“I…” Rhain swallowed and looked away. “It doesn’t matter if that is the truth when it’s not what others believe. Maybe that is wrong of me to say, but it’s reality. And maybe what I’m about to say is also wrong.” His eyes met mine. “Talk to Nyktos. Tell him before someone takes what should be your words to share and weaponizes them.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Standing on the balcony outside the chamber connected to our bedchambers, I felt Ash’s return from the Pillars as I watched a draken with violet-tinged scales and two curled horns fly over the courtyard. Based on Reaver’s description, I assumed it was Hymeria, one of the five female draken. She landed on the Rise beside Ehthawn, and the larger draken brushed his head over hers like I’d seen Reaver once do with Jadis. I pushed the damp hair from my face and then turned, grateful that Ash hadn’t come back when I’d been vomiting up Veses’ too-sweet, flowery blood.

I walked into the antechamber as the main doors opened, stopping at the side of the oval table. An aura of power flooded the space, and the room seemed to shudder in the heartbeats before Ash entered.

Thin wisps of shadowy eather swirled around his leather-encased legs as he stalked forward, his chin down. Strands of thick hair brushed the hard line of his jaw.

“I’m okay,” I was quick to assure him.

Ash said nothing, just stepped onto the dais. He crossed the distance between us, clasping my cheeks and tilting my head back. “That is not true.”

“It is—”

His flesh began to thin. “There are red marks on your left cheek that weren’t there before.”

I jolted, not having noticed that when I washed my face earlier. It had to be from when Veses’ eather had skimmed my face. “They don’t hurt.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.”

Tiny bumps broke out all over my skin in response to the chill. “You sure about that?”

“Yes.” Eather lit up the veins in his jaw.

I folded my hands over his forearms. “I’m completely fine.”

“There is blood in your hair, Sera.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “I thought I got it all out.” Shadows appeared beneath his skin, and I hastily added, “It’s not my blood. It’s Veses’.”

Ash’s eyes flashed pure silver as the shadows deepened and moved faster. “So, that was the cause of what you felt?”

“What exactly did you feel?”

“Anger,” he growled as the room’s temperature dropped even more. “I tasted hot, acidic anger.”

My stomach churned. “That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“What was she doing here?”

“She wanted to see you.” Little misty puffs punctuated my words. I slid my hands to his chest, hoping to ease his anger. “Obviously, I didn’t take too kindly to that, but…” I glanced at the wall beside us and did a double-take. A fine layer of glittering ice spread across the sleek shadowstone. “Is that frost?” My gaze shifted back to Ash. Little of his bronze flesh was visible now. I grabbed his dark gray tunic. “I’m completely okay. I promise. Veses, on the other hand… Not so much.”

His eather-drenched eyes searched mine. “Honestly?”

“Yes.” I rose on tiptoe and kissed his icy lips. “There is no need to worry.”

A shudder went through him. “I feared it was…”

My heart cracked. “You had to know it wasn’t Kolis.”

“It wasn’t him I was thinking of.”

I started to ask who, but then I knew. Kyn. Veses’ taunt slithered through my thoughts. “You don’t need to worry about him either. I don’t want you to worry at all.”

Ash’s arms went around me, and he lifted me clear off my feet, holding me tightly to him. “I will never not worry about you, liessa.”

Looping my arms around his shoulders, I buried my face in his neck. His hand cradled the back of my head as he turned, leaning against the iced-over wall. He slid down until his ass was on the floor, and I was facing him, my knees pressed against the wall.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Do you promise not to freeze us if I do?”

His fingers curled into my hair, loosening the braid. “I’ll do my best.”

I kissed the space above his pulse. “I was with Jadis and Reaver when I felt a Primal arrive. I knew it wasn’t you or Attes, and I wanted to see who it was.”

“You knew it wasn’t Attes?” Surprise filled his tone.

“Mm-hmm,” I murmured against his throat.

“Your Primal senses are really kicking in. Soon, you’ll be able to tell which Primal it is before they arrive.”

My brows knitted. “Really? How?”

“I’ll explain, but you need to tell me what happened first.”

I was half-tempted to give my intuition time to answer for me, but the room was only beginning to warm. It would have to wait. “I went out onto the Rise, and Rhain was there. Veses didn’t seem to know you weren’t here—like she couldn’t sense your presence.”

“You were likely blocking her. She would have to be closer to tell if I was here or not,” he answered, confirming my theory. “It can happen when the true Primal of Death is near, too. You and Kolis would be the only ones unaffected by it.” His palm smoothed up my back. “What led to the blood in your hair?”

I cringed a little against his neck. “When I heard her say she wanted to see you, I sort of…you know, had one of those knee-jerk reactions.”

A rough chuckle shook both of us. “I am not surprised to hear that.”

“You probably also won’t be surprised to hear that Veses was being a bitch,” I said and then told him what’d happened.

Well, I told him everything except her taunts about how Rhain had been freed, despite Rhain’s advice. It wasn’t like I didn’t understand what he had been trying to tell me, but what would Ash do with that knowledge? Other than be enraged. “She was running her mouth, and I kind of lost it. I broke her nose.”

Another short laugh rumbled from Ash. “I assume with your fist?”

“More like my knee.” I rubbed my nose along the still-cold skin of his neck.

“Nice technique.”

“And I threw her down onto the road,” I continued. “By her hair.”

Ash fell silent.

“Then I kicked her, and I think I grabbed her by the hair again.”

He was still quiet, but I detected faint tremors along his shoulders and chest. He was…laughing.

I plopped my forehead on his shoulder. “And then—”

“There’s more?” he cut in.

“There is,” I muttered. “I broke her wrist.”

“Okay.”

I closed my eyes. “And I also bit her.”

The hand on my back stilled.

My hands fell to my thighs. I didn’t think he was angry since my knees were damp from where the frost had melted away. Or at least he wasn’t as angry as before. “That’s probably how I got her blood in my hair. I wasn’t exactly…precise when I did it. I kind of tore her throat open. Her blood tastes gross, by the way.”

Silence.

I squeezed my already closed eyes shut tighter. “Anyway, I then spit the blood in her face.”

Another beat of silence passed.

“Is that all?”

“Yeah?” Unease swirled.

Ash’s hand swept back down my back. “You aren’t confident in that answer.” As his hand moved back up, it curled around my braid. He gently tugged my face out of his shoulder, and his eyes met mine. Only faint streaks of eather were visible. “What are you not telling me?”

I slumped a little. “I wanted to kill her.”

His brows shot up. “That’s what you were holding back?”

“I mean, I would’ve killed her if Nektas hadn’t shown up—even after Rhain tried to talk sense into me, reminding me that I didn’t want war.” I shook my head. “And I really would have, Ash. I was that”—I held up my thumb and pointer finger, spacing them less than an inch apart—“close.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Only because Nektas was there. So, I’m not sure that counts.”

“It does.” His other hand ran along my jaw. “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had.”