The bathing chamber darkened as Ash strolled out. The sight of him was a distraction. My gaze eagerly tracked the drops of water coursing down the sculpted lines of his chest, and the nape of my neck tingled. A sudden sense of knowing seized me. Eather throbbed from deep within me as if it were waking up.

I could do something.

I shot to my knees, sending my hair falling over my shoulders. “I’m the true Primal of Life.”

Ash stopped at the side of the bed, his brow beginning to furrow and then smooth out as his gaze dropped. “I do hope you’re not just realizing that now. If so, I don’t think summoning the Primals tomorrow is a good idea.”

“Why would I just now be—?” I pressed my lips together. He was teasing. I squinted. “Anyway. I can restore life, and while water isn’t really something alive, it’s—” My thoughts were racing so fast I could barely make sense of them. I shook my head. “There is life to water and to everything.” My nose scrunched as I tried to grasp that piece of knowledge because I knew it was important and would lead to something even more so. But I shook my head, refocusing. “I was able to restore life with eather before. I was able to heal—are you even paying attention?”

Ash dragged his teeth over his lower lip and nodded. “Of course.”

“You are definitely not.” Leaning forward, I grasped his chin, guiding his attention away from my sheer nightgown. “You’re staring at my breasts.”

“You’re right. I am.” He pulled back, kissing the tip of my finger. “They’re beautiful.” His gaze dropped again. “But like this, with the gown and your hair spread across them?” The featherlight touch of his fingers between the strands of hair drew a shiver from me. “I cannot help myself, liessa. I’m eager for dessert.”

“I’m flattered.”

His gaze returned to mine, and he lifted a brow.

Sighing, I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I’m really flattered. Thank you. And you can show me how beautiful you find them later.”

The tips of his fangs appeared. “Oh, I very much plan to do so.” His head dipped, and his lips glided over my cheek. “You had an appetizer earlier, but I haven’t had dessert yet.”

Muscles low in my stomach tightened, and it took a lot for me to ignore that, but I had to. “Ash.”

“Liessa?”

“We don’t have to wait for it to rain or for the snow to fall and then melt,” I told him. “I can restore the rivers and lakes in the Shadowlands.”

That got his attention.

He was no longer checking out my breasts. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Or at least I thought so. “I can do it.” Resolve filled me, and Ash either saw it in my stare or sensed it, because the line of his shoulders became rigid. “I can do it now.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ash and I rode through the Rise gates, leaving the guards there in stunned speculation. We both wore cloaks concealing our identities, but there was no way they hadn’t recognized the massive, sable-coated warhorse. No others were as large or handsome as Odin.

And the glimpse of my bare calf as Odin’s pace picked up, causing the cloaks to flutter around our legs, was likely also a dead giveaway.

Ash and I were fully dressed—at least, mostly—yet neither of us was in what one would consider appropriate attire beneath our cloaks. He wore pants. I wore my translucent nightgown. I’d been that eager to test out the feeling telling me I could do something. I didn’t know if Ash believed me or was simply humoring me, but he hadn’t even insisted we take a few moments to think things over.

Glancing back, I could still see the guards standing at the towers by the gate as if frozen. “I think they knew it was us.”

“There’s a good chance they did.”

“Do you think they’ll alert anyone?” I asked, petting Odin’s mane as the eather hummed beneath my skin, almost as if ramping up and preparing itself. “I really hope not. In case I’m wrong.”

“They won’t.”

An echo of awareness shuttled through me as I looked up to the star-strewn sky and spotted a draken in the distance. It didn’t feel like Nektas.

“It’s Ehthawn, isn’t it?” I asked.

“It is.” There was a pause. “He is still too far out for you to see which draken it is. You sensed who it was.”

“I did. Or at least I think I did. It feels like an echo or imprint of who they are.” I squinted, seeing another draken in the distance. “Is that what you feel?”

“I guess I would describe it as an echo that is felt instead of heard,” he said.

My heart clenched as I lowered my gaze to the unlit torches lining the road. “How is Ehthawn doing?” I wanted to smack myself the moment I stopped speaking. “That’s a foolish question. He’s obviously not doing well, having lost his sister.”

“It’s not a foolish question, liessa.” Ash’s arm tightened around my waist. “He mourns, but he’s not alone. Ehthawn still has family—his cousin and those not by blood.”

I nodded, my chest heavy as the last of the torches appeared on the small hill ahead. I didn’t think Orphine had considered me a friend, but I believed we’d been on the road to becoming that. And her quick, sharp-tongued responses amused me. “I…I’m going to miss Orphine.”

“As will I.” Ash shifted behind me. Farther out, another winged creature became visible in the sky. “Crolee flies with him.”

I’d briefly seen Ehthawn and Orphine’s cousin when we were in the Bonelands. Crolee had also been on this very road when Ash first brought me into the Shadowlands. I’d thought he and the other draken were hills, but I’d known very little about the draken then.

As we crested the hill, I forced a deep, even breath and focused on the land. At night, the skeletons of the bare, twisted trees beyond the dried-up river channels on either side of the road couldn’t look creepier, even with their budding leaves. I scanned the ground as Odin slowed. My improved vision allowed me to see the wide swaths of grass among the washed-out Rot. Not a lot, but still striking to see in a land that had once only been shades of gray.

“I think here will be fine,” I decided.

Ash guided Odin off to our right onto what I thought was once the banks of the river. We came to a stop, and Ash swung himself off Odin with enviable grace. I turned to where he now stood, his hood down. Silently, he lifted his hands to my hips. Grasping his arms, my stomach was a jumble of nerves as he helped me down.

Scanning the landscape, his hold lingered for a few heartbeats before he stepped back. “Do you know what needs to be done?”

I swallowed, looking around. “Would you believe me if I lied and said yes?”

“Not when you just admitted you’d be lying.” The faint curve to his mouth warmed the harsh, cold beauty of his face.

I snorted as I tugged the back of my hood down. “Then you know the answer. I’m really not sure.” Lips pursing, I turned back to the parched earth. Doubt began creeping in. “What if I was experiencing delusions of grandeur?”

His rich, smoky chuckle danced in the rapidly darkening sky. “I don’t think that’s the case.”

I probably should’ve stopped and thought about this, but I hadn’t been able to. Literally. Uneasy, my hands opened and closed as I walked forward. Dead grass crunched under the thin soles of my slippers. I stopped by a patch of green and knelt, running my fingers over the fragile blades. My brows knitted as I noticed something I hadn’t before. I lifted my head. “There’s no smell.” I rose, inhaling deeply. “I don’t smell the stale lilac scent of the Rot at all.”

“I haven’t smelled it since you Ascended.” Crossing his arms, he surveyed the ground. “The rest of the grass will come back without any intervention.”

I knew that, but water would obviously aid it along. Messing with one of my fangs with my tongue, I made my way to the edge of the riverbed. Should I instead attempt to bring back the grass? Regenerate new soil? No. We would have to spend the gods only knew how long traveling around the Shadowlands for me to place my hands on the ground, and I couldn’t wait for that.