The floor was vibrating. I watched the darkness gather in the alcoves and peel away from the walls, racing across the floor toward the entryway. I tried to lift my head, but the muscles of my neck were like limp noodles. A blast of thunder shook the entire palace. No. That wasn’t thunder. That was a roar. A draken.

A gust of icy wind whirled through the chamber, the air charging with power.

Taric took a step back and turned to the front of the room as the air crackled and hissed. Pulling every ounce of energy I had in me, I sat up, leaning heavily against the pillar. Panting, I inhaled sharply, and the scent…the citrusy, fresh scent reached me. My breath hitched.

Nyktos.

The churning mass of shadows appeared in the archway of the chamber, and what I saw looked nothing like the Nyktos I knew.

His skin was the color of midnight streaked with the silver of eather, as hard as the stone the palace had been built from and just as smooth. The flesh swirled all over, making it difficult to see if his features were the same. The twin, sweeping arcs behind him were no longer wings of smoke and shadow but solid and similar to those of a draken, except his were a seething mass of silver and black. Power sparked from his eyes—eyes filled with so much eather, no irises or pupils were visible.

This was what I had seen glimpses of. What existed beneath the skin of a Primal. And he was terrifying and beautiful.

Nyktos rose into the air, wings stretched wide, arms at his sides, hands open, and eather dancing across his palms. “On your knees,” he commanded. “Now.”

Chapter 43

All three gods dropped to one knee before Nyktos, their heads bowed in submission. They didn’t hesitate.

“You dare to enter my Court?” Nyktos’ voice boomed through the chamber, shaking the entire palace. I saw Aios stir out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He drifted forward, his wings moving silently. “And touch what is mine?”

“We didn’t have a choice.” Cressa gasped as wind poured through the ceiling, whipping her hair around. She lifted her head. Her skin had turned the shade of bleached bone. “We—”

“We all have a choice,” Nyktos growled.

Cressa was jerked backward and then up into the air. I caught a glimpse of Aios sitting up and scrambling toward Bele as Cressa’s body stiffened. Her mouth stretched wide in a silent scream, and just like with the guards at Wayfair, Nyktos didn’t need to lay a finger on her. Deep, unforgiving cracks appeared in once smooth cheeks. She didn’t crumble slowly. She exploded, shattering into a fine, shimmering dust.

“And you chose wrong,” Nyktos said, his head snapping toward Madis. “Join your sister.”

The god turned, but a shadow came in through the open ceiling—a large, gray-and-black shadow. Nektas. The draken landed on his forelegs, his front talons slamming down on the edge of the dais. His wings swept over the thrones as he stretched his long neck forward. The thick frills around his head vibrated as he opened his mouth. Silver fire poured from it, swallowing Madis within seconds.

When the fire receded, there was nothing where Madis had stood. Not even ash.

Hands touched my arm, startling me. My head jerked around to see Saion crouched there. “Are you okay?” His concerned gaze fell to my throat. “Sera?”

“Yeah,” I said hoarsely, seeing now that Nyktos hadn’t arrived alone. Ector and Rhain were coming through the alcoves, swords in hand. “Bele.” I turned my head to where she and Aios lay on the other side. I felt a flare in my chest, one that turned my skin cold. Bele was on her back, the dagger lying on the floor. Aios was bent over her, clasping the other goddess’s face.

Nektas’s rumble of warning snapped my head around. Taric was on his feet, the trace of eather inside him erupting from within, whirling down the bare skin of his biceps and forearm, crackling and spitting silver sparks. The light swirled out from his palm, stretching and solidifying, taking the shape of a…sword.

A weapon of pure eather.

Good gods.

“Really?” Nyktos sounded bored. He descended fast, landing in front of Taric in the span of a heartbeat. His wings tucked back as his hand clamped down on Taric’s wrist. The sword jutted out to the side, spitting and crackling. “You should know better than to try to use eather on me.” His voice was so cold, so full of shadows. “All you’re doing is pissing me off.”

The glow of eather faded from Taric, the sword collapsing into nothing. The god stood there, his skin paler under the shimmer of gold. “Do you even know what you have here?” He started to turn his head toward me.

“Don’t look at her. If you do, you will not like what happens next.” Letting go of Taric’s wrist, he folded his hand around the god’s throat, forcing his head away from me. “And I know exactly what I have.”

“Then you should know that he will stop at nothing to get to her,” Taric sneered, his gaze tipping toward me once more.

“Oh, man, this is going to be bad,” Saion murmured.

“What did I say about looking at her?” Nyktos questioned softly—too softly. A shiver tiptoed down my spine. Taric’s entire body jerked as a hoarse shout parted his lips. Red filled the whites of his eyes. I shrank back against Saion, smacking a hand over my mouth as blood poured from the god’s eyes. Taric let out a high-pitched whine as his eyes…melted, streaming down his cheeks in thick globs.

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you,” Nyktos said.

I shuddered, bile crowding my throat. I’d never seen anything like that. I never wanted to see anything like that again.

“Fuck,” Taric rasped, trembling. “Kill me. Go ahead and do it, Blessed One. It won’t matter. He won’t stop. He’ll tear apart both realms. You of all people should know.” Taric kicked his head back, baring blood-streaked teeth as he laughed. “Kill me. Take my soul. It will be nothing compared to what he does to you because you can’t stop him. Neither could your father. He’ll have her—” Taric howled as his entire body spasmed.

At first, I didn’t know what’d happened, and then I saw Nyktos’ wrist flush against Taric’s navel. His hand…

His hand was inside the god.

He dragged his hand up Taric’s stomach, carving straight through flesh. Shimmery, bluish-red blood spilled down the front of the god’s shirt. The sounds…the sounds he made…

Nyktos leaned in, speaking directly into Taric’s ear. “You underestimate me if you think I can’t do worse to you.” The Primal smiled then, and my skin iced over. “I can smell her blood on your lips. There is nothing that I will not do to you because of that.”

Taric’s body stiffened as Nyktos’ hand sliced straight up the center of his chest, cutting through his heart. Nyktos twisted his hand and then jerked it free. Taric fell forward, hitting the gathering pool of blood with a fleshy smack.

I barely breathed as the Primal turned around. Those all-white eyes landed on me. Our gazes connected. Saion’s grip on my arms tightened and then loosened as Nyktos’ chest rose. The shadows trailing along his legs evaporated as the eather receded from his eyes.

In a heartbeat, Nyktos was kneeling before me. He appeared as I knew him. Flesh a warm, golden bronze, and no wings. Eather still whirled madly through his eyes, and his skin thinned when he took in the throbbing side of my throat. He lifted his hand—his blood-soaked hand. I sucked in an unsteady breath.

Nyktos halted, his fingers inches from my face. His gaze flew to mine. He lowered his hand. “I won’t hurt you,” he said. “Ever.”

I swallowed. “I know.” And I did know that. I always knew that, but the words…they just spilled out of me as I locked stares with him. It was like Saion wasn’t behind me, still holding my arms. “But I was. I—I was terrified. That god. Taric. He did something. He got into my head and saw me. He saw everything, and it—” I sucked in air, feeling pressure clamp down on my chest.