A light in the flame

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 begi

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.

Chapter 38

“Your eyes,” Veses uttered in a hoarse but awed voice.

“Yeah?” Bele glanced to where Reaver lay unmoving in his mortal form and then to me. “What about them?”

“Don’t play coy, Bele. It was you who Ascended.” She gave Bele a bloody smile. “It must be my lucky day. There’s a bounty on your head.”

“By the look of your face, I would definitely say it’s not your lucky day.” Bele smirked. “And that bad day is going to continue when Nyktos returns.”

Taking shallow, too-short breaths, I pushed onto my knees. That was as far as I got for a moment. Pain radiated across my ribs and pelvis. Blinking until my blurred vision cleared, I saw my dagger lying between Reaver and me.

Veses lifted one shoulder. “Not as bad as the day you’re going to have when Kolis rips your heart from your chest and devours it.”

“There are far tastier parts of me, but whatever.” Bele inched farther into the chambers, watching the Primal closely as I forced myself toward Reaver. Each inch I half-crawled, half-slid across the floor felt as if daggers were jabbing my ribs. “If you’re here for me, you’ve found me.”

“I wasn’t here for you,” Veses said as I snatched the dagger from the floor. “You’re just a boon.”

Bele frowned. “Well, if you’re here for her, that sounds like a problem.”

“You think?” Veses snapped.

“For you,” Bele added as I reached Reaver’s side. “You do realize who she is, right?” Bele jerked her chin at me. “That’s Nyktos’s Consort. You have to know that. And that’s one of his draken—one of Nektas’s draken.”

“Do I look like I care about either of those things?”

Bele laughed softly as she circled the Primal. “You will.”

“What do you think you’re going to do with that sword?” Veses demanded, turning her back on me completely.

A deep, angry-red bruise had formed on Reaver’s chest. I ran a hand across his too-pale forehead, smoothing his hair back. His eyes were closed, and the embers…they throbbed, nearly as acutely as they had in the aftermath of paying the price Kolis had demanded. He wasn’t just injured.

“Reaver’s hurt.” I glanced over my shoulder, wiping the blood off my chin with the back of my tingling hand.