floor of the keep. I found Magda and Elijah in his study.
The bearded Descenter looked up from the ledgers piled on his desk. “Not sure if you realize this or not, but you’re half-undressed.”
“And it appears as if you’ve been stabbed.” Magda’s hand fluttered to her belly. “In the chest.”
“I’m fine, but speaking of clothing, is it possible for you to find something that would fit Penellaphe?”
Magda frowned as she rose from her chair. “Is the clothing I brought before unable to be laundered?”
My lips pursed. “That would be a no.”
“Okay.” She drew out the word. “Do you need clothing?”
“Likely, but that can wait. First, can you have hot water sent to my chambers? Kieran is there with her, and she will remain there.”
“Oh, man,” Elijah murmured while Magda nodded.
“And bloodstone.” I looked at Elijah. “I’m going to need bloodstone. Lots of it.”
“You’re going down to the cells?” Elijah asked.
“No,” I said. “I want them brought to the Great Hall.”
He stood, rubbing his chin through his beard. “Oh, man, oh, man.”
I smiled.
It didn’t take long to wrangle a couple dozen bloodstone stakes. They’d been placed in a canvas bag and dropped in the center of the Great Hall, the space all had to pass through to enter the dining hall. It was empty now except for Delano, the doors closed on either end.
“You feeling up to this?” I asked him as I waited.
Delano nodded, the set of his jaw hard. There was nothing boyish about his features. “I’m more than feeling up to this.”
“Good.” I glanced at him. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“So am I.” A quick grin appeared. “I wouldn’t be if it weren’t for her. She saved my life, Cas, and she didn’t have to,” he said, and I had a feeling that was why he was so willing to carry this out. “I owe her. You know what that means.”
I did know what it meant when a wolven made that pledge. It was damn near an unbreakable oath. He would guard her with his life. Even against me, if it came to it.
I glanced at the door, hearing footsteps. I bent, reaching into the canvas. My fingers curled around a smooth bloodstone spike. “You never have to worry about me harming her, Delano.”
“I know,” he said, stretching his neck from side to side. “That I know.”
The door opened, and a trembling mortal was escorted inside.