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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Strands of gold and silver spilled out from me, forcing Rhahar back as the tendrils of eather whipped against the air, ripping open a blinding tear.
I walked through it without a second thought.
Eather spun maddeningly as a fierce rush of pine-and-sea-scented wind enveloped me, tossing the wisps of hair that had escaped my braid across my face. Awareness throbbed in the center of my chest, and I felt him.
Then I heard Lailah gasp and say, “Fates.” Through the essence, I briefly saw her staggering to the side. I may have nearly shadowstepped into her.
Whoops.
The tendrils of gold-and-silver-streaked eather slowed and faded, revealing slivers of stone, ivory walls covered in bright-green ivy that glistened in the sunlight, and comfortable-looking brown leather settees. Several people were there, but at first, I only saw him.
Ash stood only a few feet from me, a shadowstone dagger strapped across his broad chest. He crossed that space in half a heartbeat.
“Sera.” He clasped my cheeks, and a charge of energy shifted between us. “What are you doing—?”
“Is everything all right?” I cut in as Nektas appeared to Ash’s left. We were on some sort of veranda.
“Of course.”
“That’s debatable,” muttered Attes in his familiar, deep voice just as I heard the distant sound of barking dogs.
“What do you mean it’s debatable?” I started to turn my head toward Attes.
Ash wasn’t having it. He kept my attention on him. “Forget about him.”
“That’s rude,” the Primal remarked as Lailah crossed between Ash and Nektas, holding a bronze cup.
“You shadowstepped here?” Ash stated. “By yourself?”
The way he said it, like I was a child not old enough to ride a horse by myself, stroked my already frayed nerves. And not in a good way. “Three things.”
Behind Ash, Nektas pressed his lips together and sat on one of the wicker settees.
“Number one,” I said, holding up my hand, “I obviously shadowstepped here. Number two, I’m also clearly capable of doing so by myself.”
Ash straightened. “Number three?”
“I’m not a child,” I snapped and saw Lailah’s eyes double in size as she lifted the cup to her lips.
“Trust me, liessa,” Ash drawled, his voice dropping to a shadowy, silky tone that stroked all the right nerves. “I know you are no child.”
I ignored the simmering heat curling low in my stomach. Now was not the time for that nonsense. “Good to know we’re on the same page, but I wasn’t done. I came here because I was worried about you.”
“Liessa…” The line of his jaw softened. “That was four things.”
“Don’t even try being cute,” I warned him. “I should’ve just ignored the feeling I had.”
“Sometimes, I think, ‘Hey, I’m feeling lonely. Maybe I should look for something more long-term,’” Attes said to no one in particular. “But then I’m always quickly reminded of why I’m more into the short-term.”
Lailah huffed out a dry laugh. “As if that is a choice,” she said under her breath.
A throat cleared behind me. This time, Ash didn’t stop me from turning. Before I could even meet his gaze or speak, Attes lowered himself to one knee and placed his empty hand over his chest.
“Meyaah Liessa,” he said, his head bowed so deeply that his hair tumbled forward in waves.
“That’s not necessary,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time.
“It’s completely necessary,” Ash drawled.
I shot him an arch look. He simply winked at me.
“I agree with Nyktos,” Attes replied. “I’m honored to do so. It has been far too long since I have felt pleasure upon paying such respect.”
The air chilled behind me.
“I would gladly spend a hundred years on my knee before you,” Attes continued, his tone turning to silk. “Both of them if you so requested that of me.”
“Well, that’s really not necessary at all.” I fought a grin as the temperature in the antechamber cooled more. “You can rise, you know.”
“Your wish is my command.” Attes rose, lifting his head. A flicker of surprise washed over his face as he blinked—correction…as he blinked one eye.
My mouth dropped open. It wasn’t the shallow scar ru
“Oh, this? It’s courtesy of that one.” He jerked his chin toward Ash. “Your dear husband.”
My mouth fell open for the second time. I slowly turned my head to Ash.
“My fist slipped.”
“It must’ve slipped really hard to leave that bruise.” I crossed my arms.
“It did,” he replied, his gaze sweeping over me.
“And did you hit him before or after he agreed to attend this meeting?”
“Does it look like he hit me only once?” Attes countered.
“You hit him twice?” I screeched.
“No,” Ash said, dragging his lower lip between his teeth. “Three times.”
I stared at him in disbelief. There were far more important things to focus on, but I couldn’t believe he’d hit Attes three—
“It was more like four,” Lailah corrected.
I turned to her. “I thought you were here to make sure they behaved.”
“She tried, but she was unsuccessful,” Attes said. “And that’s kind of your fault. Since you declared him King—which I agree with, by the way—he demanded that she not interfere.”
Ash smiled tightly. “I did do that.”
Nektas snorted.
My head swung back to the draken. “And you couldn’t stop him?”
“I could have.” Nektas took a drink from his cup. “But Attes had it coming.”
“Oh, my gods,” I muttered, turning back to Attes. “And you were somehow unable to defend yourself?”
“What was I to do?” Attes tilted his head, sending a lock of sandy hair against a cheek also mottled, though a less violent shade of red. “Striking a King would be considered treasonous.”
“That is true,” Ash said.
I took a deep, calming breath. “That looks painful.”
“It feels about ten times more painful than it looks,” he said.
Ash huffed. “Don’t waste your time feeling sorry for him. He could heal it. He’s just not doing it.”
“Why are you—?”
“Because he’s attention-starved,” Lailah interrupted.
I turned back to the Primal. The bruises did look terrible, but the Primal of Accord and War was a strikingly handsome man, even with the bruised and swollen eye. Not even the scar detracted from the chiseled features. But when I looked at the scar, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how he’d gotten it. He’d been trying to stop Kolis from killing his children.
Gods, how fucking terrible was that? Kolis had harmed so many people, and all because he’d lost what was never his in the first place.
Sotoria.
Now that the shock of seeing Attes’s black eye had faded, all sorts of messy emotions rose in me. I was happy to see him. Attes had helped me when I was held in Dalos, but he had seen a lot, and that brought forth so much anxiety it was no wonder I’d felt like I might vomit earlier. His presence also stirred up shame. And no matter how much I knew I shouldn’t feel that, I couldn’t stop my skin from feeling like it was crawling.
I looked away and drew in a shallow breath. “I feel the need to apologize for my husband’s ill-advised actions.”
“There is no need,” Attes said.
“That, we can agree on,” Ash remarked.
Attes stepped closer. “Your eyes. I’ve never seen anything like them.”
My ears prickled at the low rumble of warning coming from Ash.
A gleam sparkled in Attes’s one good eye, and it had nothing to do with the eather. “They are absolutely beautiful,” he went on as if completely oblivious to the dark energy ramping up on the veranda. “Stu
“Thanks,” I said. “I guess they happened because there’s never been a true Primal of Life who was born mortal, so…” I gave a one-shouldered shrug.
“No,” Attes said, practically purring the word. “There has not.”
“You’re showing a little too much respect,” Ash advised coolly. “Keep it up and you’ll find yourself neutered.”
I nearly choked. “Really?”
“Really.”
“That’s a painful process I hope not to experience.” Attes chuckled, and a deep dimple appeared on his right cheek amid the bruises. The glint of devilry faded from his smile. It was then that I noticed the shadows under his eyes. A pang lit up my chest. He didn’t look like he’d gotten a lot of sleep, and I figured that had to do with his brother.
His enemy.
He took my hand, and two things happened. A faint charge of energy passed between us. And the Primal behind me growled.
“Ash,” I snapped, exasperated.
“It’s all right. He’s only being protective of you. As he should,” Attes said. I wasn’t sure I agreed with that, especially considering Ash knew better. “I am glad to see that you are well. When I saw you last…”
I swallowed thickly, nodding at what went unsaid. When we were at the Primal Keella’s residence in the Thyia Plains, I’d clearly been dying. I hadn’t thought I would see him again, either.
“But here you stand, alive and the true Primal of Life. I could not be happier.” He glanced at Ash. “And that is all because of you.”
Ash said nothing as he stepped up and slipped an arm around my waist.
“And because of you.” I squeezed Attes’s hand. “I don’t remember if I thanked you for your aid while I was in Dalos. But even if I did…thank you.”
“There’s no need.”
“There is,” I insisted. Ash’s cool chest brushed my back. “If you hadn’t taken the risk and told me I wasn’t Sotoria, I would’ve seriously tried to kill Kolis. And it wouldn’t have worked. He would’ve known the truth, and I would either be dead or…”
Or worse.
That also went unsaid.
Ash’s lips brushed my cheek. “She speaks the truth.”
Attes’s smile was small and heartfelt, but there, as he released my hand. “He already thanked me once. No need to do it again.”
Raising a brow, I looked over my shoulder at Ash. “You actually thanked him?”
“Yes.” He kissed my temple. “I told you. We worked things out.”
“With your fists,” I muttered.
“He actually thanked me before he hit me,” Attes said. “Or was it between the first and second punch?”
“It was between them,” Ash said.
I shook my head. “I do not understand either of you.”
“We understand each other,” Attes interjected.