“I’ve seen that work on a fresh Revenant,” he said, and I immediately wondered exactly how that had come about. “But ones that have been around for a while? They have to be burned beyond just a crisp, and they take longer to die that way. They need to be turned to ash. But what Kolis was talking about—the Fire of the Gods—it’s draken blood. Ingested draken blood. Burns them up from the inside.”

Nektas’s brow rose. “Makes sense. Just coming into contact with our blood kills or severely wounds most. Ingesting our blood would kill almost anything.”

But not a Primal or Ancient. Instinct told me that draken blood did something else entirely in that case. Something not good.

“I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable asking the draken to open their veins for us,” I said.

Nektas shrugged. “As long as it doesn’t require much, it wouldn’t be a problem. Our bodies heal quickly.” The draken peered into the cell and smiled. “We can test it out with that one.”

“You can open your vein and force-feed Callum, but that won’t work with every Revenant out there,” Attes pointed out. “We would need to have it bottled, and as you well know, storing draken blood isn’t easy since it also burns through most fireproof stone. The only thing it doesn’t is—”

“Basalt,” Nektas cut in. “Another type of shadowstone.”

My stomach churned. “You mean more slag?”

“The slaggiest of slag,” Ash corrected, causing my lip to curl. “It’s where dragon fire impacts a surface and the temperature is at its highest, creating a medium to dark gray stone. The problem is, it’s been a really long time since dragon fire has touched anything. Whatever is out there would’ve been long since buried.”

Frustration started to rise, but then I stiffened. “I saw the creation of the Star diamond when I was in stasis—dragon fire killed an Ancient, leaving behind that diamond, but also—”

“Basalt,” Ash finished, a slow grin appearing. “The Undying Hills.”

I nodded. “I’ve never seen them before—well, in real life. But Delfai said the Fates erupted the mountain to get to the diamond, leaving the area and surrounding hills barren.”

“Barren and gray.” Attes squinted as he turned back to the cell. “I saw the Undying Hills a long time ago.”

“I’ve been there,” Ash said. “There was a lot of rock—rock that definitely could be basalt since the Arae erupted the mountain, likely unearthing it.”

“I’ll get on it as soon as we’re done here,” Attes offered. “Which we have to be, sooner rather than later.”

I narrowed my eyes and glanced back at Callum. “Why is that?”

“The eirini,” Ash spat. “Attes was kind enough to explain that keeping Callum could be seen as a violation since he serves Kolis.”

My nostrils flared with a surge of anger. “Well, there goes killing him.”

“Unfortunately,” Ash said. “But he needs to be free before the moon rises.”

“Which is less than an hour from now,” Rhain said.

I shook my head. “I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again. The eirini is bullshit.”

“That it is,” Rhain remarked.

“Too bad we don’t have more time. If we did, we could let Thierran at him.” Attes glanced over. “He’s still here, right?”

“Yeah, but he’s been keeping a low profile,” Ash said.

So low, I had entirely forgotten the oneirou was here.

Rhain shifted, angling his body away from the cell. “Was your family able to say why Callum was there?”

“Not really.” I sighed. “Apparently, he was there for a few days and mostly kept to himself.”

The skin between Attes’s brows creased. “That’s odd.”

“He’s odd.” I stepped forward as the fingers on Callum’s left hand twitched. My gaze flicked up to his throat. The line there was barely visible. “He’s waking up.”

An intense silver glow filled the symbols etched into the bone bars with a wave of Ash’s hand. As the light faded, a section of the bars swung open.

Ash followed as I walked into the cell, mindful of the blood and chains that secured Callum’s slim wrists and ankles. The bonds were taut, preventing him from doing much more than wiggling around. I knelt at Callum’s side. His features were still slack under the golden paint. I looked back to those in the hall. “Can someone grab me some water and a rag, please?”

“On it.” Rhain took off in a blur.

Kneeling at Callum’s head, Ash asked, “Please, tell me you’re going to smother him with the rag and then drown him?”

I snorted. “That wasn’t exactly what I planned.”

“That’s disappointing.”

A low laugh escaped me as I looked Callum over, noting the width of his shoulders and the stark, tapered waist. He was thinner than I remembered.

I kept a close eye on him until Rhain returned with a bucket and a cloth. Ash rose to retrieve the items. The metal bucket clanged off the floor as he set it by me. I quietly took the rag from his hand and dipped the cloth into the icy water.

Faint tremors ran along the Revenant’s body, but he didn’t stir. Not even when I scrubbed a little harder to remove the thick paint from his face, revealing a smattering of freckles along the bridge of his nose and across the tops of his cheeks. He didn’t have nearly as many as I did, but the sight of them was unsettling. I wiped at his brow, removing the paint there, and then I leaned back, taking in his heart-shaped face, angular cheeks, and full mouth—

I jerked my hand back as I stared at him. “Please, tell me you don’t see what I do and that I’m imagining things.”

Ash was silent for a few moments. “He looks…he looks like you.”

My heart started pounding as I dropped the cloth onto the floor. Not only that. He looked young. He couldn’t have been more than twenty—if that—when his life had ended and he’d been restored, forever frozen on the cusp of adulthood.

Attes moved closer to the bars. “But he looks more like Sotoria. Except for the hair, he’s damn near the spitting image of her.” A moment passed. “You two look like you could be cousins.”

“I always thought it was weird that I resembled Sotoria. Like having her soul placed in my bloodline somehow influenced my features,” I said. “I have my mother’s face for the most part. Except for the freckles. That’s all my father. His hair…” I thought of the painting and felt my stomach twist. My head cut to Attes. “I’ve only seen a painting of my father, but his hair was a deep reddish-brown color. Not the same as Nyktos’s. More like red wine.”

Attes jaw clenched. “Sotoria’s hair was that color.”

“Her soul was in your bloodline for hundreds of years on the Mierel side,” Ash said softly. “It’s possible that influenced more than just your appearance.”

“Could be,” Nektas considered. “Or you are of the same bloodline as Sotoria.”

My eyes flew to Ash’s. He shook his head. “If the vadentia doesn’t tell you,” he said. “Then only the Fates can.”

I nodded slowly. Either way, it was disturbing because I didn’t like the golden fuck.

With that thought in mind, I picked up the bucket of water and dumped it over Callum’s head.

The Revenant’s eyes opened wide, his back bowing as he drew in a ragged breath. “Fuck.” Gasping, he sputtered, spitting water as his arms curled. The chains clanged off the stone floor.

“You were taking too long to wake,” I said.

His head cut toward me.

Smiling, I wiggled my fingers at him. “Hello.”

Water dripped off his nose, and he inhaled sharply. “Bitch.”

Ash struck as fast as lightning. He grasped a handful of hair and jerked Callum’s head back as far as possible without snapping his neck.

“Fuck,” Callum repeated.

“Watch your mouth,” Ash warned. “Or we will get to see how your arms and legs reattach themselves.”

“I would like to avoid that,” I said. “So, as long as you behave yourself, we will.”

Callum’s lips peeled back over his teeth. His canines were longer than a mortal’s but shorter than mine. However, they looked sharp. “You’re violating the eirini.”