The idea that I had two souls inside me felt more right than thinking that I was Sotoria.
Nyktos wouldn’t be able to confirm such a thing until my death— whether I had two souls or not—and that was something I hoped didn’t come for a while. But could an Arae be wrong about that? I didn’t know, and it really wasn’t the most pressing issue as Nyktos met with the usual suspects, filling them in on what had occurred in Dalos. Dyses. Kolis behaving as if he had Ascended Bele. The permission we had been granted. He told them everything.
Everything except the price Kolis had demanded and who paid it.
I was glad that he hadn’t said anything because I hadn’t paid shit. The young draken had, and I’d been lucky that I was able to reach him in time to fix it.
But I knew he would tell Nektas about what had gone down. The others might learn of it eventually, but right now, it wasn’t something they needed to know.
I didn’t linger as they began discussing how Dyses could’ve been created. I couldn’t sit. I needed movement. Space. We’d already decided that the coronation would be held the following day, and then we’d leave for Irelone. I didn’t need to be present for anything else. No one followed me, not at first, but I swore I still felt Nyktos’s gaze on me long after I’d left the office.
I walked the halls and then the courtyard. Eventually, Reaver joined me. He glided in the air beside me as I followed the length of the Rise around the entirety of the palace, his quiet presence as welcome as it was painful.
Because I thought about the other draken.
I didn’t want to. I wished I could find that place inside that had allowed me to forget the lives I’d taken. The part that was able to move on from the
things I’d done. I wondered if I’d left that on the floor of Cor Palace, as well.
Because that horror and ugliness still lived inside me, even though Thad breathed again. As did the what-ifs—and they were vast. Could I have done something to prevent what went down? I didn’t think so because it would require me to undo many things that I’d done in the past. But even then, we still could’ve landed here. And what if Thad hadn’t wanted to come back? I’d taken that choice from him, just as Kolis had taken the choice from us. I could live with that, but it was still a part of the ugliness that sat heavily inside me.
Growing tired, I sat on the boulder Jadis had once attempted to jump off. Reaver landed beside me, placing his head in my lap as he tucked his wings against his sides. My fingers shook as I ran them over the bumpy ridges of scales down his back. My vision began to blur.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Reaver made a soft chattering sound as he lifted his head, placing it on my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut as emotion—sorrow and anger and so much guilt—burned the back of my throat.
I cried.
I didn’t stop the tears from falling. I wasn’t even sure I could have if I’d tried. They came from deep within, silent and heavy and a little bit broken.
I didn’t know how long we sat there, but when I opened still-damp eyes, the stars were much brighter, and the sky a darker iron hue. Reaver drew back, stretching his wings.
“Hungry?” I asked, wiping my palm over my cheek.
Reaver yipped as he drew in a deep breath, rising. I took one step before noticing something on my hand.
Red.
Faint traces of watery red. My tears.
Just like the legends said happened to Primals when struck by deep sorrow. I’d cried tears of blood.
 |
It was late when I returned to my chambers, Aios and Bele catching me when I returned to the palace.
That evening held a different kind of first for me.
I took my supper with Bele and Aios in one of the receiving chambers, along with Reaver. I’d been so surprised by their invitation, and my head hadn’t been in the right place, so I didn’t think I’d said more than a handful of words as I learned that Nyktos had gone into Lethe to make sure everything was ready for the coronation. I might’ve drunk a wee bit too much wine, reluctant to leave the warmth of the chamber they occupied as Aios had spoken about a godling in Lethe they expected to Ascend at any moment, and a couple who was marrying. The normalcy had only been broken by the quick glances they sent each other. They started out concerned but became something else when their brief touches began to linger. Sensing they likely wanted some alone time, I left with Reaver in tow, joining Ector, who waited in the hall to escort me to my chambers.
“Where is Orphine?” I asked.
“With Nyktos,” he answered as he jerked his head to the side, narrowly avoiding one of Reaver’s wings as the draken flew ahead of us. “Fates. One of these days, I’m going to lose an eye.”
Reaver gave a disgruntled yelp as he flew up the stairs. I glanced at Ector. “They’re still in Lethe?”
“Sort of. Some adventurous Shades traveled to the edge of the Dying Woods and are too close to the city,” he said. “They and a few others are dealing with them.”
Irritation sparked. I could’ve helped deal with the Shades, but that would’ve meant Nyktos returning to the palace to get me. And, well, even I could admit that made no sense. “How often does that happen, the Shades causing trouble?”
“Used to be pretty infrequent, but it seems to be happening more often.” Ector’s brows pinched. “They’ve been gathering in pretty sizable groups, which means they’re a bit more than just a nuisance to deal with.”
Concern loomed, but I reminded myself that Nyktos was a Primal. He’d be okay, even though the Shades had injured him before. He’d make sure that all the others with him would be okay, too. Plus, they had a draken with them.
Something about the Shades nagged at me as I entered my chambers, but I couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was as I held the door open for
Reaver. “Want to hang out?” The draken flew in.
Ector remained in the hall, looking at me as if I were inviting him to an evening of debauchery in the Luxe. “No, thanks.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” I retorted. Reaver made a soft huffing sound behind me.
The god smirked. “Uh-huh.”
Rolling my eyes, I closed the door and turned. Reaver was slinking around the chamber, inspecting every corner of the space much like Nektas had done. I shook my head and made my way to the bathing chamber to ready myself for bed. It wasn’t until I picked up the nightgown I’d grabbed that I saw it was little more than silver gauze that barely reached my thighs. I sighed, thankful that I’d also picked up the robe.
I was fastening the line of buttons on the robe when my chest suddenly hummed. My breath caught as I opened the bedchamber door, and my gaze swung to the other doors. They remained closed.
The feeling reminded me of when Nyktos was near, but it was fainter as I stood in the doorway of the bathing chamber.
Reaver eyed me curiously from where he’d planted himself on the chaise.
“Do you feel anything?” I asked, rubbing the center of my chest.
He gave a little chirp that could’ve been a yes or a no, so I waited, unsure which I dreaded more—the doors remaining closed or opening. Seconds ticked by. Neither door opened, and the strange sensation faded.
Nibbling on my lip, I retrieved the brush from the bathing chamber, wondering if I simply had indigestion.
Perhaps that was yet another symptom of the Culling.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I worked at the tangles in my hair. While I was more than a little tired, I was grateful for Reaver’s presence because I thought he sensed that maybe I needed the company.
And I did.
“Is Jadis with Nektas in the mountains?” Reaver nodded.
“So, are you staying at the palace to hide from Jadis?” He huffed again, ducking his chin.
I laughed as I dragged the brush through several knots. Reaver winced. “It sounds worse than it feels, I promise. I should probably cut it,” I said,
picking up several still-tangled curls. “At this point, I’m going to end up sitting on—”
The embers vibrated again. I dropped my hair as my head snapped to the doors. Reaver did the same, drawing back. His wings spread out.
A shout came from the hall, startling me. Dropping the paddle brush, I grabbed the dagger from the bed as I rose, the stone cool under my feet as I stalked forward.
“Stay there, okay?” I said as Reaver moved to jump down. He halted, blowing out a puff of air as I rounded the bed. “Ector—?”
The chamber doors suddenly blew open in a flash of intense, silvery light. I jerked back, momentarily stunned as Ector flew through the chamber, arms and legs spread. I only knew it was him because he’d been in the hall, but I couldn’t see him under the crackling, spitting wave of eather sparking over his body. Ector crashed into the dining table, collapsing the legs as he hit the floor hard. The vase that had been on the table shattered, scattering stones.
He was alive.
I told myself that as I swung forward, grabbing Reaver’s arm before he launched himself into the air. I pulled him down, keeping him between me and the chaise. Ector was alive because the embers in my chest only pulsed. They didn’t throb with the intensity of death.
Instead, they hummed with something else. An awareness of…of another.
“Sorry,” a silky voice said from the doorway. “He knew better than to refuse me entrance.”
Heart strangely calm, I turned to the doors and came face-to-face with Veses. Suddenly, and for no reason, something Attes had said when he first was here came to me. He’d referred to the situation of the Primal God of Rites and Prosperity and me as a complication he didn’t envy.
And she was definitely that.
“Hello.” Veses smiled, and…gods, she was so damn beautiful.
So much so, I imagined it wasn’t hard to overlook whatever unsavory or cruel things she was involved in when she looked like some delicate painting come to life.
She glided into the chamber, the hem of her lilac gown fluttering silently around her feet. I was surprised to see that for someone as thin as
she was, she was shockingly endowed. And I only knew that because her dress was as transparent as the nightgown I wore beneath my robe.
“I said”—she cocked her head—“hello?”
Alarm swept through me, keeping the anger threatening to lead me to another unwise choice in check. No matter what she’d done with Nyktos or how she was involved with him, she was a Primal, and not someone I wanted to anger. I kept the dagger hidden beneath the sleeve of my robe as I quickly glanced at Ector. He hadn’t moved. Not once. “I heard you.”
Veses’ head tilted as her mouth, wide and the color of lush, red berries, curved up at the corners. The smile would’ve been lovely if not for the cold, calculating edge.
It hit me then, what had nagged at me as I’d returned to my chambers. Ector had said that the Shades finding their way to Lethe had once been infrequent. But when Taric and the other two gods had come to the palace, they had led the Shades into Lethe first as a means to pull Nyktos’s presence away from the palace. As a distraction. I couldn’t remember if I had told Nyktos that or not, but it was mighty convenient that Veses was creeping around the palace now, throwing gods through doors, while Nyktos was otherwise occupied.
Footsteps pounded down the hall and then came to a halt. Rhain appeared in the open doors. “Fuck.” That one word said everything. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I was unaware that you were here.” Rhain bowed stiffly, glancing at Ector’s prone body. “These are not Nyktos’s chambers. I will send word to him and let him know of your arrival. Come,” he called to me, his eyes holding mine.
“That’s not necessary.” Veses glanced down at the small draken trying to peek around me. I moved, shielding Reaver. He was far too young to see all that Veses had going on. “I’m not here to see Nyktos.”
Fear. Rhain’s eyes widened, and I thought I saw fear in them. “But—” Veses flicked a finger.
Rhain went skidding backward, out of the chambers and into the hall. That was all it took—a move of her finger. “You can take him with you,” she said, and Ector’s unconscious body went sliding across the floor and out into the hall, as well. “He should wake up… I think.”
Rhain pushed off—
The doors slammed shut, one of them hanging crookedly from the frame. They’d broken when she threw Ector through them, but I doubted
anything but another Primal was getting through them now. “What do you hear?” Veses asked. “It’s silence, isn’t it?”
Utter silence. No one banged on the doors. There were no more pounding footsteps.
“At least Rhain remembers his place. Perhaps he’ll remind Ector of his when he wakes,” she continued. “And maybe I will forgive him for his grave overstep and for standing between me and…” That smile returned, but it was mocking. “You.” She shook her head.
“Do you know he actually drew his sword on me?” Veses laughed as my eyes widened. “What was he thinking? Striking out against me when you’re not Nyktos’s Consort.”
Shit.
What was Ector thinking?
Feeling that Reaver was still behind me, I swallowed. “Maybe his sword slipped and fell into his hand.”
Veses laughed again, a full-body laugh that shook parts of her I shouldn’t be able to see. “I’m not sure. But perhaps Nyktos will be able to convince me of such.”
I didn’t let myself respond. I didn’t even bat an eyelash.
“You know, I couldn’t believe it when he told me the rumors were true.” Kohl-lined eyes drifted over me in a way that made me painfully aware of how I must appear in the robe with my hair looking like I’d been caught in a windstorm. “What little he did say about you left me confused.” Laughing softly, she began to prowl. And that was exactly how she moved. Like the large, striped tigers that roamed the drylands of Irelone. She sat on the couch, draping her arms along the back as she crossed one leg over the other. “Sera? That’s your name, is it not?”
“It is.”
“Well, it’s Seraphena, to be exact,” she said, and unease blossomed. Had she been to Dalos? And had Kolis spoken of me? Or Hanan? “I thought we should have a little chat, Seraphena.”
I flicked a glance at the doors. “About?”
“Many things.” Her smile remained. “Don’t worry. I doubt we will be interrupted. Rhain will find it a bit difficult to make his way to Nyktos. At least, for a little while.”
I couldn’t let myself think about exactly how Veses had ensured that. “How did you become his Consort?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“As I said, he spoke very little of you.” Her eyes glittered as if made of gray diamonds. “Of course, I’m dying with anticipation to learn how.”
Too bad that wasn’t a literal statement. “We met in the mortal realm. I was swimming in a lake when he stumbled upon me.”
Pale, pink-tipped fingers splayed across the back cushions. “And?” “And we spoke.”
“That can’t be all.” “It wasn’t.”
Veses went so still, I wasn’t sure her chest moved for one breath—and I thought I’d know, since I could see straight through her gown. “Do tell.”
“I think you must already know since I’m here,” I said, angling my body so Reaver stayed behind me.
“Actually, I do.” Veses shifted, drawing her elbows to her thighs and resting her chin in her cupped hands. The fact that she actually looked even more stunning was highly displeasing. “Which is how I know you are… lying.”
“I’m not lying.” I held her stare.
She laughed. “But so was Nyktos.” Eyes glowing faintly with essence narrowed slightly. “I suppose it makes sense.”
“What does?” I reached down, blocking Reaver as he started to inch around my legs.
Her smile returned, a tight slash of berry. “That he would take a freckled and fat Consort.”
My brows shot up so far on my forehead I wouldn’t have been surprised if they hit the ceiling. The insult was so pathetic, I couldn’t feel anything but disappointment. I’d expected better from a Primal.
“Your hair is lovely, though, I’ll give you that. And”—she rolled her eyes—“your face is pleasant enough, I suppose, even with the freckles.”
“Thanks.” I drew out the word.
Veses smirked. “But then again, you are his Consort in title only, correct?”
Prickly heat scalded my skin, causing my throat and face to flush. It was the truth. But he had told her that? There was no other way for her to know. That shook the box inside me free enough that I felt a quick jab of pain… It stung like it had upon seeing them together in his office.
“Oh.” Her eyes widened as she pressed slender fingers to the base of her throat. “I’m sorry—”
“What are you apologizing for?” I cut in, sealing myself off. “You didn’t say it.”
“True, it wasn’t me. It was your soon-to-be husband. That’s gracious of you to acknowledge,” she said, and I almost laughed. Not for one second did I believe she thought that. Thick, dark lashes lowered. “Did he tell you about me? About us?”
I stiffened. “He did.”
Eather-filled eyes lifted to mine. The essence wasn’t the only thing brimming in them. So was eagerness. The cruel kind that I’d often seen in Tavius’s stares. “What did he say?”
“He didn’t say much, to be honest,” I said, even as I told myself to be quiet. To not needle this Primal. To not taunt her with her own words. That voice went largely ignored. “It was my turn to be confused. You see, I saw you when you were here last. I saw how beautiful you are. But all he has said about you is that you’re the worst sort.”
“Did he say that?” Gravel replaced the velvet in her voice. “He did.” And he had at one time, so it wasn’t a lie.
Her lips thinned. “Nyktos does have a poetic way of speaking of the women in his life, doesn’t he?”
A short, dry laugh escaped me. “That he does.” “And that doesn’t bother you?”
“Does it bother you?” I asked in return.
Golden ringlets slid over her chest as she tipped her head. “I’m not the one who will become his Consort.”
“So, is that what bothers you? That it’s me, freckled and fat, who will?
And not you?”
“Come now.” She rose with fluid grace. “I am a Primal. I can be no Consort.”
“But you could still be his wife. You want him,” I said. “Obviously.”
“Want him?” Veses moved closer, stirring Reaver. I reached behind me, grasping his hand. His talons pressed lightly into my skin. “My dear, I already have him.”
The sharp twist in my stomach and chest sickened me. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?”
She shrugged. “Well, since your future with Nyktos includes me, I figured we could get to know each other better.”
Acid pooled in the back of my throat. “My future with Nyktos has nothing to do with you.”
“Is that what you think?” Veses’ laugh was as brittle as dry bones this time.
“That’s what I know.”
“Then what you think you know is a joke.”
“The only joke I know is the one standing before me,” I spat, my restraint snapping. “And it’s a pathetic one.”
A soft huffing sound came from Reaver. It sounded an awful lot like a laugh.
Veses drew back, her brows rising. “What did you just say?” “Do I need to repeat myself?”
Shock rippled across her face. “How dare you speak to me with such disrespect—?”
“It’s kind of hard to speak to you with respect when you have earned no such thing, Your Highness.”
Two pink splotches appeared on her cheeks as she stepped toward me
—
Reaver shot out from behind my legs, wings spread, growling. Real
fear exploded in my gut. I grabbed a slender, scaled arm. He fought me. And the little cuss was strong, pulling away as he stretched his neck and opened his mouth, emitting sparks. They hit the skirt of Veses’ lilac gown, charring the gossamer fabric.
Veses reacted as fast as a Primal could. Reaver yelped as she kicked him, knocking him free of my grip. He flew back, hitting the wall next to the fireplace. Falling to the floor, he crumpled into a ball several feet from where he had stood.
“Stupid draken,” Veses sneered. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”
A veil of red slipped over me. There was no time to think. It was just like when I spied the gods in the Luxe, and they’d tossed that poor babe to the ground as if it were nothing more than trash to be discarded. I reacted out of pure, vengeful fury.
And this time, Nyktos wasn’t around to stop me.
Closing the distance between us, I stretched up and plunged the dagger deep into her eye, straight through it and into her brain.
And I didn’t feel even an ounce of guilt.
Veses shrieked, jerking back so fast I didn’t have a chance to pull the dagger free. She bumped into the corner of the bed but caught herself. She didn’t fall. She didn’t go down at all, not even for one second.
Damn.
Her head lifted. Blue-tinted blood poured down her cheek as she wrapped her fingers around the dagger’s hilt and pulled it free. Thick, gelatinous tissue clung to the shadowstone, turning my stomach. Eather seeped from her one good eye and into the air, spitting and crackling as she threw the dagger aside. It clanged off the floor, and orbs of shimmery energy pulsed over her hands.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered.
I didn’t see her move, but I felt the blow as it hit me in the chest. It was like a punch—if being punched by lightning was possible. A wave of pain swept over me as I flew backward, smacking into the wardrobe. My muscles were so rigid I barely felt the impact as I fell forward onto my knees. Lightning coursed through my veins and nerves. Dimly, I realized that she hadn’t actually laid a hand on me. That had been eather. Tiny starbursts danced across my vision.
“You stupid bitch.” Veses grabbed hold of my hair and threw me like I was nothing more than a pillow.
I hit the floor hard, knocking whatever air was left in my lungs out of me. I rolled until I hit the column of the bed with a grunt.
“What did you think that would accomplish?” Veses demanded. “I am a
Primal.”
The floor came into focus as the waves of shocking pain eased. Something didn’t feel right inside me. Several somethings. I felt a little… loose inside as I lifted my head. Reaver…he lay where he’d landed, still curled tightly but in his mortal form. Panic rose as the embers in my chest throbbed. I rolled onto my back, wheezing as something dug into my back. A hilt. The dagger.
Veses knelt beside me. Her left eye was a bloody mess, but it was already beginning to heal. She grabbed hold of my hair again, lifting my head from the floor. Her lips twisted into a sneer. “Perhaps you and Nyktos are well suited for one another since he has a habit of doing the most illogical things. After all, he took you as his Consort. I tried to stop him.
Sent my favorite draken and guard to retrieve you. And, well, we all know how that turned out—rather pointless considering you’re charmed.”
Surprise rolled through me. “It was you who sent the draken to unleash the entombed gods.”
“I had to do something before he got himself into any more trouble. Like, does he think no one realizes Taric and the others weren’t here before they disappeared?” She rolled one full and one half-formed eye. “And how convenient was that? They were looking for something in the mortal realm, and do you know what that was? I do. Life. They were looking for life. And they followed it right to Death’s home. Where you are. Does he really think no one will figure that out?” She raised her brows. “I thought I’d get lucky, and Kolis would deny the coronation before Nyktos realized it was me. But…males. You can always count on them to do one thing. Make the wrong choices. So, here I am. Trying to help Nyktos, and him being pissed at me for it. But you know what they say, no good deed goes unpunished.”
“Good deed?” I sputtered. “People died—”
“People always die.” She yanked me away from the bed. The grip sent a fiery sting across my scalp as she wiped at the blood on her face. “And now look at what’s going to happen. He’s going to know it was me. And have you seen him when he’s mad?” One eye lit with bright eather. “He’s quite destructive.” Her voice lowered as she licked the blood from her fingers. “It’s kind of hot. He’s so deliciously unpredictable then.”
“You…you’re twisted.”
Veses laughed. “Oh, you have no idea.” “I think I’m getting a good idea.”
“So am I.” Veses stopped, kneeling once more. She dropped my hair, but the relief was brief. She gripped my chin instead. “I knew there was more to all of this, no matter what Nyktos claimed. There had to be a reason he’d be willing to do anything for you.” Her fingers pressed into my chin, and I gasped as pain skated along my jawbone. “I felt you when you were first brought here. I thought I was imagining things, but when you showed up the other day and interrupted what had been a rather lovely evening, I felt you again. So, that means one of two things. Either he’s given you so much of his blood that I can feel him in you, or…”
My eyes locked with Veses’. The sensation I’d felt in my chest. The
hum of energy. It had reminded me of when Nyktos was near because
another Primal was close. I had felt something similar when Attes arrived. I just hadn’t recognized it, and…
“Or Nyktos didn’t find himself a Consort.” Veses brought her mouth to within inches of mine. “He found himself a Primal in their Culling. And not just any Primal. Because you know what else I felt today, coming out of Vathi? Life.” She nipped at my lower lip. “Which, as impossible as that sounds, is still more believable than him sharing what is mine. His blood.”
“Oh, I’ve had his blood.” I smiled at her. “I’ve had all of him.” Her one eye widened.
I struck, slamming the side of my hand into her throat as hard as I could.
Veses let go of my chin, staggering as she choked, clasping her hand over her throat. I scrambled forward on my hands and knees to Reaver. The embers in my chest continued throbbing as the energy ramped up in me. Heat swirled down my arm. Eather sparked.
Grabbing the back of my robe, Veses threw me backward. I slid, smacking into the foot of the couch. That box that I stored all those volatile emotions in shuddered, shaking and cracking—
The doors to the bedchamber burst open. Veses wheeled around, but it wasn’t Nyktos who stalked in.
It was Bele.
