“You…you’re glowing,” Ector rasped, and Saion’s head jerked up. The twins turned to me.

 A faint, silvery-white glow had seeped out from the sleeves of my gown to lap at my hands.

“What in the actual fuck?” Theon whispered.

I inhaled deeply—taking in the scent of lilacs. Freshly bloomed lilacs. And that smell…it was coming from me. Someone spoke, but I didn’t know who or what they said. Couldn’t hear them over the humming in my ears and the urge…this calling that sank deep into my muscles, overriding any thought. I was aware of Lailah and Theon stepping back, of Saion and Ector staring in stunned silence.

“Sera,” Ash’s voice cracked through the hum.

I looked up. He stood in the doorway, Rhahar behind him. The Primal’s eyes were wide, a brilliant shade of silver, and the tendrils of eather swirling through the irises were bright—as luminous as the glow radiating from my hands.

He appeared frozen in disbelief like the others, rooted to where he stood as the humming warmth continued spreading through me.

 My heart started to trip over itself. I couldn’t pull it back—push it down or turn away as I’d been able to do in the past. “I can’t stand by and do nothing,” I whispered, even though he had no idea what I was talking about. He didn’t know about this. I’d never told him. And maybe I should’ve, but it was too late now.

Reaver cried again, the sound staggered in the otherwise silent room. Ector swore under his breath as the silvery-white eather swirled around my fingers. Throat dry and pulse racing, I placed my trembling hand on Gemma’s arm.

“Holy shit,” Saion whispered as he bumped into the wall. Herbs swayed above him. “You feel that, right? We all feel this.”

I didn’t know what Saion was talking about. And I also didn’t wish for anything. I didn’t have the clarity to do so in the whirling storm that was my thoughts.

The shimmering light flowed from my fingers and settled over Gemma in a bright, intense wave. My breath caught as the eather seeped into her skin, filling her veins until they became visible, a spidery network coming alive along her too-pale flesh and across the bruised, torn skin.

“What the…?” Aios entered the room, holding a basin of water to her chest. She jerked to a halt, slowly lowering the bowl.

The silvery light flared as intensely as sunlight on a summer’s day all along Gemma’s skin. Her chest rose with a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to roll through her entire body. I lifted my hand. The glow throbbed and then softened, slowly fading until…

Underneath the blood, her skin had smoothed and stitched itself back together across cheeks now pink with color. The tear along her forehead had healed, leaving only a rosy line behind. The wound at her throat had sealed, leaving only a ridged scar of puncture marks. Gemma’s eyes fluttered open. Brown. She looked straight at me, and then her eyes closed. Her chest now rose and fell slowly, her breathing deep as she slept, healed lips parted with another steady exhale.

“You,” Ash whispered, his deep voice hoarse. I looked over at him, and I…I’d never seen him so stunned, so exposed. “You carry an ember of life.”

Chapter 34

Ember of life.

You carry the ember of life in you, Sir Holland’s voice whispered through me. You carry hope within you. You carry the possibility of a future.

Reaver called out again, making that strange, staggered sound, echoed by Jadis. From outside the palace, a deeper call answered in a chorus that rattled the herbs hanging from the walls.

The only one who appeared able to move was Aios. She came to the table, placing the basin on the surface. Glancing over at me, she checked Gemma’s pulse. “She’s definitely alive.”

“That’s it,” Ash spoke, the shadows spinning dizzily under his skin. I looked over at him and saw only him. Saw the disbelief give way to wonder—wonder that turned into something powerful and bright, something like hope. My chest tightened until I wasn’t sure how I breathed. “That’s what he did.”

“Fuck,” Saion uttered, and I thought he might need to sit down.

“Did what?” Theon asked as I pressed a hand to my chest. “Who did what?”

Ash straightened to his full height. His gaze remained fixed on me. “No one speaks about what they saw in this room. No one. Gemma wasn’t as wounded as previously believed. She will be told the same. Cross me on this, and I will spend an eternity ensuring that you regret that choice. Does everyone understand?”

His words lifted the shock from the room. One by one, each god showed that they clearly understood.

“Good.” Ash still hadn’t taken his eyes off me. “Theon? Lailah? Please take Gemma to one of the rooms on the second floor.”

The twins moved forward to obey the Primal’s request. Both sent cautious looks in my direction—looks tinged with wariness and marvel. I watched Theon carefully lift the sleeping Gemma into his arms.

Lailah grabbed the basin. “To clean her up,” she said. “She’s going to need it.”

“Thank you,” Ash said, his gaze still boring into me. A wave of tiny bumps spread across my skin. “Ector?”

The god cleared his throat. “Y-Yes?”

“Make sure the guards on the Rise are at all four corners and at the bay. Then make sure those at the Crossroads know to alert us at once if anyone arrives from another Court. Go now,” Ash ordered, his focus still on me. “And go fast.”

Alarm raced through me as Ector left at once. “Why…why are you doing that?”

Shadows continued gathering under Ash’s skin as he kept staring at me. “I felt what you just did. All of us did.”

“We all did, too,” Nektas’s voice startled me. I looked up to see him entering through the hall I’d come through. He was shirtless, his long crimson-streaked hair windblown. His flesh appeared…harder than before, the ridges of scales more defined. Had he just shifted?

I watched Jadis peel away from Reaver’s side and rush toward her father. He bent and picked her up. “I don’t understand.”

“That was a ripple of power,” Ash said, and my attention shifted back to him. I stepped back from the table, from where Gemma’s blood pooled. “One hell of a ripple of power, liessa. One that will most likely be felt through all of Iliseeum by many gods and Primals. There is no doubt in my mind that others will come searching for the source.”

My stomach twisted. “I…I didn’t know it caused a ripple of power. I assume that’s a bad thing?”

“Depends on who felt it.” A predatory edge had settled into Ash’s features. “It could be a very bad thing.”

I opened my mouth and reached for my dagger. Through the gown, I pressed my hand against the hilt. “When will we know if it is a very bad thing?”

Ash had tracked my movements, and his smile held a cold savageness. “Soon.” He took a step toward me. “That wasn’t the first time you did that, was it?”

I locked up.

“Liessa,” Ash all but purred, his chin dropping as he slowly rounded the table. I glanced quickly at the other gods and draken, but I doubted any of them would intervene. “I’ve felt that before. Over the years. Never that strongly, and I didn’t know what it was. Couldn’t even exactly pinpoint where it was coming from.”

I stiffened. He…he’d felt it before?

“And I know for a damn fact that I wasn’t the only one who felt it before,” he said, shadows starting to gather and move under the table, drifting toward him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nektas motion for Reaver to come to him. “The night at the lake, liessa. I felt it earlier that day. I felt it the night before I came for you.” The area behind him began to thicken enough that I could no longer see Nektas. “And I felt it recently, the day you went into the Red Woods and the entombed gods broke ground.”