A shadow in the ember

“Like liessa?” I said, and she nodded. “Well, obviously, he is referencing life.” I imagined Kolis still believed that he was in love with Sotoria. “He felt the—the ripples of power I caused over the years. We know that.”

“Well, we suspected that,” Bele corrected. “But we weren’t sure until the other night when the dakkais showed.”

I shifted my weight. “And that is what you told Hamid?”

Gemma blew out a ragged breath. “I never understood what he meant when he spoke of his graeca. Not until I saw you and realized that you had brought me back. I told Hamid that it must be you that Kolis was looking for. That you were the presence he felt, and that you were here, in the Shadowlands.” She shook her head as she swallowed again. “I knew what happened to Hamid’s mother. He shared that with me. I should’ve been thinking. Hamid…he hated Kolis, but he was also afraid of him. Terrified that he would come to the Shadowlands and hurt more people.”

“So that’s why,” Bele mused, tossing her braid over her shoulder. “He thought he was protecting the Shadowlands by making sure Kolis didn’t have a reason to come here. He sought to remove the lure. Kind of can’t fault him for that line of thinking.”

I stared at her. “Considering that I was the lure he sought to remove, I kind of do fault him.”

“Understandable,” the goddess quipped.

But I also understood Hamid’s line of thinking. I could easily see myself doing the same. And I could also see how being the object of one’s murderous intentions, no matter how noble, wasn’t something that could be forgotten.

It was how I knew that Nyktos would never forget. Not that I needed to know what that felt like to know.

Chest heavy, I pushed those thoughts aside as a question rose that I felt it best not be asked in front of Gemma. Why hadn’t Kolis come to the Shadowlands?

Gemma spoke, drawing me back to her. “I didn’t think his graeca was a person. He never spoke of it as if it were something living and breathing. He talked as if it were an object. A possession that belonged to him.”

Well, Kolis didn’t seem the type to view living and breathing beings as anything other than objects.

“Did he ever say what he pla

“I think we know the answer to that,” Bele replied dryly.

I had to agree. Kolis couldn’t conjure life. He would see the ember of such power as a threat and want to eradicate it.

“No. He never said anything to me, but…” She looked over at us. “He was doing something to the other Chosen. Not all of them, but the ones that disappeared.”

My gaze sharpened on her. They are simply gone. That was what Nyktos had said. “What do you mean?”

“There was just some talk among the other Chosen who were still there. The ones that had been there the longest. Kolis did something to them.”

“The ones that disappeared?” Bele asked, stepping forward.

Gemma nodded. “They weren’t right when they came back,” she said, and a chill swept over my skin. “They were different. Cold. Lifeless. Some of them stayed indoors, only moving about during the brief hours of night. Their eyes changed.” A far-off look crept into hers. “They became the color of shadowstone. Black. They always looked…hungry.”

Something about her words tugged at the recesses of my mind. Something familiar.

“They were frightening, the way they stared.” Gemma’s voice was barely above a haunting whisper. “The way they seemed to track every movement you made, every beat of your heart. They were as terrifying as he was.” Her grip eased on the blanket. “He called them his reborn. His Revenants. He said they were a work in progress.” She laughed, but it was weak. “I heard him saying once that all he needed was his graeca to perfect them.”

Aios glanced over her shoulder at Bele and then at me. It didn’t seem like Gemma had more to share, but if she did, the three of us sensed that we wouldn’t learn it today. The woman looked as if she was close to shattering. Once Aios assured her that she was safe to rest here, and it looked like Gemma believed her, we took our leave.

I stopped at the door, something occurring to me. I faced Gemma as Aios and Bele waited for me in the hall. “I’m sorry.”

Confusion marked her face. “For what?”

“For bringing you back to life if that was not what you wanted,” I told her.

“I didn’t want to die,” Gemma said after a moment. “That’s not why I went into the Dying Woods. I just…I just didn’t want to go back there. I didn’t want to be afraid anymore.”

Out in the hall and several feet from Gemma’s door, I stopped. The goddesses faced me. “What do you think the reborn are? These Revenant things?”

“I don’t know.” Bele turned, leaning against the wall. “I haven’t heard anything like that before, and trust me, I’ve tried to find out what has happened to the missing Chosen.”

“I really hope the phrase reborn doesn’t mean literally.” Aios rubbed her hands over her upper arms. “Because I don’t want to think about Kolis having found some way to create life.”

“And that it might some way, possibly, involve you.” Bele jerked her chin toward me.

“Thanks for the reminder,” I muttered, but it did make me think of the question I’d thought of while in Gemma’s room. “Why hasn’t Kolis come to the Shadowlands? Why didn’t he come himself when I brought Gemma back?”

“He hasn’t stepped foot in the Shadowlands since he became the Primal of Life,” Bele answered. “I don’t think he can. Don’t look too relieved by that,” she said, catching the breath I exhaled. “As you saw, he doesn’t need to come here to make his presence known. And we don’t know for sure if he really can’t.”

I nodded, thinking over what Gemma had shared. “So, Kolis definitely knows about the ember of life—he may not know how it came into creation, but he knows it exists. And he thinks he can use it somehow, which I’m guessing Eythos didn’t take into consideration.”

Aios tipped her head back. “At this point, I doubt even the Fates know why he put the ember of life in your bloodline.”

I stiffened as what she said struck a chord of familiarity in me. Frowning, I searched my memories until I…I saw Odetta in my mind. “The Fates,” I whispered. “The Arae.”

“Yes.” Aios looked over at me. “The Arae.”

My heart started pounding as I twisted toward her. “My old nursemaid, Odetta, told me that I was touched by Death and Life upon birth—she claimed that only the Fates could answer why. I always thought that Odetta was being, well, overdramatic because how would she know what the Fates may or may not have said or known? But what if she was speaking the truth? What if the Fates do know? Is that possible?”

“As far as I know, the Fates don’t know everything.” Bele pushed off the wall, her eyes lighting up. “But they do know more than most.”

“Where is Odetta now?” Aios asked.

“She passed away recently.” An ache cut through my chest. “She should be in the Vale. Can the draken somehow reach her?” I asked, remembering what Nyktos had said. “Wait. If the Fates know what Eythos pla

Bele laughed. “The Primals ca

“We need to find Nyktos,” I said, looking between the two of them. “He needs to know about these reborn and Odetta.”

“Do you know where he is in Lethe?” Aios asked as she started walking. I followed.

“I do, but I’m on guard duty.”

“Then we take her with us.” Aios looked over at me. “You’re going to behave yourself, right?”

I sighed. “I don’t understand why everyone expects me to do something—” I cut myself off as both of them looked at me. “You know what? Don’t even answer that question. I will behave myself.”

“Nyktos is going to be so irritated,” Bele muttered as we reached the spiral staircase and started down the steps.

That he would be. I didn’t want to return to my chambers, to be left with my thoughts and the hollowness I felt, but… “How much trouble will you be in?”

“None once he hears what we have to say.” Her palm glided over the smooth railing.

“You only say that because you’ve never done anything to anger him.”

“True.” Aios laughed as we rounded the first floor and the vast foyer came into view. “But what’s the worst he will do?”

Bele snorted. “His disappointment alone is unbearable—”

The massive doors to the foyer swung open without warning, slamming into the thick shadowstone walls.

Bele jerked to a halt in front of me, throwing out her arm and blocking Aios from going any farther. “What the hell?”

I stopped behind them as a figure walked through the opened doors. Everything in me stilled as I took in the faint, radiant aura surrounding her.

The goddess, Cressa.