Born of Blood and Ash

My mother shook her head. “No. I asked.” She glanced between the two of us. “But he said he could not tell me how. I thought—well, you know what I thought.”

What in the world was Callum up to? Part of me wanted to leave right then and beat him until he returned to life and answered my questions.

I began to pace. “What else did he say?”

“He talked about nothing of importance. He mostly seemed content with company, even if it was quiet,” she said. “But when he wasn’t here, he spent his time at the Cliffs of Sorrow.”

Of course, he would spend time there, where his sister had died. “Gods,” I murmured, hating the pang in my chest. I didn’t want to feel empathy for him. Especially now. Not when I knew that fucker had a reason to be here. Still, I couldn’t stop myself.

“You said he wasn’t a god.” Ezra spoke. “Then what is he?”

“An atrocity,” I said, pulling my gaze from my mother’s elegant profile. “The dead reanimated.”

Marisol sat back. “You’re saying Callum is that?”

Callum was different, but I didn’t see the point in getting into that when it would likely only confuse them further. “They are neither god nor mortal, created to serve only Kolis. And as you saw, they are very hard to kill.”

“What if he comes back here?” Ezra asked.

“Summon—shit.” My pace picked up as Ezra and Marisol tracked my movements. “I haven’t felt any summonses yet, and Kolis is likely still sending gods loyal to him to the Temples.” Frustration rose. “There has to be another way…” I stopped, closing my eyes as I concentrated. There was another way.

“Sera?” Nektas called.

“I’m okay. I’m just thinking.” I knew the answer was in all the information I’d received during my Ascension. I knew it was—I spun back toward my mother, startling her. “Call my name.”

“Excuse me?” Her eyes lifted to mine.

“If you need me, all you have to do is call my name, and I will hear you.” Eather hummed throughout my body. “No matter what.”

“That’s all?” Doubt colored Ezra’s tone. “She just shouts your name, and you’ll come?”

“I don’t think you need to shout it, but yes.” Glancing at my mother, I exhaled slowly. “It’s because we share blood.”

“That makes sense,” Nektas remarked.

“It does?” Ezra questioned wryly, and then her gaze sharpened on the draken. I had a feeling I knew what she would ask next.

I jumped in. “Promise me you will call for me if Callum shows again.”

My mother nodded after a moment. “I promise.”

A little relieved, I nodded.

“May we back up a moment? To Callum? I don’t understand. I mean, I do on a basic level that I will likely be thoroughly confused about later when I think about it more…” Ezra said, and a small grin appeared on Marisol’s face. “But if Callum serves Kolis, why would he tell anyone how to kill a Primal?”

“Trust me, I have the same question. And I plan to get the answer from him.” That and the reason he was here just hanging out.

“That’s not the only thing I’m confused about,” Marisol said. “You said that gods loyal to Kolis were still answering the Temple summonses, but you’re the true Primal of Life—” She laughed nervously. “And even as bizarre as that sounds, I don’t feel all that surprised by it.” She shook her head as Ezra and I shared a quick glance. “Anyway, I’m guessing Kolis won’t remain the false King?”

“He won’t. And that is why I’m here.” I moved to a chair and sat. “I haven’t gone into much detail about the horrors Kolis has committed, but when I say he has little respect for mortal life, I am not exaggerating. He ca

Ezra went still. “By conflict, do you mean a war?”

“Yes.” I leaned forward. “But no matter what, there will be a fight, and it will be felt in the mortal realm. You have likely already felt it.”

Marisol frowned. “There was a very bad storm a bit ago. I’d never seen anything like it. We lost a few ships.”

I winced, guessing that had been a result of Hanan’s death.

“There was also what appeared to be a bad lightning storm,” Ezra added, her brows drawn. “One that seemed to linger only over the Dark Elms.”

That was likely when I Ascended.

“You could see more of that,” I continued. “Maybe even earthquakes and landslides.”

Ezra swallowed and then did what she always did. She pulled herself together and nodded. “That will be unfortunate.”

“Very much so.” I curved my hands over my knees. “I want you all to be prepared over the next couple of weeks—maybe even months.” I shifted my focus to Marisol. “I know this isn’t easy to plan.”

“It’s not.” Marisol took Ezra’s hand in hers. “However, we won’t be blindsided. We can prepare by upping our food storage and moving faster on our plans to improve the tenements.” Her gaze met Ezra’s. “They would be most at risk in the event of an earthquake.”

“And we can begin creating temporary shelters,” Ezra said slowly. “Winter is only a few weeks away, and while it will not be freezing like in the north or east, the people here aren’t used to anything but hot and humid weather. They’re enjoying things now,” she was quick to add. “But winter…”

Winter, even a mild one, would be difficult for those unused to it.

Marisol’s gaze swung back to mine. “What about the other kingdoms? Can we warn them?”

“We can send the missives all at once,” Ezra said, lifting Marisol’s hand to press a kiss atop it.

I had to fight my smile as I stared at them. They weren’t just thinking of themselves but others—people they had never met and likely never would.

“Are we allowed to do so?” Ezra asked.

I glanced at Nektas.

“You’re the Queen,” he replied. “You can do as you wish.”

“You sound like Nyktos,” I muttered, shifting my attention to the two before me. “I don’t see why not, but I would advise against going into a lot of detail or bringing up Kolis. He can be very vindictive, and I do not want anyone catching his attention unintentionally.”

“We won’t,” Ezra assured, slipping her hand free of Marisol’s. “But what of you? Will you be okay?”

“Yes,” I said. Not just because I didn’t want to worry her but because I would be, damn it.

Ezra exhaled heavily. “Thank you for warning us.”

“I wish I could do more.”

“I know. And I also know that you must leave soon. But I do have one more question.” Ezra clasped her hands together. “Though it’s not for you.”

I glanced between her and Marisol. “Okay.”

Ezra’s head turned to the rounded archway of the door. “You are not a god, are you?”

My eyes widened slightly.

“I am not,” Nektas said.

“How did you know he wasn’t a god?” I asked.

“His skin,” she explained. “When we were in the dining hall, I saw…ridges appear in his flesh in the shape of scales.”

“You’re too observant for your own good,” Nektas remarked.

“I do not believe one can ever be too observant,” she countered, and I saw the corners of Nektas’s lips rise. “Are you a draken?”

Marisol gave a full-body jerk, and for a second, I feared she might end up on the floor like her mother.

“I am the first draken,” Nektas stated.

Ezra’s mouth formed a perfect circle.

“Okay. Well, that’s enough for today.” I rose, knowing there were likely a hundred questions forming in Ezra’s mind right now.

And I was right. “But—”

“I will return,” I interrupted. “As soon as everything is settled. You can ask all your questions then.”

Ezra huffed out an irritated breath. “You swear?”

“Did I not promise that I would return the last time?”

“You did.” Ezra rose. “Do not break the promise this time because I will have a written list of questions ready for you.”

I laughed. “You likely will.”

“Your laugh.” Ezra stepped toward me and then stopped. “I have never heard you laugh like that before.”

“Really?” I felt my cheeks warming.

Her eyes glimmered. “You and Nyktos? He called you his wife.”

“He did.” Now my cheeks were really burning. “We are married.”

“And you love him?”

“I do.”

Ezra smiled. “That is lovely to hear when he’s clearly besotted with you.”

Then Ezra shocked me.

She reached between us and took my hand in hers. I experienced a rolling tremor as I felt her warm skin against my palm.

“I am happy for you, sister.”

Sister.

“Thank you,” I said hoarsely.

She released my hand, and I turned away, still feeling her skin against mine. I said goodbye to Marisol, or at least I thought I did. I was in a state of shock.

Ezra had touched me and had done it so casually. I could count on one hand how many times she had done that in the past.

If she had only done so because of who I was now, I didn’t care. It didn’t matter.

“Seraphena.” My mother rose in a quiet rustle of silk. “May we speak? In private?”

Age-old tension crept in, erasing the shock. My feelings when it came to my mother were still as complicated as ever, even though I had a little better understanding of why she was who she was. Still, I was about to say no because I didn’t need to continue allowing her to hurt me.

And that was both for my sake and hers.

But I remembered what I had seen snippets of, and what Ward had shared.

My namesake.

“We can,” I said, and Nektas didn’t look even remotely thrilled about that. “It’s okay,” I told him. “Can you give us a couple of minutes?”

“Do I have to?” Nektas didn’t take his eyes off my mother.

“Yes.” I walked past him, touching his arm. His bright gaze met mine. “Do not scare them.”

He huffed.

Without even looking back at Ezra, I knew she was brimming with excitement about the prospect of having a few moments alone with the very first draken.

Actually, as I closed the doors behind me, I was more worried about him than I was about her.

My mother waited across the hall, standing at one of the windows overlooking the moonlit gardens. She faced me, expression without emotion in the soft, buttery light of the gas lamps.

Maybe I should be worried about myself.

“Thank you for speaking with me,” she said.

I stopped a few feet from her.

She clasped her hands together and cleared her throat. “I don’t know where to start, and we surely do not have enough time for that.”

“No, we don’t.”

A faint smile appeared. “Is it true? You love him?”