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The doors to Ash’s office were open, and my gaze, like always, immediately co
Pulling my gaze from Ash’s, I took stock of the office. The items I’d requested the day before now occupied some of the space. Two dove-gray chairs had been placed across from the settee, and Saion sat on one. But that wasn’t all. Another end table, this one round, had been positioned between the chairs. And they weren’t the only new additions. A table had been brought in and put behind the settee, where Rhain sat. Two pitchers and several glasses were on the narrow stand.
I mouthed thank you to Rhain as I walked through the pillared alcove. He gave me a quick nod in return as Ash motioned me to him with a curled finger.
I walked around the desk, spying a slender black box almost the length of my forearm on the credenza.
“Attes said he had some news to share.” Ash dropped his other foot to the floor and took my hand. He tugged me down until I sat in his lap. “We were waiting for you to join us.”
My stomach flipped unsteadily, and the response had nothing to do with my earlier nausea. Still, I breathed in deeply. Fresh citrus and clean air surrounded me—not choking, stale lilacs.
Ash leaned in, speaking low as Rhain rose and retrieved the pitcher from the stand, pouring two glasses of water. “Are you feeling well?”
So I still looked like death warmed over. Great.
Sighing, I nodded.
He kissed my temple before leaning back and turning his focus to Attes. “What is your news?” Ash asked, his hand curving over my hip.
“I still have eyes in Dalos,” Attes began. “And I know that Kolis hasn’t been seen at court as much as usual.”
Attes still had a spy in Dalos? It wasn’t Elias, who had become one of Kolis’s trusted guards. He was now in Attes’s Court. So, who was it?
The skin beneath my left ear tingled, and an image of a goddess with long, dark hair and rich, brown skin formed in my mind. “Dametria.”
Attes stiffened. “How did you—?” His shoulders relaxed. “Vadentia.”
I nodded. “I met her briefly and thought she acted different than the other gods who visited Kolis. She didn’t…” I trailed off as memories of how Kolis had put me on display threatened to surface. I didn’t want to think about any of that. I didn’t need to.
“She didn’t what?” Ash asked quietly.
“She didn’t act like an asshole,” I told him, which was true. “She’s safe there?”
“For now,” Attes said. That wasn’t exactly reassuring. “Word is his favorite golden fuck has been ru
I knew the golden fuck was Callum, but the second one was unfamiliar.
“Varus of Kithreia?” Ash stiffened behind me as Attes nodded. “My father entombed him.”
“I know. I aided him in doing so, along with…my brother.” Attes picked up his glass and drank deeply. “I believe he must’ve escaped when Veses had her draken attack the Red Woods.”
Rhahar cursed. “We checked and double-checked to make sure we got all those who were entombed.”
“We must’ve assumed he was one of the ones killed without much left behind,” Rhain said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. We should—”
“It’s okay.” Ash lifted a hand. “It would be impossible to know for sure that all who escaped were recaptured. The blame for this does not lay at the feet of anyone in this room.”
It was Veses’ fault.
Anger sparked, causing eather to throb hotly through me. A charge of energy stroked the air, drawing the Primals’ gazes to me.
Attes raised a brow. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
A quick grin appeared on Attes’s face. “While Callum and Varus have been speaking for Kolis, one particular visitor has spent a lot of time with him, in what I can only assume is an attempt to ensure he has their support.” Attes shifted back in his chair. “Phanos.”
“First off,” I began, “it pisses me off that he is having meetings. And secondly, there is no way Phanos will give him support.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Saion stated.
“Seriously?” Shock filled my voice. “Kolis made Phanos sacrifice so many of the ceeren—something he obviously wasn’t thrilled with. I saw the sorrow in his eyes.”
A muscle ticked in Saion’s jaw. “Phanos doesn’t like to make waves.”
“Nice pun,” Attes noted.
“Thank you.” Saion then continued. “Look, Phanos doesn’t particularly like Kolis. I don’t think any of the Primals do.”
“Except his brother,” Rhain pointed out with a nod at Attes.
“Clearly, I was the twin born with intelligence and good looks,” Attes said, but his usual humor was missing from his voice.
Saion smirked at that. “But Phanos can be very…self-involved.”
“Name one Primal who isn’t self-involved,” I said, and when Attes opened his mouth, I added, “Besides Nyktos.”
Attes pressed a palm to his chest as if he were wounded. I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, I’m self-involved,” Ash said, his arm briefly tightening around me. “And I am just as selfish.” His eyes met mine when I looked over my shoulder. “And you know that.”
Denial rose to the tip of my tongue, but I wouldn’t be sitting here if he wasn’t selfish. Then again, was saving my life really that selfish? Yes? No? Probably a little of both.
“Do not forget that, at the end of the day, this is the same Primal who drowned a city,” Saion reminded me. “Simply because those living there ceased to honor him by endangering their lives.”
“I haven’t forgotten that.” Blowing out an aggravated breath, I drew the braid over my shoulder. “He was upset about the loss of those ceeren. Why would he not want justice for that? Or, at the very least, want to avoid being put in that situation again?”
Rhahar rubbed his chin and shook his head. “Because seeking that justice could negatively affect him.”
“And not seeking it will still negatively affect him,” I pointed out. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere. No matter what side he chooses, if Kolis doesn’t take the offered deal, there are still two sides.”
“Exactly,” Ash said, moving his thumb down the curve of my hip. “Phanos may see himself as damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t. Most in that situation would side with who they believe poses the least risk.”
“Then what?” I started twisting the end of my braid between my fingers. “That’s basically saying he believes Kolis will remain as he was.”
“He has no reason not to think that. Phanos doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know what you are and aren’t capable of,” Ash stated. “But he knows Kolis. And he knows how vindictive he can be.”
Pressing my lips together, I turned my attention to the empty shelves. Phanos had to feel what happened here in the Shadowlands when I brought the river back. So he knew I was capable of something. But I’d suspected that, hadn’t I? That many of the Primals wouldn’t immediately jump on board and be okay with the idea of me being Queen. Ash and I had even discussed it.
“Phanos knows you, though,” Rhain spoke to Ash. “He has to be worried about standing against you if it comes down to it.”
Ash’s tone was pure ice and shadows when he said, “He’d better be.”
“What we need to keep in mind is that Phanos may side with Kolis now, but you will have a chance to convince him otherwise,” Attes reminded. “Both of you will once the eirini ends.”
I nodded slowly. “You’re right.” I met Ash’s gaze. “We will.”
Because we had to.
Phanos had the second-largest army, and if it came down to war, we needed him on our side.
I stared at the small, oval dining table that had been brought into Ash’s office as I waited for Nektas to arrive. Attes had heard Lailah’s voice and roamed off.
There were several ledgers on the table and a pitcher of water.
Nervous energy buzzed through me, making it hard to pay attention to any one thing.
I would see Ezra and Marisol in a few short hours. Maybe even my mother.
Excitement and anxiety crashed together. How would they respond to seeing me when, thanks to my eyes and fangs, it wasn’t like I could hide that I had changed? And should I share with them what I’d become? I knew I could if I wanted to, but I didn’t want them to see me differently—well, more so than they likely already would.
Ash looked up from where he sat behind his desk. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing.”
Head tilting, his gaze shifted back to the parchment. “You sure about that?”
I nodded.
“I feel like we’re about to have a repeat of last night,” he remarked.
“Which part of last night?”
Ash’s gaze flicked up, once more meeting mine. “Both.”
Heat hit my blood as my mind bypassed the talking portion of last night and went straight to the fucking-me-until-I-fell-asleep part.
Ash started to lower the parchment as his citrusy scent reached me.
Reminding myself that Nektas would be showing soon, I forced my mind to more appropriate things. Once my blood had cooled, I refocused on my eather lessons.
“Shit.” Ash’s head jerked back. “I forgot.”
“Forgot what?” Curiosity surged as Ash didn’t answer but instead rose and turned to the credenza. When he faced me, he held the slim, black box I’d seen earlier.
He sat beside me. “I can’t believe I forgot this.” He offered me the box. “It’s for you.”
I took it. The weight immediately felt familiar. The whole thing did, except it had been Ector who had delivered it the first time. My eyes flew to Ash’s as my heart skipped a beat.
“Open it,” he urged.
I unfolded my legs and ran my thumb along the seam of the smooth wood. Slowly, I cracked it open.
A slight tremor ran down my arm as I stared at the stu
Wordless, I gripped the hilt and began pulling it free of its black sheath.
“Careful with the blade,” Ash warned.
The moment I saw it, I understood. My lips parted. This was no shadowstone dagger. The blade was slender and a dull white, sharpened into a fine, deadly point.
“This is made from the bone of an Ancient, isn’t it?” I whispered, my voice hoarse.
“It is.”