The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

And then the blood trees were empty of anything that could spew serpents from its mouth. “Any more coming?”

Kieran had edged closer to the mouth of the tunnel. “I don’t think so.”

“Stand back,” I said, getting an idea. Using the eather, I twisted toward the opening in the rock and sent a thin stream of energy forward. Light splashed against the walls as it traveled deep into what was clearly a cave.

When it revealed no more Gyrms, I pulled the eather back. The silvery glow faded.

“Did any of those serpents bite anyone?” Reaver demanded. “Answer now. Their bite is toxic.”

Everyone answered in the negative as Delano planted his paws on the boulder and stretched up, nudging my arm. I reached over, sinking my fingers into his fur as I sheathed the dagger.

Breathing heavily, I looked over to where Reaver stood in the wagon. “I just need to know,” I said, willing my heart to slow, “why do they have snakes inside them?”

“They have no insides. No organs,” Reaver answered. “The serpents are all that fills them.”

All of us turned to Reaver. Perry swallowed as if he were one second from vomiting. I dropped my hand from Delano’s neck. “Well, that…that is even more disturbing. I wish I hadn’t asked.”

Casteel stopped in front of me, extending his hand.

“I’m fine.” I sat. “Just going to stay right here.”

“For how long?” he asked as Delano hopped onto the boulder, settling onto his belly beside me.

“Not sure.”

His lips twitched.

“Don’t you dare smile,” I warned.

“I’m not,” he swore, and that was definitely a lie. “There are no more serpents, Poppy.”

“Don’t care.”

Casteel wiggled his fingers. “You can’t stay up there, my Queen. We need to get Malec, and we may need your extra-special Primal badassery to do it.”

My eyes narrowed on him. “It irritates me when you’re right.”

“Then you must be irritated often,” Casteel replied.

Kieran snorted. “Please, get down from there before my sister joins you, and we have to talk three of you off a boulder.”

“I am this close to joining you,” Vonetta admitted as she kept looking at the ground.

Delano nudged my arm again, and I sighed, taking Casteel’s hand as I scooted off the boulder. When Delano hopped down beside me, I tipped my head back. “If I see a snake, it’s your fault.”

Laughing under his breath, Cas pressed his lips to the top of my head. “Adorable.”

“So, I couldn’t be the only one who noticed that they weren’t attacking her,” Perry pointed out as Malik lowered himself to the ground.

“Oh, yeah.” I turned to Reaver. “Did they recognize me as his…niece or something?”

“They probably recognized the Primal essence,” Reaver said.

“But the Gyrms conjured by the Unseen did go after her,” Casteel bit out.

“I don’t know what these Unseen are, or how or why they’d be summoning Gyrms,” Reaver said. “Tell me.”

I gave him a brief rundown. “I guess the whole Unseen thing came into creation while you all were sleeping.”

“Sounds about right,” Kieran muttered.

“Three things.” Reaver held up three fingers. “First off, I need my rest. If I don’t get my rest, I get cranky.”

“Who sounds like the sensitive one now?” Kieran fired back.

“And when I get cranky, I like to set things on fire and then eat them,” Reaver continued, and I briefly closed my eyes. “Secondly, those weren’t just some random Gyrms that can be conjured to do one’s bidding. As I said, they were Sentries.”

I opened my eyes. “What is the difference between them?”

Reaver still held up one finger. “Most of them were once mortal—those who summoned a god and pledged servitude to them upon death in exchange for whatever favor the god granted them. Hunters hunt things. Sentries—you guessed it—guard things. Items. Usually, people. But Sentries, like Hunters and Seekers, can sense whatever they’re searching for. They either find said thing and bring it back, or they die in the process of defending it.”

My gaze flicked back to the ground. Those things had once been mortal? Good gods…

Now, I felt a little bad about killing them.

Casteel slid his arm around my waist, squeezing. “So, these Gyrms were down there for hundreds of years?”

Reaver nodded.

“That must’ve been really boring,” Emil said.

“Again.” Vonetta looked at him. “Understatement.”

“And it wasn’t whatever your mother did that sent the Sentries here,” Reaver said.

“What do you mean?” Casteel’s eyes narrowed. “And can you please stop giving Kieran the middle finger?”

“I was actually giving it to everyone, but whatever.” Slowly, Reaver lowered his middle finger. “I have a feeling this mountain formed as a way to guard Malec’s tomb, but these types of Gyrms can’t be summoned by Primal magic. They can only be sent by a Primal.”

Slowly, I turned to the mouth of the cave. “You think Nyktos sent them? That he and the Consort knew where their son was?”

Reaver was quiet for a long moment. “When Malec left Iliseeum, he did so right before the others went to sleep. He didn’t leave on good terms, but the…Primal of Life, even in sleep, would’ve sensed his vulnerability. The deity bones would’ve likely blocked their ability to know where he was,” he said, and I realized that whatever Isbeth kept Ires in likely had to be the same. “While sleeping, the Primal of Life must’ve summoned the Sentries to protect him.”