Ember of life.
You carry the ember of life in you, Sir Holland’s voice whispered through me. You carry hope within you. You carry the possibility of a future.
Reaver called out again, making that strange, staggered sound, echoed by Jadis. From outside the palace, a deeper call answered in a chorus that rattled the herbs hanging from the walls.
The only one who appeared able to move was Aios. She came to the table, placing the basin on the surface. Glancing over at me, she checked Gemma’s pulse. “She’s definitely alive.”
“That’s it,” Ash spoke, the shadows spinning dizzily under his skin. I looked over at him and saw only him. Saw the disbelief give way to wonder
—wonder that turned into something powerful and bright, something like hope. My chest tightened until I wasn’t sure how I breathed. “That’s what he did.”
“Fuck,” Saion uttered, and I thought he might need to sit down.
“Did what?” Theon asked as I pressed a hand to my chest. “Who did what?”
Ash straightened to his full height. His gaze remained fixed on me. “No one speaks about what they saw in this room. No one. Gemma wasn’t as wounded as previously believed. She will be told the same. Cross me on this, and I will spend an eternity ensuring that you regret that choice. Does everyone understand?”
His words lifted the shock from the room. One by one, each god showed that they clearly understood.
“Good.” Ash still hadn’t taken his eyes off me. “Theon? Lailah? Please take Gemma to one of the rooms on the second floor.”
The twins moved forward to obey the Primal’s request. Both sent cautious looks in my direction—looks tinged with wariness and marvel. I watched Theon carefully lift the sleeping Gemma into his arms.
Lailah grabbed the basin. “To clean her up,” she said. “She’s going to need it.”
“Thank you,” Ash said, his gaze still boring into me. A wave of tiny bumps spread across my skin. “Ector?”
The god cleared his throat. “Y-Yes?”
“Make sure the guards on the Rise are at all four corners and at the bay. Then make sure those at the Crossroads know to alert us at once if anyone arrives from another Court. Go now,” Ash ordered, his focus still on me. “And go fast.”
Alarm raced through me as Ector left at once. “Why…why are you doing that?”
Shadows continued gathering under Ash’s skin as he kept staring at me. “I felt what you just did. All of us did.”
“We all did, too,” Nektas’s voice startled me. I looked up to see him entering through the hall I’d come through. He was shirtless, his long crimson-streaked hair windblown. His flesh appeared…harder than before, the ridges of scales more defined. Had he just shifted?
I watched Jadis peel away from Reaver’s side and rush toward her father. He bent and picked her up. “I don’t understand.”
“That was a ripple of power,” Ash said, and my attention shifted back to him. I stepped back from the table, from where Gemma’s blood pooled. “One hell of a ripple of power, liessa. One that will most likely be felt through all of Iliseeum by many gods and Primals. There is no doubt in my mind that others will come searching for the source.”
My stomach twisted. “I…I didn’t know it caused a ripple of power. I assume that’s a bad thing?”
“Depends on who felt it.” A predatory edge had settled into Ash’s features. “It could be a very bad thing.”
I opened my mouth and reached for my dagger. Through the gown, I pressed my hand against the hilt. “When will we know if it is a very bad thing?”
Ash had tracked my movements, and his smile held a cold savageness. “Soon.” He took a step toward me. “That wasn’t the first time you did that, was it?”
I locked up.
“Liessa,” Ash all but purred, his chin dropping as he slowly rounded the table. I glanced quickly at the other gods and draken, but I doubted any of
them would intervene. “I’ve felt that before. Over the years. Never that strongly, and I didn’t know what it was. Couldn’t even exactly pinpoint where it was coming from.”
I stiffened. He…he’d felt it before?
“And I know for a damn fact that I wasn’t the only one who felt it before,” he said, shadows starting to gather and move under the table, drifting toward him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nektas motion for Reaver to come to him. “The night at the lake, liessa. I felt it earlier that day. I felt it the night before I came for you.” The area behind him began to thicken enough that I could no longer see Nektas. “And I felt it recently, the day you went into the Red Woods and the entombed gods broke ground.”
My heart pounded fast.
“The Hunters…they came for you twice that I know of,” Ash said, and I jolted. “Yes.” He nodded. “That is what they must be searching for. And I bet that is what Cressa and the other two gods are also looking for.”
“What?” My chest twisted. “You said it was—”
“That was what I thought until now.” Ash was only a few feet from me, the shadows behind him taking the shape of wings. “Now, I know they were searching for the source of the ripple of power, and somehow the mortals got mixed up in it.”
“Why? Why would they care? Why would they hurt them if they believed it had been them?”
“Because that kind of ripple should not be felt in the mortal realm.” His swirling eyes met mine. “Or even in Iliseeum. If I had felt it in any other part of Iliseeum, any part that was closer to the mortal realm, it would’ve drawn me out, too. Because the kind of power I just felt now? Many would take that as a threat.” He shook his head. “You are so incredibly lucky, liessa.”
I didn’t feel very lucky right then.
“Why did you not tell me about this?” When I said nothing, his head tilted. “Don’t go quiet on me now, liessa.” An achingly cold smile crossed his features. I gritted my teeth. “Where is all that foolish bravery of yours?” “Maybe you’re scaring her,” Aios suggested from somewhere behind
the pulsing shadow wings.
“No. Sera doesn’t scare that easily.” Ash stood in front of me, so close that I tasted citrus and fresh air when I breathed. I tipped my head back. “Sera knows very little of fear. Isn’t that right, liessa?”
“Right,” I managed to force out.
His skin thinned as his head dipped. Icy breath coasted over my cheek. “Then why didn’t you tell me about this little talent of yours?”
“Because you’re the Primal of Death,” I snapped. “And I didn’t think you’d appreciate knowing I’d stolen souls from you. That’s the truth. So back off.”
Someone made a choked sound, but Ash…gods, he laughed, and that sound was full of dark smoke. “So, you have brought someone back to life before.”
“Only once—well, twice if I count this one. I only really used it on animals before. Never mortals. That was a rule I made,” I rambled. “Until I broke it. That was the night before you came for me, but that was the only time. And the other day, there was an injured silver hawk. That’s why I was so far in the Red Woods. I touched it, and its injuries healed. That was the first time that happened, and it was like…it was like I knew it was only injured and not dying. That was also a first. I didn’t know it would even work. I’m not even sure how I ended up with this—this gift.”
“I know how.” His breath glanced off my lips, sending a strange mixture of nervousness and anticipation through me. “I know exactly who you got the ember of life from. The Primal of Life.”
I figured that. “Kolis?”
There was a harsh sound in the chamber, very possibly a curse, and Ash laughed again, this time colder. “My father.”
My entire being focused on him. “What?”
“My father was the true Primal of Life.” Ash’s cool fingers touched my cheek. “Until his brother stole it from him. His twin, Kolis.”
