A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash, #2)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“I am Hawke,” he said after a moment. “And I am Casteel. I’m not two separate people, no matter how badly you want to believe that.”

“Yet you haven’t called me Hawke since you learned who I was.” The frustration quickly flamed into anger. “And why does that matter, Hawke?” A smile crept across his lips then, one that showed the barest hint of fangs. “Because I miss hearing you say it.”

“Atlantians need Atlantian blood to survive. One who is only half-Atlantian can provide the necessary sustenance. That was how I was kept alive.”

“But I didn’t…I didn’t plan on actually enjoying your company. I didn’t plan on coming to look forward to talking to you. And I didn’t plan on the guilt that came with my actions. I didn’t plan on…well, I didn’t plan on caring about you.”

“I don’t know.” His brows knitted. “No. That’s a lie. I didn’t take you then because I knew the moment I did, you would stop looking at me like…like I was just Hawke. You would stop opening up to me. Talking to me. Seeing me. You’d hate me. I wasn’t ready for that.” I wasn’t ready for him to admit that.

“What I said that night still holds true. I’m not worthy of you. I knew that then. I know that still. But that hasn’t stopped me from wanting you. That hasn’t stopped me from concocting a plan where I can have you, if only until this is over. It didn’t stop me from wanting everything from you. From pretending that I could have everything, Poppy.”

“After what was done to me and everything that happened afterward, I didn’t think I was capable of truly wanting or needing someone like I do you. I didn’t believe it was possible. And there have been so many times, too many times, that I’ve wanted this to be real.”

The idea of you being here when they came. I felt the fear already. When that bastard Ascended took you at New Haven? I thought I’d lost you.”

I’ve long since stopped trying to figure it out.” His lashes lowered, shielding his gaze. “Can you tell me? Can you read me and tell me?”

You love her truly

That’s why I don’t speak her name, because as much as I once loved her, I hate her now. And I hate what I did.”

It’s also true that I chose you when you were just Hawke, and it’s not just because you were the first person to ever really see me. That had something to do with it, of course, but if I wanted to experience pretty words or pleasure, I could’ve donned the mask once more and went back to the Red Pearl. I…I wanted you.”

fell for you when you were Hawke, and I kept falling for you when you became Casteel.”

I know…I know it has nothing to do with you being my first or there being, well, limited options in my life. It’s you. It’s me. It’s us.

How your stupid dimples are infuriating, but I look for them every time you smile because I know that’s a real smile.

You are a puzzle I want to figure out, but at the same time, don’t.

It’s why I’m in awe of everything you say or do—everything you are. It’s why you’re the first thing I think about when I wake and the last thought I have when I fall asleep, replacing everything else. It’s why when I’m with you, I can be quiet. I can just be. You know what that means.”

The feeling behind the way his arm always tightened around me when we rode together and why he was always messing with my hair. It was the emotion that drove him to draw that line he wouldn’t cross with me. It was why he wouldn’t use compulsion, and it was what allowed him to want to protect me but demanded that he allow me to protect myself. It was how when he was with me, he didn’t think of his kingdom, his brother, or the time he’d been a captive. And it was one of many things forbidden to me as the Maiden. It was love.

“Your heart was always safe with me. It always will be. There is nothing I will protect more fiercely or with more devotion, Poppy. Trust in that—in what you feel from me. In me.”

“Will you do me the honor of allowing me to one day become worthy of you? Will you marry me? Today?” “Yes. I will give you the honor of becoming my husband, because you’re already worthy of me.” Casteel’s eyes closed as he shuddered. “I will marry you.” I dipped down, kissing his forehead. “Today.”

“This is an omen. A powerful one.” Jasper shook his head in wonder. “A good one from the King of Gods.” The unnatural clouds started to scatter, and sunlight broke through as Jasper smiled. “Nyktos, even asleep, approves of this union.”

Ah niktos.. King of the Gods!!!!!

“Why?” Curiosity filled me. “Why do you look like that when I laugh? Or smile?” “Because it’s a beautiful sound and smile and you don’t do it nearly enough.” A slight flush crept across his cheeks as he looked at my hand. “And every time I hear it, it feels like I’ve heard it before—and I mean, like before I even met you. Like deja vu but different.”

“It started at the beginning of recorded time, when one of the ancient deities fell so deeply in love with a mortal that he pleaded for the gods to bestow the gift of long life on the one he chose. They refused, even though he was one of their favorite children. And they refused each and every year, as the one he loved grew older, and he remained the same. Then, when his lover was old and gray, the body no longer able to support life, his lover left to join Rhain, where not even he could travel. Heartbroken, the deity did not eat or drink, and it didn’t matter that the gods pleaded with him. Even Nyktos himself came to this land and begged him to live. He told him that he couldn’t, not when a piece of his soul had left him when his lover died. It was a piece he would never get back, and without it, he had no will. Eventually, he became dust.”

That they had underestimated the capacity for love—of two souls and two hearts that were somehow meant to be joined. They were heartmates. The gods knew they could not bring their child or his lover back, but when it happened again, with another of their children, an ancient daughter who’d had many lovers come and go throughout the years, they relented. When she came to them to ask that her mortal lover be given the gift of life, they agreed, but on two conditions. Both were presented with nearly impossible trials designed to prove their love. If they succeeded, the deity had to agree to be the source of her lover’s life.

They never foresaw Malec being inventive enough to drain Isbeth of her blood and replace it with his in his desperation to save her. But the problem was, they’d already gone to sleep by then and were too deep in their slumber to hear Malec’s pleas.” “Gods,” I whispered. “That is sort of tragic. I mean, his actions started…all of this. And yes, he was already married, but it’s still tragic.”

“I would, except I’m feeling incredibly archaic right now, and I want the world to see my fresh mark on your throat,” he said. “And if the whole world saw that mark between your pretty thighs, I’d have to then kill the whole world.” “That’s excessive.” “I feel excessive, Princess.

“You’re actually jealous.” “Of course, I am. At least I can acknowledge that.”

The horror. What my eyes wanted my brain and heart to recognize. The fear, especially the fear—of being injured, of stumbling, of missing my mark, of dying—of losing those I cared about. Vikter had once told me that when you fought, you had to do so as if each breath may be your last.

“We did, but Kieran told me that he heard you calling him. He said the other wolven felt it, too. That they all veered in our direction. Jasper confirmed it,” he said. “He said the same thing.”

“Originally, Poppy. And that was only because I’d convinced myself that was the reason,” he stated. “It wasn’t the only reason. Neither was freeing my brother or preventing a war. I wanted you, and I wanted to find a way to try to keep you.”

“What kind of trees are they?” “Trees of Aios,” Casteel answered, referring to the Goddess of Love, Fertility, and Beauty. I couldn’t think of a better namesake. “They grew in the foothills and throughout the Skotos range after she went to sleep here, deep underground.”

Aaaaa ela está bem... AIOS QUE SAUDADE

“I’m sorry,” a voice whispered. Momma was yanked away from me. I stumbled after her, but it was too late. There was nothing but mist, and all that remained was her voice, her words. “Howcouldyou?”

“No farther,” the voice whispered, a voice so pure it was almost unbearable to hear. “What you seek is not to be found here.”

“Go home. Take what is yours, and you will find what you seek there. The truth. Go home.”

“We all felt the earth shake, and Nyktos did show us his approval. They seem to like you, Princess.”

“Why are there times you still hide your smiles from me?” His chest rose with a heavy breath as he sat back. “You have a beautiful smile. That and your laugh. And you…you never laughed enough as it was, but when you did…”

“When you did, it was like the moment the damn mist finally cleared. Like when the first rays of sun break through the clouds after a heavy storm,” he said without an ounce of embarrassment. “Your laugh is as beautiful as your smile, and when I told you it was like hearing something familiar? It wasn’t a lie.”

“But back to the gods seeming to like you. Nyktos gave us his blessing basically. If that was Aios last night, and gods, it just might’ve been her, she woke to ensure your safety,” he said, and there was a bit of awe in his voice. “I’m going to repeat that, Princess. A god woke from hundreds and hundreds of years of sleep to protect you. That is not something that has ever happened before as far as I know.”

He stood right there. Hawke. Casteel. The Prince of Atlantia. The Dark One. My husband. My heartmate.

“Lower your swords,” she commanded, her chin lifting even as she lowered to one knee, even as a potent, helpless sort of rage drenched the space around her, one that carried the stench of a long-buried fear come to fruition. “And bow before the…before the last descendent of the most ancient ones, she who carries the blood of the King of the Gods within her. Bow before your new Queen.”