Everything about this made me sick. The cell. The shit with the promise. The thing possibly inside Poppy.
I dragged a hand over my jaw and swept my gaze over the makeshift bed of several layers of piled fur. This wasn’t my idea of providing every comfort possible, but not only did we not have the time to get a bed down here, it would’ve drawn too much attention—even though it was deep in the middle of the night.
“Neither do I,” I said finally, lowering my hand.
Stepping back, I dropped into one of the two armchairs we’d hastily brought down. There was very little else in the cell—a small table for food, a tub, and a crude toilet behind a privacy screen. Colorful curtains of shimmering gold and cream hung on the walls, hiding the gray slabs of stone except for the area above the door, where a lit torch cast some light. Delano had insisted on doing so. He meant well, and I appreciated it, but it didn’t hide the fact that we were in a cell. The narrow, iron door was a dead giveaway. At least it didn’t have bars.
“Aurelia is at the end of the hall,” Delano said. “In case you didn’t know.”
I nodded, having relented when Reaver suggested bringing the female draken into the fold in case Poppy got out. Which wasn’t impossible. If she wanted out, she could easily go through meandthe iron door.
“Want to hear something weird?” Delano asked, peering at me through several strands of pale-blond hair.
I rested my elbows on my knees. “Yeah.”
“I didn’t feel her wake up.”
My brows pulled together in a frown. “Kieran said he did.”
“I didn’t,” he repeated as he knelt, adjusting the heavy, fur-lined blanket atop Poppy. It was cold down here, and the long-sleeved robe I’d managed to get on her wasn’t particularly thick. “And I know none of the others did either.”
My attention shifted back to Poppy as I turned that new piece of information over in my head. It was quite possible that Kieran sensing when Poppy woke had nothing to do with the Primalnotamand more to do with the Joining. But that didn’t explain why none of the other wolven…
I straightened in the chair. “Can you still feel the Primalnotam?”
“I can.”
A measure of relief swept through me. With Seraphena awake, I had no idea what it would mean for the Primalnotam. Didn’t know if it would revert back to her or not.
“It’s faint, but it’s been that way since she went into stasis.”
“And there’s been no change?”
“None.” He looked over at me. “It’s almost like she’s still in it.”
My frown deepened as I sat back, running my hand over the linen shirt Emil had grabbed for me. That didn’t make sense. Poppy was clearly no longer in stasis. “You have any idea what that could mean?”
Delano shook his head. “None.” Satisfied with the blanket, he sat cross-legged beside Poppy.
My jaw flexed as I watched him. Delano knew he couldn’t stay in the cell long. It was too much of a risk if Poppy woke with him in here. Still, I was reluctant to cut his visit short. There had always been a connection between the two of them.
My gaze swept over Poppy, looking for any hints she was stirring. When I found none, I wanted to relax but didn’t. If I did, my mind would wander to either what was inside her or the promise made between her and Kieran. I stretched my neck, trying to work out some of the tension gathering there.
“I didn’t mention this before, but you…feel different.”
Drawn from my thoughts, my brows rose. “What do you feel?”
His head tilted as he eyed me. “Power.”
That made sense. The wolven’s senses were heightened, meaning they could pick up on eather. Which likely explained why most of them took to Poppy so quickly, even before they knew who she was descended from or what she’d become.
“More than before,” he added. “You also smell different.”
“Not sure if I should be offended to hear that or not.”
He laughed quietly. “It’s not that,” he said. “It’s a scent I’ve picked up from Poppy. At first, I thought it was just her scent rubbing off on you, but I would’ve noticed it before.”
I had a feeling I knew what scent he was picking up from me that he’d smelled on Poppy, but I asked anyway. “Which scent?”