Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
And then she finds out about Malec, and Alastir tells her that O’Meer is her father. She also hears the prophecy for the first time, is told that she is the one her namesake warned about, and realizes that Alastir was behind the attack at Lockswood when she was a child.
So much to take in, in such a short time.
When Alastir tells her that he’d rather go to war than have her unleashed on his people and spirits her away to Irelone to be given to the Ascended, she worries it’s the end. But Valyn, Casteel, Kieran, Jasper, Delano, Emil, and Naill come to save her.
During the battle following her rescue, she opens her senses and unleashes her power, prepared to end everyone, but stops herself at the last minute, insisting she’s not a monster. But she does stop Casteel from delivering the killing blow to Jansen, following through with her promise to kill him.
Honestly, I would have done the same.
In the melee, she’s shot with a crossbow bolt, and as she lay wounded and bleeding out, a storm rages, deforming the trees around her. Blood trees sprout, starting with gold buds that unfurl to reveal blood-red leaves, and the roots gather around her like a shield. When Kieran rips the bolt free, she realizes she’s dying and that Cas plans to Ascend her.
Luckily, Casteel brings her back. During her Ascension, she has another vision of a woman with pale, moonlight-colored hair who looks like her. The female cries a blood-red tear and speaks to Poppy before disappearing.
When Poppy wakes, she’s starving and pounces on Kieran but is quickly redirected to Casteel. Her need for blood quickly turns sexual, and things get hot and heavy—yes, I saw this in my visions. No, I don’t feel guilty for being a voyeur. It was a pivotal moment. Because, afterward, Cas tells her that he loves her, and she says it to him, as well—for the first time.
Needing additional information, Poppy asks many, many questions and finds out that the bond between Kieran and Cas really is broken, that what Alastir said is wrong, and that Cas drained every drop of blood from her to Ascend her because she did, indeed, die. He says she no longer feels mortal to him, nor does she smell that way to Kieran. Instead, they tell her she feels like final and absolute power.
Wondering if Ian might be like her, stronger but not actually Ascended, she sets off, seeing the mist thinning for her and the golden trees of Aios now blood-red.
When they arrive at Saion’s Cove, the older citizens bow to Poppy and call her Meyaah Liessa—my Queen—and she discovers that she can communicate telepathically with the wolven. She then exacts her revenge on Alastir, vowing never to think about him again.
Everything that has happened in such a short time becomes overwhelming for Poppy—can you blame her?—and she shows the emotion she always tries so hard to hide. Cas is there to comfort her, and they relax by reading some of my steamiest diary entries.
I always hoped someone would come across those journals someday.
Poppy and Cas discuss her claim to the throne, and Cas admits that he will support her if she wants the Crown but says that if she doesn’t, they’ll have to leave Atlantia. She finds herself torn.
When she’s suddenly summoned to help a child, she learns that her powers have evolved even more, allowing her to not only heal but also bring someone back to life. And when she finds out that Nyktos and his Consort had two children, their names and genders unknown, it gets her thinking.
Especially when she’s later told that not even the children of deities had abilities that manifested as strongly as hers. Not even the most powerful Elemental can do what she can. When the Queen reveals that Poppy has some of the same powers as Malec, she starts to wonder if the Duchess was right. However, she also learns that Malec cannot be her father since Eloana insists she entombed him before Poppy was conceived. The only thing they can deduce for sure is that, somehow, she is Nyktos’s descendant. Poppy can’t help but worry that her mother was an Atlantian held by the Blood Crown and forced into pregnancy.
It comes to light that Eloana, Valyn, and the Elders—it was not unanimous with us—have already decided on war and plan to burn Carsodonia to the ground, and she knows that only she and Cas can stop it. But only if they’re King and Queen. Coming to terms with the fact that not everyone will accept her, Poppy makes her decision.
Suddenly, Ian arrives and summons them to Oak Ambler. She finally sees him and knows she may have to make a tough choice soon: ending him if the brother she knows is gone. In addition, she recognizes that it may be a trap, even though the Queen promised not to harm them if they kept the Atlantian armies at bay.