Born of Blood and Ash

My heart sped up. Not all of Phanos’s forty-some thousand soldiers were ceeren. Some were gods and godlings who wouldn’t be able to take to the water themselves. My hands fisted as I lifted my gaze to the island, where I could see limestone buildings dotting the hills and valleys.

Eather throbbed intensely. “Phanos could be anywhere.”

Ash turned to us. “Two hundred ships would be hard to miss, though,” he stated, eather piercing his eyes like streaks of lightning. “Nektas, can you take to the air and see what you can find?”

“What about you two?” he asked as the breeze tossed long strands of hair across his broad shoulders. “I don’t like the idea of you two staying here.”

“We’re not,” Ash said. “We’re going to return to the Shadowlands in case he’s headed there.”

“We also need to get word to Theon to be on the lookout,” I said, and Ash nodded.

Nektas hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave us, but he nodded and turned, rushing toward the edge of the veranda. He leapt, a shimmery wave sweeping over his body as he shifted into his draken form. His massive wings cast foreboding shadows over the water as Ash came to my side. Dragging my gaze from Nektas, I reached for his hand—

I sucked in a sudden breath as an icy-cold sensation shot down my spine and spread throughout my limbs.

“What is it?” Ash demanded, clasping the nape of my neck.

“I…I don’t know.” Swallowing, I shook my head as a new awareness pressed down on me, heavy and dark, thudding in my chest and settling in the pit of my stomach. My hand went to my belly.

Ash’s inhale was sharp. “Is it the babes?”

“No, it’s something else.” The skin beneath my ear erupted in tingles, and I said, “I need a minute to figure this out.”

Ash went quiet but held on to me. I closed my eyes and concentrated. What I felt reminded me of the echo of death, but it was slightly different. “My stomach keeps dipping like…like something is gravely wrong. Not here, but—” My heart lurched, and my eyes flew open. “I think I’m sensing unrest in Iliseeum.”

“Can you tell if it’s in the Shadowlands?” His thumb swept over my fluttering pulse. “Or where it’s coming from?”

“I don’t know.” My skin kept tingling. “But I think I can follow it. Like if I focus on it, I can take us to it.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I’d rather take you home first.”

“We don’t know if that’s what I’m feeling,” I argued. “We need to figure out what’s happening, especially considering what we just found here.”

Ash cursed, then nodded. His skin had already begun to thin as I stepped into him. Concentrating on the feeling of unrest, I summoned the eather and felt the Triton Isles slip away from us. The next breath I took filled my lungs with the scent of scorched earth and the metallic tang of blood as Ash and I shadowstepped smack-dab into the middle of a battle.

“Vathi,” I gasped and knew immediately what we were seeing—what had happened.

Kyn had launched an attack against his brother.