Stopping that thought, I focused on where we were. Four hallways extended like the points of a compass, remnants of crimson and gold banners hanging from the arched entrances—charredremnants.
Ironspire was as quiet as a tomb. Eerily so.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I watched as Casteel systematically inspected each hall for any threats, the filtered light from above glancing off the iron hilt of the blade strapped to his chest. I hadn’t wanted to waste time looking for a thigh harness, and besides, what I wore wasn’t very conducive to weapons access. But now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen the bloodstone and wolven-bone dagger—the one I’d learned had been carved from the bone of Malik’s bonded wolven, Preela.
Delano’s sister.
My stomach churned at the thought of that as we entered the southern hall. “Where is my dagger?”
“In the chest.” Casteel scanned the eastern hall. “I placed it there after the Rev got into the chamber.”
He turned to me and ran his fingers along the strap securing a dagger to his torso. His hair, having grown longer than when we first met, naturally parted in the middle. When he tilted his chin to the side, glossy, black strands fell forward to brush his eyebrows. I swept my gaze over his features as he came towardme, noting that the hollows beneath his cheeks were starker, drumming forth concern. “You need to feed.”
“I will.” His gaze searched mine. “I’m sure you know this already, but I feel the need to say it. I wish you’d held off on doing this. You just woke up and then were pulled into that other realm.”
“I’m okay,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time.
“I know you are.” He lowered his voice. “But a lot has happened.”
A lotfelt like an understatement. Like with Kieran, I had a feeling he was talking more about learning that I’d been under Kolis’s influence than what had happened in the Continents. Still, my mind kept flashing to the tension between him and Kieran and what he’d asked me before I crossed the Veil. Those words—Do you?—came to the forefront of my mind, causing my stomach to twist.
“Is everything okay with you and Kieran?” I asked, uncomfortable with the question.
He tilted his head to the side, and his eyes cooled to a polished amber. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as I picked up nothing from him. He had his shields up. “It’s just that you two acted kind of strange with each other.”
“Really?”
I nodded.
“We’ve been worried. Probably has us both feeling a little off,” he said, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.
His answer was nearly the exact response I’d gotten from Kieran. It made sense, but did it really explain the distance between them? The doubt I’d picked up from him before I crossed the Veil? “I know that I can come to you with anything.”
“I know,” he said.
I didn’t feel the sharp, cutting doubt then. But I didn’t feel anything. He still had his emotions walled off, which wasn’t entirely abnormal.
“I do.” Dipping his head, he brushed his lips across my forehead. “Okay?”
Twisting a button on the robe, I nodded, even though I wanted to ask him why he’d questioned it then. Had I mistaken what I’d felt? Seen? It wasn’t impossible, but the nagging voice wanted me to push. There was also another, much louder voice, telling me to let it go. He said he knew. Both he and Kieran had assured me that everything was fine. There was no reason for me to harp on it.
Those words were familiar.
I’d heard something similar a hundred times when I wore the veil and the Ascended claimed something I had difficulty believing.Let it go.It was easier—
Casteel tucked another strand of my hair back. “I can tell a thousand different things are running through your head.”
Exhaling a long, slow breath, I shoved all of that aside. There were far more important things for me to be thinking about. “Is it that obvious?”
“A little.” He dropped his hand. “What’s on your mind?”
“Just…everything,” I said.
“Like?” He reached over and placed his fingers over mine. Energy danced between us as he gently pulled my fingers away from the button I was bound to break.
“Kolis,” I decided on. “It’s possible he’s corporeal now.”
