The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“Come in,” I called out, passing the standing screen.

Kieran entered, closing the door behind him. “You’re alone? I figured Tawny would be with you.”

“I was with her, but she grew tired.”

He glanced around. “I just wanted to check in and see how you were holding up.”

My brow rose. “I’m fine. And you?”

“Perfect.”

I stared at him.

Kieran stared back.

“Are you also here because Casteel is speaking with his father?” I asked.

He laughed roughly. “That obvious?”

“A little.” I padded over to one of the chairs by an unlit fireplace. A decanter of some kind of amber liquid sat on a small table beside a couple of glasses. “Want something to drink?”

“Sure,” he answered as I poured two drinks. “I figured if I lingered, Cas would use me as an excuse to not talk with his father.”

My chest tightened as I handed Kieran a glass. “I hope he’s speaking with his father and with Malik, but…”

“But he’s got to have a lot in his head.” Kieran leaned against the mantel as I sat in the chair. “And he may not be in the right headspace to hear whatever his father wants to say.”

I took a sip of the smoky whiskey, thinking of what Valyn had told me. “I don’t think he’ll like what his father has to say.”

“Neither do I.” Kieran took a drink, staring out the narrow window as my gaze dropped to the thin scar on his forearm.

Curling my legs up, I sank into the cushy chair as I watched Kieran. Casteel would’ve definitely found his way to me sooner rather than later if he believed I was alone. But Kieran could’ve visited with his sister or any of the friends he hadn’t seen in weeks. He could be spending time with Malik. But he probably also wasn’t ready to sit down and talk with him. Either way, Kieran was here because of other reasons, and I had a good idea what they were. “Did Casteel tell you that we spoke about the Joining?”

Kieran glanced over at me. “He did.” A moment passed. “He said that you wanted to do it.”

Telling myself not to turn a hundred shades of red, I took another small drink. “He wants me to take the next couple of days to think it over, but I know the answer. It’s not going to change.”

His wintry eyes held mine. “You should take those days, though, and really think it over.”

“I will, but it’s not going to change. Casteel went over everything. I know what it entails—what could and couldn’t happen.” I knew what the Joining entailed. Casteel had gone over it in detail as we sat above the Wisteria Woods. No matter what it did or didn’t become as we joined their essences to mine, it would be intimate. Intense. Life-altering. None of us would be the same afterward in any way. “Are you sure this is what you want? Truly?”

“It should be me asking that question, Poppy.”

I lowered the glass to my bent knee as I watched him go to the chair across from me and sit. “We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I wasn’t sure.”

“True.” He leaned forward, glass in hand. “The same goes for me, Poppy. I’m here because I want to be.” The hue of his blue eyes was vivid, the glow behind the pupils brighter. “I don’t think many wolven would turn down Joining with a King and a Primal.”

My cheeks warmed. I still couldn’t believe that was what I was, but that didn’t matter at the moment. “You’re not just any wolven. It would be no one else but you.”

Kieran dipped his chin as a sweet taste gathered in my mouth, at odds with the bite of whiskey. “Don’t make me feel emotional about this. If you do, you’re going to make this weird.”

I laughed. “Well, it’s about time I’m the one who gets to make something weird.”

He shook his head as he clasped the back of his neck with his free hand. Several long moments passed. “You know I love Cas, right?”

“I do,” I whispered. “And I know he loves you.”

“I would do anything for him. I would do anything for you,” he said, echoing what Casteel had said. He looked up at me. “And knowing that you would do this for me means…” He swallowed. “There really aren’t words other than that my reasons for agreeing to the Joining have very little to do with Cas being a King or you a Primal god and everything to do with the love I have for both of you.”

My breath caught as a knot of emotion lodged itself in my chest. “Now you’re making this all emotional.”

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

Kieran grinned, lowering his hand as I fought the urge to ask him what kind of love he felt for Casteel. For me. I knew it wasn’t a familial one and that it went beyond what one felt for friends. I also thought that it wasn’t the same as what he’d felt for Elashya or what Casteel and I felt for each other. But I also knew that what I felt for Kieran wasn’t the same as what I felt for Delano or Vonetta or Tawny. It was…more.