I hadn’t been prepared for when he threatened to give me to Kyn, the Primal of Peace and Vengeance, who was nearly as messed up as Kolis was.

What else did he make you do?

I hadn’t been ready to stand by as he turned a Chosen into something neither mortal nor god, but rather a being that hungered for blood. No amount of training had prepared me to pretend to not only be willing to spend time with him but also enjoy it. Breathe in. To see his fake, well-practiced smiles, and worse yet, the real ones whenever I made him happy or he spoke about Sotoria. Hold. Witnessing how he came alive then, finally showing he was capable of feeling something other than malice and self-persecution.

What else did he make you do?

To allow him to sleep beside me. Hold me. Remain still as he fed from me and found pleasure—

“Liessa,” Ash whispered.

The sound of his voice jerked my head back, snapping me out of my thoughts. My gaze flew to his. I had no idea how long I’d been sitting there. Definitely more than a handful of seconds. Had it been minutes? My heart was still pounding.

Reaching between us, Ash gently folded his hand around my wrist and pulled my fingers from my throat.

Dozens of tiny balls of unease settled in my stomach.

There is more.

I knew that.

Ash knew that.

“Talk to me,” he said, so quietly I could almost pretend he hadn’t spoken.

I wanted to run for the balcony doors. A better option was to change the subject slightly, and I knew exactly what to bring up. It was possibly the most important thing we needed to discuss and hadn’t yet.

“There isn’t much to say about any of that.” I cleared my throat as I slipped my hand free of his. “But we do need to talk about Kolis. What are we going to do about him?”

That muscle flexed along Ash’s jaw again as he reached for his glass and drank while I did everything in my power not to squirm.

Did he realize I’d changed the topic on purpose? Of course, he had. But had it angered him? Disappointed him? I didn’t want that. I just couldn’t talk to him about that. Not now. Not when I didn’t even know what to think about it.

After what felt like a small eternity, Ash said, “Discussing how we’re going to remove him from power is something we need to talk about with Lailah and Theon. Even Attes,” he said, surprising me a little that he thought to include the other Primal in, well, anything. “But we do need to be on the same page regarding what to do with Kolis.”

“Agreed.” I relaxed a little. “We know we can’t kill him.”

“Unfortunately, not at this point.”

My thoughts flashed to Sotoria, and my stomach soured. “Nor can we allow him to continue as the false King or the true Primal of Death. So, what does that leave us with?”

“Only one thing.”

My mind immediately went to the Ancients. “We need to entomb him.”

Ash nodded.

I prodded at my fang, thinking that over. “That won’t be easy. Kolis is old. He’s powerful. Capable of healing any wound.”

“Almost any wound,” Ash corrected.

I started to frown, and then it hit me. “Ancient bone—wait. The true Primal of Life and the true Primal of Death can break through those.”

“Yes, but if such a weapon is left in a Primal, it severely weakens them,” he reminded me. “Whatever injuries they incur will not heal while the bone remains in place.”

A chill skated down my spine. “Isn’t that what Attes planned to do when he took Kolis?” When Ash nodded, I continued. “Has that been done before?”

“It has.”

Part of me thought I already knew when and with whom, but I had to ask. “Has he done it to you?”

“Once,” Ash answered flatly. “A few decades ago.”

“Fuck,” I rasped, pressing my hand to the table as eather thrummed hotly inside me. “I want to make Kolis bleed and then dance in his blood.”

Ash’s gaze flicked to mine. “I would love to see that, so let’s ensure it happens.”

I checked my anger before I started destroying more silverware. It wasn’t easy. “We will also need chains made of the bones of the Ancients, won’t we? And I assume there’s not much just lying around.”

“I know Attes has a small stash, but not nearly enough to make chains,” he said. “And there are limitations for using Ancient bones against a Primal. Even leaving it inside them. The ground will seek to restore them, pushing any bone blades from the flesh like a splinter. And roots will eventually crush the bone chains.”

Gods, I hadn’t even thought about how the roots had come out of the ground when I almost pushed myself into an early Ascension. “How long does it take for that to happen?”

“For you or me?” He leaned forward. “Hundreds of years. For a Primal of Kolis’s age? A handful of years. A decade if we’re lucky.”

“Gods.” I sat back, fingers finding their way to my hair. “What about the tombs here?”

“They won’t hold a Primal,” Ash said, watching me. “And there would be a whole other issue with that.”

“What…?” I trailed off as the answer pieced itself together for me. “You still rule the Shadowlands, meaning you receive the summonses at the Pillars and beyond. But if Kolis steps foot in the Shadowlands, he will gain control of the Abyss, the Vale, and all those who serve the Shadowlands, including the draken.”

“Because he’s the true Primal of Death,” he said. “Yes.”

I faced him.

“But he’ll be reluctant to do that. If he comes here, that would leave Dalos vulnerable and open for you to do the same there. As of now, that is the seat of power.”

That was good news. Kind of. “So, we need to figure out how to entomb him and keep him there for longer than a decade.” Or keep him there indefinitely so Sotoria wasn’t needed. That would be the best possible outcome.

There had to be a way to keep him entombed because the— “The Ancients.” I whipped toward Ash. “They’ve been entombed for thousands and thousands of years and are more powerful than a Primal. How are they entombed?”

Ash lowered his glass. “That’s a damn good question. One I’m guessing the vadentia isn’t helping with.”

He was right. My intuition was silent. “But I know who holds that knowledge. The Fates. I also know the likelihood of them telling us is slim to none.”

“But that means the knowledge is out there,” he said. “We just need to find it.”

“Yeah, that’s all.” I laughed. “Should be easy—” I halted again, almost not wanting to suggest what I was about to. “What about the Pools of Divanash?”

“They can only show a person or an object,” he answered. “And if there is an object out there that helped entomb the Ancients, and only the Fates know what it is, it likely won’t reveal that.”

Frustration grew as I twisted my hair around my finger. It shouldn’t be this difficult. And in reality, the Ancients should be helping us.

“There is only one Primal almost as old as Kolis who may know and would have taken an active role in entombing the Ancients, while the others likely weren’t old enough to fight,” he said. “Keella.”

I twisted my hair tighter, hope sparking. There was no guarantee that Keella would have the information, but it was something. “Can we go now? To the Thyia Plains?”

“We can, but I think we should meet with the others first,” he suggested.

“You’re right.”

“Always,” he replied, and I shot him a look. He grinned as he reached between us and pulled my fingers free of my hair. “So, the game plan is to find a way to entomb Kolis. Once we have that information—”

“We have to go after Kolis, which will start a war.”

“I’m afraid that is inevitable,” he stated, refilling our glasses.

So inevitable, it seemed, that Ash had started planning for it by growing and training his armies long before I came to the Shadowlands.

“And how damaging that war is, how costly it becomes, will depend on how big it is. Because it won’t just be us against Kolis,” Ash continued. “It will be us against whoever stands with him, and he will have his loyalists among the gods and Primals.”