My heart pounded fast.

“The Hunters…they came for you twice that I know of,” Ash said, and I jolted. “Yes.” He nodded. “That is what they must be searching for. And I bet that is what Cressa and the other two gods are also looking for.”

“What?” My chest twisted. “You said it was—”

“That was what I thought until now.” Ash was only a few feet from me, the shadows behind him taking the shape of wings. “Now, I know they were searching for the source of the ripple of power, and somehow the mortals got mixed up in it.”

“Why? Why would they care? Why would they hurt them if they believed it had been them?”

“Because that kind of ripple should not be felt in the mortal realm.” His swirling eyes met mine. “Or even in Iliseeum. If I had felt it in any other part of Iliseeum, any part that was closer to the mortal realm, it would’ve drawn me out, too. Because the kind of power I just felt now? Many would take that as a threat.” He shook his head. “You are so incredibly lucky, liessa.”

I didn’t feel very lucky right then.

“Why did you not tell me about this?” When I said nothing, his head tilted. “Don’t go quiet on me now, liessa.” An achingly cold smile crossed his features. I gritted my teeth. “Where is all that foolish bravery of yours?”

“Maybe you’re scaring her,” Aios suggested from somewhere behind the pulsing shadow wings.

“No. Sera doesn’t scare that easily.” Ash stood in front of me, so close that I tasted citrus and fresh air when I breathed. I tipped my head back. “Sera knows very little of fear. Isn’t that right, liessa?”

“Right,” I managed to force out.

His skin thinned as his head dipped. Icy breath coasted over my cheek. “Then why didn’t you tell me about this little talent of yours?”

“Because you’re the Primal of Death,” I snapped. “And I didn’t think you’d appreciate knowing I’d stolen souls from you. That’s the truth. So back off.”

Someone made a choked sound, but Ash…gods, he laughed, and that sound was full of dark smoke. “So, you have brought someone back to life before.”

“Only once—well, twice if I count this one. I only really used it on animals before. Never mortals. That was a rule I made,” I rambled. “Until I broke it. That was the night before you came for me, but that was the only time. And the other day, there was an injured silver hawk. That’s why I was so far in the Red Woods. I touched it, and its injuries healed. That was the first time that happened, and it was like…it was like I knew it was only injured and not dying. That was also a first. I didn’t know it would even work. I’m not even sure how I ended up with this—this gift.”

“I know how.” His breath glanced off my lips, sending a strange mixture of nervousness and anticipation through me. “I know exactly who you got the ember of life from. The Primal of Life.”

I figured that. “Kolis?”

There was a harsh sound in the chamber, very possibly a curse, and Ash laughed again, this time colder. “My father.”

My entire being focused on him. “What?”

“My father was the true Primal of Life.” Ash’s cool fingers touched my cheek. “Until his brother stole it from him. His twin, Kolis.”

Chapter 35

We moved to the chamber behind the thrones. It was a war room of sorts, numerous swords and daggers lining the walls. A long oval table was situated in the center, the wood covered in nicks and grooves, giving the impression that daggers had been slammed into the surface on more than one occasion. Probably by one of the gods sitting there at this moment. Ector had returned by the time we entered the chamber, bringing with him Bele, who was trying but failing not to be obvious about openly staring at me.

Rhain and Saion, along with Rhahar, weren’t doing much better. All of them stared at me. Even Nektas, who stood in the corner. He hadn’t come straight to the chamber. When he joined us, I saw why. Something nearly as much of a shock as learning that Ash’s father had been the Primal of Life.

Cradled to Nektas’s chest was a dark-haired girl, wearing a loose nightshirt and wrapped in a blanket. It was Jadis, who…who very much looked like a small, mortal child no older than five. One tiny, bare foot poked out from the blanket.

“Blanket,” Nektas said, walking past me while carrying her. “She wanted her blanket.”

All I could do was stare and wonder if that was why she had been pulling the edges of my gown against her face earlier.

When she looked like a draken.

Reaver remained in his draken form, alert and resting beside Nektas.

Aios placed a glass of whiskey in front of me that I didn’t touch. Slowly, I looked over at Ash. The shadows had receded from his skin, but he watched me with the same intensity as he had in the chamber, and since he’d returned from checking in on Gemma. She had been looked over by the Healer who’d arrived at some point when we were in the chamber. I had no idea what Ash had told him, to keep how severely Gemma had been injured hidden.

Drawing in a too-short breath, I looked over at Ash. My stomach was still twisting itself into knots. “So…Kolis is your uncle?” My voice sounded so very far away.

He nodded. “They were twins. Identical. One fated to represent life and the other death.  My father, Eythos, the Primal of Life, and my uncle Kolis, the Primal of Death. They ruled together for eons as they were meant to.”

A wave of goosebumps rippled over my skin as my arms fell to my sides. “What happened?”

“My uncle fell in love.”

I hadn’t expected him to say that. “I think there must be more to the story.”

“There is always more to the story,” Aios said, sitting beside Bele.

“It all started a very long time ago. Hundreds of years in the past, if not close to a thousand. Long before Lasania was even a kingdom.” Ash sat in the chair beside me, at the head of the table. “I don’t know if the relationship between my father and his brother was always strained or if there had been peace between them at one time. But there had always been this competitive side to them. To both of them. My father wasn’t wholly innocent in that, but from what I’ve learned, there was an issue of jealousy. After all, my father was the Primal of Life, worshipped and loved by gods and mortals alike.”

Nektas nodded. “He was a fair King, kind and generous, and curious by nature. It was him who gave the dragon a mortal form.”

Wide-eyed, I turned to Ash, and my heart stopped.

There was a small, distant smile on the Primal’s face. A beautiful and sad one. “He was fascinated with all life, especially the mortals. Even when he became the Primal of Death, he was in awe of everything they could accomplish in what, to Iliseeum, was an incredibly short period of time. He often interacted with them, as did many of the Primals back then. But Kolis, he was…respected and feared as the Primal of Death instead of welcomed as a necessary step in life—a doorway to the next stage.”

Rhahar’s brows pinched. “I always wondered if mortals wouldn’t be so afraid of death if they viewed it differently—as not an end but a new beginning.”

Maybe, I thought, swallowing. But death was the great unknown. No one knew how they would be judged or what truly awaited them. It was hard not to be afraid of that.”

“When Kolis entered the mortal realm, those who saw him cowered and refused to look him in the eyes while mortals rushed to greet his twin. I imagined that got to him,” Ash said, the faint smile turning into a wry grin, and I imagined that had to get to him. “On one of those trips into the mortal realm, Kolis saw a young mortal woman gathering flowers for her sister’s wedding or something along those lines.”

“Wait. Was her name Sotoria?” My thoughts spun. “The one that fell from what is now the Cliffs of Sorrow?”