Born of Blood and Ash

“What?” coughed Ash, swallowing.

“Callum.” I pitched forward, rattling the table. “The blond-haired Revenant who is always with Kolis.”

Ash reached for his glass. “What about him?”

“You know how Kolis favors Callum?” When he nodded, I continued. “I couldn’t figure it out at first—why Callum was the only one who was allowed to be alone with me or how he clearly had more leeway with Kolis than anyone else. There were times he would actually disagree with Kolis.”

Ash halted. “If you’re about to tell me that Callum is Kolis’s child…”

“Uh, no.” My lip curled when I thought about how Kolis hadn’t been with anyone since he’d held Sotoria captive. It wasn’t his celibacy that disgusted me. It was the reason behind it. “Callum never believed I was Sotoria. He was adamant that I wasn’t, even after Kolis summoned a goddess from the Thyia Plains,” I said, referencing the Primal Goddess of Rebirth’s Court. “He wanted her to confirm whether what I claimed about being Sotoria was true. She can read memories like Taric could. Her name is Ione. Do you know her?”

The skin between his brows creased. “I know of her. She often accompanies Keella. I didn’t know she had the ability to scour the mind.” His jaw clenched. “Did she look into yours?”

“She did, but she made it as painless as possible,” I quickly told him. “And she lied for me, Ash. She saw the truth and lied.” Worry for the goddess surfaced. “Kolis has to know that now. I hope she’s okay.”

“If she lied to Kolis, she knew what she was doing, and she will likely be smart enough to make herself scarce,” Ash stated. “Callum didn’t believe you were Sotoria, even after that?”

“No, and the reason he didn’t is the same as why he’s so close to Kolis,” I told him. “Callum is Sotoria’s brother.”

Ash choked on his water. “You have got to be joking.”

“I wish I were.” Gods, did I ever. “If you thought things were messed up before? Wait until you hear this.”

“Great,” Ash muttered.

“The day Kolis saw Sotoria on the cliffs and scared her? She was picking flowers for her sister, Anthea. Callum was supposed to be with her but was messing around with someone instead. He felt responsible for her death.” I held up a hand. “Look, I don’t like Callum at all, but he wasn’t responsible for his sister’s death. Kolis was.”

“Agreed.”

“So, Kolis, being possibly the least self-aware being in all the realms, went to Sotoria’s parents to let them know that he’d petitioned Eythos to restore Sotoria’s life.” I watched as Ash captured my hand and brought it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to my palm, then lowered it to my lap as I told him how Callum had asked to be taken to Sotoria so he could apologize, and how that had ended for him when Kolis explained that he couldn’t. “Callum slit his own throat.”

“Fuck.” He exhaled roughly.

“Yeah, and Kolis…” I shook my head. “Gods, I could hear the anguish in his voice when he spoke of holding Sotoria as she died and then did the same with her brother.”

“You sound bothered by that.”

“I was. I am,” I admitted. “What happened to Sotoria and Callum is a tragedy. And back then, Kolis wasn’t who we know today. I’m not saying he was good then,” I tacked on. “Clearly, he had obsessive tendencies and really poor peopling skills.” My cheeks puffed with the breath I blew out. “But I don’t think he was pure evil.”

Ash said nothing to that.

It was understandable. Ash would never see Kolis as anything but who he knew. “Kolis couldn’t allow Callum to die, and he knew Eythos wouldn’t intervene. So, he did what was forbidden.”

Ash inhaled sharply. “He gave life?”

“He used his blood to Ascend Callum, but he’s not a demis,” I said, speaking of the Ascended mortals who don’t carry enough eather in their blood—not like the third sons and daughters. “And he’s not one of the Ascended. He’s not even like the other Revenants. He’s who he was before his death. But the other Revenants? They have no desires—not for blood, food, sleep, or companionship. They are driven only by the need to serve their creator. Kolis. And that is all.”

“That is why death ca

“Yeah, I don’t think they’re filled with serpents,” I murmured, shuddering. “Anyway, Kolis sees nothing wrong with it. He thinks being incapable of wanting or feeling anything is freeing.” I turned my head to Ash. “If I hadn’t had embers of life in me, could that have happened when you Ascended me?”

“No. I am a Primal of Death, but I am not true Death. My blood likely would’ve done the same as any other Primal’s,” he said. I didn’t know why that relieved me because it was moot at this point. “Did Kolis ever explain why Callum is different?”

“He said that Eythos once told him that whatever the creator felt at the time shaped the creation.” I rubbed the skin behind my ear. “And he was right. It’s what the creator truly feels—what is real and ca

My stomach soured. “He even felt joy. But he only felt duty with the others. The only magic involved was that Callum retained something akin to a soul.” My brows knitted. “But creation is a reflection of who and what we are. A mirror of all our best and worst traits. Callum is an echo of who he and Kolis once were. But the other Revenants?”

“They’re an echo of who Kolis is today,” Ash surmised, a muscle along his jaw ticking. “And basically indestructible. But what about Callum? Shouldn’t he be easier to kill if he has something akin to a soul?”

“You’d think, but considering how often I’ve seen him die only to return to life? Even after I did a real number on him?” The satisfaction that came with wiping that smug look from Callum’s face was brief. “I’d say no.”

Ash looked away as he reached across the table to pick up a bottle of wine. He pulled the cork and poured himself a glass and then turned an empty glass upright to pour another. “I want to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

He placed the wineglass near my plate. “When I was being held in the Carcers,” he began, speaking of the mountains west of Dalos, “I was in and out of consciousness. Kolis always managed to be there when I was awake.” He shifted his gaze to the glass he held. “He liked to talk.”

My throat dried.

“He said you tried to escape.”

Dropping my hands to my lap, I nodded. “I did. That’s…that’s when I messed up Callum.”

“How did Kolis handle that?”

“Surprisingly well,” I said. “He actually didn’t seem all that mad.”

Ash’s head slowly turned to me.

“I know. It sounds unbelievable, but he…he wanted so badly to believe I was Sotoria.” I let my head fall back. The lamplight from the chandelier glowed softly as I stared up at it. “I think that kept his temper in check.”

“Most of the time.”

I tensed, briefly closing my eyes. Ash was likely talking about the bruises he’d seen when we walked in each other’s dreams, but my mind went to Kolis’s punishment for when I attempted to intervene on Veses’ behalf.

For the briefest second, I could almost feel the muscles in my arms stretched unbearably.

I opened my eyes. “The bruises you saw when we dreamwalked happened after he took me to Hygeia and summoned Phanos—” I drew in a ragged breath as I saw the reluctance in the Primal God of the Sky, Seas, Earth, and Wind’s eyes flash before me. My throat thickened. “And after the ceeren transferred their essence to me. I saw my chance to kill Kolis—or what I thought was my chance. I grabbed a shadowstone blade and stabbed him.”

“Gods.” Ash drew his other hand over his chin.

“It wasn’t a very well-thought-out plan. His reaction was immediate. I don’t think he even meant to hit me—

“You stabbed me, and I did not strike you, Sera.”

“I know.” I looked him straight on, thinking I likely wouldn’t have faulted Ash if he had reacted in some way to defend himself. After all, I had stabbed him in the chest. Literally. I would’ve done way worse if it had been me…and I’d survived. “I’m not excusing it. I’m just explaining that he has better control of his temper than what is made of him.”

“He had that control because of what you mean to him,” Ash bit out. “You saw a side of him that no one else has seen, at least not in my lifetime.”

I swallowed as nausea crept up my throat. Between my stomach and the dark energy seeping out of Ash and charging the air around me, I really needed to get to the point of why I’d brought this up before I vomited on myself and the table. “All I’m saying is that’s what caused the bruises. And even then, that was it.” But it really wasn’t. He had used compulsion, ensuring that I behaved and could only stand there while—

Nope.

Wasn’t going there.

Feeling Ash’s gaze on me, I forced my thoughts past that. “It didn’t happen when I tried to escape after he brought me back to Dalos. All he did was lecture me. And now, I think it was because my actions reminded him of Sotoria. The whole attempting-to-escape-him thing. How fucked up is that?”

“There are no words to capture how fucked up that is.”

He was so right. “When we were on the beach in Hygeia, I saw what he really looked like—his Primal form.” Tiny goose bumps formed as the dull gleam of Kolis’s bony face appeared in my mind. “I saw true Death.”

Ash had gone completely still, his expression devoid of any emotion. I counted. It took six seconds before he spoke again. “When we were talking before, you said he made you wear revealing clothing?”

“Yeah.”

Those enviable lashes swept down and then lifted. The eather streaking his irises brightened. “What else did he make you do?”