Her eyes widened as her gown settled around her feet. A moment passed. Then another. “It’s not like I hurt him.”

“You didn’t…?” My hands curled into fists. So help me gods, I was going to kill this bitch. I would find a way. “What did Kolis say? That despite how beautiful you are, you say such ugly things?”

Her chest rose with a deep inhale.

“He was right.” My body trembled with rage. “He just forgot to mention how ugly you are on the inside.”

Silvery essence poured into her veins. “You know nothing about me, little girl.”

“Little girl? I thought I was the fat girl,” I retorted. “And I know enough about you, Veses, to know just how depraved you are on the inside.”

“I’ve tried to protect Nyktos!” she shot back. “And I’ve done so at great risk to myself.”

“You tried to protect him by forcing him to allow you to feed off him? By getting off on it?” My heart thundered as I tried to rein my anger back in before I lost control completely. The last thing I needed was for Kolis to sense me using the embers. Damn it, he could’ve already noticed. “You’re a godsdamn mess.”

“And what are you?” Veses demanded, eather snapping into the air around her. “That’s a rhetorical question. I know what you are. A whore.”

I huffed out a dry laugh. “You really need to work on your insults, Veses. They’re truly pathetic.”

“It’s not an insult when it’s the truth. You had Nyktos. Was he not good enough? You had to take Kolis?”

“Take Kolis?” I cut myself off before I said anything she could use against me. I briefly closed my eyes. “Why are so many of you out of your minds?”

“That’s an offensive question.”

Head aching, I let it fall back. I stared at the bars above me. “I don’t understand most of the Primals, but you? I think I understand you the least.”

“You’re likely not intelligent nor worldly enough to even begin to understand me,” she quipped.

I sighed. “Again with the silly insults. You can do better.” I met her stare. “You want Kolis, but since you can’t have him, you go after his nephew—who also wants nothing to do with you. You seize the first opportunity to turn whatever friendship or companionship you once had with him into a nightmare, yet you claim to protect him? As if you care for him?”

“I do care for him,” she argued, her cheeks flushing. “He hasn’t had the easiest life for a Primal.”

“And you really did your level best to make it worse for him, didn’t you?” I had to count to five before I continued. “Is it because they share similar features, and you can pretend you’re with the one you really want?”

Veses looked away, her jaw flexing.

Dear gods, could it really be that? What Ash had claimed? Telling her she was messed up didn’t even capture what was going on in that head of hers. “That is even more pathetic than your insults, and I actually mean that in the most unoffensive way possible.”

Veses’ head snapped back to mine. “I can’t wait to see you die.”

I didn’t even acknowledge that. “Since Kolis has no idea about the deal you made while you were supposed to be keeping an eye on Nyktos, it’s not because you want to make Kolis jealous.”

“Kolis may not know about the deal, but he believes I’ve kept a very, very close eye on his nephew for him. He thinks we’ve been intimate.” She smiled tightly. “Something Nyktos hasn’t made any effort to deny.”

“So, it is to make Kolis jealous.”

She shrugged. “You have nothing to say about Nyktos not swaying Kolis’s belief?”

“No.”

“Come now, you may be in this cage, and Kolis may call you his graeca, but I know where your interests truly lie.”

I arched a brow. “I know why he wouldn’t attempt to change Kolis’s mind.”

“And you would know that because you love him,” she said, her stare unflinching. “Kolis may not know any better and may even believe that you just harbor a fondness for his nephew…”

Fucking Callum.

He hadn’t been in the chamber when I struck the deal, but he’d somehow found out, either by eavesdropping or from Kolis himself.

“But I know better.”

“You don’t know anything,” I sneered.

“Did you forget that I was there when you had your little breakdown after seeing Nyktos and me together?”

All the air went out of my lungs.

“Nyktos and Rhain were far too focused on getting to you and thought I’d left as ordered. Of course, I didn’t, nor did I fully realize it was you causing the entire palace to tremble at first. But once I saw you use the embers, I knew it had been you.” Her eyes gleamed. “And no one who harbors just fondness for another reacts that way. I would know. I leveled nearly half my Court when Kolis brought Sotoria back to life.”

My lips parted.

“So, our…violent reactions regarding the ones we love is something we have in common.”

There was nothing I could say to that.

“So, whether you’re really Sotoria or not doesn’t matter. Your heart already belongs to someone else,” she said. “And once Kolis realizes that? You’ll know just how sadistic Kyn can be.”

I inhaled sharply. “You sick bitch.”

“I’m not sick, Seraphena.” Her chin lifted. “I’m just tired.”

“Then go take a fucking century-long nap,” I snapped.

Veses’ laugh was far too sultry for our discussion. “I could never rest that long. I am too afraid of missing out on whatever is happening in the realm of those awake.”

I shook my head as the ache moved down the sides of my face. “I’m almost positive your ten minutes are up, so what is the point of this conversation? Other than to be a living, breathing annoyance.”

“It’s to warn you.”

“Of course.” I sighed.

“I will not lose Kolis to Sotoria again,” she said, her voice low. “I’d rather see him alone than have that.”

“Guess you weren’t telling the truth when you said you were happy for him,” I muttered dryly.

“Make all the snide comments you want. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to do everything within my power to wake Kolis up to what is so clearly evident to most of the realm,” she said. “That your heart, no matter who you really are, belongs to another. And I will not regret what becomes of you after that truth comes out.”

“Shocker.”

“But what I will regret is what it will do to Nyktos. What it is already doing to him.” The mocking, vindictive smile left her face. “Once Kolis realizes you’re in love with Nyktos, he will find a way to keep him. He won’t release him until Nyktos accepts it’s time for him to move on and you’re effectively dealt with.”

My stomach twisted into knots.

“Or you could just find a way to take yourself out of the equation,” she suggested. “Sacrifice yourself for Nyktos.”

Or I could make sure Kolis freed him before Veses managed to convince him of anything.

“Just something to think about.” Rubies glittering in her hair, she stepped back and swept her gaze over me. “I’d look better in that gown, by the way.”

“I’m sure you would,” I replied, speaking the truth. She would look better in a burlap sack.

Watching her leave, I remembered what Aios had said about Veses and Ash’s mother. That they had been friends, and Veses had been good at one time—well, as good as any Primal could be.

Veses wasn’t good anymore.

Maybe Kolis stealing the embers of life and Eythos’s death had aided in changing her. Or perhaps she wouldn’t be like this if she had rested for any real length of time. It was quite possible she could have remained decent if she hadn’t fallen in love with Kolis.

What had Holland said about love? Basically, that it was as equally awe-inspiring as it was horrifying.

I was so glad that my love for Ash meant I’d gotten a taste of what the awe-inspiring bit felt like. I couldn’t help but feel a little smidgen of pity for both Kolis and Veses, who only knew the awful side of it.