As much as I hated to acknowledge it, things needed to start happening if Poppy didn’t wake soon. We needed to find Kolis. Lift the curfew. Deal with the Ascended locked in their homes. And those were only a few of the decisions I’d have to make—choices I didn’t feel right making without Poppy.
My grip tightened on Setti’s reins. She would wake soon.
Shehadto.
CHAPTER 2
CASTEEL
“You want to tell me what I’m about to ride into?” I asked Emil.
“Something very odd.”
His tone drew my attention. It was off. “How many dead do we have on our hands?”
“Right now?” Guiding his horse closer to mine as the street narrowed, he exhaled deeply. “About a dozen. Six in one home. Three in another.” He paused. “Four in a third. But there could be more. I left with Hisa while they checked the last known Ascended’s residences.”
I took that information in. For there to be anything left of the Ascended to count meant whoever had done this hadn’t used bloodstone.
When an Ascended was taken out with that, it left absolutely nothing behind. But that wasn’t the only way to kill an Ascended. Destroying the heart, removing their head, and throwing their asses out into the sun would take care of them, too. But those methods left something behind, even if it was just a patch of scorched ground and charred bone.
I glanced at Emil. He was entirely too quiet. “You know,” I said, scratching at the stubble on my chin, “I think this is the longest I’ve gone without threatening you.”
Emil’s head cocked as he squinted at the night sky. “Is it?”
It was. Which was a good indicator of exactly how uneasy Emil was about what he was leading me to.
“Cas?”
I glanced back at him, my brows raised.
“I don’t think I’ve told you this,” he began, his amber gaze sliding to mine, “but Poppy looks just as ravishing in armor as she does in her sleeping gown.”
“Fucking gods,” I muttered. “You really don’t have any sense of self-preservation, do you?”
He chuckled. “According to Netta, no.”
My brows rose at the mention of Kieran’s sister. “Kieran is going to neuter you.”
“Nah.” He grinned. “That would upset Netta.”
Lips twitching, I shook my head and stroked my hand down Setti’s black mane. The damn horse snorted through his nostrils and flicked his head. Clearly, he was still annoyed with the lack of attention I’d given him over the last week or so.
The grandeur of the Luxe became clear the moment we entered. The roads were wider—vast enough for carriages to pass one another—and lit by lamps that cast a bright yellow glow onto the clean, smooth stone sidewalks lined with large pots overflowing with flowers. Lawns and carriageways in front of two- and three-story homes were near replicas of one another, all painted in varying shades of cream and ivory and brightly lit from within. They had spacious, walled courtyards in the back, too.
Wealthy mortals and the Ascended lived like Kings compared to the rest of the capital, where luxuries like open spaces, electricity, and clean, running water weren’t even a consideration, let alone affordable. Even Stonehill paled in comparison. But the districts of Croft’s Cross and Lowertown, where most of those within Carsodonia lived in dilapidated homes and overcrowded apartments overflowing with diseaseand hopelessness, felt like they existed in a different realm altogether compared to the luxurious Garden District and its most elite neighborhoods.
I expected nothing less from the Ascended. But how could mortals live like this while others had so little? Perhaps it was because they believed they were different. Better.Blessed. More deserving than others. In reality, even with their fancy homes and fat coin purses, they were nothing more than cattle to the Ascended.
Movement caught my attention, pulling me from my thoughts. I spotted a blackish-gray wolven ahead, blending into the sweetly scented shadows. And then I saw the armor and sword glinting under the moonlight.
Guards cloaked in white mantles embossed with gold Atlantian Crests stood watch along the lane, mostly placed before homes inhabited by the Ascended. Those at the entrances inclined their heads as we passed. Sage joined us.
I felt the shift in the air immediately.
It was heavier, pressing down with the weight of a blanket made of stones, and there was a chill in the air that hadn’t been there moments before. Those weren’t the only differences, though.
The street was dark as if no power ran to the streetlamps, but I could see that several homes—almostall—were lit from within.
