The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Lifting my chin, I heard myself speak. “Ian.”
There was a twitch of movement around his mouth that
could have almost been a flinch as he blinked. “Poppy,” he
said. And there went another tear in my heart. His voice was
soft and light as air. It was his voice. The corners of his lips
tipped up in an almost familiar smile. “I have been so
worried.”
Had he? Truly? “I am fine,” I said, surprised by how level
my voice sounded. “But you? You’re not.”
His head cocked to the side. “I am more than well,
Poppy. It is not I who has been taken by the Dark One and
held hostage—”
“I am not a hostage,” I interrupted as a red-hot arrow of
anger pierced me. I latched on to it, as it was far better than
the rising grief. “I am here with my husband, Prince
Casteel.”
“Husband?” Ian’s voice roughened, but the inflection
was forced. It had to be. The Ascended may be prone to
extreme emotion like anger or lust, but concern? Sympathy?
No. He stepped forward. “If this is a farce, I—”
A rumble of warning came from my right as Kieran
inched forward. Ian halted, his eyes widening on the fawncolored
wolven. “Good gods,” he exclaimed, and he really
did sound surprised…maybe even awed. “They really are
huge.”
Kieran’s lips peeled back in a snarl as his body tensed. I
focused on him, opening that cord—our connection. It’s
okay.
I feared Kieran couldn’t hear me and would launch
himself at Ian, but the growling faded.
“My wife is here of her own free will,” Casteel spoke
then, his tone losing its hint of boredom. “And while I
entertained this meeting, I will not tolerate insinuations
regarding the legitimacy of our marriage.”
“Of course, not.” Ian’s dark stare slid its way to the
Prince. There was a hardness to his features that had never