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Now, dozens of ceeren had died—were murdered—for me. And for what? This wouldn’t stave off the Ascension. It was only a reprieve.
Instead of being rushed toward the end, I was now inching toward it. But it was still coming. There was no stopping that. Just like there’d been no changing what had been done to Ector. Or to the ceeren and countless others.
“I don’t want anyone dying for me,” I choked out.
“You do not have a choice,” Kolis stated. “And if you are who you say you are, you should know that.”
I flinched at the sickening truth of his words. Sotoria had never had a choice from the moment Kolis saw her collecting flowers along the Cliffs of Sorrow. And I’d never had a choice from the very second Roderick Mierel made his desperate bargain with the true Primal of Life to save his dying kingdom.
It wasn’t fair.
It never had been.
Rage and panic swiftly swelled inside me, but I wasn’t sure it was entirely mine. My fingers curled into the sand as my heart rate sped up. Raw, jagged emotions lodged in my chest and throat. I pushed to my feet, my breath coming in short, too-quick pants. And turned to Kolis.
The false King of Gods looked down at me, a curious pinch to his features. The wind lifted the flaxen strands of his hair, sending them against high, arched cheekbones. Golden smudges of eather snaked through the bronze flesh of his bare chest. There was no evidence of his battle with Ash. He was completely healed.
I spared a glance around us. We weren’t alone. Others stood several feet back in the shadows of leafy palms. I only saw them because their shadowstone blades glinted in the moonlight. I didn’t know if they were Kolis’s guards or Phanos’s, but they had weapons, and that was all that mattered.
“She had fewer freckles than you, and her face was shaped more like a heart. The hair isn’t right. Hers was like…like a polished garnet in the sun.” Kolis’s voice was soft, almost childlike in its awe, but his words slithered along the sand and brushed against my skin. “But if I look hard enough…if I let myself see, I do see her in you.”
I reacted.
There was no hesitation. No thought. I took off, darting past him and ru
Surprise flashed across the face of a pale-ski
“Fuck,” he gasped, reaching for me when I yanked the blade from its sheath.
I’d caught him off guard. I was simply quicker than he was. I jabbed the elbow of my other arm out, catching him under the jaw and snapping his head back.
“Do not touch her,” Kolis ordered as another grabbed for me. “Ever.”
The other guard froze.
Spi
“Leave us,” he instructed. “Now.”
I didn’t dare look away from Kolis to see if the guards listened to him. I could only imagine that they had, which suited me just fine.
Kolis and I stared at each other in silence while I willed my racing heart to slow. I needed to be calm, careful, and purposeful. Because even though Kolis questioned what I claimed about Sotoria, he believed deep down. That was why he’d shaken so hard when he held me, and it created the awe in his voice that I’d heard only moments earlier.
That all meant he was vulnerable to me—only me—and this was my chance. Possibly the only one I’d get to end this.
“I expected you to run from me,” Kolis remarked. “That’s what she would’ve done. She always ran.”
“Not always,” I said, remembering what I’d learned about Sotoria. She may have run in the begi
Laces of golden eather swirled faster across his chest. “You’re right.” His chin lifted. A heartbeat passed. “Put the sword down.”
That would not happen. “Make me.”
“Come now,” he said with a low chuckle, his wide mouth curling into a mockery of a smile that bordered on patronizing. He started toward me, the wind off the sea tugging at his linen pants. “What do you think you’re going to do with that?”
Waiting until he was within reach of the blade, I showed him exactly what I could do. I thrust out with the shadowstone sword, aiming straight for the bastard’s heart.
Kolis’s eyes widened, and his brows lifted, creasing the skin of his forehead. The stu
And he was fast, his reflexes as insane as Ash’s. But like with the guard, I had the element of surprise. Kolis didn’t really believe I would attack, which cost him a fraction of a second.
The shadowstone blade pierced his skin, and my lips split in a savage grin.
The second the sword sank into his chest, he knocked the hilt from my grasp with such jarring force that I lost my balance in the unforgiving sand and fell to one knee.
The sword vibrated where it was partially lodged in his chest, a half an inch—if that—to the right of his heart.
Son of a bitch.
Shimmery blood trickled down Kolis’s chest as he gripped the sword’s hilt, tearing it free. The very moment the blade was out of his body, the damn wound immediately stopped bleeding.
Thick, dark clouds raced over the once-calm sky, blotting out the stars and moon. A stuttered heartbeat passed.
Lightning suddenly streaked above and energy swamped the air, slithering over my skin and causing the embers in my chest to flare. The weight of the soaking power was oppressive, threatening to push me into the ground.
Heart thundering, my head jerked up. Fury was etched into every line of Kolis’s face and set the hard jut of his jaw. The veins in his cheeks lit up with golden-tinged eather. The embers in my chest responded, begi
“That is the second time tonight I’ve had a sword pierce my flesh.” Light pulsed from his hand, and the shadowstone sword he held evaporated into nothing, not even dust. “I did not appreciate it before, and that has not changed.”
My stomach hollowed as I shot to my feet. I’d stabbed Ash more than once and threatened to do so again too many times to count, but I’d never been afraid of him. Not even when he went full Primal on me in the Dying Woods after I accidentally hit him with a bolt of eather.
But I was afraid of Kolis.
I tried to swallow, but my throat seized. I took a step back.
Kolis swiped a hand over his chest and looked down at his blood-smeared palm. He tilted his head and lowered his hand. “That was very unwise.”
“It was,” I rasped. “I probably should’ve aimed for the head.”
His gold-flecked silver eyes went flat. Absolutely dead.
I did the only sensible thing. Pivoting, I ran. This time, no guards stood in the shadows of the sweeping palms. My arms and legs pumped—
Kolis caught my hair in a fist, jerking my entire body back. Fiery pain erupted in my scalp as my feet slipped. I landed on my knees again. Knowing this put me at a dangerous disadvantage, I attempted to regain my footing while he dragged me through the sand.
Kolis hauled me up and whipped me around. “Now that, I am more accustomed to.” He yanked my head back.
I gasped as pain traveled from my scalp down my spine. Grabbing hold of his arm, I tried to loosen the tension.
“The ru
A tiny part buried deep inside me knew this was one of the moments I needed to keep my mouth shut and think before I did anything. Not only for my life but also the entirety of the mortal realm.