Poppy nodded and studied me. “Is there anything else you’d like to share?”
“Most definitely.” The corners of my lips tipped up as her eyes narrowed. “But that will have to wait.”
“But—”
I kissed the tip of her nose.
“Cas—”
When the chamber door swung open, I let go of her hand.
Silence filled the space, but I kept my eyes on Poppy. Without looking at him, I heard Kieran stop—actually, it sounded like he stumbled a bit.
I tensed.
Poppy stepped forward, her fingers plucking at the material of her robe. “Kieran?”
Kieran sprang into action, crossing the distance between them and sweeping Poppy into his arms as he pulled her against him.
“I’ve been so worried,” he said. “All of us were.”
His voice was so coarse with emotion that my head turned toward him before I could stop myself.
“I’m okay now,” she assured him, her feet dangling a good foot off the floor. “Are you okay?”
“Now I am,” he said, closing his eyes, pressing his cheek to the side of her head, and inhaling deeply. “I’m okay now.”
“You sure?”
A smile—the kind rarely seen on his face—spread across it, large and wide as he opened his eyes. “Positive.”
I looked away, my gaze settling on the shuttered window. Through the blinds, I saw darkness. Night had arrived.
“You’re shaking,” Poppy said, drawing my attention back to her and Kieran.
“I’m cold,” was his lame-ass response.
As if wolven were ever cold.
Poppy’s laugh was soft. “You feel like an inferno. Wait.” Her head lifted as far as Kieran would allow. “You feelreallyhot.”
“It’s your imagination.”
“No, it’s not,” she argued.
“Is, too.” Kieran turned the two of them slightly, his eyes opening and locking with mine before closing once more—but not quickly enough for me to miss the damp sheen gathering there.
Knowing he was experiencing the same things I had when I realized she was the Poppy we knew, I felt him struggling to rein in his emotions. To return to his calm, even-keeled state. I knew that would be hard for him. Kieran…well, ever since Elashya, he rarely showed this kind of emotion—or even allowed himself to feel it.
But he was feeling a lot now. The vise-like pressure tightened. The rawness radiating off Kieran caused a knot to twist deep inmychest. The feeling was intense but not unexpected. However, it irritated me how it lessened the sharpness of my anger over the promise forged between them, making it feel small and almost irrelevant.
Almost.
Shifting my gaze away from them, I started looking for my boots. I’d give them time—givemyselftime. I took a deep breath. Eather hummed faintly through my veins as I kept my walls up, making sure there were no cracks so that by the time I faced them again, none of what I felt could slip free.
Because I had no intention of stealing Poppy’s smile.
Or Kieran’s.
