A light in the flame

Nyktos slid a dagger into the strap across his chest and another into his boot. “I want you to stay here.”

“I can help,” I protested. “I can fight—”

“She really can fight,” another voice chimed in from the hall. “And with most of the guards—”

“Ector?” Nyktos cut in.

There was a beat of silence, and then the fair-haired, sharp-featured god appeared in the doorway. “Yes?”

Nyktos pi

I frowned.

“When I need to…” Ector cleared his throat. “Shut the fuck up?”

“Exactly.” Nyktos stalked out from behind the desk, securing a short sword to his waist. “I know you can fight. This isn’t about that. We could be wrong about why they are here, especially with the draken attack and the coronation taking place the day after tomorrow. If someone is attempting to take you, they know I will have little support in retaliation if you’re not my Consort. They could be here for you, and I don’t want to make that easier for them. Stay here, Seraphena.”

I decided at that very moment, when he said my name like that, that I wanted to punch him. In the throat. Hard.

Nyktos stopped at the door once more, looking over his shoulder. “I’ll check in with you later. Until then,” he said, his eyes meeting mine, “behave.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” I bowed. “I wouldn’t want to be grounded.”

Out in the hall, someone—likely Ector—choked loudly. The swirling in Nyktos’s eyes slowed as he locked his gaze on me. “Don’t push me on this.” His head swiveled toward Saion. “Stay here and make sure she doesn’t leave.”

Saion looked at me with a heavy sigh. “Honored to obey such a command.”

I clamped my mouth shut, not even daring to breathe until Nyktos was gone. Only then did I allow my head to fall back so I could let out a silent scream as I clenched my hands.

“Did that make you feel better?” Saion asked. “Whatever it was that you just did?”

“No,” I bit out.

“Didn’t think so.” He arched a brow as he leaned against the door. “So, you’re ready for nap time? Or would you like a snack? Maybe some diced apples?”

My eyes narrowed on the god.

His lips twitched.

Disgusted, I looked away. I fully understood why Nyktos didn’t want me out there. Even if the Cimmerian weren’t here for me, the last thing we needed was more gods from other Courts recognizing me. Understanding didn’t translate into liking it. “Will Nyktos and the others be okay out there with the Cimmerian?”

Saion was quiet for a moment. “You’re really worried?”

Inhaling sharply, I turned to the god. “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t.”

“I suppose not,” he murmured, eyeing me with a slightly perplexed pinch to his brow.

I crossed my arms. “What? Are you going to talk about snapping my neck again?”

“No.” He continued staring as if I were a puzzle with missing pieces. “Did you really try to escape so you could kill Kolis on your own?” he asked.

I tensed. “Do you think Nyktos would lie about that?”

“I suppose not.”

“Then you already know the answer to your question.”

“You had to know that what you tried would’ve ended in your death, and yet that didn’t stop you,” he said. “As such, it would now be dishonorable to speak of snapping your neck.”

“But completely honorable to do so before?”

“Probably not, considering you’re technically the true Primal of Life,” he said. “Which means I should be bowing before you.”

“Please, don’t.”

Saion gri

“Wild is one way of putting it.” I began to pace.

“None of us was all that surprised to learn that. Not after what you did for Gemma and Bele,” he continued. “But still, suspecting it and having it confirmed are two very different things.”

I nodded, distracted by what could be occurring outside. I knew Nyktos would be fine, but he was out there, dealing with the Cimmerian because I had Ascended Bele. He might walk away if it turned violent, but what of Ector? Or Rhain, who had to be around here somewhere? Theon and Lailah? Rhahar? The guards or any of the draken who might become involved while I remained inside? How many would die today?

I couldn’t just stand by.

“What are you doing?” Saion turned as I started across the room. “I really hope it involves napping, but I have a feeling it doesn’t.”

Grasping the handles, I yanked open the doors. “It doesn’t.”

“So, where are you going, then?”

I stalked out into the hall. “I’m going to go push.”

Chapter 11

As I climbed the stairs of the Rise, the stars sweeping across the deep gray sky twinkled like a sea of gems, signaling that night wasn’t too far away.

“This is such a bad idea,” Saion muttered from behind me for the hundredth time. “A terrible, horrible idea. If something happens to you—”

“Nothing will happen.” I reached the top of the Rise and crossed the battlement, passing several shadowstone-tipped spears and arrows beside bows stacked against the wall as I made sure I stayed hidden behind the parapet’s solid wall.

“And that just ups the whole terrible, horrible idea part,” Saion commented as I picked up a bow and a full quiver.

“Just in case,” I told him, leaning against the shadowstone wall. I peered out the opening, finding Nyktos first without even trying to look for him. I suspected it was the ember that’d once belonged to him. It knew exactly where he was.

Which meant it was highly likely that he was aware of my presence, as well. And it was also probable that he would be really angry.

Deciding I’d deal with that later, I quietly pulled an arrow from the quiver.

Nyktos stood in the front, arms crossed and looking every inch a Primal—a bored one, at that, based on the bland set of his features. A dozen or so guards stood behind him, and I had no idea if they were mortal, godling, or god, but I spotted Ector standing with Rhain.

The ones who stood a few yards from Nyktos wore black balaclavas, leaving only their eyes visible. Sheaths of armor covered their bodies from their chests to their knees.

I squinted. “Is their armor made of…shadowstone?”

“It is.” Saion crouched behind the other parapet.

“A ripple of power was felt throughout all the Courts,” one of the Cimmerian warriors said. He stood in the front, hand resting on the hilt of a sword.

“Shit,” Saion growled. “That’s Dorcan. He’s really old,” he added when I glanced at him. “And not someone most want to cross on a battlefield.”

I didn’t know if I should be relieved or not to hear that the Cimmerian weren’t here for me.

“Hanan knows the dakkais followed an earlier trace of power to the Shadowlands,” Dorcan said.

“Is that so?” Nyktos replied.

“Are you suggesting that you were somehow unaware of the surge of power?” Dorcan asked.

“I haven’t suggested anything.”

There was a rough, quick laugh from behind the balaclava. “Is the goddess Bele here?” he asked, and I caught the slight movement of a Cimmerian behind him. One of the warriors had slipped a glove to the dagger strapped to their waist.

“Hell.” Saion had seen the movement, too. He quietly withdrew his sword. “If they start fighting, I will join them.”

I nodded, keeping my attention on the Cimmerian. There were a hundred warriors to our significantly outnumbered fighters. We had Nyktos, but if he couldn’t use eather—

Our fighters.

Our people.

My stomach twisted sharply, but my fingers remained steady on the arrow. “Why isn’t Nektas out here?”

“None of the draken will come unless they sense it’s necessary,” Saion explained.