The female nodded. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you think you’ve won? Now that you’ve taken the city?”
“I haven’t answered because it’s a silly question,” Poppy replied. “Asked by an even sillier…creature.”
“You haven’t answered because you know you haven’t won.” Through the strands of her hair, I saw her lips twist into a sneer. “Long live the Queen.”
Essence flared in Poppy’s eyes as she glared down at the vampry. “My mother is dead.”
Lady Hawley laughed. “No one truly dies now.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
She winced as she leaned back, jostling her arm. “It means exactly what I said.”
“Laural,” Lord Hawley snapped. “You need to stay silent.”
“No.” Poppy’s smile was as sharp as the dagger strapped to her thigh. “Let her speak.”
Lord Hawley’s jaw tensed, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“The true King has risen,” Lady Hawley said. “And he will take back everything that is his.”
“And what do you think belongs to him?” Poppy asked.
“Everything,” she whispered.
Poppy’s laugh rang out, and the air crackled with the heat of the sun. “Nothing here or in Iliseeum is owed to him.”
“Is that what you think?”
“That is what I know.” Poppy took a step toward the Ascended. “His days of ruling have long since passed.”
“He’s only just begun. And you—none of you—will be able to stop him.” Hair fell back from Lady Hawley’s face as she tilted her head. “You look like your mother. Well, except for the scars.”
I snapped forward, stopping only when Poppy held up her hand. I forced myself back and reached out to her.One more word…
I let the warning linger. If she mentioned Poppy’s scars—the beautiful proof of how strong my girl was—even once, she would no longer have a tongue to speak with.
“She had such high hopes for you,” she continued. Eather throbbed in my chest.
Poppy knelt before the vampry, causing Delano to reach for his sword out of reflex. “You know so much, don’t you?”
The Lady laughed.
“So, tell me, why would my mother want Kolis to return?” Poppy asked. My brows drew together. “Was it simply to see Atlantia burn? Was she truly that predictable?”
“She was.” Lady Hawley lifted a shoulder. “But she wanted more. They planned for you to sit by his side.”
My hands fisted, but I checked myself.
“Now, you will lay at his feet,” the vampry’s voice lowered. “Where you’ve always belonged.”
I saw red, but Poppy was so damn fast when she wanted to be. Her hand was around Lady Hawley’s throat before I even took a step, eather pulsing through her and lighting up her veins.
“I have never belonged there,” Poppy said as the vampry’s body jerked and then stiffened. And I…
I froze.
Poppy’s fingers pressed into Lady Hawley’s throat. Eather sparked from her fingertips and seeped into the vampry’s flesh. A wave of essence rolled through the Ascended, lighting up the network of veins first in her legs and then in her torso and arms.
