The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“They look normal—well, the new normal. That aura behind your pupils is there,” Kieran answered, lowering my braid to my shoulder.

“When he saw my eyes, that’s when he, like, became aware that…that it wasn’t a dream.” I shook my head. “I know that doesn’t make sense, but he knew it was about to end.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No. Just that he…” I miss you so bad it hurts. The breath I took was broken. I couldn’t speak that aloud. “He said ‘heartmates’ but didn’t explain why. He told me to find him again and that he’d be waiting.”

“Heartmates,” Kieran murmured, the skin between his brows puckering. He’d always suspected that Casteel and I were that—the rare union of hearts and souls that was rumored to be more powerful than any bloodline.

I hadn’t believed Kieran at first, but the moment Casteel and I had stopped pretending, I’d stopped doubting.

Kieran’s eyes widened suddenly. “Holy shit.”

I jerked. “What?”

“I heard my father say something once about heartmates. I completely forgot about it.” Kieran picked up my braid again and breathed deeply. When he spoke, his voice had become hoarse. “He said that heartmates could walk in each other’s dreams.”

Shock rippled through me. I didn’t know what to think, but if it was real? Good gods…

But why would tonight have been the first time? Was it because I’d slept deeply enough, and the nightmares hadn’t found me first? Or was it the first time Casteel had been able to find me?

And what if it was something we could do again? I wouldn’t waste the opportunity. I could find out where he was being held—if he knew. I could make sure that he was okay—as okay as he could be. I would use the time for anything other than…

The heated words I’d whispered against his mouth filled my mind, causing my steps to falter. The way I’d spoken to him—how I’d begged him? My entire body flushed.

“What are you—?” Kieran stiffened at the same moment a wave of tiny bumps spread across my skin. An intense chill swept down my spine. The Primal essence roared to life, throbbing as a sudden dark and oily sensation settled over me, soaking into my skin and stealing my breath.

Kieran’s head snapped back to me. “You feel that?”

“Yeah. I don’t…” My heart lurched in my chest. I turned my left hand over, shuddering with a burst of relief. The golden swirl across my palm shimmered faintly. “It’s not—”

Lightning streaked across the sky, so bright and intense it lit up the inside of the chamber, briefly turning night to day. A crack of thunder followed, rattling my chest and ears.

Kieran rose as I pulled my legs out from under the blanket and stood. The borrowed shirt slid down my thighs as I grabbed the dressing robe from the foot of the bed, pulling it on.

The sound of booming thunder eased off, giving way to nervous neighing from the nearby stables. I went to the window and pulled the curtains back. Thick shadows rolled across the sky, obscuring the moonlight and plunging the bedchamber into near darkness.

“This is odd,” Kieran said as I turned, walking to the drapes that sectioned off the bedchambers. “It’s not nearly warm enough for such a storm.”

A howl came from outside, the scream of roaring air. Wind slammed into the manor, lifting the curtains at the windows. Air poured in under the gaps, icy as the darkest hours of winter, blowing through the entire room. The gust pulled strands of hair free from my braid, tossing them across my face. Another bolt of lightning streaked overhead, and the wind…it smelled like stale lilacs.

That was what Vessa had smelled like.

The heavy canvas billowed, and through the opening, I saw the maps of Oak Ambler that had been brought to the bedchamber earlier fly through the air like birds made of parchment.

“Damn it,” I gasped, racing forward in the blast of thunder that followed. My sock-covered feet slipped over the stone floors as I darted past the chairs. I grasped a map and then another as slips of parchment whipped about.

Slamming the maps down on the low table, I grabbed a heavy iron candle holder and placed it so it kept the maps safe. Wind spun through the chamber, throwing the doors open as bolts of light continued ripping across the sky, one after another, each charging the air. The eather in my chest and my blood…it started to vibrate—

I looked down as the table under my hands began to tremble. Across from me, the table used for private dining shook, rattling the pitchers and empty glasses on the top. Chairs scraped across the floor, toppling over behind me as the rumble of thunder came from above and below.

An outline of a figure filled the chamber’s opening as lightning lit the sky, illuminating Naill’s familiar features. “Are you all right?” he demanded.