“I know.” My fingernails pressed into my palms. “But until then, she will be a child. One day, she may become a great and powerful being, but she…” Pressure clamped down on my chest, and I had to count to five. “Kolis will be aware of her from the moment she’s reborn. It may take him years after to free himself, but he will do so, and he will come for her. I doubt we will get lucky and have him only find her after she rises as this Primal.” I absolutely hated what I said next because it made me feel like I was aiding in history repeating itself. That I was taking part in what I wanted to prevent Sotoria from ever experiencing again. “She will have no real memory of herself—or of Kolis and what he will do to her. And I assume the Fates will demand that nobody warn her in order to keep the balance.” I spat the last word. “She needs to be trained to defend herself.”

I held my breath for five more seconds. “Just as you trained the Silver Knight. Just as Holland trained me.”

Ward was silent for several moments. “Okay.” He nodded. “I will do as you ask. I will serve as her viktor with honor, and I will not fail you.” His chin lifted. “I will not fail her.”

Ash held my hand, running his thumb over the golden swirl as cups at the table were continuously refilled, and laughter mingled with the music.

I threaded the fingers of my free hand through Reaver’s soft hair. He was half-lying on Attes with his head in my lap. Jadis had left her father to wind herself around Ash’s shoulders. Why she liked that so much was beyond me.

My gaze flickered over those before us. I smiled at seeing Bele and Aios finally dancing, holding each other as they slowly swayed completely off-beat with the lively music. Lailah had joined Theon, both moving to sit opposite Attes. For once, Theon wasn’t looking at Attes like he wished to punch him. They were actually having a conversation. I think that had a lot to do with the god sitting next to Lailah. It turned out he wasn’t an asshole. He was one of Attes’s generals. Farther down the table, Thierran had joined Ione and Penellaphe. Ward was with them, and they were watching a card game between Saion and Rhahar that had grown to include Rhain.

I glanced up at the colonnade. Aurelia was gone. Now, she sat on the other side of Nektas, having donned a linen gown that reminded me of what Jadis often wore.

It was the first time I’d seen her in her mortal form.

Aurelia had an earthy beauty to her and a husky, infectious laugh. I caught Nektas’s lips curving up at the sound of it more than once as we all…as we all simply enjoyed one another’s company.

Family.

That was what all of them were to me. To Ash. Family. With them, I would always be seen. Accepted. With them, I knew it would one day be easier to accept and live with the terrible things I’d done and experienced. That’s what family did.

And I would do everything in my power to protect them. Just like we would do everything we could to ensure that a powerful being like a Primal of Blood and Bone wasn’t created from our union. Our sons would, too. They had to.

But that sense of knowing filled me even as I sat there with my hand wrapped firmly in Ash’s. The future wasn’t completely written in stone. There were choices. Free will. There were things that not even the Fates could predict. There was love. What had not yet come to pass could be altered. I knew that. I believed in that.

But the two daughters had been promised eons ago. The rise of a great Primal of Life and Death had been seen. The remaking of the realms and the end had been foretold. When I looked down at Reaver, I knew in my heart and felt it written in my bones that she would return.

The true focus of the prophecy. The harbinger that would set Kolis free, unleashing death and destruction. She who would awaken the Ancients and leave the realms in ruin.

It had all started with her, and it would end with her. The one who was the beginning and the end.

The Queen of Flesh and Fire.

Sotoria reborn.

The Primal of Blood and Ash.

So, when that day came, we would be ready.

Until then?

Ash squeezed my hand. I looked over at him. Nyktos. My King. My husband.

My everything.

His lips moved in a silent I love you.

Until then?

We wouldn’t waste a fucking second.

The One Who is Blessed

As Nyktos looked over the new building plans for housing in Vathi that both Lailah and Theon had signed off on, he sensed that his wife was nearby.

Without moving his head, he glanced up to find her standing just beyond the pillared alcove of his office. Or should he say, he saw her attempting to hide behind the pillared alcove. Her swollen stomach made that impossible. It was also the source of the emotions assaulting him all at once.

Love was first and foremost, causing the essence to thrum intensely in his veins. He’d never thought it would be possible to feel such love for her and his babes—their sons—he’d yet to look upon. Unsurprisingly, the second emotion was desire, and it was just as intense as the sweeter, softer ones, striking him hard in the gut. Most days, he just had to look at her for his dick to get hard, but as their babes grew in her, he found it incredibly difficult not to walk around with a raging arousal. As her stomach grew, she became even more beautiful and sexier to him. Perhaps it was the glow to her skin that reminded him of the late-summer sun—an actual golden glow—that had been seen the last two months. It could also be the visual reminder of what their love and passion had created that fueled his lust. The only thing that cooled his desire was the final set of emotions.

Concern.

Anxiety.

Fear.

Sera was nearing the end of her term, likely only days away from giving birth, and the last several weeks had been hard. She tired more easily. Sleep was more difficult. And she needed to feed almost daily. They had expected this. Bringing a child of two Primals into the world wasn’t easy. Two of them, even less so.

But his wife was strong. He knew that. She would bring their sons into this world, likely cursing and attempting to strangle him in the process.

However, she was supposed to be resting. That was what Kye had ordered when she experienced some light bleeding. The Healer and Aios had assured them that Sera was fine and the babes were not at risk, but said they needed to keep an eye on it. So far, there hadn’t been any more spotting, but when she’d awoken three days ago to find herself bleeding, he’d been terrified that something was wrong.

Fates, he hadn’t been that afraid since she’d been taken from him.

But he wasn’t surprised to find her lingering outside his office now. His wife didn’t handle resting all that well.

He turned his gaze back to the plans. “Liessa.”

Silence greeted him, but when he looked up through his lashes, he saw her take a small step back.

His lips twitched. “I know you’re hiding there.”

“I’m not hiding.”

“Liessa,” he purred.

A heavy sigh echoed softly from the hall, and he couldn’t hold back the grin any longer. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I’ve rested,” she moaned, her footsteps soft against the stone. “I’m so rested that if I have to spend another minute resting, I may start doing so with my fists.”

“That doesn’t sound very restful,” he said, chuckling as he looked up. His gaze swept over her, and fuck, his dick was immediately as hard as the shadowstone walls. Her fingers danced over the pale, silvery hair he’d braided that morning where it lay over one shoulder. She wore a linen gown, a color somewhere between blue and green, and even though it was loose, the lightweight material stretched taut across breasts that had also swelled with her pregnancy.