“Your sister is very inquisitive,” he said as we stopped near the nepeta blue.

My grin turned a lot larger then. “How many questions did she manage to ask?”

The cool breeze lifted the long strands of his hair, tossing them across his face and chest. “Far more than a mortal should’ve been capable of doing in such a short period of time.”

I laughed. “Sorry about that.”

A dark brow rose. “No need to apologize. The Queen is…amusing. And her wife is extraordinarily polite.” He offered his hands. “They both handled the news of who you are fairly well.”

“Ezra’s known about my ability to restore life for a while, and she’s always been very…pragmatic,” I explained, taking his warm hands in mine. “And her wife? She was the first person I brought back to life. That was before I knew that restoring a mortal’s life meant another paid the price. She doesn’t know. And I don’t want her ever finding out.”

“Understandable.” His fingers curled around mine.

“But I think she…kind of senses something. I don’t know what, but maybe she knows on some kind of unconscious level,” I said, glancing back at the castle’s lit windows.

For the first time since…well, forever, I didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of anger, inadequacy, or hurt. All of that was still there. One decent conversation with my mother wouldn’t erase all of it, but it was muted by something new. Hope.

I pulled my gaze from Wayfair. “Ready?”

Nektas nodded.

I had originally hoped to visit Cauldra Manor—the ancestral Balfour home in Massene—to see if Delfai was still there. Him knowing how the Ancients had been entombed was a long shot, but it was the best we had. However, that was before I’d found Callum having supper with my family. Discovering what the fuck he was up to was the priority now.

Clearing my mind, I pictured the damn empty pedestal in the foyer as eather swelled. Tendrils of gold-streaked silver essence rose from the ground beneath us. The mist thickened and swirled, spinning up our legs. The vanilla scent of the purplish-blue flowers faded as we shadowstepped into the House of Haides.

The throbbing sensation of another Primal echoed in my chest before the mist evaporated. The feeling felt…familiar as I let go of Nektas’s hands and turned, glancing at the closed main doors past the pointed archways.

“A Primal is here,” I announced as I started down the hall, heading for the underground level.

“There is.” Nektas brushed red-and-black strands back over his shoulder. “It’s Attes.”

Well, that kind of explained why the awareness felt familiar. I had totally forgotten that Ash had said he would ask Attes to be here.

As we entered the left hall, I spotted Rhahar and Kars at the end, guarding the door near the back stairwell. Rhain stood with them.

The auburn-haired god turned as we passed Ash’s office. He waited until we were almost upon them to ask, “How did things go?”

“Other than finding an unexpected visitor with them? Good. My step—my sister is going to alert the other kingdoms of possible impact.” I stopped before them. “Do you know if the Revenant has come to?”

“I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out,” Rhain answered as Rhahar opened the door. “After we’re finished down here, there’s something I need to show you and Nyktos.”

I nodded as I entered the narrow, torchlit stairwell. The musty scent of the underground lair surrounded me as I thought about the underground pool and wished that was the source of my visit to the dank space as goldish-red flames danced off the damp walls.

That prickly sensation of unnaturalness returned as I followed the curve in the stairwell, our boots thudding softly off the stone. Remembering the steepness of the last step, I managed not to trip and fall flat on my face as my gaze flickered over the rows of bleached, twisted…bone.

The bones weren’t gold nor carved from those of an Ancient, but my stomach still roiled upon seeing them. I dragged in a breath, forcing my gaze forward.

Ash drew his booted foot off one of the bars and rose from the wooden chair he’d been seated in as Attes turned.

Ash was before me in an instant, his arms around me and his mouth cool and firm against mine. He kissed me as he had before. Fierce. Hungry.

A throat cleared, but Ash was in no rush. I gripped the front of his shirt as he slowly ended the kiss, drawing my bottom lip between his. “How did things go?” he asked, resting his forehead against mine.

I closed my eyes, soaking in the feel of him. “Okay.”

“Don’t mind any of us,” Attes drawled. “Take your time. We’ll just stand here and wait.”

“Shut your damn mouth,” Ash said, and I grinned. His hands slid over my cheeks and into my hair. “I’m going to need more details when we have time.” He tilted his head and kissed me once more. “I hope you’re not too angry with me over my interference with your mother.”

I may have been a little irritated by his unexpected presence, but the moment he’d said why he had come? How could I be upset with him? He’d felt that deep, cutting pain and defended me. I couldn’t love him more for that. “I’m not angry with you.”

His fingers curled into my hair. “I missed you, liessa.”

Gods.

Every beat of my heart was his. “Show me how much you missed me later.”

The deep, sexy rumble that came from him sent a heated thrill through my blood. “I can’t wait.”

Neither could I.

Pressing one last kiss to my forehead, Ash stepped back and turned. Down the hall, Rhain was studying the floor as if it held the answers to life.

I cleared my throat. “Has he woken up?”

“He did right after I got him here,” Ash said as we walked ahead.

“Huh,” I murmured, scanning a cell that looked like a tree bear had burst through it, leaving several rows of bars shattered. A rusty dark color stained the floor of what had to be Veses’ cell. I looked over the etchings in the broken bones. Primal wards. They were powerful, just as the bones were, and would even hold a weakened Primal, but they were not unbreakable. Veses was proof of that. “He’s a little too quiet to still be conscious.”

Attes snorted. “That’s because he started running his mouth, and Ash quickly grew annoyed.”

I glanced up at Ash as the faint stench of stale lilacs reached me. “What did you do?”

One side of his lips curved up as we stopped in front of a cell. “Quieted him.”

I faced the narrow cell. There were no cots or chairs. Just bone chains connected to the back wall—

I squinted. Something dark and wet was splattered on the back wall. My gaze lowered to where Callum lay sprawled on his back in the middle of the torchlit floor. The entire front of his gold tunic was drenched in blood, and there was a large puddle beneath him.

“Exactly how did you quiet him?” I asked, spotting a rather straight, pinkish-red line across Callum’s throat.

“Removed his head,” Ash answered.

I slowly turned to him. “You did what?”

“Decapitated him,” Ash said as if he were listing an uninteresting step in a recipe. “With a sword.”

“His head reattached itself,” Attes shared, folding his arms over his armor-covered chest. “It was quite disturbing to watch the tendons and muscles do their thing. They sort of crept and slithered across the floor until they reached his head.” He sent me a grin as the picture he painted formed in my mind. “You should’ve seen it.”

“I’m glad I didn’t.” Nausea rose so sharply I thought for a moment I might vomit all over Ash, but as my stomach calmed, I remembered something. “You threatened Callum once,” I said to Attes. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten this. “You said you knew how to kill a Revenant.”

A dimple appeared on Attes’s cheek as he grinned. “I do, but it’s not pretty. Kolis calls it the Fire of the Gods.”

Ash frowned. “Draken fire?”