“It has to be fate,” Nektas said as we traveled back through the Vale. “That Delfai would be with someone you know at this exact moment.”
“Maybe.” Arms and legs already tense in preparation for the sirens, I kept my eyes trained straight ahead. “Or could it have been something this Delfai knew? Gods of Divination could see the past, present, and future, right? Maybe he knew to befriend Kayleigh?”
Nektas nodded. “They don’t know all innately. It must have been something Delfai had either chosen to look into or had been asked to do. But if so, that means he would be expecting you.”
I thought that over. “It was Penellaphe who told Nyktos to find Delfai. I don’t know how old she is, but could it have been she who said something to Delfai?”
“Penellaphe was young when Kolis stole Eythos’s embers, but old enough to remember the Gods of Divination,” he said. “It would make sense that she would seek a God of Divination to learn more about her vision.”
And Holland could have also walked that fine line of interfering again. Either way, it was no coincidence. “You know, Princess Kayleigh was betrothed to my stepbrother,” I said, not having told Nektas how I knew her. “She came to visit Lasania with her parents, King Saegar and Queen Geneva. To meet Tavius. My stepbrother was an…unrepentant ass.”
“I figured as much.” Nektas leaned over, straightening my hood that must’ve slipped. “Considering the enjoyment Ash finds in visiting him in the Abyss.”
“He does that often?”
“More than he has with any other soul in a long time.”
I pressed my lips together to stop my smile because even I could acknowledge that was a twisted thing to find pleasure in. I cleared my throat. “Anyway, he was on his best behavior with her. At first. It didn’t last
long. I saw her crying one evening after taking an unsupervised walk with him in the gardens. I don’t know what happened, but I know it was something terrible because when I warned her about him, she wasn’t at all surprised to hear what I had to say.”
“But she didn’t marry him?” he asked, and when I shook my head, he inclined his. “She could walk away from such an engagement? I was under the impression that wasn’t common in the mortal realm among nobles.”
“It’s not.” My lips twitched into a small grin. “So, we concocted a plan to make her…unavailable for such an engagement.”
His brows rose beneath his hood. “And how did you accomplish that?” “I gained a potion from a Healer I knew, one that could make her
appear sick—ill enough that the engagement would have to be postponed.” I laughed at his smile. “It worked. Kayleigh convinced her parents it had to be the warmer, more humid climate of Lasania, and they took her home. I don’t know if they believed it was some climate-related issue, Irelone is much cooler, but they…they love her. That much was clear when they didn’t force her to remain in Lasania, nor made her return.”
“Very clever of both of you,” he said. “Though it’s a shame that anyone would have to resort to such tactics.”
“Agreed,” I murmured. “Tavius, my mother, and King Ernald never knew for sure that I interfered, but I think they suspected something.” I shrugged. “But if I hadn’t? Would that have altered Delfai’s decision? And would we not have been able to locate him in the mortal realm? I mean, it all has to be connected.” I laughed again. “I guess every aspect of one’s life is somehow connected—every choice to do or not do something creates a chain reaction. You can’t help but wonder exactly how much is preordained.”
“You’ll drive yourself mad thinking about that,” Nektas replied. “But none of your choices are preordained. Fate is not absolute. Fate is only a series of possibilities.”
“How can you be sure of that?” I asked.
“Because I was there when mortals were created. I lent my fire to breathe life into their flesh,” he reminded me. “Mortals were created in the image of the Primals, but they were also given more.”
“The ability to feel emotion.”
“And free will,” he said. “Fate doesn’t usurp that, no matter how much the Arae probably wish they did in some situations. Fate just sees all the
possible outcomes of free will.”
I felt some relief in hearing that, knowing that the decisions made, whether good or bad, were choices actively made and not a result of haplessly following a set of events already decided. I glanced at Nektas as the Shroud protecting the Vale crept steadily closer to the road, and I began to hear the sirens singing once more. “Do Primals have free will?”
“They didn’t in the beginning.”
I remembered what Nyktos had told me. “Their ability to begin to feel emotion changed that?”
He nodded. “Nothing is more powerful, more life and realm-altering than the ability to feel. To experience emotion. Love. Hate. Desire. To care for oneself. To care for another.”
 |
Nyktos wasn’t waiting for us at the crossroads as we left the Vale like I’d expected him to be. The creepy riders were, though, and they bowed once more as we passed. I figured Nyktos had gotten caught up with something, either at the Pillars themselves or in Lethe. Nektas didn’t appear concerned, so I didn’t think anything too serious had occurred.
I didn’t look at the souls waiting to cross through the Pillars, even though the embers throbbed, and my muscles were already tense and achy from fighting the sirens’ call. But the Primal mist finally abated, and I could see crimson in the distance, glittering under the bright starlight. I nibbled on a piece of cheese that Nektas had handed over as my thoughts bounced from one thing to another and I ignored the faint ache building in my temples. I wouldn’t once I returned to the palace. It may not be the Culling, but I wouldn’t risk it if so.
“Sera?”
Finishing off the piece of cheese, I glanced over at Nektas. “Yeah?”
“You okay?” he asked, looking at me and then returning his gaze to the road ahead.
It took me a moment to realize what he was asking, and when I did, a flush swept through me. My hands tightened on Gala’s reins. It felt like my tongue thickened, becoming heavy and useless as my heart began to pound.
You okay?
Such a simple question. One easily answered by many, I imagined. One I could’ve answered that morning without hesitation or much thought. You okay? Now, the question was loaded with meaning because not only the Pools of Divanash knew a secret not known to others. Nektas did, too.
“I…I think so,” I said finally, beating back the prickly, uncomfortable wave. “I will be,” I added with a shrug. “I always am.”
“Not everyone can always be okay,” he said quietly. “And if you happen to find that you’re not, you can talk to me. We’ll make sure you’re okay. Agreed?”
Throat and eyes stinging, my head whipped toward him. His gaze was still fixed on the road, and I didn’t know if he did that on purpose or not. Maybe he knew that it was easier this way. “Agreed,” I whispered.
“Good,” he replied, and for a time, that was all that was said. A silence fell between us as a knot lodged itself deep in my chest, where that crack had formed.
I was moved by his offer, a little shaken and caught off guard. It was an unexpected…kindness, and it made me want to dive face-first into the road at the same time I wanted to hug the draken.
“Halt,” Nektas ordered sharply.
Jerked from my thoughts, I drew Gala to a stop. Concern blossomed. “What is it?”
He tipped his head back, sniffing the air. “We’re about to have company.” His chin dipped as his gaze swept over the land, barren except for the large boulders and scattered, dead trees that must’ve grown from the lakes that had once flowed here. “And it will not be of a friendly nature.”
“Great.” I reached along Gala’s side and unstrapped one of the short swords Nyktos had placed there. “I knew this trip felt too uneventful.” I followed his gaze, not seeing anything at first. Then movement by one of the frail, hollow trees close to the road snagged my attention. I squinted as my grip firmed around the hilt of the sword.
“Do not strike first,” Nektas warned quietly. Thin, long fingers folded around the edge of the trunk, the color a muddy grayish-brown. The fingers curled, digging into the bark. Claws. I stiffened. A thin arm became visible, the skin appearing hard and craggy, like…bark. “They may allow us to pass without incident. Ride slowly. Stay alert.”
I watched that hand on the tree as I nudged Gala forward. “What are they?”
Nektas brought his horse closer to mine. “They’re nymphs, and they’re ancient. They were normally kind, benevolent creatures that lived in the forests and lakes throughout Iliseeum, tending to the land that fed them. Friends of the dragons and then the Primals and gods,” he said, and I zeroed in on the normally part of that statement and the past tense of the rest. “But they are now yet another repercussion of Kolis’s actions. When he stole Eythos’s embers, it corrupted them. Turned them into creatures of nightmares that now feed off pain and torture.”
“Oh,” I whispered. “They sound lovely.”
“They used to be one of the loveliest creatures you’d ever see in Iliseeum,” he returned.
I didn’t let myself feel the twinge of sadness that accompanied the knowledge that Kolis had tainted them. It would do me no favors if I did and they decided that they wouldn’t let us pass. “Were they here when we traveled to the Pillars?”
“They are always here.”
I thought about how both Nyktos and he had been eyeing the land. “Are they what drew Ehthawn away?”
“Probably.” Nektas’s hand rested on the sword strapped to his horse. “They don’t usually attack a Primal or their Consort. Anything and everything else is fair game. Neither draken fire nor eather does anything to them. The only way to stop them is to remove their heads.”
“Great,” I murmured as we passed the tree the one lurked behind. I caught sight of another behind a boulder. “How many do you think are here?”
“There could be hundreds,” he said, and my heart seized. “But I have seen only about a dozen near the road.”
“Must be that good draken eyesight because I’ve only seen two.” “It is. I also know what to look for.”
We traveled several minutes in tense silence. I saw one more. This time, a little bit more of the nymph. A spindly leg. A foot latched into the bark.
The Rise came more into view, and I was just starting to be a little hopeful that they’d let us pass when Nektas muttered, “Shit.”
Then I saw it.
A nymph crouched in the center of the road, shoulders hunched and so small it had blended into the road itself.
It rose slowly, and I, honest to gods, really wanted to see one of these things before they changed because this creature truly was a thing of nightmares. Skin like bark, twisted and knobbed. Talons for fingers and toes. Facial features cracked and distorted. Skull hairless with a crown of jagged, exposed bone.
“I want to hear you scream,” the nymph hissed in a guttural, wet voice. “I want to see you bleed like a stream.” It lurched into motion, racing toward us.
Nektas withdrew a blade from the sleeve of his cloak. He threw the dagger, striking the creature between the eyes. Thrown back, the nymph howled, thrashing as it grabbed for the blade embedded in its head.
The air filled with hisses from both sides of the road. I cursed, swinging myself down as Nektas did the same. They were a blur, seeming to bleed out from the uneven basin, the trees, and the rocks.
“I’ll get this side,” Nektas advised, striding forward, swinging the shadowstone blade across the throat of the nymph on the road, removing its head. The creature shattered into glittering silver dust. “You got the other?”
I braced myself. “I was considering letting them do whatever, but I suppose so.”
He smirked from within the shadows of his hood as he turned to the right side of the road.
The nymphs converged on us. One was ahead of the others. “Need.
Greed. Bleed,” it seethed, leaping.
Stepping forward, I swung the sword straight across as it landed, sweeping the blade through the nymph’s neck. As the creature broke apart, I spun, catching a second nymph. It too exploded.
Two crossed the road at once. “Hate,” one rasped. “Fate,” another gurgled.
I twisted, kicking the first nymph in the knee. The creature’s leg cracked, splitting up the center. “Ew,” I whispered, driving the sword through the other’s neck and then the first’s as it hobbled toward me.
Glancing at the other side of the road, I saw Nektas methodically cutting through the nymphs. My head whipped as I darted to the side, narrowly avoiding a nymph’s claws.
“Dead. Bled. Red.” The nymph whirled.
“Do they always talk like this?” I yelled as I drew the blade across its neck. There appeared only to be a few left.
Nektas tossed a nymph as he slammed his sword through another. “If you consider rhyming nonsense to be talking, yes.”
The hum of embers in my chest was a whisper in my blood as I swung. A dry hand clawed at the air, inches from my face as I spun. Cursing, I jerked back and turned, thrusting the sword back. The blade struck the nymph’s chest. Dust puffed out, shimmery and thick. I drew the sword up, across its neck—
A horse neighed nervously, causing my heart to plummet. A nymph rushed the horses. “Fear is my spear,” it hissed. “Pain is your gain.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.” I shot after the nymph. “Oh, no, you don’t. You are not going to touch them.”
I clasped the nymph’s shoulder, the skin rough and dry beneath mine, just as it swiped out at Gala. I knew I wouldn’t be fast enough with the sword. The nymph would get its claws in the horse. Fury entrenched itself deep, stirring up the embers. Several things happened at once.
The embers vibrated wildly in my chest, heat flooded my veins, and silvery-white light crowded the corners of my vision as power built, ramping up inside me and charging the air. I gasped as eather sparked across my hand. I jerked back, but it was too late. The essence flowed over the nymph and seeped through the husk of its flesh. Light filled all the hundreds of tiny cracks all over its body, lighting it up from the inside and then from the outside. Eather poured from its open mouth and eyes.
The nymph exploded.
A wave of power blew back, so intense the burst of eather knocked me on my ass when it rolled into me.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, lifting the sword as a shadow fell over me. Nektas stared down at me. “I thought you said eather didn’t do anything to them?”
“It shouldn’t,” he said. “Only the Primal of Life can wield the kind of eather that can kill a nymph.” Nektas jerked his hood back. “It’s the same kind of power that can kill another Primal.”
 |
Nektas said very little the remainder of the journey back to the palace, and that left me a bit uneasy.
I wasn’t a Primal, so I couldn’t understand how I could have the kind of eather in me that could kill another Primal. Or how the embers could be that strong.
And I had hit Nyktos with that eather. I could’ve…
Gods, I couldn’t even let myself finish that line of thought—a sure indicator of how much I’d changed. What I needed to do was work on controlling the embers until Nyktos removed them.
After giving Gala a quick brush down and some alfalfa, I parted ways with Nektas as I entered the palace, promising to go straight to Nyktos. Nektas left to return to Jadis, who was in the mountains I’d yet to see.
Figuring Nyktos must be in his office, I headed there and entered the hall. Within a few seconds, I grinned at the sensation of the embers wiggling in my chest. I stepped into the alcove, noting that the door was ajar as I pushed one side open—
I stopped, his name shriveling and dying on my lips before it could even become a whisper. I couldn’t understand what I saw. It was as if my mind couldn’t process what my eyes were telling me.
That it was Nyktos seated on the settee, one hand lax on the cushion beside him, the other clenching the arm in a white-knuckled grip. His body taut, head thrust back, and eyes closed, the striking lines of his face tense, and his skin paler than it should be.
Or that he wasn’t alone. Nowhere close to that.
Someone was in his lap. A female—a thin, willowy female wearing a shimmery, violet gown was in his lap. Straddling him. Golden-blond ringlets fell against his chest and shielded her face as she clutched his shoulders, pale fingers digging into the dark shirt—as she moved against him. I couldn’t see her face, but I knew who it was.
Veses.
The Primal of Rites and Prosperity was in Nyktos’s lap. Touching him.
Riding him. Feeding from his throat.
