Ash held me tightly to him as if he feared I might slip away. I could feel his heart pounding against my cheek as he prepared to bring us back to the Shadowlands.

Where we needed to prepare. Make plans. Try to figure out how long I had before…I died. It couldn’t be too long. Not with how strong the embers were. It was possible I only had days left—weeks if I was lucky.

A shudder worked its way through me. Ash’s chin grazed the top of my head as his fingers curled around my braid. Tendrils of moonlit darkness rose.

Would this be what death looked like? A rise of darkness? Nothing before I entered the mist before the Pillars, unable to hear or see anyone near me? A sharp swirl of raw panic darted through me, threatening to fracture the calm evoked by the failure of all those what-ifs. I closed my eyes, swallowing the knot gathered there.

I could deal with this. I had to.

There was no other option.

As the whirling strands of eather settled around us, the normally stale, cool air of the Shadowlands reached us, carrying the strong scent of burning wood. The embers vibrated in my chest.

“Something’s wrong. There is…death everywhere,” Ash bit out as dread exploded throughout me. A shout echoed from the Rise. “Fuck.”

Ash turned sharply as stinging heat roared over our heads. Fire slammed into the palace. I gasped as the entire structure shook under the blast of flames.

Everything we’d learned in Massene fell to the wayside. We were under attack.

“Hold on,” Ash ordered.

I gripped the front of his tunic, expecting him to shadowstep once more, but he took a step forward instead, lifting me as he launched onto the railing of his balcony.

Ash jumped.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, squeezing my eyes shut as acrid air rushed up. My stomach plummeted at the brief seconds of utter weightlessness, and then we were falling.

Ash slowed before landing hard in a crouch. I didn’t feel the impact, and I wasn’t sure if that was because he’d taken the hit or from the shock of him leaping off the balcony.

He lowered me to my feet as he rose, releasing me. With my heart thundering, I turned to see several guards on the Rise aiming at the ground outside, firing arrows.

The high-pitched yelps and guttural growls sent a cold shiver down my spine as Saion raced from the gates.

“Veses?” Ash clipped out.

“She’s still in stasis, in her cell, but there are dakkais at the Rise—here and in Lethe. Bele and Rhahar are down there, but—” Saion skidded to a halt as a shadow fell over the courtyard.

Ash yanked me back as a reddish-black draken dove toward us, releasing a stream of fire. Heat blew back. The fire slammed into the ground, kicking up soil and rock. For a moment, I couldn’t see Saion through the flames, and my heart stopped.

The fire receded, revealing Saion, picking himself up from several feet back. “And that fucker just showed up,” he growled. “And is already starting to piss me off.”

“Davon,” Ash snarled, and it felt like we were leaping off the balcony once more. It was the draken I’d seen in Dalos—Nektas’s distant relative. Ash prowled past the now-several-feet-deep gash in the charred, smoking ground, keeping a hold of my hand. “How many draken?”

“There is at least one more making a run at Lethe,” Saion said, and my free hand curled into a fist. “Nektas and Orphine are fending him off, but Nyktos, my man, it…” Saion swallowed, shaking his head as he turned at the waist, he thrust a hand over his head as the archers along the Rise fired another volley of arrows. “He’s here.”

My skin chilled as Ash halted. No.

He couldn’t mean Kolis.

But the pale tightness at the corners of Saion’s mouth, the pulsing eather in his too-wide, too-bright eyes… And the way he choked as he continued sent a deeper, stronger wave of dread through me.

Through Ash.

Shadows immediately blossomed under Ash’s flesh. “Kolis?” Saion gripped his sword. “Kyn.”

Every part of me went still. “Kyn?” I uttered, glancing at the Rise as guards raced along it. If Kyn were here with Kolis’s draken and his dakkais…

“He came before the dakkais, looking for you—for both of you,” Saion said. “Surprised the guards—surprised all of us.” He started turning from us but stopped. “There was nothing we could do. He’s a Primal.” He bent suddenly, clasping his side as he dragged in a deep breath. “The fucker just

—” Saion choked and then said no more.

He couldn’t as he gnashed his teeth together, dragging a hand—a bloodied hand—over his face.

Picking up on what Saion was feeling, Ash inhaled sharply, his skin thinning even further. Energy charged the air, and the embers in my chest hummed and shook.

Ash started walking toward the west courtyard. I followed, my unease amplifying and growing.

Saion caught my arm as I passed him. “Don’t,” he rasped. “You don’t want to see this.”

I stilled, my chest rising and falling in short, shallow breaths. A part of me wanted to listen to his warning because I knew that something had happened. Something bad. An act that Saion wished he hadn’t seen.

But I couldn’t.

Because Ash wouldn’t.

I slipped my arm free. Saion’s curse got lost in the order for another barrage of arrows. I hurried, catching up to Ash as I scanned the skies for the draken, seeing no sign of him.

The air smelled different here. It carried a…a hint of damp metal. A recognizable scent. Blood. Death.

Oh, gods.

Suddenly, I was in Saion’s place, wanting to stop Ash from discovering what awaited. “Ash,” I called out.

He didn’t stop.

Not until he rounded the corner of the palace. Then he did. He jerked, stumbling back a step. I’d never seen him stumble. Fear of what he’d seen seized me as I crossed the short distance between us, seeing dark red across the gray, cracked soil and discarded swords. Streams of red. Splatters of crimson. Puddles of blood.

Ash threw his arm out, blocking me, but it was too late. I saw…

I saw them.

On pikes, drilled into the ground. Hands and arms bound. Their mangled skin and torn-open chests empty of hearts. Throats slashed to the bone. Others were cut so deeply that their heads were no longer on their shoulders but the ground.

The embers hummed in response to the death. To the utter lack of life as I dragged my gaze over faces I didn’t recognize, lifeless eyes of those I’d passed in the courtyard or saw training with Ash. I looked down.

Fair hair. Sharp, bloodless features. Lifeless, dull amber eyes. That was his…that was his head.

Ector.

I staggered, my throat sealing as I clapped a hand over my mouth, and a softer red snagged my attention.

The color of wine.

The flash of a silver chain around a throat, soaked in blood.

“No,” I whispered, skin flashing hot and then going numb. “No.”

“She came outside to help,” Saion said raggedly from behind us. “I told her to get back, but Kyn saw her. And Ector—fucking Ector tried to stop him.”

I swayed, chest throbbing as the embers responded to me—to the storm of emotions roaring through me. My blood heated, filling my veins with fire.

“Bele doesn’t know,” Saion rasped. “She was already on the way to Lethe. She doesn’t know—fuck, you’re starting to glow.”

He wasn’t talking about Ash, who had gone completely silent and still. It was me.

A distant rumble echoed in the sky. Davon was near. That was a problem, one we needed to figure out how to handle, but I couldn’t think beyond Aios and Ector and the dozens of lives lost on these pikes.

I couldn’t understand why. What had any of them done?

The embers throbbed as I started toward Aios—toward them—but I forced myself back. Using the embers had caused this. If I were to do it again, it would lead to more attacks.

My hands curled into fists as fury clashed with grief. I could do something. I could fix this, but who would pay for it?

Not the one who should. Kolis.

“Is Kyn still here?” Ash demanded, his voice cold and flat as the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees.

“The last I saw him, he was outside the Rise,” Saion answered. “Behind the line of dakkais. He had Cimmerian—” Saion turned to the sky. “That fucker is coming back.”

Ash turned from the pikes, away from the carnage. “Summon the armies.” Eather sparked from his whirling flesh as his lips peeled back over his fangs. Power poured into the air. Shadows spilled into the space around him, spinning and whirling, and when his eyes met mine, they were pure orbs of silver. The rumble of Davon’s roar was closer as Ash tipped his head to the sky.

Then Ash rose.

Straight up like a launched arrow. Streaks of silver light radiated from him, hissing and snapping. The hazy outline of wings appeared as his hands splayed open. Outside the rise, the dakkais howled as Saion ran toward a guard on horseback, giving her orders. She took off for the gates facing the Undying Woods. I could only hope that she and the armies were quick.

“Fire! Fire!” I heard—thank the gods—Rhain shout from the Rise. “Now!”

The air around Ash crackled, flashing a lighter gray as the eather built inside him, turning his skin the shade of mottled shadowstone. His wings looked almost solid as clouds darkened the sky—actual dark clouds that gathered and thickened.

Ash became a storm.

Davon appeared over the palace, jaws open and scales vibrating.

Flames sparked from inside his throat.

Ash laughed.

And the sky trembled with thunder. The draken spread his wings, slowing as he curled his body, but he wasn’t stopping.

Ash was stopping the draken.

He’d lifted a hand, twisted his wrist.

The crack of Davon’s wing was lost in the answering howl of pain. “My gods,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Saion breathed. “You haven’t seen a really pissed-off Primal, have you?”

Eather erupted from Ash. Blinding streaks lit up the sky, slamming into Davon. The draken tumbled as eather raced through his scaled body.

“It ain’t pretty,” Saion finished.

Davon hit the courtyard on his forelegs and pushed up again with a roar, still crackling with eather. He flew back up, even with a broken wing.

No, it was not pretty.

Telling myself that Ash would be okay, I turned to the pikes. I needed to focus. I had a job to do. I started forward, unsheathing the dagger.

“What are you doing?”

“Help me.” I hurried to Aios. I hated choosing, picking one life over another, but she was the closest, and she still…she still had her head. I didn’t know what I could do for those who didn’t. I didn’t understand how the embers worked to reattach limbs and parts, but Aios…I could help her and then try with the rest. “Help me get her down.”

“Fuck, Sera. You’re sure about this? It’ll be felt. You’ll Ascend Aios, just like you did with Bele.” Saion followed. “It will make things worse—”

“Worse?” I laughed, and the sound broke off. “Worse than this?

Really?”

“It can always get worse.”

Like it had for Aios, who had already experienced far more horror than anyone should ever have to live through.

“The risks,” Saion began.

“I know what the risks are, but it won’t matter.” It wouldn’t. Because as soon as we had the chance, Ash would take the embers from me. There would be no more waiting. No plans made to figure out what to do with whatever time I had left. He had to because, after this, he’d have to Ascend.

And he’d need to stop Kolis.

“They will not die today,” I said. Ignoring the blood-stained edges of Aios’s gown, I bent and cut through the ropes around her ankles as the sky

overhead lit with silver flames. I tensed and then relaxed as Davon let out another pained screech.

I rose, freeing the wrists tied at Aios’s back. Her skin…it was cold, clammy but not stiff. “Help me get her down,” I said again before cutting the rope around her waist. I met Saion’s stare. “As your Consort, I demand it.”

Saion briefly closed his eyes, then nodded. He came to my side, folding his arms around Aios. “I’ve got her.” His gaze met mine. “You’re going to want to get your hand behind her head as quickly as possible or…”

Clamping my mouth shut, I nodded. I knew what could happen. “On the count of three,” I said. “One, two, three.” I cut through the rope and then moved, bracing the sides of her too-loose head as Saion took her weight. “Lay her down. Not in the blood.” I looked for a nearby place free of gore. And looked…

“No place is clean.” Saion began to lower her. “This will have to do.” Blinking back tears as Ash’s lightning arced across the sky, catching

Davon once more, I dropped to my knees and placed the dagger down as I tapped into the embers, willing them to respond. They throbbed and surged, the essence flooding my veins.

“Keep that dagger close,” Saion advised, his eyes on the Rise as he moved to brace Aios’s head. “Ash is getting the dakkais riled up.” His gaze flicked over me. “As are you. The dakkais. Remember, they don’t just trace the essence,” he said, “they devour it.”

I placed my hands over Aios’s damaged chest as I snarled, “Fuck the dakkais.”

Saion let out a short laugh. “I like you,” he said, shaking his head as his gaze returned to the Rise. “You know that? I really do.”

The essence flared from my palms. “I like you, too.”

I looked down at Aios, not seeing or hearing Saion’s response as I channeled everything I had into the goddess. The flow of power responded without hesitation, faster and hotter than before. I focused on her face, no place else. The eather rippled over her body and seeped into her skin. All her veins lit up, the light intensifying.

Shouts ramped up from the Rise, as did the howls and growls.

The glow beneath Aios’s flesh expanded and rose, spreading beyond her body. Beneath my knees, the ground began to tremble.

“Here it comes,” Saion warned.

The eather pulsed and then exploded in a blast of pure power, causing both Saion and me to scoot back on our knees. I lost my hold on Aios as the wave rippled out from the courtyard and moved beyond the Rise—beyond the Shadowlands. A brighter, more distinct bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

Then it stopped. The wind. The shaking.

I scrambled back to Aios’s side, peeling back the torn collar of her gown. A thick pink line encircled her throat. The skin was bruised over her heart but healed.

Her chest rose with a deep, singular breath. “Aios,” Saion gasped.

Her eyes fluttered open— silver and bright. “Saion? I…” Her throat worked on a swallow, and her head jerked so quickly toward me that I winced. “Sera.”

Hands shaking, I smiled weakly. “Hi.” “Hi,” she whispered.

Screams rippled through the air, sending a bolt of fear through me. We needed to get Aios out of here. The sleep that came after what I’d just done didn’t seem like something anyone had any control over. Saion twisted toward the Rise, his jaw hardening.

Aios struggled to sit up as Davon fell from the sky like a sack of boulders, slamming into the ground but righting himself quickly. “W-what is…?”

I caught her by the shoulders. “You need to get inside. Hide.” “But—”

“Now.”

Saion twisted. “Kars?”

A guard stopped at the foot of the Rise and changed direction, heading for us. His steps slowed, eyes widening.

“Get Aios inside. Now.”

Blinking, he shook his head. “On it.”

I rose as the god helped Aios to her feet and then lifted her to his chest, turning to… “Help me get Ector down.”

“Sera—”

“I can try.” I went to Ector’s ankles. “I have to try. Just like he did.” My throat burned. “Just like he has.”

“Yeah. Okay. We’ll get him down, and I’ll get his…”

I flinched, but we did it quickly, laying Ector out so that he almost appeared whole. Briefly meeting Saion’s stricken gaze, I summoned the eather—

“They’re coming over,” Rhain shouted from the Rise. “Get back.

Everyone get back!”

Screams shattered the air, and the embers flared and pulsed, over and over as I reached to place my palms on Ector’s still chest.

“Fuck.” Saion rocked back. “The dakkais are over the wall.” “Keep them back,” I ordered, breathing in deeply.

The scraping of claws over stone overpowered the sound of my pounding heart. The essence flared, deep and powerful, and my vision turned white—pure white—for a second as the eather swelled—

“Stop. Stop!” yelled Saion as the eather rippled out from my palms, splashing against Ector’s chest. “It’s drawing them to you. Stop!”

All I needed was a few more seconds. That was all. I could bring Ector back—

Saion grabbed me by the waist, hauling me back.

“No!” My eyes went wide as the essence flickered over Ector and faded. “Let me go!”

“There’s no time.” Saion pulled me back as muscled bodies slick like midnight oil charged the courtyard, jaws snapping and claws digging into soil. Their snarls fell upon me like daggers.

I struggled against Saion. “I can bring him back. I just need—”

“No.” Saion twisted, shoving me back several feet. His eyes flashed with essence as my boots slid on the blood. “You do that, and they’ll swamp you. You’ll die.”

I was going to die anyway.

I started toward Ector as arrows pounded into the courtyard, striking the dakkais.

But I…I couldn’t die yet. Because the embers were important. More so than Ector. Than me.

And I knew that.

Gods.

I knew that.

And I hated that I did.

Saion shouted, twisting as he drew the swords from the sheaths at his back and side. A dakkai launched at him, and another veered past him. I

screamed in fury and anguish as I bent quickly, swiping up a fallen shadowstone sword instead of going for my dagger.

Spinning, I brought the sword down on the neck of the faceless beast, severing its head. I dipped, grabbing another sword. I thrust forward, shoving it deep into a dakkai’s chest. Foul-smelling blood coated the blades as I spun, dragging the sword through the air. Lightning rippled across the sky.

A dakkai veered past Saion, past the guards now in the courtyard. Then another. And another. I whirled, horror knocking the wind out of me as they went for the power—the eather.

Ector.

“No!” I screamed, launching across the slippery ground and driving the sword into the dakkais, into any part of them I could as they swarmed Ector’s body in a nightmare of claws and teeth. I lost all sense of skill. I simply hacked away at the beasts.

Saion was there. Then Rhain. Another guard—a god—used eather, firing at the dakkais, but it only drew more, and they kept coming, crowding the pikes. They kept coming, even as we struck them down, their mouths and claws coated with shimmery reddish-blue blood.

The embers inside me throbbed wildly. Pained-filled shouts filled the courtyard and the Rise as Rhain kicked a fallen dakkai aside, off to where Ector had been laid out—

The god staggered back from…from what was left behind. He turned, vomiting. The sword slipped from my fingers. A mess. That was all that remained of Ector. A mess. My hand shook. I shuddered, and deep within the cavern inside me, the essence of the Primal of Life roared. My skin hummed. A metallic taste coated the inside of my mouth as dull pain lanced my jaw. A whirling motion swept through me as my lips parted.

A scream of rage, of ruin tore from me as the corners of my vision turned white—pure white.

All across the courtyard, the dakkais reared, jerking their heads toward me. And the power inside me built and swelled until nothing could hold it back.

I didn’t even try as the other sword shattered in my hand. A pulse of power rolled out from me, leaving me dizzy as it swept into a wave of dakkais, knocking them away from Saion and Rhain and into the air, where they simply vanished.

Were obliterated.

A bone-deep exhaustion sank in, the kind I’d never felt before as the wave of power retracted. I stumbled a step forward, panting. Something warm and wet dripped from my nose, hitting my arm. Blood. My blood. I looked down and saw the silvery sheen fade from my hands as a swarm of dakkais crested the wall.

I heard my name being called, heard calls for retreat, but the voices were dull as Rhain ran for me. He grabbed my arm, my waist, but I couldn’t feel his touch. I didn’t feel connected to my body at all. It was like I was floating. I blinked slowly, my vision going out…

And then coming back in.

“Sera!” Rhain shouted, his voice loud enough to cause me to wince. “Are you all right?”

“I-I don’t know.” Sensation returned to my body as Rhain turned my head to his. Some strength filled me, but not a lot. I swallowed the blood that had gathered in my mouth. “I think so.”

He didn’t look like he believed me as he quickly wiped the blood from my nose.

“We need to get inside,” Saion said, breathing heavily. A dakkai had clawed the front of his chest. I saw that Rhahar was with him.

We turned, but there was no path to the palace—to safety. No matter which direction we turned, there were snapping jaws and flat, flared nostrils, heads without features, and bloodied claws.

Dakkais surrounded us.

“Damn it,” seethed Rhahar, dragging the back of his hand over his bleeding cheek. “Godsdamn it.”

“Sounds about right,” Saion remarked, lifting his sword as he glanced over his shoulder at me. “You think you can do that thing again? It’ll draw more, but it may clear enough of a path.”

“I…” I searched for the embers but felt no flare. No wiggle. Nothing. My gaze met Saion’s as my throat started to close off. I couldn’t feel them. I couldn’t—

A draken suddenly crashed into the Rise, cracking it and taking out a large chunk. Shimmery light cascaded over Davon’s body as he fell to the courtyard, shifting into his mortal form.

And then the air turned frigid. Our breaths puffed out in small clouds as tiny bumps rose all over my skin. Rhahar slowly turned to our right.

To where a Primal hovered, shadowy wings spread wide and body encased in wisps of crackling eather.

Mist poured from Ash, out of Ash. Primal mist. It spilled to the ground, full of churning streaks of essence.

The dakkais’ heads swiveled and lifted, lips peeling back as they sniffed the air. Scented. Traced.

Tracked.

“Shit,” Rhain breathed behind me. “Shit.”

Ash’s silvery eyes locked on me for a moment, and I swore I heard his voice like a whisper among my thoughts.

The dakkais took off, one after the other, heading straight for Ash, just as he wanted. For a moment, those silvery eyes locked onto mine, and I swore I felt him—a cool brush of tendrils against my cheek like I had felt the night he’d been in my bedchamber. A shiver of awareness skated over the nape of my neck.

Run, liessa. Run.

I jerked into Rhain as I stared back at Ash. His voice. I’d heard his voice in my thoughts—

A dakkai cut in front of Ash. He caught the creature by the throat, throwing it back as he strode forward. Another raced at him as a silvery glow pulsed over his body.

Real, potent fear pounded through me, even as the mist snuffed out a line of dakkais. Dozens clamored over the fallen. Ash would be swamped. Primal or not, he would go down. What I’d seen left of Ector flashed in my mind.

“No!” I tore free of Rhain and grabbed a sword. “Help him!” I shouted, but Rhahar and Saion were already on it.

I ran, slower than before, slower than I’d ever been, but I pushed on.

I’d crawl if needed. I lifted the now-heavy sword—

A funnel of fire slammed down on the ground between Ash and me. Nektas. He cut through the dakkais as he flew low. And he wasn’t alone. Orphine was with him. She released a stream of flames behind Ash as she dove.

“She’s too low!” Rhahar shouted.

A dakkai leapt as she veered, digging its claws into her side. She rolled, shaking the creature off, but another landed on her. And another—

Something blotted out the stars, darkening the ground. My gaze jerked to the Rise. Shadows gathered along the top and spilled over the wall— shadows thick and full of solid forms. Bodies.

“The Cimmerian,” I panted. They were still here.

Kyn was still here.

The wave of Cimmerian came fast and hard, feeding off the eather until a cloudy night descended upon us.

And then I couldn’t see anything. Not Orphine or Nektas. Not Ash.

I froze, taking shallow, too-short breaths. Breathe in. Someone shouted. The clang of sword against sword echoed strangely in the thick darkness. Hold. The sound of flesh giving way to stone and metal and claws followed. Yells. Screams—

A tidal wave of bodies slammed into me, pushing and forcing me back. I didn’t know if they were our people, the Cimmerian, or the dakkais. I could barely keep a hold of the sword, and then it was knocked from my grasp. Hands pushed into me. Elbows hit my sides, my back. I couldn’t hold my ground. The rise and fall of bodies swept me up, the stench of fear, falling weapons, and darkness—darkness streaked with bursts of eather and gold—swallowed me. Breathe in. I caught glimpses of shimmery gold in the darkness. Gold clothing. Gold hair. I choked.

The wall stopped the flow of bodies without warning.

I hit the cold stone hard. Air punched out of my lungs as pain exploded down my back. My legs went out from under me, and I ended up on the ground—on gravel. I twisted to my side, curling in on myself as the bodies met the wall, too, some falling, some making it out. I tensed as knees connected with my shoulder and head as the sound of thunder shook the ground. Was it more dakkais? Horses? Our armies?

Our people?

Our people.

I lifted my head, staring into the mass of eather-lit shadows smothering the courtyard. Swords and bodies still clashed as I searched for Ash. Breathe in.

I needed to find him.

Then we needed to find a place that would be safe and secure for long enough that he could take the embers. It had to happen now before more died. Before this became the war he’d hoped to prevent.

The war it already felt it was.

Hold. I rose, pushing off the wall. The embers were still silent in my chest as I shuffled forward, tripping over bodies littering the ground. A dakkai growled nearby. I kept going, catching glimpses of those fighting. Flashes of gold that made my heart race. A roar rumbled in the sky I couldn’t see, and I hoped it was one of our draken as I found a sword.

Ash would find me. I knew he would. He would sense me, just as he had all the other times. As long as the dakkais hadn’t completely swamped him. As long as he was still conscious. We’d find each other.

Silvery flames cut through the darkness, catching those fallen and those not, scattering the thickest of shadows—

Gold.

A flash of golden hair and golden paint only feet from me.

I stumbled back, my stomach lurching as my grip tightened on the sword’s hilt. Shadows reclaimed the space as I veered to my right, closer to what I thought was the palace. Breathe in. I kept going, one hand stretched out. We’d find one another. We would—

I halted.

The tiny hairs all along the nape of my neck rose. Hold. A wave of awareness tiptoed down my spine. My stomach hollowed as I firmed my grip on the sword. Tension settled in my shoulders as I heard Ash shouting my name, drawing closer and closer until the sound of hooves drowned him out. Our armies had arrived, but something…someone else was close. A hunter. I felt it in my bones. And I was the prey. Instinct seized me.

Spinning, I thrust out with the sword.

A hand clamped down on my wrist as a stream of fire overhead broke apart the shadows. The air cleared enough for me to see blondish-brown hair. High cheekbones. A scar across the left cheek.

Attes.

The rush of relief nearly took my legs out from under me. He’d come to our aid, even at the risk of not just angering Kolis but also to take up arms against his brother. Thank the gods he’d stopped what would’ve been a fairly painful blow, even with the shadowstone armor protecting his chest.

“Thank you,” I scratched out.

Tension settled in the corners of his mouth. “You shouldn’t thank me yet.”

I stared up at him as the breath I drew in went…nowhere. Every part of my being rebelled against the instinct suddenly screaming at me.

“Why?” I cried.

His stare was expressionless. “Because this is the only way.” “No,” I seethed, red-hot anger exploding. “No, it’s not.”

Attes pressed his fingers into my wrist, between the tendons. The flare of sharp pain was intense and shocking, forcing my hand to spasm. The sword fell as horror and fury pounded through me.

“Sorry,” he grunted.

I twisted in a desperate bid for freedom. Attes sidestepped me, spinning me around. Before I could take another step, he hauled me back against him.

“Sera!” Ash thundered, and a flash of intense light followed.

Through the mass of bodies and dakkais, clashing swords and racing horses, I saw Ash several yards away, drenched in shimmery blood. Clothing ragged. Face clawed. Arm torn. Enraged. Beautiful. Fierce silver eyes locked on mine as he ripped a Cimmerian from the shadows, tearing the god apart. A dakkai came at him from behind. He caught it, shattering the creature with a touch.

Attes’s hand curled around my chin, forcing my head back against his chest as smoke and shadow poured over us. “All we want is you. Remove the charm, and no more blood will be shed this day. No more lives will be lost.”

Ash roared my name in the darkness as rage and desperation swirled through me.

“Refuse?” Attes continued softly. “And my brother will leave none but the Primal standing.”

Ash appeared in the darkness, his body charging with eather as he shoved a dakkai aside, and I saw Rhain behind him, fighting back one more beast.

“Sera!” Ash roared, beginning to rise, but the dakkais, they kept coming at him, jumping on him as they had with Orphine, taking him down. I struggled against Attes’s hold and attempted to get to Ash as he threw the dakkais off.

“It’s your choice,” Attes said. “And you should make it quickly.”

My eyes locked onto Ash’s, and they didn’t leave him until the smoke and shadows whipped through the space between us.

“Promise me,” I rasped. “Swear to me that no one else will be harmed.” “No one else will be harmed,” pledged Attes. “I swear.”

I shuddered, my insides going cold. “I will leave.”

A sharp swirl of pinpricks swept over my wrists, just like when Vikter had placed the charm on me. The ancient words appeared briefly on my skin, a faint glow that faded quickly.

Attes turned sharply into a void of smoke-choked midnight. “You made the right choice.”

He was wrong. Because there was no choice to be made. There never had been.