No.

Attes’s gut instinct had to be wrong. Wouldn’t the Fates have known this? Holland? And if so, why had he spent so many years training me? Why did it matter if Kolis believed the one thrusting a blade through his heart was the one he loved? Perhaps it didn’t.

Because there was no way that everything I had given up—everything Eythos and Kolis caused—was for nothing. That it was all fucking pointless.

“You have to be wrong.” My shoulders squared. “You have to be.”

“I hope I am.” The Primal’s gaze was now focused somewhere above me, his fingers curled at the base of his throat.

“Nothing has changed,” I told him.

“Except if you attempt to kill him, and it doesn’t work?” His chin lowered. “What do you think he will do to you?”

“What he’s already done,” I said. “I stabbed him earlier. I missed his heart by an inch, and I’m still alive.”

Attes blinked.

“He was angry,” I amended, flattening my palms against my knees. “But he didn’t kill me. Obviously.”

The Primal stared at me for several moments. “You managed to stab him?”

“Yeah.”

“With what kind of weapon?”

“Not one made of the bones of an Ancient,” I muttered. “Shadowstone.”

His eyes widened. “And that pierced his skin?”

I nodded. “He healed up pretty quickly.”

“Shit,” he whispered, surprise evident in his tone. “He’s weaker than I thought. Even with the embers he stole long since faded, he’s still the oldest Primal. Shadowstone shouldn’t have pierced his skin.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, right?”

“It’s an interesting thing,” he corrected. “If he hadn’t healed immediately, that would’ve been a good thing.”

I started to frown.

“It just means the playing field may have been leveled a little,” he added. “But just because he didn’t end up killing you before, doesn’t mean he won’t do it later. And if you die? And her soul is lost—”

“Yes, I get it. Her soul is the most important thing,” I snapped. “She dies, everything is lost.”

Attes’s head tilted. A moment passed. “You matter, too.”

A bitter laugh left me, even as my cheeks warmed with embarrassment. “You don’t need to lie.”

“I’m not.”

Irritation rose. I knew better, which left me even more frustrated. I should be used to that by now. But also? Her soul was important. “So, what are you saying? I shouldn’t attempt to kill him?”

“I don’t think it’s worth the risk,” he shared.

“Then what am I supposed to do?” I demanded. “Nothing?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Kolis doesn’t know the truth, and that means you’re still his weakness. You can use that to our benefit.”

“Our benefit?” Tension returned as I curled my fingers into my gown. “Funny choice of words.”

Attes ignored that. “Nyktos needs to be freed as soon as possible if there is any hope of preventing the kind of war Kolis spoke of,” he warned. “And we’re already racing toward it. I can sense it.” His eyes searched mine. “You can change that, at least.”

“I know.” I straightened my fingers. “I have a plan.”

“You do?” His brows lifted. “Already?”

“Yeah.” I frowned. “Why does that surprise you?”

“You were only just taken.” His eyes searched mine. “No one would’ve faulted you if you weren’t of clear enough mind yet to develop a plan.”

“Yeah, well, this isn’t the first time I’ve found myself in a situation that doesn’t allow for a whole lot of time to break down.”

He stared. “What kind of life have you lived, Seraphena?”

I laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. Not when I felt like my body was caving in on itself. “Then what? I gain Nyktos’s freedom, and what happens next? You think Nyktos will simply return to the Shadowlands and pretend like nothing happened?”

“If he’s wise, he will.” His gaze held mine. “And you know that’s true.”

My heart skipped a beat. It was. I’d prefer if Ash did exactly that, but he wouldn’t. “He cares for me,” I said quietly. “He feels responsible for me. He won’t do that.”

“I think he feels you are more than a responsibility,” he quipped with a smile that caused a dimple to wink to life.

The breath I took scorched my lungs. It hurt because I’d spoken the truth. Ash did feel responsible for me. He cared for me. He was fond of me. But he could not feel what Attes was clearly suggesting.

It took a lot for me to breathe past the burn and focus beyond it, but I did. Because I had to. “Then how will this prevent a war?”

“I didn’t say you were preventing a war,” Attes corrected softly. “I said you would be preventing the kind of war Kolis spoke of. There is a difference. While I know Nyktos is capable of many terrifying things if pushed, it pales in comparison to what Kolis will do. With Nyktos free, he’ll be able to protect his people and gather support.”

“Is there support to be gained?”

“There can be.”

My hands fell to the cushion. “That’s not good enough.”

“Look, news of what Kolis has done is spreading. It will make others uncomfortable, even if Kolis thinks it won’t stir up too much unrest,” he said, and I immediately thought about Phanos’s response upon seeing me. “But Kolis likes to forget that Nyktos comes in as a close second in the top three Primals that no one wants to piss off.”

“Let me guess. You’re number three?” I remarked dryly.

“You’re very clever.” That dimple was back.

And I was unimpressed. “Has anyone told you that you’re so very stab-worthy?”

A low chuckle radiated from him. “I’ve been told that a time or a thousand.”

I snorted. “Figured.” Easing my death grip, I stood. “What about you and your support? Will you back—?” I stopped myself, looking at the Primal. I remembered what he’d said. Attes claimed only to be loyal to the true Primal of Life.

And as he’d said, for all intents and purposes, that was me.

I inhaled deeply, or at least thought I did, but the breath filling my lungs felt disappointingly shallow. My chest constricted with anxiety like a fist squeezing my heart with every beat. “You will back Nyktos on whatever he chooses and aid him in gaining allies,” I began, my voice trembling slightly. Making demands such as these wasn’t something I was accustomed to. “He will have your full support and that of your Court.”

Attes’s head tilted. “Is that an order?”

My heart raced. At the end of the day, I was still just a mortal ordering a Primal to do my bidding. But the embers in me hummed intensely. I lifted my chin, swallowing. “It is, even if you find yourself standing opposite your brother.”

Wisps of eather whipped through his eyes and lit up the veins beneath the skin of his cheeks. He angled his body toward me.

“You will swear it,” I added, knowing a Primal could not break a promise once made.

Energy ramped up, charging the air. For a moment, I thought I might’ve overstepped a smidgen.

Or a lot.

Probably a lot.

“Very clever,” Attes murmured, then stepped forward and lowered himself onto one knee. Placing one hand over his heart, he bowed his head. “With my sword and my life.” Eather-laced eyes lifted to mine. “I swear to you, the One who is born of Blood and Ash, the Light and the Fire, and the Brightest Moon, to honor your command.”

My title…the one Ash had bestowed upon me. I inhaled sharply as another charge of energy rippled through the air, skating down my spine. I could feel it. I felt the power in commanding such an oath. It caused the nape of my neck to prickle, and the embers to thrum fiercer. His words carried the strength of an unbreakable oath etched into his bones and mine—into the very soil of the realm itself.

And that sudden power? It was as unnerving as it was emboldening. It was also a little awesome.

Attes waited, and I nodded for him to rise, only because I had no idea what I was supposed to respond with and had seen my mother and King Ernald do something similar.