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“Not a lot,” Attes warned.
My heart turned over heavily as I thought about everything I wanted to do in this not-a-lot-of time. All I wanted to experience. A knot lodged in my throat. This was yet another thing I couldn’t think about.
“Is that what you want done?” Elias asked.
Silence greeted him as I waited for Ash or Attes to answer, but they were looking at me. So was Elias.
My brows flew up. “You’re asking me?” I squeaked hoarsely.
A faint smile tugged at Ash’s lips. “You are the Primal of Life he swore his allegiance to,” he reminded me. As if I’d forgotten.
“I’m your Consort,” I reminded him.
“Actually,” Attes began, then stopped himself. “Never mind.”
I sort of wanted to know what he’d been about to say, but we needed to leave. “I have no idea what we should do with him.”
“You know my answer,” Ash said. “But you were right to stop me—as much as I wish you were not.”
“You and me both.” I ran a hand over my arm, ignoring the stickiness of the blood there. “Could we take him with us until we can figure out what to do with him?”
“That would be ideal.” Attes had moved closer to Kolis and knelt. He cursed. “But I’m not sure that would be wise.”
Ash’s attention shifted to the other Primal. “What is happening.”
“The bone shard didn’t go nearly deep enough to stay in on its own. You can’t even get it that deep,” he explained, rising. “His body will start pushing it out soon.” He turned to us. “He’ll awaken.”
“And there’s nothing else we can do to keep him down?” I asked.
“Not unless we get our hands on a bone blade,” Attes said.
I tried to keep the frustration down. “You can’t take your brother’s?”
Attes shot me a bland look. “I don’t think he’ll give his up without a major fight.”
“One you perhaps don’t want to start,” Ash bit out.
Attes’s stare flicked to Ash. “You would be correct. I want to avoid that for as long as possible.” His jaw flexed. “Because I know it will end with either my death or his.”
My stomach twisted. No part of me would mourn Kyn’s death, but his passing, without another to rise to take his place, would cause more upheaval. I looked at Kolis.
And Attes shouldn’t be the one to kill his brother if it came down to that.
“So, that leaves us with what again?” I asked.
Ash kept his arm around me as he turned to Elias. “You really think you can get him out of here?”
Elias nodded.
“That will give us some time,” Ash said. “Do it.”
“But can you do it safely?” I tacked on. “Like without getting killed?”
“My safety is of no concern to you, Your—”
“Don’t call me that,” I cut in. “And your safety is a concern, or I wouldn’t have asked that.”
Elias glanced at Ash, then swallowed upon seeing whatever look Ash sent him. “I am honored that you would be concerned for me. I can do this safely.” He looked at Attes, a gleam lighting up his amber eyes. “If you lend me something big enough to haul his ass out of here with and fast. Like perhaps Setti?”
“I think you just want to ride my horse,” Attes remarked, dragging his fingers over the cuff encircling his biceps. “But yes.”
A thin stream of mist drifted from Attes’s cuff, rapidly spreading and taking shape, solidifying into a massive horse the size of Odin with a glossy, shadowstone-hued coat. Setti shook out his mane, making a soft, low-pitched nicker.
“I will never get used to seeing that,” I murmured, my gaze moving to the cuff on Kolis’s arm.
I thought of the weird milky reflection I’d seen there. I hadn’t seen his steed—
Wait.
Milky-white light.
Eythos.
“Wait!” I shouted as Attes took hold of Setti’s reins. The warhorse stomped hooves twice the size of my hand. My heart pounded. “My gods.” I twisted toward Ash, my eyes wide. Gods, his father… “I almost forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“The diamond.” I slipped free of Ash’s hold. Or tried to. He moved with me, his arm at my waist. “The Star diamond.”
Attes stepped around Setti as Ash straightened, asking, “You found it?”
“Yeah. Yes. Do you know what it is?”
Elias shook his head, but Attes nodded. “Eythos told me about it.”
Ash stared at him, a whole lot of stuff likely begi
“You’re not going to believe this.” I twisted around. This time, Ash let me go. Even though my legs felt as if only thin tendons held them together—barely—they were thankfully steady. “It’s here. It’s been here the whole time.”
I shuffled toward the ruined cage. “I don’t think I destroyed it. Hopefully.” I peered inside, relieved to see the cluster of diamonds still at the center of the cage. “There it is. In the ceiling. Kolis had it hidden there.”
Ash joined me, a muscle in this temple throbbing as he surveyed what was left of the enclosure and what remained inside it.
“Up there,” I repeated softly, not wanting him to think about anything else he saw. “I don’t have much time to explain all of this, but we need that diamond.”
His shoulders squared as he lifted his gaze. “You sure that’s it?”
“He summoned it. And when he did, it changed shape, becoming a diamond that looked like, well…a star.”
“How did he summon it?” Attes asked, coming to our side.
“He spoke in Primal, I think.” I wiped my damp palms on my gown. “Do you think The Star could hold Sotoria’s soul?”
Attes rubbed his jaw as he eyed the cluster of diamonds. “I don’t see why not when it can hold embers.”
“I feel as if I’m missing vital information,” Ash remarked.
“You are.” Quickly as possible, I filled him in on the part about Sotoria’s soul. “Kolis said something like…like vene ta meyaah but not.”
Ash repeated what I said back, his brows furrowing. “Do you mean vena ta mayah? It translates into come to me.”
“Yes!” The translation made sense. “Do you think it will work if someone else says it?”
“It’s like some kind of ward,” Ash said, his gaze dropping to the bed. His chest rose. “If so, neither Attes nor I will be able to summon it.” He met my gaze. “But you could.”
“Because of the embers,” I surmised.
He nodded. “But I don’t want you to do that.”
Attes stiffened. “We need to get Sotoria’s soul out of Sera before anything else happens.”
“You may need that,” Ash corrected, eyes flashing a vivid silver. “But what I need, what Seraphena needs, is to not use those embers.”
My stomach twisted at what Ash wasn’t saying. That using the embers would push me over the edge, completing my Ascension.
“You don’t understand,” Attes argued. “We may not be able to kill Kolis yet, but one day, we might, and only Sotoria will be able to do it.”
“I don’t give two shits about one day,” growled Ash. “I care about right now, and what using those embers will do.”
“It’s not just that.” Eather laced Attes’s eyes. “Sotoria’s soul will be trapped here when—”
“Don’t”—a storm of fury blew off Ash—“even think of finishing that sentence.”
Attes stepped back, thrusting a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t finish that sentence either.” Shadows bled beneath Ash’s flesh.
Neither sentence needed to be finished. We all knew what wasn’t being said. Sotoria’s soul would be trapped here if I Ascended, which wouldn’t happen. Or if I died, which was happening. That was the strangeness I felt in my body, the hollowness in my chest. Because the embers were no longer there.
They were everywhere now, becoming a soft hum in my blood and a faint vibration in my bones.
Whatever the ceeren had sacrificed for me had either run its course, or what I’d done to put Kolis out of commission and free Ash had used it all up. Attes knew I was dying. That was what he was apologizing for. And Ash…
Ash knew, too.
But Sotoria wasn’t the only reason I needed that diamond. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the cage.