And that part of me also knew I was wasting time. I exhaled roughly. “I hate the idea of you going out there and facing who knows what when I can’t be there with you.”

“I know.” He dipped his head and captured my lips with his. The kiss was fierce and hard, igniting a throbbing ache I probably should’ve been a little ashamed of but wasn’t. “Just as I hated it when you entered the mortal realm without me.”

“But I had Nektas with me.”

“And I will have Crolee and many guards.”

Closing my eyes, I grasped the front of his tunic. “Be careful.”

“Always.” His mouth found mine once more.

I forced myself to let go of his tunic. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I watched him step back. Wisps of shadows seeped from him, swirling around his legs.

Then he was gone, shadowstepping from the chamber.

I threw myself back until I was flat on my back. Prone, I stared at the glossy ceiling.

“Ash will be okay,” I reminded myself. Problems at the Pillars of Asphodel were common, and he said it was the same at the Abyss. There was no reason for me to be so anxious.

Knowing there was no way I would be able to go back to sleep, I rose again. Worry gnawed at me, coating my skin like thick oil. This wasn’t as bad as being stuck in the cage and unable to do anything, but the waiting and not knowing what was happening was just as stifling.

I plucked up the pale, silky nightgown from the floor and slipped it on. My gaze went to the balcony doors, and then I made my way over to the wardrobe. Two robes hung there, one the dark gray robe made of crushed velvet I’d already worn. The other was a shade of deep violet. A pattern of ivy had been stitched in black along the lower portion of the robe and the chest, framing the delicate pearl-capped buttons on both. The amount of time it must have taken for Erlina to create something like this on a piece of clothing one usually only wore in their bedchamber had to be staggering.

I reached for the pretty garment and then froze. Tiny bumps rose all over my body. Slowly, I turned to the balcony doors once more and held still. The palace was completely silent. Whatever was occurring in the Abyss had no effect here.

But…

I grabbed the dark gray robe and shoved my arms into the sleeves. As I buttoned it, I crossed the chamber. Pushing the drapes aside, I opened the doors and stepped out. My fingers tingled strangely as I looked up. The night sky was as black as shadowstone, but it was blanketed by brilliant stars that cast silvery light over the courtyard and the Rise. Breathing in the rich scent of soil and a faint trace of woodsmoke, I walked to the railing. I could make out the forms of a dozen or so guards patrolling the wall.

The feeling of unnaturalness thickened, causing more tiny bumps to spread across my skin. Eather stirred, almost like a warning. Adrenaline flooded my body as I scanned the courtyard and then the Rise, finding a handful of guards along the northwestern portion of the wall, an area that bordered the Red Woods and the road to the Pillars of Asphodel. There were also several farther south.

But something was wrong.

Something was wrong here.

My skin continued to prickle as I looked at the sky once more. Stars winked in and out, momentarily obscured by…

Leaning forward, I squinted. More stars flickered. The sensation of wrongness coated my skin now, igniting the most primitive instincts. My lips parted as I stared, making out shapes in the sky. Fast-moving shapes with wings—

A shocking sound shattered the silence, a shriek so chilling I thought it would freeze the very air. I jerked back from the railing. Shrill, piercing screams followed in a macabre chorus as the guards along the Rise spun toward the road leading to the Pillars.

A jolt of surprise rippled through me. I’d heard those shrieks before. When I came out of the cavernous tunnel along the outskirts of the Abyss. There had been flames, and these creatures were flying above them.

I stiffened as one of the shapes flew closer, moving as fast as a draken. I caught a glimpse of a wingspan larger than Reaver’s. “What in the—?”

In the blink of an eye, something came at the guard closest to the road. There was a blur of talons, dark-feathered legs, long, straggly hair, and…a vaguely mortal-like body. The creature dug its talons into the man’s back. The guard let out a pained, wet sound as he was lifted into the air and flown out over the courtyard, thrashing and screaming the whole time.

The thing dropped the guard.

Out of reflex, I shot toward the railing and tracked the guard’s rapid descent. The heavy smack of a body hitting the ground turned my stomach. My heartbeat stuttered. The guard must have been a godling because heat flared against my palms when the all-too-familiar urge to intervene, to steal the guard’s life away from death, slammed into me.

My hands curled into fists as the thing flew up, letting out a grating, crackling noise. But I was locked to where I stood, staring at the guard on the ground as I reminded myself that I couldn’t intervene. I couldn’t. I started to force myself to look away, but something was happening.

A flicker of light seeped out from the guard, forming a small orb of softly glowing golden light. What was I seeing? The skin of my neck tickled as the small ball of light floated up several feet before fading. Instinct told me the light hadn’t really disappeared.

It had only moved to the Pillars, where it would take the shape of the man once more.

I’d never seen anything like that before, but I’d heard what it was called here and in every realm—even the ones beyond the Primal Veil. It was the spirit of an individual. Their inner consciousness. The psyche. The self. Sóls. The soul.

I’d finally seen what I’d always sensed upon death. The separation of the soul from the body.

“Get to low ground!” a guard shouted from farther down the Rise. “Everyone.”

My head snapped up. Now was not the time to be distracted by what I’d seen. I knew what this creature was. I’d seen them after I’d been with the riders. It was a sekya, and they were not allowed to leave the…

To leave the Abyss.

Shit.

This was what I’d felt upon waking. They were the source of the unrest Ash had eventually sensed. No souls were trying to escape the consequences of their crimes. Instead, it was those delving out the punishment.

The sekya flew toward the palace as others drew closer, their shrieks rising with my fury.

Guards flooded the courtyard, one of them shouting in a voice I recognized as Kars’. “Get off the Rise! Now! Go! Go!”

My heart lurched as the guards on the Rise ran for the nearest steps, scattering in each direction, but I knew—gods, I knew they wouldn’t make it. The sekya were too fast, and it didn’t matter what they were called, because there were rules…

Rules that had nothing to do with the eirini and were a part of all that information fed to me during the Ascension. There were so many godsdamn rules, but only one was important to me at the moment.

The sekya were not supposed to attack the living—be they Primals, gods, mortals, or anything in between.

But like with the dakkais, they could only be controlled to a certain point.

Several reached the Rise, chasing down the guards there. Half of them dropped from the sky as the first tucked its wings back, diving straight for the guards in the courtyard.

A Rise guard’s scream was cut short. The awareness of death pressed down on me as pieces fell to the ground. Pieces of what remained of the guard.

Kars threw a shadowstone dagger, striking the sekya in the chest. It let out a howl of pain and folded its wings as it got knocked back. It spiraled down to the hard earth. I didn’t feel its death, nor did I see its soul.