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)
Looking at her daughter, Isbeth tells Poppy that her eyes are like her father’s and says the essence would get stronger and swirl in them when he got angry. Poppy asks Isbeth how she captured Ires, and the Blood Queen says that he came to her two hundred years after the war ended, looking for his brother. She then adds that the one with him—presumably, Jadis—could sense Malec’s blood and led Ires right to her. Isbeth also reveals that the draken had been dealt with.
She relays that while she knew Malec had a twin, she thought it was Malec when she first saw Ires—until he spoke. She even entertained the idea that maybe she could pretend it was Malec and fall in love with Ires. When Poppy inquires, Isbeth tells her that she didn’t force herself on Ires. He chose to stay. She said he’d become intrigued by the world and curious about the Ascended and what his brother had been doing, but when he wanted to return to Iliseeum, she couldn’t let him. He was angry, but when they came together, both times, it wasn’t against his will. It wasn’t an act of love, but she wanted a strong child and knew what Poppy would be with Ires as her father. For him, it was just about lust and hatred. He even tried to kill her afterward.
When Poppy asks her where Ires is, Isbeth tells her that he’s not at Wayfair, silently confirming that the Blood Queen wouldn’t have let her see him even if Poppy had chosen him over Casteel. She says she couldn’t let Ires leave because she needs him to make Revenants. She also lets it slip that the etchings in the stone and the borrowed magic are safeguards to keep things in—and out.
The two continue to bicker: about Poppy not bowing, about the Rite and the Craven, about Poppy being the harbinger. And Isbeth tells Poppy if the Atlantian armies show up at the capital, she will line the Rise with infants. To which Poppy says she won’t negotiate.
Isbeth admits that vengeance has kept her going all this time and states she doesn’t actually want Atlantia; she wants to see it burn, and every Atlantian dead. But she doesn’t blame Eloana, even though she has something very special in store for her. She blames Nyktos for not answering Malec’s call for the heartmate trial. That was the catalyst and why Malec Ascended her in the first place. The Primal could have prevented all of what happened.
She goes on to say that Malec said Nyktos was particularly fond of the Atlantians and saw them as his children. Their creation was the result of the first heartmate trial and a product of love. By eliminating them, Isbeth feels she would get the justice she seeks.
As they continue talking, she tells Poppy that she’ll do what she was born to do: deliver death to her enemies. She says that Poppy’s just like her, and Isbeth will force her hand if necessary to prove how alike they are.
Then, as an act of power, she kills a mortal couple by crushing them with her will. When Poppy lashes out, she has her escorted to her room and kept under guard, telling her they’ll talk more later.
After Poppy and the others escape, Isbeth catches up to them and tries to take Malik back. In the melee, Callum wounds and curses Kieran. Isbeth orders Poppy to find Malec and bring him to her and warns them all that there’s no escape—they’re surrounded by Revenants. She adds that if Poppy refuses her command, she’ll regret it until her last breath. She gives Poppy a week to retrieve Malec. Poppy demands three, and Isbeth agrees to two. When Poppy says she needs something of Malec’s, Isbeth hands over the pink diamond ring that used to belong to her heartmate, saying it’s all she has of him.
Before she leaves, Isbeth kills Blaz and Clariza, making them nothing but dry husks and saying that the only good Descenter is a dead one.
Isbeth arrives at the Bone Temple with a sizable force. When Poppy and the others arrive, she asks where Malec is and refuses to have the curse lifted from Kieran until she sees the god. Once the casket is open, she tells them that he won’t rise unless given blood and that nothing can wake him. She speaks old Atlantian to Malec and then gives the okay for Callum to lift the curse on Kieran when Cas reminds her to live up to her end of the bargain. She once again states that if Nyktos had only granted them the heartmates trial, they’d be together, though not ruling over Atlantia. They’d have traveled the realm, found a place where they felt at peace, and would have lived out their days with their son and any other children they may have had. She then tells Malec how much she loves him and insists that he has to know that, even in sleep. She kisses him and reiterates how much he and their son mean to her, then pleads with him to understand as she screams and stabs him in the heart with a shadowstone dagger. Sobbing, she apologizes some more and shouts for her army to protect their King—meaning Kolis.