CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

At any other time, I would've marveled at the beauty of the Athanien Palace. The sweeping structure had been built into the side of Mount Lotho and consisted of far too many floors to even count, connected by spiraling outdoor staircases that looked like death traps to me.

The palace wasn't the only building that climbed to the heights of the mountain. Tall towers lined Mount Lotho and disappeared into the clouds. I knew that was where the Fates resided.

But there was nothing beautiful about the Court now. It was storming violently. Lightning continuously pierced the dark violet and charcoal clouds, revealing glimpses of the pitched roofs and rain-soaked marble streets of the cities sprawling along the hills and the steep inclines of Mount Lotho .

Draken swarmed the palace, their staggering calls those of restlessness, confusion, and anger. There was also concern.

So much rain had fallen that the gods clustered outside the doors feared mudslides would soon follow. Several were out there now, using essence to hold back the unstable ground. I closed my eyes. It reminded me of Phanos fighting the tidal wave my actions had caused.

"Sera," Attes called softly.

I turned from the window to see him entering the atrium with Penellaphe .

The goddess's light brown skin had taken on an ashen hue. "Sera," she whispered, crossing the distance between us. "Fates, are you all—?"

"There isn't time for that," I cut her off. What I said wasn't a lie, but I also didn't want her concern. "Are you willing to accept the position of Primal of this Court?"

She stopped short, her fingers curling into the lace on the collar of her blouse. "I am, but there are other gods older than me—more deserving."

"I don't know them. I know you."

Penellaphe took a deep breath. "Then I accept."

Attes led us to a nearby chair. I'd been relieved when I realized the crimson now dried in streaks over his face and matting his hair was from the blood rain and not something else. It hadn't just fallen throughout the mortal realm. It also drenched the Courts of Iliseeum . "Do you know how to do this?"

I nodded. "Your wrist?"

Penellaphe extended her arm, and Attes's worried gaze lingered on me. I took the goddess's hand. The sight of my blood-and-dirt-smeared fingers against her clean, unblemished skin caused me to flinch. Whose blood was that? Mine? Embris's ? The unknown gods I'd killed?

"Sera?" Attes said quietly.

I shook myself free of those thoughts. The wind and rain lashed the walls. Lifting her wrist, I didn't waste any time. I bit into her vein. Her sharp inhale reminded me to release my fangs. I hadn't done that when I'd torn into Embris's throat. The taste of Penellaphe's blood reminded me of cherries as I drank deeply and as quickly as I could, hoping I wasn't causing her pain. I'd already brought about enough of that to last a lifetime. At some point, Penellaphe sat, or Attes guided her to do so. I wasn't sure which. Soon, I became aware of the pulse beneath my fingertips and its echo in her blood. When it slowed, I closed the wound and then bit into my wrist. Red-hot pain radiated up and down my left arm, and Attes winced. I hadn't been as clean with myself as with Penellaphe . It wasn't on purpose. At least, I didn't think so.

Blood welled and ran down my arm. I lifted my wrist. "Drink."

Her hands shook when she grasped my arm. Rain-slicked hair fell forward. She sealed her mouth to the wound and drank as I stood there. I didn't really feel it or know how long it took, but Penellaphe suddenly released my arm and jerked her head back. Warmth had returned to her skin.

"Rise," I said, guided by the instincts of a Primal of Life. "Rise as the Primal Goddess of Wisdom, Loyalty, and Duty."

Ruby-red stained her lips, and her eyes widened. She pressed a hand to her chest, the veins along the top lit with a golden glow. "Oh…"

Lowering my arm, I stepped back. A sudden wave of dizziness swept through me. I forced out a long, slow breath. A level of detached curiosity filled me as I watched the essence travel through her veins, disappearing under the sleeves at her wrists to reappear along her throat.

"Sera." Attes touched my arm, his voice low. "Close your wound."

I started to lift my arm but halted when eather filled the veins of Penellaphe's cheeks. Her eyes got even wider, filling with eather until her pupils were no longer visible. Her chest rose sharply, and then she shot to her feet, knocking the chair over.

The air shifted around us, thickening and charging with all the combustible energy. Particles of eather lit up all around Penellaphe , moving throughout the atrium and beyond the palace. The Court of Lotho burned with silver light. Arcs of eather erupted from the particles, slamming into Penellaphe and returning to a source, a home.

Penellaphe's head jerked back, and she threw out her arms. Blinding light streaked from her, sparking and hissing. She rose into the air, reaching the ceiling. The glow was so intense my eyes watered as eather enveloped her entire body. The howling wind and rain ceased. Through the windows, I saw the thick clouds breaking apart to reveal the clear night sky.

There was silence and then the staggering high-pitched call of a draken . Then another. And another.

The eather around and inside Penellaphe throbbed and then flickered out. She dropped from the air, but Holland was there before Attes or I could do anything. He caught Penellaphe , cradling her limp body in his arms. I was…so out of it that I hadn't even felt his arrival.

Nice of him to show up.

"I got you," he murmured, brushing his lips over her brow before lifting his gaze to mine.

"Sera," Holland called. His painfully familiar features were tense, but his gaze was soft. "Thank you."

My eyes slammed shut, violent emotions swirling dangerously inside me. I stepped back and turned away, swaying slightly.

"Sera," Attes started.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." He caught my arm, irritation and concern filling his tone. "You're dizzy, aren't you? Don't even bother lying. You're walking like you've drunk a fifth of whiskey."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Because I have no idea what you plan to do next, and I doubt you realize the vulnerable state you're in right now." The angles of his face were tense and smeared with dried blood, making his scar stand out more. "You're a fledgling Primal and have used way too much eather ."

"I'm fine. I drank from Embris ," I said, wincing.

"And you just Ascended Penellaphe . Whatever you gained will deplete quickly." Attes folded an arm around me, swearing under his breath. "Come on, I'm taking you home."

I didn't protest, not even when he tugged me against his side. I was…I was done. And I was tired—

Awareness of another Primal throbbed in my chest as the mist began to lift from the floor. My head shot up. I recognized that sensation—the imprint. A hazy image of—

"Motherfucker," Attes roared, sensing his brother.

My heart lurched, pumping adrenaline through me. I wrenched myself free of Attes , spinning to where Holland held Penellaphe . My eyes locked with Holland's. His were wide, and the bright silver pupils had dilated until no color was visible.

"I didn't see this," he rasped. "This was not a thread."

The breath I took froze in my chest. Gods. Holland…a Fate, an Ancient , sounded afraid .

Why would he be afraid of Kyn?

Holland rose swiftly, holding Penellaphe tighter to him. "Do not fight," he said through gritted teeth. "You will not win, Seraphena ."

He vanished with the new Primal.

The glass walls of the palace exploded, sending shards through the atrium. Attes flung out a hand and grabbed my arm. A wall of silvery eather went up, shattering more glass.

"Fuck," he snarled, pulling me back to him. Mist whipped around us.

A burst of energy reverberated through the large chamber, piercing the mist. Without warning, we were moving in opposite directions. I slid across the floor, boots slipping. I fell to my knees just as the horned tail of a draken whipped through the atrium, right above my head, before slamming into Attes . The Primal flew across the chamber, hitting a marble pillar with a fleshy smack. I jumped to my feet, and he fell to his knees, catching himself.

"Fuck you, Thrax," Attes grunted. "That was unnecessary."

I started for him—

Bad life choice.

Who I assumed was Thrax swept his tail back, and I was in its path. I hit the floor, holding my breath as the tail skimmed over me. One of the spikes grazed my shoulder, ripping my shirt, and only by the grace of the Fates, missed catching any skin in the process.

The ceiling tore back, claws ripping through glass and stone. A draken with fiery red-and-black scales descended into the ruined chamber, its wings beating at the dust in the air as its claws slammed down behind me.

Oh, shit.

I rolled to the right with only seconds to spare.

Massive forelegs landed where I'd been with a force that would've crushed me. Mouth dry, I popped to my feet. The draken snarled, its lips vibrating as they pulled back over sharp teeth. Thrax wasn't nearly as big as Nektas , but he was fast with that fucking tail. He caught me in the back, sending me flying. I hit the floor with a groan. It knocked the air out of me, but I rolled, coming to a stop on my belly. Air—too much air—surrounded me. I turned my head, gasping and seeing nothing but the darkness of a steep drop-off on the side of Mount Lotho .

Why did Embris have to build his palace on a fucking cliff?

I shoved to my feet. Wind roared through the trembling palace, blowing my hair back. My chest suddenly warmed with the echo of death. The flare came again and again as Thrax snapped at Attes . I didn't see Kyn, but I knew he was close. He was in the palace somewhere—likely the source of the death I felt.

I summoned the eather , feeling it pulse wildly—too wildly. A bolt erupted from my palm, nowhere near as strong as earlier. The silvery-gold stream arced across the chamber, striking the draken in the side.

Thrax yelped and lurched toward me. His jaws opened as he roared, the force sending me back about half a foot, the stench of sulfur and blood choking me.

I pulled the essence to the surface when I saw Attes's armor appear. The Primal rose into the air, eather crackling and spitting from his splayed hands. Thrax huffed, drew his neck back, and started to turn back to Attes .

"Hey, you fucker," I shouted. "Your breath smells like your mouth has been up Kyn's ass!"

Thrax halted and then turned his attention back to me, eyes narrowing.

A stream of bright eather slammed into Thrax. The draken reared back, spraying shimmery blood. I darted out of its path, but Attes was close, continuing to slam the draken with eather . The armor protected his chest, but the sleeves of his tunic burned off, and his flesh smoked.

Thrax went for Attes , releasing a stream of silvery fire. Attes lurched to the side, throwing a bolt of eather that hit the draken in the face. Thrax shot back—

Icy fingers trailed down my spine. I sucked in a shrill breath, catching the scent of stale lilacs—death. The hairs along the back of my neck rose. Everything inside me stopped except for my heart. It beat steadily. Calmly, even. I turned around and saw Attes and the draken spill over the edge where the glass walls had stood, falling over the cliff. There was a shout of pain, but all I saw was the figure in the center of a whirling mass of crimson-streaked shadows in the sky.

" Kolis ," I hissed, feeling a violent rush of energy surge through me. Fury sank its claws into me, climbing my spine and filling my limbs. It filled my heart and wrapped itself around my fingers. So, I seized it. I stalked forward, the marble tile cracking under my steps. Throwing out my hand, golden-silver light rippled down my arm.

Seeing my family's faces and the horror forever etched into their features, feral rage fueled me, and eather exploded from my palm, racing through the sky. A savage smile lit up my face when the essence struck Kolis, scattering the shadows around him. His head kicked back, and the eather raced across his bare chest, singeing his crimson pants. I lifted my left arm, wanting to cause him pain, wanting to destroy him—

A dark, cold laugh slithered through the air and over my flesh. Kolis's chin lowered. Crimson-streaked tendrils rose once more in the ink-black sky, writhing and swirling, his eyes gleaming like ruby jewels. All along the cliffs, great elms and pines bent back as if to escape the weight of his power and presence.

A reddish-silver pulse of light rippled across the realm, revealing the draken that had taken flight from the palace. I saw them when the sky growled, a deep rumble building in intensity until it reached a deafening crescendo. Bright bolts of crimson-laced eather erupted from Kolis and danced across the horizon, splitting into multiple veins that streaked through the clouds like writhing serpents.

From the valley below, a draken's panicked call sent dread cascading through me. The draken in the sky veered sharply and dove to the ground—to safety.

"No," I whispered. I had no idea if the draken were now loyal to Penellaphe or not, but I didn't want to see what I knew was coming.

A scream lodged in my throat. The eather struck draken after draken . Horror swamped me as they twisted and writhed in the sky, their wings crumbling and then disappearing. Essence flared in me, one, two, three…eight times as the draken shifted into their mortal forms, their bodies limp as they fell…

I couldn't believe what I'd just seen. Shock paralyzed me when the draken on the ground let out anguished wails. Kolis had nearly wiped out all the draken of the Court in less than a minute. I didn't think I would be capable of something like that even if I wasn't a fledgling Primal. The kind of power it took to kill a draken …

His laughter ceased. Then, he began to sing , his voice traveling through the air like a sinister requiem that became a somber song. My entire being recoiled instinctually as the very realm shuddered, and the haunting hymn rose…

Something fell from above too fast for me to tell what it was, but it was too small to be another draken . I jerked, something else plummeting from above. Warmth flared in my chest. I looked up, the heat quickly returning as another object fell, then another, and another…

I saw things climbing out of windows and over balcony rails on the upper floors of the sweeping ivory palace, opening their arms wide and embracing the call of death.

Oh, my gods.

Horror rose. Gods and godlings, mortals and servants, embraced death. The fall from Mount Lotho would kill a god. It would likely even do serious damage to a Primal.

"You sick bastard!" I screamed, willing the eather to the surface to try to catch the ones I could, but the essence merely sparked and flickered. The delay was costly, and the fall was too quick. "Stop!"

The chilling song ceased.

My furious glare fixed on Kolis as another echo of death haunted me. "Why? Why would you do that?" I shouted. I didn't know if I was asking about those he'd called to their deaths or if I was demanding to know why he'd taken my family. I wasn't sure why I was asking either. I knew the answer. He was a walking nightmare. Still, I screamed, "Why?"

"You should know," Kolis said, his voice no longer carrying the winds of summer. Now, it brought with it the nothingness of death.

"Other than you being absolutely demented," I seethed, "do you even know why you are this way?"

A heartbeat passed, and then Kolis was directly in front of me. I didn't even see the blow coming. His fist slammed into my jaw, the force cranking my head back.

Pain erupted, and blood filled my mouth, but I somehow managed to keep my footing.

"Did you really think that would hurt me? A Primal a millennium old?" Kolis's laugh sounded like dry bones rubbing together. "You silly cunt."

Head ringing, I straightened and faced him, spitting a mouthful of blood directly in his face.

Kolis smiled, and there was nothing fake about it. He licked the blood from his lips. "Tasty." Crimson shadows blossomed under the flesh of his chest. "I should thank you for Ascending a Primal to take Embris's place. I would've chosen someone different, but she…" His smile spread, and red swirled in his eyes. "She will be so lovely when she kneels before me and pledges her allegiance. Not as fulfilling as when you do, but still enjoyable."

It was almost like his words were a different sort of siren's call to me. Common sense jumped right off the cliff, along with Holland's advice. Rage was an unending fire in my blood, even as instinct warned me that I needed to be careful. I had to put space between us. Kolis was old. He was stronger and faster. I had been weakened substantially, and the pain from my numerous injuries was no longer so dull. Tiny stings and sharp pricks joined the throbbing in my jaw, but all the drowning anger and sorrow was far greater, as was the knowledge that I was no longer afraid of him.

The palace trembled under my wrath, and I launched myself at Kolis, summoning the eather .

All he did was lift his arm, and it was like I fucking jumped throat-first into his palm. "As much as it pains me even to admit this, Seraphena ,"—his grip on my throat tightened—"I admire your tenacity. If things were different, you would've sat at my right hand as my most vicious ally."

"Thanks," I bit out, grasping his wrist. "My life is complete hearing that—"

He squeezed, silencing me and cutting off my next breath. "Your mouth, however, is a different story."

I managed a smirk and lifted my left hand, extending my middle finger.

Kolis sighed. "I shouldn't be surprised that you'd throw yourself at me. That's what whores do."

Then he threw me down with enough force to knock the trapped air out of my lungs again. The impact hurt, but I could still breathe. Wheezing and coughing, I rolled onto my side.

"And that is all you are. A whore with stolen power." He stood over me, planting one foot on either side of me. He grabbed my hair, wrapping the strands around his fist. Jerking my head back, he forced me to meet his stare "A mortal pretending to be a Primal, who doesn't know her place."

"Or doesn't know when to shut up?"

"Acknowledging the problem is half the battle, isn't it?" He smirked. "You thought yourself so much better than me, didn't you? Just like Eythos . But look at what you've done."

I flinched.

"You killed tonight, Sera. You murdered coldly and without thought or care," he said. "You're no better than me."

I couldn't think about that right now: the truth in his words. I grabbed his arm, my nails breaking off as they dug into his flesh. I summoned the eather , but…it only pulsed weakly. My heart stuttered, and my gaze flew to his. Fuck.

"What? Come on, Seraphena . Lash out at me," he goaded, an achingly frigid smile playing on his lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw guards beyond the interior archway leveling their bows. "Fight me like the Primal you think you are," he pouted. "Or can't you get it up?"

"That sounds more like your problem." I gave him a bloody smile.

His nostrils flared. "You fucking—"

Holding on to his arm, I kicked out hard, slamming the heel of my boot into his stomach. He bent over just as a high-pitched whistle hit the air—several of them.

Kolis looked at them.

That was all he did.

The arrows shattered into dust, and the guards' heads snapped abruptly.

I briefly closed my eyes against the pulse of death.

"How quickly loyalties change," Kolis remarked with a shrug. " Embris would be rolling in his grave, as they say." He twisted the hair in his grip, sending a fiery wave of pain across my skull. "Still nothing?"

My pulse pounded, and I could feel the eather struggling to ignite inside me.

Kolis chuckled darkly. "That's what I thought. Pitiful." He yanked my head back until sharp, stabbing pain shot down my spine. "I want you to know one thing, Seraphena ." The dull gleam of red bone appeared along his jaw. "It was neither Kyn nor Embris who entered Wayfair. Who listened to the pleas for mercy. Nor was it they who killed the Queen of Lasania . It was me."

Everything inside me stopped once more as a tempest of fury surged through my veins, and pulsating rage roared in my ears.

"I was the last face they saw. The last voice they heard." His head lowered to mine, and I shuddered, feeling his lips against my cheek. "And it felt so good to place my hands on them and hear their necks snap." His tongue snaked along my cheek to my ear. "You brought this on yourself."

My mind clicked off. There was nothing Primal or mortal about what I did next. It was pure, animalistic, unbridled rage. I snapped my head forward, not even feeling the strands of hair I tore out in the process, and went for the closest part of him, sinking my fangs into the side of his throat.

Kolis roared and jerked his head back. His flesh ripped, spilling even more blood. It coursed down his neck and my chin. I didn't even have a chance to swallow it.

Suddenly, I was flying.

The floor was up, and the sky was down for a few brief seconds. I crashed into a pillar and fell forward, stunned as agony radiated down the length of my body.

Get up .

I needed to get up and breathe. I flattened my palms, and lightning streaked the sky, momentarily turning night to day. Breathe in. I needed to get up because this was the true Primal of Death. I may have thought I'd faced him before, but I hadn't. I'd squared off with a weaker version of him.

Kolis stopped, looking up as heavy thunder rolled. He laughed. "You are so incredibly easy to provoke," he said, voice thickening. "So incredibly easy to play."

Hold . I took the time to rest and take stock of the situation while he blabbed on. Using eather wasn't an option, but I wasn't weaponless. I pushed onto my knees. Breathe out. Another bolt of lightning cut through the sky. Hold . The air cooled, the temperature dropping until I could see my breath.

"Perfect," he said. " Nyktos can feel you right now, even though he's at the Pillars. Blood isn't that powerful. The blessing of a heart bond, though? He can feel everything and do nothing." He paused. "I do hope he sends his draken . I would love nothing more than to send Nektas's body back to him."

The lightning. The temperature. It was Ash.

"Believe it or not, I enjoyed escorting souls through the Pillars. Seeing their lives. Their pain. How they loved. Hated. Their mistakes and successes. I lived vicariously through them for eons," he said. "But I do not miss being tied to them."

I shuddered and breathed out. Tiny snowflakes had begun to fall, swirling gently to the ruined floor. Silvery flashes of light began pulsing in the valley below.

"You're nothing but a fledgling Primal without my nephew by your side," he continued. "Or a so-called Fate to make sure your mouth doesn't get you into trouble."

I lifted my head, meeting his stare as realization sank in. All of this… Kolis had set a trap, and I had rushed right into it.

"Ah, I see you're finally figuring it out." He raised his brows, and crimson shadows swirled across his cheeks. "Admittedly, you killing Embris did catch me a little off guard. I didn't think you'd be able to harness that kind of power yet. That angered me." Chunks of stone lifted and slid away as he strode toward me. "But having you unleash your rage and take quite a few people's lives in the process was also surprisingly arousing."

"Fucking creep," I rasped.

"What did you say?"

I rose to my feet, holding my breath for five seconds. "I said, you are—"

Kolis shot forward and grabbed my throat. He lifted me, slamming me into the wall. "I'm sorry. What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"Fucking creep!" I screamed.

His eyes flashed pure crimson as he pressed into me. Fucking gods, he hadn't been lying a few seconds ago. My stomach roiled. "I gave you a chance, Seraphena . All you had to do was give me what I wanted. I would've left you and my nephew alone. I wouldn't have gone after your family. I would've had my everything." His mouth brushed my chin when he spoke, his voice as soft and gentle as the most peaceful death. But his body shook with anger. "I would've been happy!" he shouted. "I would've been whole for the first time in my fucking life!"

I tried to turn my head away, but he tightened his grip. Over his shoulder, I saw a draken drawing nearer. I didn't know if it was one of his or one that now belonged to Penellaphe , and I had no idea where Attes was.

"I would have what you and my nephew have." Kolis inhaled deeply. "But you had to be this way. You had to ruin everything. You had to test me."

Without even looking, he threw out his left hand. A bolt of crimson-and-black eather streamed out, thick like oil, striking the draken . Its scream stole my breath, its wings crumbling before it fell.

"You just had to make it difficult." He rested his forehead against mine and sighed. "So, now I'm going to make it difficult."

I swung my arm, grabbing a fistful of his hair. Strands snapped when I jerked his head back. "Do you ever not blame yourself for anything? Oh, wait. You have. You blame yourself for your brother's death."

His lips peeled back in a snarl. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"You and I both know that's bullshit, Kolis," I hissed. "You loved him. He loved you. And you murdered him."

"Shut up."

"By accident," I spat.

Hollow bone appeared along his jaw. His lips thinned until there was no flesh as he leaned back.

"Tell me, Kolis." I laughed, spitting blood. "Do you really want to live? Because I know what I saw when I drove the bone through your chest. Relief ."

"Shut the fuck up!"

I swung my knee up. Kolis moved at the last second, and the blow connected with his chest. He grunted and released me. I reached for the bone dagger at my thigh, unsheathing it. I thrust out, aiming for the fucker's head—

Kolis caught my wrist, looked down at what I held, and tilted his head. "Drop it," he ordered, his voice guttural.

"Fuck you," I spat, swinging out with my other arm.

"Maybe later." He caught my left arm. Flesh returned, and the crimson bone retreated. "I think I'm owed that, aren't I?"

I struggled to push past his hold. "I thought you were waiting for Sotoria ."

"I was." He twisted my right wrist, snapping the bone. I couldn't suppress the scream as my fingers sprang open, and the dagger slipped free. "It's not like I'd be betraying Sotoria . I don't desire you or your body. I desire your pain and submission. Your humiliation. And since I know her soul is in The Star, I also know she's not out there waiting for me."

"Waiting for you?" I gasped, my arm throbbing. "You mean hiding from you, willing to end her life to escape you?"

Kolis turned sharply, throwing me like a sack of potatoes. I hit the floor, crashing into stone. I groaned when thudding agony rolled through my right arm. I couldn't move as I felt the essence slipping from my chest and pooling in my stomach.

I really should've listened to Holland.

"You and I are really going to need to work on watching that mouth of yours." Kolis was kneeling over me before I could even move. He grabbed my nape and flipped me onto my back. "Because you and I?" He caught my wrists, grinding the broken bones together as he pinned my arms above my head. He straddled my legs, trapping them. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together."

"Get off me, you piece of shit!" I screamed, eather flickering frantically. He switched the hold on my wrists to one hand. "Get off me—"

He slapped his free hand down on my mouth, his fingers more bone than flesh and cutting into my skin. "I have a feeling I'm going to have to cut out your tongue, and that would be a shame. I'm sure once Kyn finishes with his brother, he'll want a taste of that sharp tongue." A spasm shuddered through him as he rolled his neck. "I need you to listen to me when I tell you how this will go."

I glared at him, wishing my stare could burn him alive.

"First and foremost, you will give me The Star," he said. "But that will no longer satisfy me. You will give me more than that."

I strained against his hold, rage choking me.

"You will give me retribution," he whispered, blood dripping from his throat onto my face, even though the wound had healed. "I will keep you alive until Sotoria matures, and then I will drain every drop of blood and essence from you and rise as the Primal of Ash and Blood." He lowered his head, and my body went rigid. I felt his fangs against my throat. "That will take years, Seraphena . Years . And in those years, you will feel what I have. What it's like to have the one thing you only ever wanted repeatedly taken from you. Do you know how that feels? You should have gotten a taste of it since I've already begun." He lifted my upper body when I didn't answer and slammed me back down. My head cracked off the floor. He removed his hand from my mouth. "Do you?"

"Fuck off!" I shouted as panic, icy and slick, coated my skin, and my vision blinked in and out. I couldn't pass out. I couldn't.

Kolis gripped my chin. Snow fell in larger flakes, coming down faster. "Every day without her kills a piece of me," he said, real emotion creeping into his voice, thickening it. "And I want that for you. I want you to drown in it. Choke on it. I want each and every day you live to be coated in sorrow and regret, while knowing you could've prevented it by giving her to me." He slammed my head back once more, and my vision faded again. "I want Nyktos's death."

My heart stopped, and my struggles ceased. "No," I seethed, feeling the essence trying to rise. "I will not allow it."

"You are no longer in a position to decide what you will allow." He tipped my head back until my neck protested. "But I don't want a quick death for him. He will live as long as you so that he, too, can feel that loss every day. So that he can feel everything done to you, just as he feels this right now. And as I said before, Seraphena , I have so much planned for you."

My insides flashed cold, and our eyes locked. I thought I heard footsteps, but I had to be imagining it because he didn't react.

"And because I am a kind and gracious King, I will allow you two to leave this existence together," he said, eyes burning like coals. A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye. He was zeroed in on me and only me. "But by then, I imagine both of you will be begging for death."

He shifted his lower body, and my entire being flinched. "Should we start now?"

I refused to look away from him. I refused to cower—to beg or disappear.

"I'm going to ask you once more," he said, slipping his hand from my chin and running it down my chest. I clamped my jaw as he squeezed, swallowing the cry of pain. "Do I scare you?" His hand twisted, and I kicked my head back. A wave of agony washed over me. "Do I?"

I panted through the pain. My head was spinning. Another flash of lightning radiated through the sky, reflecting off a blade of dull white. I didn't understand what I was seeing in the falling snow until my eyes locked with ones the color of the Stroud Sea. "No," I rasped. "You don't scare me anymore. I feel absolutely nothing when it comes to you."

Kolis lifted his head, eyes narrowing. "We'll have to change that, won't we?"

I smiled. "I think…I'll pass on that offer."

Crimson eather flared in his eyes, and I knew he was about to do something terrible.

He didn't get the chance.

The bone dagger I'd dropped sliced clear through Kolis's throat as his head was jerked back. Hot, shimmery blood sprayed my face, and the Primal reared, his shout ending in an abrupt crunch of bone as Ward, the first viktor , cut the fucker's head clean off his shoulders.