Born of Blood and Ash

Bands of gold-tipped silvery light sparked, swirling down my arm. My will formed in my mind, and within a second, it transformed into raw energy. Eather erupted from my fingertips, forming several torrents of hissing, twisting gold-and-silver energy bolts. The tendrils of eather snaked through the air, casting flickering light and shadows across the grass.

Ash whipped around as a kynakos launched itself at him. The first current of eather slammed into the beast, and because I willed it a quick, soundless death, the Dog of War was snuffed out. Obliterated.

“Fuck,” rasped Ash, tracking the essence as my gaze flicked to the right. Eather caught a kynakos mid-jump as a branch of energy spun between him and Nektas, arcing and then diving—

Attes swore, springing toward Lailah. He grabbed her around the waist.

“What the—?” she exclaimed as he lifted and spun her away from the tendrils of eather. “Was that even necessary?”

Attes held her several feet off the ground. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Coils of crackling essence formed a web and streaked above the grass, fa

The field was empty, but I didn’t call the eather back to me. The twists of pulsing power reared back, poised to strike.

“Liessa,” Ash said, coming up the veranda steps. “I think you got them all.”

Nodding, I sca

My heart still pounded, but I released the eather. The strands of essence flickered out. I met Ash’s stare as he approached. “They were after you.”

Ash’s jaw hardened as he hooked an arm around my shoulders and drew me to his chest. He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“Fucking Kolis,” Lailah growled.

“I don’t think that was him,” Attes said, and I frowned. “And trust me, I’m not giving him a pass, but he’s never demanded that we use the kynakos to do his bidding.”

“There’s always a first,” Nektas muttered.

“Yeah, there is.” Attes’s voice was closer. “But it’s more likely that my brother was trying to earn Kolis’s praise.”

Fury rose in my chest as I pulled away from Ash and faced the other Primal. “I really do not like your brother.”

He thrust his fingers through his hair. “Don’t blame you.”

“I assume you realize that summoning Kyn for the meeting is off the table now,” Ash stated, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t give a fuck about proving shit to him.”

Attes nodded and dropped his hand. “I understand,” he said, his voice heavy. “And I agree.”

A pang of sorrow sliced through my chest. I wished it wasn’t this way for Attes.

Lailah cleared her throat. “You said you had a feeling that drove you here?” she asked, glancing in Attes’s direction. The Primal was staring off toward the forest. “Was it like the vadentia?”

“The answer to that will have to wait,” Ash said before I could reply. “I need to speak with my wife.”

My belly did a series of little wiggles and flops as I dragged my gaze from the bushes. I didn’t know if I should be worried.

Or excited.

Ash’s voice dropped, sounding full of smoldering flames as he added, “In private.”

Excited.

I was definitely feeling excited as my eyes locked on his molten silver gaze. But there were important things to discuss. Lots of things. Ignoring his rich scent, I forced myself to act responsibly. “We need to talk about what just happened—”

“That can also wait.” Ash took my hand as he stepped into me. I felt him then, thick and hard against my belly. Our gazes collided, and he didn’t look away as he said, “Lailah?”

“I’m good.”

“As am I,” Nektas shared, and my heart started to pound for a wholly different reason than it had before as a shadowy mist unfurled around us.

“Perfect.”

I didn’t even see the essence rise as Ash’s mouth descended on mine, his tongue parting my lips with one fierce, wicked promise of what was to come.