Casteel whirled toward me, his piercing amber gaze lit by eather. “Poppy.”
I gripped the chair, my fingers slipping over the smooth wood. “A gilded cage.”
Seraphena’s eyes slammed shut.
“What are you saying?” Casteel asked.
“I saw it in stasis. I was in one when he got inside my head. I didn’t know what it meant then. I still don’t.”
“Kolis kept Sotoria in a gold cage,” Seraphena said.
I jerked back, a thousand denials screaming in my head as icy rage poured off Casteel, causing the tiny hairs on the nape of my neck to rise. I swung toward him and sucked in air. Shadows blossomed under the flesh of his throat and traveled upward, swirling across his cheeks—
My lips parted as Seraphena staggered back, catching herself before she stepped off the platform. We both stared at Casteel as tendrils of crimson pierced the darkness, and his skin thinned until thebonewas visible.
Thesilvergleam of bone.
All I could think of was the bone dagger that had pierced his flesh and the knowledge I didn’t want to accept that’d come to me.
Eather swallowed the golden hue of his irises in a flash of silver, changing them. They flamed like burning coals—black like the Ascended’s but lit with the glow of fire.
He looked nothing like the man I was familiar with. Instead, a God of Death stood there. The essence in me flared in response to the display of pure power. I had a strange urge to run, and for him to chase, causing my stomach to tighten.
There was something seriously wrong with me.
The red in his eyes brightened, and he cocked his head. Seraphena glanced at the windows just as I heard…the croaks of ravens. They appeared outside a second later, their talons scraping—and wings beating—the glass.
I inhaled and twisted back to him. “Cas.”
His entire body stiffened at the sound of my voice, and the frigid fury retracted instantly, the churning mass of shadows and crimson seeping back into his flesh. Within a breath, the bone was no longer visible, and I felt the rate of his heart slowing.
I forced a swallow. “Are you…okay?”
Casteel’s eyes slammed shut, and his striking features contorted. “Gods,” he choked out. “You’re askingmethat?”
“Uh…” Still holding on to the arms of the chair, I pitched forward. “I’m not sure if you realize it, but I, like, totally saw yourbones.”
He blinked. “My bones?”
I nodded and then looked over at Seraphena. She was back to staring at him like she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. “Right?”
“Holy fuck balls,” she whispered.
Okay. She had definitely seen it, too.
“I’m fine.” Thick lashes lifted, and I was relieved to see warm-amber eyes, but while usually warm and inviting, they now held a depth of sorrow that seemed to stretch through time. He crossed the space between us and knelt before me, placing his hands on my knees and squeezing them gently. “Are you okay?”
“I…I don’t know,” I admitted.
He held my gaze for a moment and then nodded. “We’ll figure it out,” he vowed. “Then we’ll make sure you’re okay. All right?”
“All right,” I murmured.
“This is why I wanted to speak to her privately.” Seraphena’s voice reached us, the tone blade-sharp. “So she had time to process before dealing with anyone else’s feelings.”
I tensed.
But Casteel only smiled at me, flashing a hint of those dimples. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to my forehead and then rose. He crossed his arms and tested the limits of the ridiculously ill-fitted shirt, standing before me like a guardian. “I understand why you wanted that,” he said. “I should’ve kept better control of myself.”
