“I assume that means you already know your answer?”

“I do, and it is no.”

Aydun nodded. “It is customary to give a full moon cycle.”

“By mortal or Dalos standards?”

“Mortal.”

So, a month. That was a long time to wait for an answer. My fangs scraped my pursed lips. But didn’t I already know what the answer would be? I lifted my gaze to the Ancient. “You said that preventing war was a thread not seen. Has that changed?”

The Ancient laughed softly. “If it had, I could not tell you, and you know that.”

I did, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. Shaking my head, my gaze flickered over the golden leaves as I looked in the direction of Cor Palace. “Should I…?” I closed my eyes, not wanting to give the doubt a voice, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Should I have just accepted his offer?”

“Did instinct tell you to do so?”

I shook my head.

“Then that is all that matters.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Aydun returned me—with warning this time—to the Shadowlands.

As the mist faded, I saw bare shelves.

Then, I was in Ash’s arms, one wrapped around my waist while the fingers of his other sank into my hair. I held him just as tightly, feeling his heart pounding against my chest as I soaked in his citrusy fresh scent and the feel of his body.

“Liessa,” he murmured, his mouth against the side of my head. Neither of us moved for several moments, and then he leaned back. Eather-drenched eyes searched mine. “What did he do?”

“He was…he was just being an asshole.” My fingers splayed across his side. “Some of his abilities—like the syhkik—have returned to him. But I’m okay,” I assured him before he answered. “I swear.”

A faint shudder went through him, and then his lips found mine as he cupped my cheeks, tilting my head back. I rose onto the toes of my boots and placed my hands against his chest. The kiss deepened, and he tasted me, drank me in.

A throat cleared.

Ash slowly ended the kiss, but he didn’t break away. His forehead rested against mine. He was breathing just as raggedly as I was.

I wet my lips. “I’m guessing you didn’t leave for Vathi?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” a gravelly voice drawled from behind Ash.

My fingers curled into Ash’s tunic. “Did you have to sit on Ash to keep him here?”

“Pretty much,” Nektas answered. “For a moment there, I didn’t think I would be able to stop him.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Ash. “I know it’s not my fault, but I’m sure this couldn’t have been easy for you.”

His thumb swept over my cheek. “It wasn’t.” Lifting his head, he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Do you need anything? Food? Something to drink?”

A wry smile tugged at my lips. “I wasn’t gone that long.”

“Any length of time is too long.”

Feeling that in my soul, I smiled. “I’m good for now.”

“If you change your mind, let me know.” His lips touched my temple before he stepped aside.

Nektas sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Rhain was seated in the other. Both were watching us. The former had a small grin on his face. The god looked surprised. Again.

Feeling my cheeks warm, I cleared my throat. “Have you both—?” I stopped, looking behind me. The space was empty.

“If you’re looking for the Fate,” Rhain said, lifting a short glass to his lips and taking a sip, “he vanished the moment Nyktos reached you.”

“Well, that’s probably for the best.” I glanced at Ash. His attention was fixed on me. “By the way, he now thinks I’m the calm one out of the two of us.”

Rhain choked.

My narrowed gaze swung to the god. He was bent over in his chair, eyes watering. “Sorry,” he gasped. “Went down the wrong pipe.”

“Sure, it did,” I replied dryly. “But that probably changed after the meeting.”

Ash raised a brow. “How so?”

“I sort of might have killed Callum,” I shared as Ash walked us toward the settee. “Twice.”

Nektas snorted while Rhain wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, and Ash sat, pulling me into his lap.

I felt a small jolt of unease, but I shut it down. I would not allow my fucked-up mind to do this to me. To us. I liked being this close to Ash, and it wasn’t that long ago that he’d abhorred the touch of another. This openness between us was too important for me to ruin.

“What did he do?” Ash asked.

I forced myself to relax against his chest. “Breathe in my direction?”

“Besides that.” Ash’s hand slid from where it lay on my thigh to rest over my midsection.

“Honestly, he just annoyed me,” I admitted. “I don’t have a better reason than that.”

The tips of Ash’s fangs grazed his lower lip as he grinned. “Did anyone else annoy you?”

“Yes.” The image of Kyn formed. “But none met the same fate.” I tucked several thick curls behind my ear and decided to start with one of the more pressing issues. “Kolis looks like shit, by the way.”

Ash’s arm momentarily tightened, and Rhain’s stare sharpened. “What do you mean?”

“His abilities are getting stronger, but I don’t think he’s fully recovered. He moved slowly. Looked thinner.” I dropped my hand to the arm around my waist. “There were shadows under his eyes and below his cheekbones.”

Rhain sat back with a shake of his head. “He should at least appear physically well by now.” His eyes met mine. “Man, you must’ve really done a number on him.”

“She did,” Ash said, and the pride in his voice brought a smile to my lips even though I knew Kolis wouldn’t remain that way. “What did he want?”

The smile faded. “He wanted to make a deal.”

“A deal?” Rhain repeated.

“He offered what I assume he thought would be a truce.”

“Did he now?” Ash’s voice was level, but the temperature in the office dropped.

“He said he’d let us live out our lives in the Shadowlands and promised not to seek vengeance.” I looked at Rhain and Nektas. “The others who have, as he put it, ‘conspired against him,’ would face punishment.”

“And he would do what? Rule as the Primal of Death?” Rhain demanded.

I nodded.

The god leaned back, shaking his head as Ash asked, “And what did he want in return?”

My gaze met his. “Sotoria.”

“Fucking Fates,” he muttered, his jaw clenching.

“Wait a moment.” Rhain lowered his glass to the knee of his dark gray breeches. “That’s all he wanted?”

“All?” I sat straighter. “Yes, all he wants is the woman he got killed, brought back to life, assaulted, stalked—”

“Rhain meant no offense.” Ash patted my belly.

“I didn’t. Truly. I know Sotoria has suffered at his hands in ways I cannot imagine,” the god was quick to say. “I didn’t mean for it to be taken as if I thought that wasn’t something significant. I just wasn’t prepared for him to even offer a deal.”

Realizing that I may have been a little too quick there, I nodded. “And he knows Sotoria’s soul isn’t in me.”

Ash’s head turned toward mine. “What?”

“He figured it out. The Star and your father’s soul,” I told him. Essence pulsed behind his pupils. Clearly, he wasn’t happy to hear that. “I didn’t accept the deal.”

“I don’t think any of us believed you would,” Nektas stated.

Ash’s head tilted as he eyed me. “Why do you sound like you’re uncertain about that decision?”

“I’m not. I just…” I shook my head as I stared at Ash’s forearm. “I mean, I didn’t have a chance to accept or reject it, and I’ll get to that in a moment, but before we entered Cor Palace, Aydun told me that preventing war among the Primals was not seen in any of the threads, but that I—I guess everything from my birth to my Ascension—kept snipping threads, ending some and changing others. It gave me the impression that I—or the choices I help make—could possibly prevent war.”

The office was quiet.

“And he warned me that a war among the Primals would disturb the Ancients who’d gone to ground.”