“Wait,” I interrupted. “How do you not know what happened in the other realm? You’re—”
“We know what we are,” Holland cut in. “The Primal Veil is strong, Poppy. That doesn’t mean we can’t see through or pierce it. But doing so comes with risks. They could sense us, even while deep underground, and you’ve seen what happens when they wake.”
I had.
I could never unsee it.
My gaze went to the window as I approached it, giving Lirian a wide berth. “So, none of the Primals have ever crossed over? If that’s true, then how were mortals created there?”
“The Ancients there found a way,” Lirian answered without elaborating because, of course. “The mortals there are not like those here. Most don’t have a speck of eather in them.”
Stopping by the window, my gaze cut to him. He hadn’t saidnoneof the Primals crossed over. I turned my gaze to thewindow. Beyond the glass, I saw the tops of gilded roofs piercing the thick clouds. He’d saidmost.
A faint tingling erupted along the nape of my neck. “The true Primal of Life and the true Primal of Death,” I murmured, squinting. “They can cross the Veil.”
“They’re not supposed to,” Holland replied, and I could feel his gaze on me.But they havewent unsaid.
“You know what the ten dreamed?” Lirian asked. “Don’t you?”
I turned, catching how Holland’s forehead creased as he eyed Lirian. “I…” Tiny bumps erupted over my skin. “The dreams of the Ancients are the prophecy—Penellaphe’s prophecy.”
“All visions were once dreams,” Holland said.
I glanced between them. “Were you two part of the ten who dreamed?”
“Lirian was.” Holland eyed me from above the rim of his glass. “I was not.”
A prickle of unease crept up my spine as I stared at him, but I forced myself to keep my expression neutral. “I got the impression that most of the Ancients wanted a…cleansing of the mortal realm. Where did you fall in that line of thinking?”
“I felt the same as most did.”
Coldness seeped into my skin. “I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that since you had no problem allowing those people to die today.”
Lirian turned to me. “He had—”
“Don’t say he had no choice. I get that you can see the…threads of fate or whatever,” I said, “but that does not mean there isn’t a choice, does it?”
A muscle ticked in Lirian’s jaw.
“No, it doesn’t,” Holland agreed. “I chose not to save them because I knew it would not matter. As I told you then, it wouldonly delay the inevitable. None who inhabit that city would have survived.”
“Which you would’ve seen in stasis,” Lirian said. “In case you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t.” I thought about the young woman who’d been concerned about my well-being. “Do you all just not care about those who died? Do you even know how many?”
“Too many.”
“For the love of the gods!” I exclaimed. To my credit, I only jumped a little at the sound of the third, unfamiliar voice. Heart thundering, I twisted around. “Why can’t…?” I trailed off, my lips parting as I saw the newcomer, who appeared to have walked out of the…bathing chamber.
I was pretty confident he had not been in there before, but at this point, anything was possible.
He was tall with golden-brown hair that brushed shoulders encased in a form-fitting, black tunic. I tipped my head back. He wasreallytall. His burnt-sienna vine pattern traveled along both sides of his jaw, thinning out at the temple and thickening once more along the hairline with a finger-width gap at the chin and forehead. There was a distinctly…feline quality to his high, angular cheekbones and eyes that curved slightly upward at the outer corners.
And I was staring.
Possibly even open-mouthed. And I loved Casteel. I lusted after my husband. Often. All the time, to be quite honest. Casteel was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. But this one…
He was…wow.
