“Bele, you will be up with us.” Ash’s gaze flicked to Attes. “So will you.”

“I need to be on the second line,” Attes argued. “That’s where the fighting will be the heaviest. If our line breaks, the Temple will be overrun.”

“Good point.” Ash let out an aggravated breath.

“I’ll take Kars and you two.” Attes nodded at the cousins. “Rhain should be with you all.”

My gaze darted from Kars to Rhahar and Saion. While the latter had been Ascended, none of them were Primals. They were gods, which meant they could be killed with shadowstone and eather. Thinking that made my heart race, even though none of them looked nervous. Kars was actually smiling.

“I don’t think Saion should be on the second line,” I said. “Or in the Bonelands.”

Saion stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“We need Phanos taken out, and when that happens, you will finish your Ascension,” I reminded him—and everyone. “You’ll be vulnerable in those moments, and we may be unable to get you out.”

“Fuck,” he muttered, rubbing his brow. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“Good call.” Ash smiled at me, and I felt like clapping myself on the back. Somehow, I managed to refrain from doing so. “The Shadowlands still need to be guarded in case Kolis attacks here to draw our attention. You will be needed here.”

Saion wasn’t happy, but he nodded.

“I am ready,” Penellaphe said, drawing our attention. “I know I haven’t been Ascended for long, but I am ready to join the fight.”

“As am I,” Ione joined in. “I have trained as a guard and can wield a sword.”

“Penellaphe,” Ash began.

“I know I may not appear to have had any training.” Penellaphe’s chin lifted, sending long, honey-hued strands cascading over her back. “But I, too, once trained as a guard.”

“It has nothing to do with that,” I said. “Eventually, you will have to use the eather despite your training, which will impact the mortal realm.”

“And it will already be severe with just Sera and Kolis on the field,” Ash said. “Add in Attes? Bele and me? Phanos? We must do whatever we can to prevent a full-scale war and lessen the impact on the mortal realm.”

Penellaphe relented first, then Ione reluctantly submitted.

“I assume this part of the conversation doesn’t apply to me.” Lailah looked over the table between Ash and me.

“You just woke up,” Rhain said. “You can’t be out there.”

Lailah’s brows shot up. “You cannot be serious.”

“He is,” Theon stated, crossing his arms. “Look, Aios isn’t arguing—”

“That’s because Aios isn’t a trained warrior!” Lailah’s head shot toward the redheaded Primal goddess. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Aios lifted a hand. “But even if I were, I understand why I cannot be on the field.”

Theon smirked at his sister.

Lailah’s eyes narrowed. “I am one of the most trained guards in all of Iliseeum—without using eather.”

“No one is denying that,” Attes said. “But you are vulnerable.”

“That’s bullshit.” Her nostrils flared.

“I would target you in battle,” I said. “If I knew someone on Kolis’s side had just Ascended into Primalhood, I would go after them. Not only because they would be vulnerable but because it would make others vulnerable. We would seek to protect you. That’s why Saion cannot be on the battlefield.”

Lailah’s mouth opened, but after a moment, it closed.

“I know it’s hard not to be out there when your brother and those you care about are.” I held her gaze. “Just as it is hard for Aios, Ione, and Penellaphe. And if you hadn’t just Ascended, we would have you out there instead of Bele.”

Bele scowled. “Rude.”

“However, as Nyktos said, we need to do everything we can to lessen the impact on the mortal realm,” I told her. “That is why we seized the other Courts. Not just to gain more numbers but also to prevent the Primals from fighting and adding to the harm that we—that I—have already caused.”

I could feel Ash’s gaze on me as I watched Lailah. Seconds ticked by, and then she finally exhaled heavily and nodded.

The meeting continued. Further plans were established. Draken blood had been drawn and sealed in the basalt vials. The bone chains were already deep underground in Oak Ambler, and once we were done with our discussions, I spent the better part of the day with Reaver and Jadis, soaking in as much time as I could with them while practicing finding Nektas’s imprint and communicating with him.

I was sure after about fifteen minutes he wanted to throw me out a window.

Then we all had dinner together, a fine current of unease humming under each laugh and smile. Ash and I made love, and each kiss, every sigh carried with it the hum of dread fueled by the knowledge that if we failed tomorrow, we would lose…

Our children.

Each other.

Our future.

Those we cared for.

Everything.

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Ash and I stood in silence among the thick, gnarled roots of the sweeping trees that jutted out from the sides of the rocky bluffs overlooking the coast of the sun-speckled Bonelands. The absence of birds singing or even the rustle of the smallest critters moving through the heavy foliage left only the sound of the salty breeze rattling the leaves.

My gaze swept over the land below surrounded by the bluffs and the dense forests bordering the fields. The wind whispered over the rocky hills and flowed through the valley, but the tall, thin, purple-and-red wildflowers that bloomed from the soil that cradled the bones of gods and mortals were still. So was the knee-high grass. It was almost as if the wind didn’t dare disturb the final resting place of the long-forgotten warriors that had fallen like leaves in an unforgiving autumn during the battle with the Ancients.

Under the sword strapped to my back, a chill tiptoed down my spine. “I don’t remember this place being so…”

Ash’s hand tightened around mine, and he tore his gaze from the horizon. “What?”

“Creepy,” I murmured.

“It only feels that way because you know what took place here,” he said, a strand of hair that had escaped the knot at his nape blowing across his cheek.

“That and all the dead bodies in the ground,” I pointed out. “How many do you think are buried here?”

“Tens of thousands.”

Gods.

I swallowed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.”

Ash’s chuckle tugged at my lips as I eyed the forest. To the untrained or unsuspecting eye, it appeared as if Ash and I stood alone on the bluffs.

That was not the case.

The trees were so thick that only the thinnest rays of sunlight penetrated the depths, but every so often, I caught a brief reflection bouncing off our regiment’s sharpened shadowstone swords where they waited to the east. Just as we’d discussed, our ships lay shrouded in the heavy mists bordering the Skotos Mountains. Tucked within the embrace of the jagged cliffs and within the caves beneath us, Attes stood with the bulk of our armies, their discipline ensuring no clank of armor nor murmur betrayed them. Seven of our draken were nestled among the crags of the cliffs, their scales blurring the line between rock and beast. Bele and Rhain, along with Thierran and a smaller regiment, were hidden in the trees along the bluff we stood upon.

I took a deep breath and held it for the count of five as I turned my attention to the ancient, sprawling Temple on the bluff to our right. The thing was massive, the length the same as the House of Haides.

“It was one of the first Temples erected,” Ash said, following my gaze. “Where Ancients once greeted mortals.”

The Temple must have been a sight to behold. It was impressive even now, with its fractured walls and half-crumbling pillars bearing the scars of war and time. The defiant roof remained, as well as several halls and some inner walls of chambers.