CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It was like the entire realm had ceased moving. I didn't even think Ash breathed as we stared at the Ancient. Kolis had awakened just the night before, and he already wanted to meet—already wanted to gain the upper hand. This was so like Kolis. I should've known he'd do something like this.

Then Ash spoke. " What ?"

"The true Primal of Death has summoned the true Primal of Life," the Ancient repeated.

My heart began to pound. "I think we got that part. Why?"

"He wishes to speak."

"I don't give a fuck what he wishes," Ash growled.

The Ancient sighed. "If only it were that simple. If it were, I would not be here." He folded his arms across his chest. "As you already know."

My gaze darted to Ash's as instinct sparked, telling me what I didn't want to hear.

"He summoned an Arae to carry out the request," the Ancient added. "And to monitor the discussions, ensuring they remain peaceful."

Peaceful?

I laughed.

The Ancient's brow rose.

Shadows raced over Ash's cheeks. "What exactly does he want to discuss?"

"I do not know."

"Are you telling me that he summoned a Fate to broker a meeting but didn't tell you why?" Disbelief colored Ash's tone.

"He does not need to tell me why," the Ancient answered calmly. "Just as the Primal of Life would not need to tell me why."

"I'm sure we can hazard a few guesses as to why he wishes to meet," I said, turning to Ash. I lowered my voice when I spoke next. I wasn't sure what the point was. It wasn't like the Ancient wasn't standing right there. "He probably wants us to pledge our loyalty to him." He likely also wanted to know where Sotoria's soul was.

"Yeah, and we already know our answer," Ash seethed. "Starts with go and ends with fuck yourself." He shifted toward the Ancient. "You have our answer. Go tell him."

"It doesn't work that way," he said. "As you are fully aware." Those swirling eyes of color fixed on me. "It cannot be denied."

It…it couldn't.

Every part of my being knew that. I stepped to the side, thrusting my hand through my hair. "I know."

"Sera," Ash warned.

"You know it can't," I said.

"He does," the Ancient clarified.

"Thanks," I snapped, "but your input wasn't needed there."

That half-smile returned. "Equally charming."

My mind raced, trying to stay ahead of the riot of emotions, the shock of Kolis having recovered enough to do this. But how surprised could I be? I knew Kolis was strengthening. It was just faster than I'd expected. The anger and the fear that he would even dare summon me was stronger than the shock, though. Gods, the fear of feeling that desperation again hit me.

Shadows swirled faster around us as Ash's eyes locked with mine.

I took a breath that barely went anywhere. "This was bound to happen at some point, right? We knew we would have to come face-to-face with him eventually."

"On our terms," Ash spat. "Not his. Never his. And definitely not to fulfill whatever perverted entertainment value he will surely gain from this."

"I am not sure what perversion it is that you speak of," the Ancient stated. "But neither the Primal of Life nor the Primal of Death will be able to lash out at the other while in the presence of an Arae." The Ancient spoke as if he were speaking of squabbling children. "There will be no fighting or violence of any kind."

Ash didn't even look at the Ancient. "It is not physical violence I am worried about."

Air punched out of my chest. I knew what he meant. It was what Kolis could say. How he would make me feel.

"You do not need to concern yourself with any of it," the Ancient said. "The meeting is only between the Primal of Life and the Primal of Death."

The floor felt as if it shifted beneath me as Ash drew in a breath, but his chest didn't expand with an exhale.

I faced the Ancient. "Why?"

"He does not trust this Primal not to escalate the situation," the Ancient responded. " Nyktos cannot step one foot in Dalos during the meeting."

I almost laughed again.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ash bit out.

"And I can see why," the Ancient continued blithely. "He is nearly as temperamental as the creatures his father gave dual lives to."

"You're actually serious." Ash stepped toward the Ancient, causing my heart to stutter. "You're going to humor this son of a bitch, knowing what he has done?"

Reaching for Ash, I halted.

The Ancient's lips thinned. "I have no choice."

"You are a Fate!" Ash roared as twin arcs of shadowy eather exploded from his back. "You are not merely a messenger."

Something akin to emotion flashed in the Ancient's expression, startling me. "No, I am what ensures that balance remains."

Ash straightened, the skin of his throat turning the shade of shadowstone . "Forcing her to go before the monster who held her against her will is how you ensure balance? Are you fucking serious?"

"He's serious." My hands fisted until I felt my nails digging into my flesh. "But it's still a good question, especially because I'm willing to bet you know exactly what perversions he just spoke of."

The corners of the Ancient's mouth tightened, showing the faintest crack in his demeanor. "I will ensure that balance remains by any means necessary." Those variegated eyes shifted to mine. "That does not mean I enjoy doing so."

"Do you even know what it's like to enjoy anything?" I retorted.

"Does Holland?" the Ancient countered softly.

I snapped my mouth shut. How he said Holland's name sounded an awful lot like a threat.

"You know what is at stake," the Ancient reminded me.

I did.

Fuck.

The Ancient stiffened. "Speaking of the temperamental creature …"

The office doors flung open, and Nektas entered, his long hair flowing behind him. His stare didn't leave Ash or me as he prowled past the Ancient, not paying the being any mind.

On the other hand, the Ancient stepped back.

"What is going on?" Nektas asked.

The question was directed at me because Ash… I glanced at him. He was locked onto the Ancient like he was about to do something very unwise.

"Kolis summoned a Fate to broker a meeting between us," I said. "And only us."

Nektas's nostrils flared as he looked at Ash. "Son of a bitch," he muttered. The ridges across the bare flesh of his shoulders and chest were more pronounced than I'd ever seen them. "And you cannot change it?"

"No," the Ancient answered. "The summoner sets the terms. If they"—he indicated Ash and me—"had summoned an Arae first—"

"Don't," Nektas warned as he whirled on the Ancient. "Do not turn this back on them, Aydun."

The Ancient's nostrils flared at his name and sent a ripple of surprise through me.

"They would not seek to waste your time as Kolis would," Nektas said. "Which is exactly what will come of this."

Ash's low growl echoed through the chamber as the shadows solidified behind him. "Nothing will come of this."

"It doesn't have to be a waste of time," Aydun argued, his attention shifting to me. "Do you yearn for war? I do not believe you do."

I drew back. "Have you been listening in on us or something?"

"Do you?" he repeated.

"No."

"Why?"

"There has to be a reason?" I shook my head. "I don't want innocent people to die. Isn't that good enough?"

"Almost." The colors spun wildly around his pupils. "The future exists in several threads—"

"Do not start with that thread bullshit," Ash snarled.

The Ancient's head snapped toward Nektas . "I understand he cares for her. I know what that bond between them incites when the other is threatened, but you need to get him under control before I do."

I shot forward, stopped only by the arm Nektas flung out. Essence rushed through me, hot and violent. "You will do no such thing."

"For fuck's sake." Nektas edged me back. "Clearly, you don't know what that bond incites if you threaten either of them because you just did it."

"They are testing my patience," Aydun spat. "And I have been far too tolerant of both of them. So, get the one who is technically a Primal of no Court under control while I try to reason with the Primal who shouldn't even be a godsdamn Primal."

Ash lurched forward, but Nektas caught him. My head swung toward the draken as he shoved Ash back. "Stop," Nektas ordered.

Ash tried to sidestep him, knocking the table over. Glasses crashed. Pieces of eggs and bacon spilled across the floor. Nektas was on Ash, pushing him back again. The settee went flying as Nektas caged Ash in. The sound that came from the Primal would've sent anyone running as he bared his fangs at the draken .

Every part of me focused on Nektas . I knew he wouldn't hurt Ash. He would never do that. But the purely instinctive part of me didn't like it.

Energy was ramping up in Ash, causing the air to charge. Static crackled over my skin as the essence rose in response. One of the light bulbs exploded, sending fine shards of glass in every direction.

"Stop it," Nektas repeated, backing Ash up until he had him pinned to the wall by the credenza with his forearm across his chest. "You need to calm down."

A sound came from somewhere in the chamber. A hiss that was distinctively feline as I stepped toward Nektas and Ash, my hands opening and closing at my sides.

"For the sake of gods everywhere," muttered Aydun, "why did I have to be the one who answered the summons?"

"I need you to calm down before neither of us has a choice in you doing so." The muscles in Nektas's back flexed as he struggled to hold Ash back. "And preferably before the claws come out and Sera tears into me."

Claws come out…?

I jerked to a stop, only realizing then that I was just feet from Nektas , and my hands…felt weird. They tingled. I looked down, and my eyes went wide.

My nails had lengthened and sharpened. "What the…?"

"I know you're angry. I know you're scared," Nektas said, and that last part caught my attention. "But you go at that fucker over there and you know what will happen."

"Fucker?" muttered Aydun while I stared at Ash and Nektas . "That was uncalled for."

Whatever was happening with my hands fell to the wayside as a great sense of foreboding rose. Tiny bumps broke out across my skin. If Ash attacked Aydun, the Ancient would strike back. Nektas would defend Ash. So would I. But the Ancient…

Dread built as I looked at him. He would kill Nektas . My stomach pitched. He could kill Ash because, as Aydun had said, Ash was now the Primal of no Court. His death would impact Iliseeum and the mortal realm, but nothing as severe as what a death of any other Primal would cause.

Fear slammed into me, nearly taking my knees out from under me as the lights flickered wildly. "Ash," I whispered. " Please ."

Ash's pure silver gaze shot to me. Our eyes locked. A tense heartbeat passed, and then the shadows under his flesh thinned out. "I'm good."

"You sure about that?" Nektas still held him back. "Because I'm going to be really disappointed if I let go of you and you go at him."

"I won't." His eyes never strayed from mine. "I'm level. I just need to talk to Sera. Alone."

"The summons needs to be answered—"

"A couple of minutes isn't going to hurt anything," Nektas cut the Ancient off.

Aydun's jaw hardened as he looked away. "They have five minutes. That is all."

I bit my tongue, focusing on Ash. The dark tendrils of eather had mostly disappeared.

Nektas released Ash and slowly stepped back. He didn't take his eyes off the Primal as Ash pushed away from the wall. Neither did I as he stalked forward and clasped the nape of my neck. He pulled me to him, dropping his chin to the top of my head. My arms encircled his waist, and I held him tightly as tremors coursed through him.

"Outside," Nektas ordered.

There was a pause, and then the Ancient let out a deep sigh. "The only reason I'm following you is because it will only delay things further if I don't."

"Yeah," Nektas drawled. "That and the fact that you know I will rip your arms off and beat you over the head with them."

My eyes popped open.

Aydun chuckled, and it sounded different. Warm. Real enough that I lifted my head from Ash's chest. "You know, I've seen that happen before. Laugh every time I think about it."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Nektas muttered, the door swinging shut and muting whatever else he was saying.

"I don't even know what to say about that," I whispered, shaking my head. "I wonder how Nektas got to be on a first-name basis with him?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." Ash's fingers sank into my hair, and his chest rose sharply against mine. His features were stark—too stark. "I don't like this, Sera."

"Neither do I." I swallowed, but my throat felt dry. "But it is what it is." I tried to will my heart and mind to calm down so I could focus. "We know what Kolis will say. He'll demand our loyalty and, I imagine, command that I relinquish any claim to the throne. Is that even possible?"

Ash didn't answer as he stared at me, but the vadentia told me it was. Kind of. Instead of the true Primal of Life ruling, it would be the true Primal of Death. A first.

But a Queen of the Gods was also a first.

My fingers curled into the back of Ash's shirt as I exhaled slowly. "And I…I guess I'll tell Kolis to go fuck himself but in a more appropriate way. Then I'll—"

"I don't think I can allow this to happen," Ash said, speaking so quietly I wasn't even sure I'd heard him right.

But I had heard him.

I ignored it. "While I'm gone, you should go to Attes and tell him about Kolis. When I return, we will summon the Primals . Our plans haven't changed."

"I can't," he repeated. A faint glow of eather lit up the network of veins in his cheeks. "I can't let you go through with this." His eyes were full of so much essence the pupils were no longer visible as his gaze drifted to the doors behind me. The light in his veins ratcheted up. "I won't ."

My heart stopped. "You have to."

His diamond-bright gaze swung back to me. "The only thing I have to do is keep you safe."

Letting go of his shirt, I grasped his cheeks. "If that's true, then you must let this happen."

Shadows seeped out from behind his shoulders. "That is the exact opposite of what I need to do."

"How will you keep me safe if you're dead?" I demanded, feeling my stomach pitch with each word. "Because that's what will happen if you try to stop this."

The line of his cheekbones sharpened. "You doubt the extent of what I'm willing to do for you."

"That's the thing, Ash. I don't doubt what you're willing to do." Panic seeded itself in the pit of my belly. "Listen to me. Please. We just got a second chance. One we had to fight for and will have to keep fighting for. And I am terrified of losing that—losing you."

His eyes went wide. "That is what you're terrified of?" More of his flesh disappeared. "You will never lose me, Sera. Never ."

"Then prove it," I whispered. "Please."

He inhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. His eyes closed as another deep, quaking tremor ran through him. "Kolis… I know he scares you."

My breath caught as I dropped my hands to his chest. "He doesn't."

"Do not lie to me, Sera. Not now. Not about him." The tendrils of shadows arced. "I know what I felt from you when he had you. I choke on the taste of what you felt even now."

A part of me shriveled up right then because I didn't want to remember that he'd felt what I had. The fear. The panic. The desperation. And—

I stopped myself right before my lungs seized.

Ash's neck twisted like the Ancient's head had moved. Inhumanly. Otherworldly. The similarities between them and the Primals were uncanny. " This ," Ash ground out, "is what I was talking about just minutes ago. You don't always have to be strong, Sera. And you never need to pretend with me."

"I'm not pretending."

"Do you think I don't know what you felt when you heard that Kolis had summoned you?" Ash demanded. "Do you really think I don't know what caused you to scream in the middle of the night? Do you?"

My body flashed cold and then hot as eather rose. I stepped back. "I am afraid of him. I'm fucking terrified of him and how he makes me feel like I have no control over anything. Okay? Does it make you happy to hear me say that?"

Ash flinched, the shadows stilling.

Shame scalded the back of my throat. I shouldn't have said that, but fuck . Now was not the time for this. "But I'm more terrified of losing you, and you know that is possible." I closed my eyes for a moment, then reopened them. "It hadn't occurred to me until Aydun spoke. Kolis's return as the true Primal of Death made you vulnerable. But I'm sure you were fully aware of that little fact."

Jaw working, he looked away.

"Yeah, you knew, and we're going to talk about that when I get back," I warned him. "Because I will be coming back, and I will probably be in a bad mood. So, be ready."

His head turned toward me. A moment passed, and then the smoky eather gathering around him collapsed into nothingness once more. "This isn't right."

"I know."

Ash held my stare, and then his mouth was on mine. His head tilted, and he parted my lips with a fierce stroke of his tongue. A desperate wildness claimed him. Us. We'd been here before. Too many times. So I recognized the madness in this kind of kiss. How it was a prayer and a curse. A promise and a release in a clash of teeth and tongues and searching lips. Desire flooded my senses. His. Mine. Pure, red-hot lust overwhelmed everything as his arm tightened around my waist. He lifted me onto the tips of my toes, and I could feel his hardness pressing against my belly. Desire pulsed through me, pooling between my thighs. I moaned into his kiss as I struggled to remember exactly what we were supposed to be doing at the moment. This wasn't it.

But damn, it felt so wrong to stop.

I wrenched my head away, panting. "We don't have time for this."

His pupils were visible now, but his eyes were no less bright. However, need fueled them now. "Fuck if we don't."

I gasped as Ash's hands went to the band of my leggings. He shoved them down, lacy undergarments and all. Somehow, he got one leg of the tight material over one boot.

"That was impressive," I murmured.

Rising, his lips curled into a shadowy, silky smile as he drew his hand up my leg, along my inner thigh. His mouth returned to mine, muffling my cry as his fingers delved between my thighs, parting the slick heat there. The contrast between my warmth and his coldness was startling.

Ash groaned into my mouth, and between his touch and that sound, I was undone. "Fuck it," I moaned. "We'll make time."

Gripping my hips, he lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist. His tongue danced with mine as he moved. My back hit the wall near the doors, as cold and hard as his body. I reached between us, grabbing the front of his breeches. Our hands fumbled until he grew frustrated and ripped the flap open. He shoved his pants down, and then he was filling me, inch by inch, his length and girth stretching me. The bite of pain was delicious, and we both shuddered.

There was nothing but an excess of pleasure and ecstasy, intensified by the deep, rumbling sounds he made as he thrust into me. Sinking my fingers into the soft strands of his hair, I reached up and clasped the shelf above me. Our mouths moved together, our tongues mirroring the pace of his hips. I thought I heard Nektas's deep voice, and then there was a sharp rap against the door.

"Five minutes are up," Aydun called out.

Holding me against the wall, Ash broke the kiss, his hips grinding against mine. "We're going to need—" His head fell back as I tightened on his cock. The tendons of his neck stood out starkly. "We need another minute."

"For fuck's sake, if they're—" His words cut off abruptly.

The inappropriateness of this. The ridiculousness. I bit down on my lip, but a short, high-pitched giggle snuck free.

Ash's head snapped forward, his veins pulsing with eather . "I love that sound." His hand curled around my chin as the fingers at my hip dug in. "I love your smiles. I love your throaty moans." His lips brushed mine. "I love how wet you are right now. And I especially love the way your pussy clamps down on my dick."

Another giggle parted my lips, and Ash captured the sound with his. Passion engulfed us, one not too different from what I'd felt when we were on the bank of my lake right before he took me into the water. I could feel my fangs throbbing. The desire for his blood rose, but that would require me to stop kissing him, and I couldn't even bear the thought.

This truly was madness.

And maybe how close we came to losing one another and what each of us was willing to do to keep the other safe was what drove us when Nektas and the Ancient waited only feet away. There was no way they didn't know what was happening, but in that minute, I didn't care. I was a fire in the flesh then, hungry for each thrust of his cock. Starving for him. He was greedy for each sweep of my tongue, each breath he tasted. He thrust hard and fast, and I met him just as fiercely.

And as the tension built and built until I didn't think I could exist for another second, and caught on that exquisite precipice, I knew that despite how treacherous our future would be, how uncertain everything was, one thing would remain constant. The tempest within us peaked, taking us both in the same heartbeat, and I knew there would always be us. Together. Always.

Ash's breathing was ragged as aftershocks of pleasure skittered through us. " Liessa ," he rasped, pressing into me.

Several seconds passed—definitely more than a minute—but no sounds came from the hallway.

His forehead dropped against mine, and he swallowed hard. "He's going to ask about Sotoria ."

"I know." I closed my eyes. "There's no way Kolis still believes I'm her. He would be dead if I was, and he knows that. He…" The look on his face as I drove the Ancient bone into him took shape.

"What?" Ash pressed quietly.

I shook my head. I couldn't say what I thought I'd seen in Kolis's expression. Resignation? Maybe even relief. It made me uncomfortable to even think about it. "He doesn't know where Sotoria's soul is."

"And we need to use that to our benefit. He needs to believe that it is still in you," he said, his body chilling against and inside mine. "Do and say whatever you need to convince him of such."

I kissed him, knowing how much it took for him to say that. I knew that taking what protection it offered me cut him up and would keep slicing at him. I hated this. All of it.

He gently separated our bodies and lowered me to the floor, ensuring I was steady before he pulled up his pants and then fixed mine. Neither of us spoke as he worked the legging up my leg and then straightened the dark gray blouse and vest I wore. When he was done, he smoothed the sides of my hair back, then tilted my chin until our eyes met.

Ash swept his thumb across my cheek. "Promise me," he said. "Promise me that whatever Kolis says or does, you won't let it leave a mark."

"I promise."

Splitting open the realm to travel from one location to another in a matter of seconds was what Ash had done in the past. It was a form of shadowstepping that only Primals and the oldest gods were capable of. And, of course, the Ancients. I just hadn't realized that was what Ash had been doing. I'd always closed my eyes, and even if I had kept them open, I probably wouldn't have been able to see past the whirling shadows.

I didn't close my eyes when the Ancient took my hand and the very fabric of the realm peeled back, revealing the shimmering, golden cluster of trees just beyond the City of the Gods and Cor Palace.

The very trees that Aios had created with her touch.

Glancing up at the graceful, sweeping branches and the glistening, fan-shaped leaves, I wondered if she would grow them in the Shadowlands now. I hoped so. They were beautiful, and I would never expect Aios to step foot in Dalos again.

Lowering my gaze, I peered through the sun-dappled trees. Nighttime had already come to pass between the time I'd been here and now. The air was still balmy, but it smelled even more of stale lilacs.

Of Death.

My lip curled as I shut down my emotions, locking them away. I didn't don the veil of nothingness, though. I would never do that again. I just became another part of who I was. A colder, calmer version of me.

"Let's get this over with." I started walking forward, my steps making no sound.

" Seraphena ."

I stopped.

"We need to speak first."

I counted to five, though not because I was anxious. I wasn't walking out of these trees as I had the first time. I was irritated with the delay. "I don't want to linger." I faced the Ancient. "I need to return to the Shadowlands as soon as possible."

"Before your husband does something he'll regret?"

Well, yeah, that was the number-two reason. I doubted he'd left for Vathi, and the longer I was here, the more likely it was that he'd do something. But the number-one reason? "I didn't have such a great experience the last time I was in Dalos . I don't want to spend a moment longer here than necessary."

There it was again. A barely noticeable flinch in the skin around his eyes. "Nor do I."

"Then get on with it," I said before I could remind myself exactly what I was speaking to. "And I mean that in the most respectful way possible."

His lips curved slightly. "Holland warned me about you."

I stiffened, unsure how to respond. I had no idea if all the Ancients knew about his involvement or that thin, gray line Holland often walked.

"He warned me that you could have an…assertive personality," he continued. "I believe he said, ‘aggressively assertive.'"

I winced. "I can't exactly deny that."

Aydun eyed me. "I'm not sure Holland knows you as well as he thinks he does, though. I expected more of a fight from you than Nyktos . He's always been calm. Practical. You, on the other hand…" Another emotionless, tight smile appeared. "But that is what emotion does."

"I disagree with that."

"Of course, you do. You were once mortal. That is not a part of you that you can carve out." He said it like he pitied me. "But you calmed quicker than Nyktos did. You understood. I didn't expect that."

I frowned. "Exactly what did Holland tell you?"

"Enough."

Shaking my head, I pushed my hair back. "I think the truth is that I didn't really know Holland."

"You know him better than most."

Then why isn't he the one here? I didn't ask that. It felt like it revealed too much. "His eyes looked nothing like yours."

"That's because your mind was incapable of seeing him for what he was," he explained as my brows inched up my forehead. "Only the true Primal of Life and the true Primal of Death possess the knowledge to see a Fate for what we are."

The fact that we could see them as they were because we knew what they were…kind of made sense. "I don't think you wanted to talk to me about Holland."

"No." He came forward, his feet gliding over the grass and mossy rock. "I have seen all the possible tomorrows. Some will surely come, and others are still unwritten. There are so many possibilities."

I dragged my gaze to his. The blue swirled into the green of his eyes. "Okay?"

"So many small choices can alter the outcome, as you are already well aware," he said, and my skin pimpled. "Something small and insignificant can change the course of the realms. That is why the future is never fully written."

I nodded slowly. "Pretty sure I've heard this before, so—"

"But there are possibilities that become events written in the essence of the realms," he said, his voice lowering as my breath snagged. "A series of steps and choices that will inevitably lead to only one outcome." The brown sliced through the blue as the stars grew in his eyes. "If war breaks out among the Primals , the balance will be unsettled in ways that will have dire consequences." The stars in his eyes brightened until they were almost painful to look at. "My brethren who went to ground will be disturbed."

A chill swept down my spine despite the humid wind. "They will awaken?"

"Consciousness will return to the oldest and strongest of them. That is no small step, but one of many that will lead to their Awakening." His head tilted. "Just as Kolis's betrayal of his brother was a step. What Eythos did altered it, but it was another step. The blood you took from Nyktos was one more."

I drew back, my skin warming. "I didn't realize Ancients were such…lurkers."

"There is a lot you don't realize."

Impatience snapped at me. "Why do I have a feeling you won't fill me in on all those things?"

"Balance," he purred. "But what I can tell you is that some things are inevitable. Eythos saw this, and he had a plan."

I crossed my arms. "And what a great plan that turned out to be."

"And you have a plan."

I laughed then, the sound biting. "I'm not sure what plan you think I have beyond figuring out a way to get rid of Kolis—"

"It's more than just him," he cut in. "Trust your instincts."

"You mean the vadentia ?"

"I mean…" he said, pressing a finger to my chest, just below my collarbone.

I swatted his hand away. I couldn't have stopped myself from doing it even if I'd wanted to.

He was unfazed. " Your instincts."

"All right," I said, staring at him. I supposed he was talking about my gut instincts. "Thanks for…whatever this was."

The churning colors in his eyes slowed. "Preventing this war was a thread not seen, but neither were you originally. Do you understand what that means?"

I looked around at the trees Aios had created as if they held the answers. They didn't.

"You are what has been snipping those threads—ending some and weaving new ones. Trust your instincts," he said. "For if what comes from this meeting is war, it will not end, not until there is blood and bone."