Naberius’s tail slid across the tile. Muscles along the draken’s face clenched, then one vibrant red eye with slanted pupils opened. His head lifted as the scaled skin below his nostrils vibrated and pulled back. A row of thick, sharp teeth appeared, and a low snarl hit the air.

A buzzing sound started in my ears as I turned back to Jacinta, the hum increasing with each staggered heartbeat. I took a step back as she pressed her shaking hands to the god’s chest, over the wound. I wanted to tell her that it was too late for that, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I couldn’t process what I was seeing. He’d been hurting her. Kolis had said…

A wave of chills swept down the back of my head and neck. Shimmering blood dripped from the shadowstone blade I held as I kept backing up, looking around, my gaze now as wild as Jacinta’s had been. I saw Attes first. The scar running from his hairline and across the bridge of his nose and left cheek stood out starkly. His jaw was clenched, eyes sheltered. Keella had her hand pressed over her heart, her normally warm brown skin ashen. Pressure settled on my chest as my gaze skipped over the hard lines of Kyn’s features before moving to the dais.

Kolis smiled, then lifted his chalice. Even from where I stood, I saw that this smile was different. It was like the one he’d worn when he ordered me to kill Thad. It was the same cruel lift of lips.

“Will someone please assist with dear Jacinta before Naberius does it himself?” Kolis instructed, lowering his chalice to the arm of the throne as my gaze darted to the draken. He’d risen slightly on his forelegs and peered into the alcove. “And remove Evander from our presence.”

Every muscle in my body tensed as I stood there. Guards came forward. Naberius’s head swiveled back around, growling at those who neared him. I closed my eyes, feeling my chest become tighter. Breathe in. Each breath I took felt too short, too shallow. Hold. A loud thump came again, followed by a curse. Breathe out. Jacinta…her cries grew more distant, muffled—

A sudden gust of hot air blew strands of hair back from my face—hot air that smelled like…meat.

My eyes popped open.

Two nostrils I might be able to fit my hand inside were only a few feet from my face.

“Naberius,” Kolis shouted.

Thin lips vibrated, peeling back farther from those wicked teeth as the draken leaned in, close enough that I saw the strands of saliva clinging to his fangs.

Kolis yelled his name again. “Stand down. Now.”

It didn’t look like Naberius was about to do that as his breath ruffled the strands of my hair. A low rumble came from his throat once more.

Naberius looked like he was about to eat me.

I thought I should feel fear. Of all the ways to die, I imagined draken teeth tearing into flesh and crunching bone was likely a painful one. Regardless, I felt nothing but lingering confusion and disbelief. I didn’t even feel the embers.

As Diaval crept into the edges of my vision, Naberius…sniffed me.

The draken huffed out a breath that sent the top of my gown blowing back. Then he retreated, drawing his tail toward him.

“Come on,” Diaval growled in exasperation, jumping out of the way of the draken’s thick tail.

A different guard wasn’t as fast.

Naberius’s tail swept the legs right out from under him, knocking the god onto his back.

I blinked.

“Seraphena.” Attes’s quiet voice intruded, causing me to jerk. He stood close but didn’t touch me as Naberius’s head returned to the floor, and his eyes closed. “You should return to the dais.”

My gaze shifted back to Kolis as he reclined on the throne. “I…I don’t understand.”

“It’s okay,” Attes reassured, but it wasn’t okay. It was nowhere near all right. “You need to return to the dais.”

I didn’t feel myself walking, but I was. Attes stayed close to my side until I reached the platform. He remained there until I climbed the steps.

“Thank you, Attes,” Kolis said, his swirling eyes locked on Naberius.

Attes might have answered, but I wasn’t sure as the conversations picked up behind me, once more becoming a quiet murmur of voices.

“I don’t understand,” I repeated.

“About what? Naberius? He is old. Therefore, grumpy.”

“I’m not talking about the draken.”

Kolis’s gaze slid to mine. “Then what are you confused about?”

He couldn’t be serious. “Evander. He was hurting her.”

“He was,” Kolis answered.

“Why did she react that way then? She behaved as if—” I wheezed in a pained breath. “She behaved as if she cared for him. But that’s not possible. They weren’t known to each other. She didn’t like what he was doing to her.”

“And how do you know that?”

“You told me—”

“I did not tell you that.” Kolis’s head tilted, sending a lock of blond hair across his face.

“W-what?” I stammered, a wave of disbelief coursing through me. “You asked me what I would do if I knew—”

“I did ask what you would do if you knew someone’s consent was not obtained, but I did not say she was being forced.”

He had. My thoughts raced over our conversation. He’d named them and then said Evander knew how to feed and give pleasure, but he enjoyed pain. Then…then he’d said, “So now you know.”

He hadn’t explicitly said the god was forcing Jacinta.

I shook my head. “I saw her. She was in pain. She was crying.”

“Tears of pain? Or ones of pleasure?” Kolis asked. I opened my mouth. “Did you ask her? I assume not.”

Why would I ask her in front of the one hurting her? That was irrelevant anyway. “Why would I ask when you led me to believe—?”

“I didn’t lead you to believe anything, my dear,” Kolis cut in. “I asked what you would do in such a situation. You answered that you would shove a blade through their heart. I told you what I saw. You didn’t ask if they knew each other. You didn’t ask if she was in distress. You only asked about yourself and how your actions would affect you.”

I flinched.

“You, like my nephew and far too many others, hear what you want to hear. See what you want to see,” Kolis continued. “And then act upon what fits your narrative.”

“That’s not what happened,” I argued. He’d disregarded the entire context of our conversation leading up to that.

Kolis leaned forward. “That’s exactly what happened, so’lis. You filled in what I did not share. You chose to act upon that information and what you already believed. That was your choice.” His smile returned. “Perhaps you won’t be so trusting of what your eyes and mind tell you next time.”

As I stood there, I remembered the shock on Keella’s face. No. No. I looked around, not seeing her in the crowd. “What…whose Court did Evander—?” My voice cracked. “Where did he serve?”

Kolis dragged the edges of his fangs over his lower lip, and I knew. I fucking knew then. “He served in the Thyia Plains.”

Evander had been one of Keella’s gods.

My body flashed hot and then cold as the motivation behind what had just gone down became all too clear. It wasn’t about proving some twisted version of reality to me. It was Kolis striking back at Keella, who he likely knew didn’t believe a single thing he’d said about the coronation or my answer. And he’d proven it through me.

Just as he’d done with Kyn.

Callum went to Kolis’s side, bending to speak quietly to the Primal. I…

I just stood there.

I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. I knew what I’d heard. What I’d seen. Kolis may not have said that Jacinta was being forced, but he had implied it. He hadn’t insinuated that she was enjoying herself or that she derived pleasure from receiving pain. He’d told me what he believed I wanted to hear. What I…

What I would have easily assumed and had assumed moments before when I saw Malka and Orval. He’d known what I would do and had goaded me into it.