Eather brightened, spreading into the veins of the skin beneath his eyes as tension bracketed the corners of his lips. “What you’re feeling is my blood, Sera.”

“I don’t think so.” I breathed in deeply, taking in his scent. “What I’m feeling is how I always feel when you touch me. Like there is a fire in my blood.”

Nyktos’s fingers curled around the strap of the slip. His eyes opened, but only into thin slits. “Sera…”

“Hot. Wet. Aching.” I squeezed my thighs together, but that did nothing to ease the throbbing there. “Wanted.”

The strap of the slip moved an inch and then two, taking the bloodied neckline with it. His teeth dragged over his lower lip as I gripped his wrist. He didn’t stop me as I pulled his hand and the strap farther down my arm. I gasped as the lacy hem scratched the sensitive tips of my breasts. “Please.”

Nyktos made a rough sound that rumbled through every inch of my body. “I know better.” His churning eyes lifted to mine, and his hand moved on its own now, drawing the strap over my wrist. “And yet…”

My pulse pounded fast as his hand dropped to the side of my hip, mine following his. His gaze left mine and glided over the blood-streaked swells of my breasts. I felt the tendons beneath my fingers as his hand tightened on my hip and then relaxed, coasting over my thigh and then under the hem.

The arm around me tightened as he bent over me, lowering his head. His lips glanced over the side of my throat, and the memory of his bite went a long way to erase the pain of the one delivered by the entombed god. He lifted my upper body slightly as his mouth moved over the healed skin. The touch of his tongue against my flesh sent a shockwave of sensation through me. I watched his mouth follow the glistening trail of blood down and then up over the swell of my breast. His tongue licked the blood. “I…I don’t think I can breathe.”

“Yes, you can.”

I gasped as his mouth closed over my nipple, drawing it and my spent blood into his mouth. My hips jerked, pushing against his arousal. He caught the turgid flesh between his lips as he lifted his mouth and then his head.

“Open for me.” He issued the ragged demand as he lifted the slip to my waist, baring me to him.

My stomach twisted with anticipation as my legs parted without hesitation. His intense stare drifted past my hips to the fine dusting of hair as his fingers pressed into the flesh of my thigh. “Show me.”

Oh, gods. A red-hot bolt of shameless desire rocked me. Breathing fast, I gripped his wrist as my fingers spread over the skin below my navel. Nyktos’s stare was unblinking, all-consuming.

“Show me.” His voice was a silky whisper of midnight. “I want to see your fingers slick with your desire.”

I sucked in a soft moan. My fingers grazed the dampness between my thighs. The chamber felt as if it were holding its breath, waiting right along with me. With Nyktos. The wait wasn’t long. Slipping my finger inside my damp heat, my hips jerked against my hand as I gasped. The curling twist of pleasure deep inside was downright scandalous.

“That’s it,” he said in that same coaxing, seductive voice from when I had been taking his blood. “Fuck your fingers.”

The punch of raw desire left me dizzy as I moved my finger in and out

—his gaze fixed on my movements. He knew the exact second I eased another finger inside myself, and his eyes feasted on what he saw. This was utterly wicked, and I loved it.

Nyktos shifted me in his lap, drawing me farther against the hard ridge of his arousal. I rode my hand, rocked against his cock—

“Ash?” Nektas called from the hall. “You in there?”

I stopped, my heart lurching as my wide eyes swung to the door. “I’m busy.” Nyktos’s stare remained focused between my legs. “With Sera?”

I choked on a breath. Exactly how good were a draken’s senses?

“Yes,” Nyktos said, folding his hand over mine. My attention snapped to my spread thighs. He eased my fingers back inside. My hips nearly jerked completely off his lap. Oh, gods. A sinful bolt of pleasure whipped through me. “Don’t stop.”

“What?” came Nektas’s muffled response.

Stark hollows formed under Nyktos’s cheeks. “Wasn’t talking to you.” “Okay.” There was a pause. “She all right?”

Nyktos was breathing heavily as he watched me, feeling my fingers moving beneath his. “Yeah, she…she will be.”

“You two need anything?”

“Nektas,” Nyktos snapped, and I turned my head against his chest, smothering a moan as my knees curled.

“All right. All right,” the draken replied. “I’ll check back in a bit.”

“You do that.” Nyktos’s fingers moved over mine, controlling the rhythm as I rubbed against his cock.

My head fell back, eyes closing and breathing coming in quick, short pants as tension curled tighter and tighter. His breath coasted over my breast. I cried out as his mouth closed over the throbbing flesh, and he sucked on my skin, on the spilled blood. My fingers moved faster, harder. Pleasure trembled deep within me. He groaned, pulling me closer, holding my ass to his cock. The sounds I made…gods, I should be ashamed, but I wasn’t. I wanted him to hear them. I wanted him to feel the wetness coating my fingers. I wanted him to know that the way my body responded to him had so very little to do with his blood and everything to do with him. I wanted nothing between us. I wanted to feel the hard length of him against my skin. I wanted him inside me. I wanted him to pierce me, take me into him. I wanted so much—

The graze of his fangs over my nipple was too much. I came hard, falling over the edge as he shuddered against me. My breast muffled his harsh groan. Pleasure continued unwinding and spinning throughout my body until I was left limp and utterly boneless in his arms.

I was still trembling as he eased my fingers from me. My eyes opened, and I watched him…watched him lift my hand to his lips. He closed his mouth over my glistening fingers and sucked deeply.

“Gods,” I moaned, my breath catching.

There couldn’t be a drop of me left on my fingers by the time he finished. Quicksilver eyes met mine, and then thick lashes lowered as he kept our joined hands near his lips. “How do you feel now?” he asked thickly.

I opened my mouth, at a loss for words as I became aware of dampness against the curve of my ass, where his semi-hard arousal rested. He…he

had found release. “Better. Much better.”

“Good,” he said, and that was all he said for a time.

In the silence that followed, my heart slowed, but the heat of his touch remained, while that of his blood faded. I stared at his hand folded around my fingers, his skin several shades deeper than mine. I…I liked it when he held my hand, and a…

A want still remained.

One different than all those earlier desires. I didn’t want to leave this moment of him holding me to him, against his chest with my hand in his. This moment of his lowered lashes fanning his cheeks and the line of his relaxed jaw. I didn’t want to leave this moment of peace.

But we had to. I had to.

Because these moments wouldn’t last. I knew that when those lashes lifted and he looked down upon the one who had planned to seduce and murder him, there would be regret in those silver eyes, no matter if he claimed that he was only annoyed by my betrayal. I didn’t want to see that.

I wanted to remember these moments because what happened tonight had revealed a painful truth that couldn’t be denied. There would be no more of this.

Because I knew what I had to do.

I slipped my hand free. His head lifted, and I quickly looked away as I gathered the bloodied halves of my robe. “Nektas will be returning soon?”

“He will.”

“Okay.” I swallowed, still tasting the lingering honey of his blood. I started to move.

“Careful,” Nyktos said, taking hold of the robe and closing the halves over me. “You may feel strong, but you could be a little dizzy.”

“I feel fine.” I sat up slowly. Nyktos’s arm tightened around my waist. “I need to clean up.”

A long moment passed, and then his arm loosened. “I’ll send water to your chambers.”

I nodded as I slid out of his lap. Holding the robe together, I hurried across the room. I grasped the door handle, feeling his stare on my back. My eyes closed briefly. “Thank you.”

There was no answer.

I opened the door and left, leaving Nyktos and those peaceful moments behind.

An hour later, I sat in the war room, the closed-off chamber located behind the thrones, tracking the numerous daggers and swords lining the walls. The last time I’d been in here, it was after I’d learned the truth about the Rot.

And Nyktos had learned the truth about me. The chamber gave me bad vibes.

I decided it needed windows. Softer chairs. A table not so carved up by the gods only knew how many weapons. Less bloodstained armor of those in attendance.

My slippered foot began tapping off the stone floor as I twisted my hair between my fingers. Cleaning all the blood from my skin and hair without using the tub had been difficult. I’d tried to get inside. I’d even made it as far as standing in it, but as soon as I began to lower myself, I started feeling the sash digging into my throat. I’d scrambled out, nearly slipping on the tile in my haste. I’d felt foolish as I resorted to dunking my head in the water to wash my hair. I still felt silly. Weak. But I didn’t know how to get past it.

And it really didn’t matter at this point.

“There were at least three gods involved in the attack,” Theon was saying, drawing my attention to him and his twin sister. Their armor was stained with blood, and their deep brown faces looked somber and tired. It had to be getting close to morning. “Including the one Orphine killed. I didn’t recognize the two I saw as being from Attes’s Court.”

The twins were originally from Vathi, where Attes and his brother Kyn’s Court was located. Apparently, it was the closest Court to the Shadowlands, and it seemed fitting to me that War and Vengeance would be located near Death.

“I didn’t recognize the one I saw talking to Sera,” Bele said from where she sat, crossed-legged on the table.

Lailah’s tightly braided hair swayed above her shoulders as she leaned back, looking down at the table. “And I’m guessing you didn’t recognize

the draken?”

I followed her gaze to where Nektas sat. There was a whole lot of coppery skin on display since he wore only a pair of loose, black pants. I tried not to stare at him, but I was fascinated by the pattern of faint lines over his shoulders and chest.

“I know it may come as a shock to all, but I don’t know every single draken,” Nektas answered. He hadn’t spoken much since we’d all gathered here. I imagined his thoughts were on Davina. Had he been close to her? Did she have family?

Lailah stared at him, her brows raised.

“All I know is that I got the sense the draken was young,” Nektas added. “Too young to be up to that kind of shit.”

That had been a young draken?

“They could’ve been from any Court,” Nyktos said from behind two fingers that tapped his lower lip slowly. Fingers that had—

I cut those really inappropriate thoughts off as I peeked at Nyktos. I sat directly to his right, only because that was where he’d basically put me after retrieving me from my chambers. He’d swept his hair back in a knot at the nape of his neck and replaced the tattered shirt with a new one. Tension had returned to the set of his jaw and shoulders.

The moments of peace were truly gone.

I’d waited by the doors in my chambers, luckily catching the sound of his door closing. I’d figured he was leaving to speak with his guards about what had occurred, and I wanted to know what he would say. He’d appeared surprised by my request to join him but hadn’t stopped me. Though, he hadn’t said much and had barely looked at me. I…knew regret had found him, even though he had clearly been an active participant in what’d happened and had also found release. I shifted in the chair, the wool sweater suddenly too thick.

“They could be,” Rhain agreed. He sat across from me, his reddish- gold hair redder in the light. He’d stared at my wrists as soon as he sat beside me. Just as Bele had when she entered. I had a feeling they were the only two who sensed the charm, but the rest had been told about it. “But how many Primals would be bold enough to pull a stunt like that?”

“Does it require bravery when it wasn’t them who carried out the act?” Nyktos countered.

Rhain nodded slowly. “Good point.”

“It was likely Hanan.” Bele spat the Primal’s name like a curse. “He has cause to be upset, and he is one Primal definitely not brave enough to come to the Shadowlands himself to see if I’ve truly Ascended.” Bele slid off the table and began to walk. She was a pacer like me. “Those entombed gods were freed to create a distraction—enough time to grab my ass. People died because of it. I shouldn’t be here. I need to leave.”

“You’re where you’re needed,” Nyktos told her.

“I told her that.” Aios watched Bele, her deep red hair a shock of color against her pale cheeks. “She doesn’t want to hear it.”

“He wants me here because it’s safer,” Bele countered as she came to stand beside Nektas.

Aios sighed, shaking her head. “And as I also said, there’s nothing wrong with safety.”

“She’s right, and it can mean both things.” Nyktos brushed a strand of hair back from his face. “I need you here, where it happens to be safer for you.”

Bele’s chin lifted. “I can’t stay hidden forever. I don’t want to. I refuse

to.”

“I’m not suggesting that. But for the time being, you need to keep a low

profile. Hanan and others may believe you’ve Ascended, but until they’ve seen you, they can’t one hundred percent confirm that.”

“You’re not the one drawing them here.” I spoke up, and the hair swung around Bele’s chin as she jerked her head toward me. Several pairs of eather-filled eyes landed on me. Nyktos had shared with them what I knew, but like Nektas, I hadn’t said much during the meeting. I cleared my throat. “It’s what I did. You shouldn’t feel responsible for any of this.”

Her brow pinched. “And you should?” “Obviously. I’m the one who did it.”

“What you did saved my life—and thank you for that,” she said, two pink splotches appearing on her cheeks. “I don’t know if I said that yet.”

I nodded, feeling my face warm, as well.

“I don’t get how that god could be looking for you,” Ector said from my other side. “Neither Hanan nor Kolis knows what you look like. None of the Primals have been here to see you.”

“Except for Veses,” Rhain said.

I immediately scowled. I’d only seen the Primal of Rites and Prosperity once, and she’d been overly touchy with Nyktos. So much so that I’d

assumed they had some sort of relationship. But there had been…no one else before me. “Veses didn’t see me when she was here.” I looked at Nyktos. “Right?”

A muscle flexed in Nyktos’s jaw as he stared at Rhain. He nodded.

“People have seen her—at Court, when it was held here,” Theon pointed out. “And on the Rise the night the dakkais attacked. She’s a new face. Doesn’t take a leap of logic to put two and two together and end up with the Consort. It could’ve been Hanan, and he’d given orders to find both Bele and her.”

Nyktos’s eyes flashed to him. “Our people would never betray her identity to another Court.”

“How can you be sure?” My foot stopped its tapping. I wasn’t even sure what I was doing here. None of what would be discussed or possibly revealed would matter.

“Because I am.”

I waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. “Need I remind you of Hamid?” The godling had lived in Lethe and had befriended the young Chosen that still resided in one of the chambers above. He had been the one to report Gemma missing, and by all accounts, was known to be generous and kind. He was also known to carry a deep-rooted hatred of Kolis because he’d killed his mother—a goddess—and destroyed her soul. He, like many others, was so afraid of the false Primal of Life that when Gemma had told him I had to be the one Kolis had been searching for, he’d seen me for what I already knew to be true. That I was a threat to the sanctuary the Shadowlands offered. I didn’t fault her for what Hamid had attempted afterward. Part of me couldn’t really even blame him.

I probably would’ve done the same.

Except I would’ve been successful, where he had failed.

“Not like I’ve forgotten that.” Nyktos’s fingers stilled. “But that was different.”

“Not to be argumentative,” I said, and his eyes narrowed, “but exactly how is that different?”

“Because Hamid thought he was protecting the Shadowlands,” Rhain answered, his stare far colder than it had been when I’d first arrived. Except for Aios, none had been extremely friendly before, but Rhain had been warmer than he was now.

Lailah nodded. “And what was done here tonight threatened the safety of the Shadowlands. Those who seek shelter here wouldn’t jeopardize that.” “It’s possible that a god from another Court was here the night the

dakkais attacked,” Nektas added. “Saw you at the right moment and gave a good enough description to allow someone to grab you.”

“Or let me die,” I said. “That god wasn’t there on orders that required me to survive the attack.”

Nyktos slowly turned his head to me. “Come again?”

“He saw an entombed god creeping up on me and did nothing to stop it.” I frowned. “I thought I told you that.”

He lowered his hand to the table. “You didn’t.”

“Oh.” I sat back, twisting my hair. “So, yeah, I don’t think they wanted me alive. Maybe just out of the picture, which kind of makes me think it wasn’t Kolis, if what Penellaphe said about the embers of life is true.” And considering that I carry Sotoria’s soul, but I didn’t tack that on. As far as I knew, those in the room only knew that I carried an ember of life.

“Well, whoever was behind it almost got what they wanted…” Bele trailed off as the air in the war room chilled.

A tangible tension flooded the space. Swords and daggers rattled on the wall. My eyes lifted to the ceiling as the overhead lights flickered.

“Ash.” Nektas called his name softly.

Slowly, I looked at Nyktos. Shadows had appeared under Nyktos’s skin. The air crackled. “Almost,” I reiterated quietly.

Whirling silver eyes met mine. The essence slowed, and the charge of energy gradually faded from the room. His gaze dropped to where my fingers rested on his arm.

I was touching him. In front of others.

I hadn’t even realized I’d done it. Feeling my cheeks warm, I jerked my hand away. I didn’t think Nyktos appreciated it. Touching in those rare, intimate moments after he’d given me his blood didn’t equate to him wanting my touch whenever. I stared at the scarred table, breathing through the sting of…disappointment. But in what? Him? Me? I glanced up, and Rhain’s icy stare met mine.

Clasping my hands together in my lap so I kept them to myself, I cleared my throat again. “Anyway, I just don’t think it makes sense that it was Hanan. Wouldn’t he want me alive? Wouldn’t any of the Primals who

figure my arrival and Bele’s Ascension are related want me alive so they could hand me over to Kolis?”

“A Primal had to be behind this,” Nektas said. “No other could command a draken to attack. The question is which one? Who would know or suspect enough about you to be willing to anger both Nyktos and Kolis by allowing you to die?”

Nobody had an answer to Nektas’s question, likely because no one knew which Primal would be willing to anger both the Primal of Death and potentially the false Primal of Life.

To be honest, I wasn’t worried about that as much as I was the risk to all the others if this mystery Primal launched another attack. Or if Kolis grew tired of just being curious over the embers and decided to summon Nyktos to find out what happened. My stomach pitched as my skin chilled.

“You were injured?” Aios asked as she walked with me to my chambers.

I glanced at the goddess. The shadows smudging the skin under Aios’s citrine eyes worried me. The hollows of her heart-shaped face were deeper than before, and her concern was clear in the press of her full lips.

“Not much.”

“That wasn’t the impression I got from Bele.” Aios tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “She said you were bitten.”

“Barely,” I lied, not even sure why I didn’t want to share what Nyktos had done for me. Maybe because a part of me couldn’t believe it. “Are you staying here tonight—or what’s left of tonight?”

Aios nodded. “I’ve been staying close because of Gemma.”

Gods, the Chosen must’ve been terrified during the attack. “Can I see her?”

Aios looked away. “Maybe later.”

Tension settled into my shoulders as I trailed my fingers along the cool, smooth stone of the railing. There could be a ton of reasons why I couldn’t see Gemma now, starting with the fact that she was probably asleep. But my

mind immediately went to the worst one. What if Aios didn’t want me around the once-Chosen?

Aios had acknowledged that I hadn’t wanted to harm Nyktos, but acknowledgment didn’t equate to forgiveness. She’d been forthcoming with information when I first arrived, when most—including Nyktos—hadn’t. Aios had been kind and welcoming, but I had disappointed her. I’d heard that in her voice and seen it in her expression. In the brief times we’d been together since she’d learned the truth, Aios hadn’t been as friendly as before, and that stung. Because I liked her.

I swallowed a sigh as we rounded the third floor. “How is Gemma?” “She’s okay. Physically.” Aios smoothed a hand over a cream panel of

her gown, her features pinching. “But I think it will be a while before the mind catches up with her body.”

I wished my touch could heal those kinds of wounds, the deeper ones that no one could see. Glancing at Aios, I zeroed in on the shadows under her eyes. The empathy she’d shown Gemma when we’d spoken with her had come from a place of experience. Aios shared that same haunted look with Penellaphe.

And I had a feeling if Nyktos hadn’t taken me as his Consort when he did, and I’d been left to my stepbrother’s cruel and depraved whims, I would’ve had those shadows in my eyes, too.

“I worry that the guilt she feels rivals her fear,” she added after a moment.

“What Hamid did wasn’t her fault.” My grip tightened on the shadowstone railing. “And Bele shouldn’t blame herself for what happened tonight either.”

“Neither should you. You saved Bele’s life. You did nothing wrong.”

“I…” I looked away from Aios, my gaze traveling to the foyer below. “When I brought Bele back, I didn’t know that it would Ascend her.”

“If you had known what would happen, would that have changed things?” Aios stopped on the step above, her eyes meeting mine. “Does knowing what will happen change what you would do if presented with that choice again?”

I started to say yes but couldn’t because I’d wanted to bring Davina back. I would have if Ector hadn’t stopped me. If it happened again to another I knew? Someone Nyktos cared for, and no one was there to stop me?

A faint smile appeared, and then she turned, continuing up the stairs. “In a way, I’m not sure you have a choice. You have an ember of life in you,” she said as we reached the fourth floor, not knowing that I actually had embers of life in me. “It may have been a part of Eythos when he lived, but now, it’s a part of you. Creating life out of death is in your nature. It’s instinct.”

“Yeah,” I said, sighing as we reached the fourth floor. “But it doesn’t feel that way sometimes.”

No one was outside my chamber, but I figured it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Aios hadn’t lingered as I entered the room, where the faint, acrid scent of smoke remained. It was for the best, but I wished she’d spent a little more time. I would’ve liked to learn what her home was like away from the palace. Or how she’d become so close with Bele.

But I wouldn’t discover these things.

I glanced at the adjoining door. Just like I’d never know if Nyktos had a favorite book or food. If he could remember his dreams or if he dreamt at all. Who or what he would choose to be if he had a choice to be anyone but himself. There were so many things I wanted to learn about him. Did he remember much about his father? Did he read or allow his thoughts to wander when he had spare, quiet moments? Did he like to visit the mortal realm?

Did he regret having his kardia removed?

But what I already knew was enough to know that he didn’t deserve what this kind of life had dealt him: the loss of his parents and so many more, a Consort he’d never asked for but still had sought to protect, and living under the constant threat of Kolis. Nyktos deserved better. So did everyone in the Shadowlands.

And now I posed an entirely different threat to him and all who sought sanctuary here.

I walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the courtyard. The area had already been cleared, and only faint dark marks remained on the ground. I couldn’t let myself think about what those splotches represented. I needed a clear head as I watched the guards patrol the Rise.

The embers were important. I understood that—contrary to what Nyktos thought. The sooner I died, the less time the mortal realm would have. I didn’t know why Eythos put the embers in my bloodline, along with

Sotoria’s soul. Especially since that soul made me the perfect weapon against Kolis.

Not a Consort-to-be, hidden and protected.

Not a vessel that would be able to keep the embers safe.

I had a purpose, and there was no delaying it—no matter how distasteful it was, and no matter how much I wanted it all to be different.

I waited until I couldn’t do so any longer. There was no activity in the courtyard, and I imagined that anyone who had been beyond the Rise had left the woods by now. I had no idea where Nyktos was, but I didn’t think he’d returned to his chambers yet. There had been talk of meeting with the families of those who had perished tonight. My heart clenched. He could be anywhere, and I had no way of knowing if the path I had to follow was clear, but they were all risks I had to take.

Turning, I went back inside and headed to the bathing chamber, where I tugged off my leggings as I had been told they were called. They were thicker than tights but nothing like the breeches. I pulled a pair of those on, ignoring the stiff patches of dried blood as I shoved the slip I wore beneath the sweater into the waistband of the pants. Tugging on my boots, I grabbed a cloak and began fastening the hooks at the throat as I walked under the stunning glass chandelier to the balcony doors. Grasping the handle, I looked over my shoulder to the door leading to the adjoining room. My hand trembled.

I hesitated, looking at Nyktos’s chambers. I thought about the blanket I’d woken covered in. Had it been him who’d done that?

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, breathing through the sting in my throat and eyes. I wished he could hear those words and that he believed them.

I wished for many things in those seconds before turning back to the balcony, blinking back dampness. My shoulders tightening, I lifted the hood and stepped out onto the balcony before quietly closing the door behind me, focused on only what lay ahead.

I glanced toward the Red Woods, where the damaged gate once stood. The still-standing crimson trees stood out starkly against the iron sky. Entering those woods again where the fallen gods lay entombed was the last thing I wanted to do, but at least I knew they’d been cleared of any fallen gods. As long as I didn’t bleed in them, I’d be fine. From there, I had to cut through a small section of the Dying Woods, another place I wasn’t even

remotely looking forward to traveling through, but it was the only way to get to where I needed to be in Lethe.

Ships entered the city through the Black Bay, meaning they were coming from other places within Iliseeum. I was confident that I could get on a ship and then to Dalos, the City of the Gods, where Kolis held Court.

Because other than killing, there was one more thing I was extraordinarily good at—not being seen.

I caught sight of an armored figure in black and gray patrolling the Rise’s battlement. Pressing against the wall, I kept to the shadows and waited until they were out of sight. Then I sprang forward and didn’t give myself time to think about how reckless this was. There was no time left to wait. I only had a few hours until dawn when someone would eventually come to my chambers. Gripping the cool shadowstone railing, I climbed over it and looked over my shoulder into the empty space between me and the hard-packed ground below.

That was a significant, bone-breaking distance.

Kneeling, I lowered my right and then left leg out into the vast nothingness. Muscles straining and burning like the fiery pits of the Abyss, I drew in a shallow breath and then stretched out my right leg until it felt like my arms would pull out of their sockets. My fingers slipped a little against the shadowstone just as I managed to reach the closest arrow slit.

I didn’t want to think about if those slits had been a necessary addition. Once I was certain my foot was stable in the narrow opening, I lifted a hand from the railing and reached for a groove to grip. My stomach tumbled, then I let go and swung to the arrow slit.

Wobbling a little, I pressed my forehead against the stone. “Good gods,” I whispered. “This is idiotic.”

Planting my feet against the wall, I began to lower myself once more. All those years spent alone, climbing trees, walls, and anything even remotely vertical out of pure boredom had actually paid off. Glancing at the spiral staircase’s railing below, I went for it, swinging myself down.

I landed on the railing and nearly toppled backward. Catching myself, I hopped down onto the landing. A wide smile broke out across my face. Proud of myself and somewhat surprised that I hadn’t fallen to a gruesome, painful death, I wheeled around and hurried down the steps…and right into a dead end.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Of course, I’d chosen a staircase that, for some godsforsaken reason, didn’t go to the actual ground.

Leaning over the railing, I gauged the drop to be about seven feet. Shifting so I could hang from the railing, I said a little prayer to myself and let go.

There was a brief second of weightlessness, nothing but the bright stars overhead, and the rush of air on my skin. It felt like flying, and for a heartbeat of time, I was free—

The impact rattled me from the tips of my toes to the top of my hooded head, knocking a low grunt out of me. I stumbled forward, catching myself with my palms before I kissed the ground. I remained there for a couple of seconds, dragging in deep breaths as surprisingly dull spikes of pain darted through my knees and hips. That should’ve hurt more.

But I did have Primal blood in me.

Straightening slowly, I then took off for the gate, knowing there wasn’t that much time between patrols. Within minutes, the packed earth gave way to the crunch of gray grass, and then I was under the canopy of leaves the color of blood and no longer within view of the House of Haides.

And I was one obstacle closer to fulfilling my duty—my true destiny.