A light in the flame

“Sorry,” he grunted.

I twisted in a desperate bid for freedom. Attes sidestepped me, spi

“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, begi

“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.

Chapter 47

I dreamt of my lake.

I was swimming, gliding effortlessly through the cool, dark waters. I knew I wasn’t alone as I rose to the surface. A figure waited on the bank.

A wolf, more silver than white in the splintered streams of moonlight, watched.

And as I let myself sink back into the water, I thought I’d seen that wolf before. Not in a dream, but many years ago when I walked these woods as a child. But that thought floated away as I drifted through the water.

I wanted to stay here, where it was peaceful and calm and nothing terrible could disturb me. I swam and swam until I felt the faint wiggle of the embers in my chest. Pushing to the surface, I turned to the bank of my lake.

To where the white wolf once sat.

And Ash now stood.

My head thumped with dull pain that traveled down and along my jaw as I drew in a deep breath of air that smelled nothing like the last thing I remembered: the smoke and stench of charred flesh and death. The musty, foul scent of the ship Attes had shadowstepped us onto.

That was the last thing I remembered.

That and the explosion of pain along the back of my skull the moment Attes released me.

Which likely explained the throbbing headache. Traitorous bastard. Only the gods knew how long he’d been working with Kolis.

I vowed to myself that I would see him dead before I took my last breath, but how I would accomplish that was yet to be seen. There was a far more pressing concern at the moment.

The air I breathed as I lay on something decadently soft carried the scent of vanilla and…and lilac—stale lilac.

I was no longer on the ship, and I feared I knew exactly where I was.

My eyes felt glued shut, much as they had when I awoke from my brief stasis, but it took far greater effort to pry them open this time. And that was yet another concern to add to the already overflowing list of them. Many were for me, but also Ash…the others.

Had Attes honored his vow and stopped the attacks? Were…our people safe? Orphine and Rhain? Rhahar and the others. Was Ash? I knew he would survive the dakkais, the Cimmerian, and anything else thrown his way, but he had been wounded. Maybe even enough to need to feed—something he’d likely resist doing. He’d be weakened. And look what had happened to Veses. She’d gone into stasis. The same could happen to Ash.

I stopped myself before I began spiraling and lost whatever calm I had left—which wasn’t much. I needed to find a way back to Ash. He needed to take the embers, and I…

I needed to see him one last time. To say goodbye. To tell him that I…that I loved him. I’d been wrong to not tell him before, out of fear it would cause him guilt. My chest squeezed. I didn’t think that now. He needed to know. I needed him to know.

And I had to get out of here. Which meant I couldn’t lose it. I had to keep my senses sharp because my time was limited. I felt that in my bones. So, I forced my eyes open.

And saw nothing.

Only deep, dark utter nothingness. Pressure rose to settle on my chest. I swallowed to take a deep breath—

Something tightened around my throat.

Icy fear punched into my chest as I lifted a shaking hand to my neck. My fingers met a thin, cool metal band at the base of my throat, below my pulse. I dragged my fingers across it, finding a thick hook in the center, and….

A chain.

Panic exploded as I gripped the chain, jerking up so fast my heart seemed to whoosh and then stutter. Dizziness swept through me. Hands trembling, I pulled weakly on the chain, jumping at the loud rattle it made against what sounded to be stone floors. The length was long, and no matter how much I pulled, the chain met no resistance, but that didn’t fill me with any sort of relief.

Because there was a godsdamn shackle around my neck.

The pressure continued tightening around my chest as I struggled to control my breathing and not let the panic take complete hold. But I was chained, and—

Lights flooded the space, sharp and bright.

Blinded, I threw up a hand to shield my stinging eyes, dropping the chain. It clanged off the floor, hurting my ears.

“You’re awake.”

The voice.

It wasn’t Attes or Kolis, but it was familiar.

“You’ve been out for two days,” the male added.

My chest seized. Two days? Had I gone into another stasis and somehow survived?

“We were begi

Slowly, I lowered my hand and blinked open watering eyes. The first thing I saw was the golden, shimmery swirls on my right hand. The imprint. The comfort that brought vanished as I lifted my gaze.

I went cold inside.

Numb at what I saw.

Gold bars spaced about half a foot apart. A cage. A gilded cage. Horror clawed its way through me, leaving me frozen, hand still half-raised.

“He should’ve been more careful. After all, you are technically just a mortal. Isn’t that correct?” he continued. “Not a god on the verge of their Culling. Not even a godling. But a mortal with embers of life inside them.”

A tremor started deep in my chest, where the embers remained u

Then I saw him.