Sucking in a breath, I jerked back. Ash’s gaze flew to mine as he shook the gore from his hand. “Liessa?”

I blinked, my heart pounding. “It’s okay.” I swallowed hard, glancing at the second dagger Ash had gifted me that I clutched tightly, and then I looked over my shoulder to where Attes stood, his hand tight around the shaft of a bone spear. “You partial to that spear?”

Attes’s head cocked, his eyebrows furrowing. “Not exactly.”

“Good, because I’m going to need this dagger,” I said, turning back to Kolis. “I’m not going to waste it on you. It’s too pretty.” I held it between us, wanting him to see it—wanting him to remember it. “Besides, if you do come back? And she is reborn?”

Kolis went still.

“I will place this dagger in her hand myself,” I whispered. “And it will be she who drives it through your heart.”

Leaning back, I held his gaze as I sheathed the dagger. Without taking my eyes from Kolis, I extended my hand.

Attes walked the spear to me. I took it and rose, adjusting my grip on the leather band down the center. My muscles trembled with the need to drive it through Kolis’s heart and into the blood-soaked stone below him, but…

I raised my eyes to where Ash stood on Kolis’s other side.

But the pain Kolis had caused me was nothing compared to what he had done to Ash.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, I handed the spear to Ash.

His gaze dropped to the weapon and then returned to mine. “You sure?”

I nodded.

He froze for a moment, his chest still, and then he reached across Kolis’s prone body and clasped the nape of my neck. His fingers curled into the braid there to guide my mouth to his. The kiss was fierce and hard, an expression of both savage gratitude and a promise that he would show me just how thankful he was later as he took the weapon from me.

He slowly lifted his mouth and pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you, liessa.”

“I love you,” I whispered.

His hand slipped from my braid, and I stepped back. I could feel Kolis’s unwavering stare on me now, full of hatred. I didn’t look at him. He wasn’t worth it. When Ash turned back to Kolis, he didn’t speak. Again, he wasn’t worth it. Ash folded his left hand under his right and lifted the spear. A heartbeat passed. That was all.

Ash sank to one knee and plunged the spear into Kolis’s chest. Ribs cracked and gave way. I exhaled roughly as the spear struck true. Kolis jerked, his fingers clawing into the stone beneath him.

I looked at Kolis’s face, and hairs rose all over my body. Our eyes met. His mouth stretched wide in a silent roar. A bright, ruby glow rippled over his body, sparking and sputtering against the floor and then quickly retracting. His skin thinned and vanished, revealing the churning, crimson-streaked black vines etched into the bones beneath.

The air stilled.

The realm went silent.

Kolis’s…presence eased away from me.

“Here we go,” Attes murmured.

Ash’s head bowed as the spear hit stone and then sank into it. The impact was a shockwave, shaking the floor and rattling the damp-looking walls. A stale-lilac-smelling wind blew the wisps of hair back from my face. Dust and dirt fell from the ceiling, and red-and-black eather erupted from where the spear had been plunged deep into Kolis’s chest. Streams of essence snaked out, filling the air with a thousand screams. The twisted mass of energy streaked to the north and south, then to the east and west, slamming into the walls and crawling up them. I tensed, realizing his energy was…was seeking a way out. If that happened, the city would be leveled.

The eather rolled over the ceiling, and cracks appeared in the walls, the floor, and above us. The screams continued as the celastite in the walls held firm, serving two purposes: to keep the essence of the realms out and the Primal essence inside.

Eather pulsed, washing the space in a crimson glow. My boots sent loosened dirt and small stones scattering when I stepped back, watching the light fade into the fissures that had formed shapes. Circles with a vertical line through them.

The symbol of Death.

Nearly the same as the Mierel Crest.

Ash rose as the last of the eather seeped into the walls. He turned to me, but my gaze returned to Kolis.

The true Primal of Death was nothing but bone and empty flesh, already turning gray.

Ash returned to my side, taking my hand as I breathed in, and it felt like the first real breath I’d ever taken.

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

We walked from the underground chamber onto one of the many cliffs overlooking the Stroud Sea, the salty breeze washing over us. Bright sunlight reflected off the white-tipped waves crashing against the rocky shore below.

Behind us, the earth shuddered. Stone tumbled, and dirt fell in sheets as Attes collapsed the tunnel that led to Kolis’s tomb.

It was done.

As Ash’s arm draped over my shoulders, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, leaning into Ash. I was so damn tired, exhausted to the bone, but my lips split into a wide smile.

Kolis was entombed, and he would remain that way forevermore.

We’d won.

“It’s over,” Ash said, tipping his chin to the sky.

My smile froze and then faded. I should be celebrating. I wanted to continue smiling. We’d won. I should be cheering. It was over.

For now.

But Kolis’s promise haunted every step I took as I left the tunnel. So did the damn prophecy.

Keella’s warning whispered through my thoughts, the image of the air warping around Callum’s remains forming in my mind. I’d forgotten about that as the old Temple was destroyed. And something about that caused a great sense of unease to rise.

Ash’s arm tightened around me. “Let’s go home,” he said, brushing his lips over my temple. “I want you checked before we take care of Sotoria.”

That wasn’t the only thing we needed to do. I had to make sure the bone army returned to their slumber. We needed to check on the state of things in the Bonelands. Help our wounded. Count our dead. But…

A chill crawled across my neck and then slithered down my spine. Tiny hairs all over my body began to rise when I looked up at Ash.

His hand slid over my upper back, and he turned to me. “Sera?” Concern darkened his eyes. “What is it?”

I wasn’t sure, but the unease intensified, causing my pulse to speed up.

Ash turned me so I was facing him. He clasped my cheeks. “Sera?”

“What’s going on?” Attes asked, joining us at the cliff’s edge, the blood spotting his face turning pink in the sunlight.

“I don’t know.” Ash’s gaze searched mine. “Talk to us, liessa.”

My heart pounded. “We need to take care of Sotoria now.”

Ash’s jaw immediately hardened. “I think that can wait until Kye—”

“It really can’t.” I swallowed. “We need to do it now.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is your vadentia telling you something?”

“I don’t know, but remember what Keella said about the prophecy?” I reminded him, and Ash swore. He knew how important it was to free Sotoria before the Fates did something idiotic, but he was battling with his need to make sure the babes and I were okay. I twisted toward Attes. “I need you to take us to The Star.”

Attes frowned. “I can do that, but I’d prefer if we backed up a second first because you are acting—”

“No,” I interrupted. “We need to go there,” I insisted. “Now.”

Attes led us through the maze of halls forged from shadowstone deep beneath his palace in Essaly. His armor had vanished, and he’d dropped his swords upon entering. We were all tired, and the wound in my shoulder had faded to a dull ache, but our steps were fast.