CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

There wasn't much time to digest what had happened or what Keella had shared. Only seconds after the guards took Ione to her chambers to rest during her awakening, I felt that same sudden surge of restless, anxious energy I had experienced before.

At the veranda's edge, my grip tightened on Ash's hand, my other reflexively going to my stomach. " Kolis ."

A pulse of eather whipped through Ash's eyes, and Nektas quickly joined us. "You feel him?"

"Not as strongly as before," I told him. "But I think he's waking up."

Shadows appeared down his throat, swirling up the sides. "Then we must hurry." Mist seeped from the stone, churning around our legs as he pulled me to his side. "Remember what we talked about, liessa ."

"I remember," I said, leaning into his chest as he placed a hand on Nektas's shoulder. "You will take the lead."

"Let's see how long that lasts," Nektas remarked.

As the mist thickened and rose around us, Ash lowered his mouth to mine. His kiss was fierce and demanding in the seconds it took us to shadowstep to the Callasta Isles, causing my breath to hitch and heat to pool low in my stomach. I was smiling as the mist scattered.

Ash had shadowstepped us inside the Rise, near the main entrance of the sprawling one-level palace. I caught a quick glimpse of our surroundings. Red and white wildflowers bloomed among the knee-high grass. Heavy curtains of moss hung from tree branches that stretched like intertwined arms over wide pathways. Ivy covered the trunks of trees and spread along the walkway, cracking the stone beneath our booted feet and smothering the wall in the distance, revealing only glimpses of the dark red stone of the Rise. There was a surprising beauty in the untamed courtyard, and I couldn't help but wonder if Veses had intended for her land to remain like this or if it had become like this due to neglect.

A warning shout pierced the air, drawing my gaze to our right. A group of half a dozen guards adorned in red and gold jerked to a sudden stop as they walked along a path.

Ash spun, placing me between him and Nektas as absolute chaos erupted.

A fair-haired guard rushed forward, drawing a shadowstone dagger.

"Idiot," growled Nektas as Ash unsheathed a shadowstone sword.

Ash caught the guard's arm, cracking the bone. The man's yelp was silenced as Ash sliced the god's head from his shoulders. My chest throbbed with the echo of death, and I knew this was only the start.

There were only two less idiotic guards in the group of six. Their faces paled, and they spun on their heels, running off through the tall grass. The other three came right at us as horns blared from the Rise. The warning rumble of draken came from the sky.

Out of the corner of my eye, a wave of shimmery silver light swept over Nektas as he shifted. The sound of pounding boots echoed through the courtyard as Nektas's claws dug into the stone. His head snapped out, massive jaws opening. He caught the closest guard around the chest, his sharp teeth piercing armor and bone as he shook his head, tearing the guard in two.

My lip curled as my palms warmed. "Was that necessary?"

No . Nektas drew his horned head back. Blood seeped down his scales. But it was fun .

"Our ideas of fun couldn't be more different." I turned to the doors, willing them to open.

Metal ground together, then snapped as the locks broke. Ash whirled, his sword clashing with another as the heavy shadowstone doors swung open. He planted a boot in the guard's chest, caving in the bone as he threw out his left hand. Strands of shadowy eather laced with silver funneled from his palm, striking another guard. Thicker tendrils of essence snaked out, streaking through the trees. Warm pulses of death followed the cries of pain.

The urge to do something about that—to steal them from death's grip—was there, but I was able to fight the pull.

My gaze flickered over the interior of the palace, and I nearly tripped as I stalked toward the steps. I couldn't be seeing what I thought I was. I squinted, my upper lip curling as I stared at the watercolor paintings adorning the ceiling of the grand entryway.

They were paintings of Veses .

Naked Veses .

"What the fuck?" I muttered.

"I guess you're seeing her artwork," Ash said, snapping a guard's neck. "Interesting choice, eh?"

I snorted. "Interesting, indeed." Shaking my head, I stalked toward the wide steps just as guards rushed from the trees and poured out of the halls inside the palace.

"I would not run in this direction if I were you," I said as I started up the stairs.

They didn't.

One of Nektas's wings swept over my head as he swung around, slamming his tail into the guards. Several of them hit the trees with bone-sickening crunches. A few went through them.

Nektas stretched his neck out, a deep growl vibrating the frills around his neck. Smoke wafted from his nostrils as his jaws stretched open.

The air crackled as a funnel of silvery fire flowed into the opening, the flames hungry as they surged forward, rippling over the foyer's walls. Gauzy curtains ignited as the guards scattered. Even with their speed, they weren't fast enough. Their screams ended abruptly, their shadowstone armor melting, and their skin and bone turning to ash.

As the flames receded, the once-red-washed walls were painted with sooty fingers. I glanced up, smirking when I saw that the ceiling was a charred mess.

"Nice work," I told Nektas , stepping over the smoldering remnants of swords and shields.

Nektas made a low, chuffing sound, but a sudden roar of anger ended his amusement. I looked back to see him retreating from the entryway, his onyx and gray scales shimmering under the sunlight. A flash of gold scales blotted out the sun.

"Ash!" I shouted.

He whipped around, looking to the sky as shadowy tendrils swirled around him. A sudden burst of intense silvery fire poured from the sky, devouring the trees and guards belonging to the draken's own Court.

Moving with lightning speed, Ash crossed the distance between us as Nektas reared back, snarling. The golden draken descended through the smoke with the swiftness of a thunderclap. Nektas's massive body took to the air in a powerful leap. The two crashed above, a maelstrom of claws and silver fire.

Ash had started past me, but I hesitated, my eyes glued to the two draken . Nektas caught the other draken with claws as sharp as swords.

"He'll be okay," Ash assured me, touching my lower back. "I promise you."

His confidence calmed enough of my concern that I could turn away. My gaze briefly met his. His eyes were pools of resolve, mirroring what I felt inside.

"She could be anywhere," he said as we walked through the whirling smoke.

We didn't have time to search the whole damn palace. I closed my eyes for a fraction of a heartbeat. Where is Veses ? The skin behind my left ear tingled as I saw… "A room of mirrors and glass."

"Her bedchamber," he growled.

My narrowed gaze cut to him. "I'm going to save my rage over you knowing what her bedchamber looks like so I can take it out on her."

"It's been decades since I crossed that threshold," he said as we entered a hall untouched by fire. There were more naked paintings of Veses engaged in all kinds of shenanigans with various men and women. "That was when I considered her a friend."

"You don't have to explain yourself. I'm just being irrationally jealous," I admitted, tensing as I heard more guards approaching.

Gripping the hilt of my dagger, I focused on the mouth of the hall, where it split. "Incoming."

Slipping past me, Ash swooped down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. Despite his lips being cool, my skin warmed and tingled from the brief, sweet touch.

"I can taste the bite of your fear," Ash said to the guards. His voice was somehow soft yet loud in the same breath and achingly cold as his head tilted slightly to the side. There was a shadowy half-smile on his lips as he scanned the dozens of guards. "Smell its bitter sweat."

I kept a close eye on them, fully prepared to unleash the eather ramping up inside me if I so much as thought I saw a finger twitch.

Ash tipped his head back more. "All of you have a choice to make. Step aside and live." His smile spread, as cold as the wind whipping through the hall. "Or refuse and die for the Primal who is too cowardly to show her face."

"Why," I said as the guards remained in front of us, "did I just find that so incredibly hot?"

"Naughty, liessa ," he murmured, his gaze trained on the guards.

We gave them one more moment, not a second longer. I could still feel Veses . We wouldn't give her time to leave her Court, something I was surprised she hadn't done already.

Ash sighed. "So be it."

He became a blur as he shot forward, meeting the guards head-on. Distant roars shook the palace walls.

It took everything in me to hang back, watching Ash move with lethal grace. I should be right beside him, carving the path to Veses . But hand-to-hand combat was possibly the riskiest thing I could undertake while pregnant. Even if I deflected every blow, punches and kicks would slip by. My love for the babes was greater than my need to prove myself.

Arcs of pulsing energy extended from Ash's hands, striking down guards with terrifying and awe-inspiring precision. Chestplates and armor buckled. Bones snapped. Guards crumpled, their life force extinguished as swiftly as a snuffed candle.

The palace walls suddenly shook with a force like a mountain crashing into it. The lights overhead flickered wildly, and plumes of dust fell. A stream of fiery eather sliced through the hall we'd just come from, followed by a high-pitched shriek of pain.

"Careful!" Ash yelled in warning.

I gasped as the wind caught the fall of shimmery blood, spraying it in every direction. I shadowstepped back, knocking into Ash as a few drops splashed against the calves of my boots. Tiny holes immediately formed. I hissed, gritting my teeth as the blood burned my skin.

"Fuck." Ash snared me around the waist, lifting me off my feet. "You okay?"

"Yes." I gripped his arm with one hand. "It's not that bad—"

The golden draken crashed through the ceiling several feet away, sending large chunks of stone flying. Ash swore, darting to the side with me in his arms. And not a moment too soon. A chunk of red stone nearly the size of a draken's head slammed into the wall behind where we had just been standing. My chin jerked up to see Nektas veering back up into the air as another draken with honey-brown scales erupted from the clouds. I looked down to see a nude male lying in the rubble, his body bloody and broken. I knew he was dead. I'd felt it the moment the blood hit the air. I still winced.

"What a waste," I murmured.

Ash started to respond, but he felt it the same second I did—the sudden change in the air. It was as if energy were being sucked from it. We turned a second too late.

At the end of the hall, the Primal Goddess of Rites and Prosperity stood, draped in a gown of glittering diamonds. Behind her were at least a dozen guards.

Her red-painted lips curved as she threw out a hand, releasing a stream of eather that split into several smaller branches and moved through the air in a distinctively serpentine manner…because, of course .

Ash turned sharply, all but winging me backward. My stomach dropped as I yelled. Ash raised his arm, a wall of shadowy essence appearing seconds before the eather slammed into it. My feet skidded across the marble floor. A pillar stopped me as a bright flare of light erupted from the impact, and slivers of the eather pierced the shield, striking Ash. He staggered with a grunt.

Ash staggered , going down on one knee.

My heart stopped as he pitched forward, planting a hand on the floor. A sound like tinkling windchimes scratched at my nerves.

Veses was laughing.

For a moment, I stood frozen, barely hearing Ash as he said he was fine, that only the air had been knocked out of him. My entire being zeroed in on the Primal bitch.

Smirking, Veses stepped back, and the guards rushed forward.

A terrible sound came from me, a scream of rage as I pushed off the pillar. I flew past Ash as he rocked back. I knew he would be okay, but a part of my brain had simply clicked off. Veses had hurt Ash.

And that would be the last fucking time she did.

Essence roared through me, matching the terrifying sounds coming from above as Nektas fought in the sky. An orb of crackling power burst forth from my palm, and the guard who had been charging me slumped to the ground, an unspoken scream frozen on his lips. Another guard neared me, shadowstone sword raised high. Flipping my dagger, I ignored the scalding heat of the bone burning my fingers and slowed, sliding under his arm as I threw the weapon at the female guard. The blade slammed into her chest, piercing her armor. I popped to my feet and spun, grabbing the other guard by the hair. I jerked his head back and turned, shoving him into the path of a shadowstone sword. Death echoed in my chest as I prowled forward. Gold-and-silver eather powered down my right arm, streaking out and slamming into the stunned guard who had just taken out one of his comrades. I stopped at the female guard. Her skin was doing something strange, flaking off. Dipping, I tore the bone dagger free, then rose, the corners of my vision filling with eather . Two guards in front of me dropped their swords and ran. I started to pull on the eather but stopped myself at the last minute as words Holland had once spoken to me in training resurfaced. There's no honor in striking those who run. Air hissed between my clenched teeth, but I shifted my attention to those who'd decided to die today.

My dagger sliced through the air, meeting an attacker's flesh. It sang a quiet song of ending, one I had heard many times before. Maybe too many times. But it would continue singing as I snapped under the swing of a blade and slammed the dagger into a guard's back.

My gaze connected with Ash's as he stalked down the hall. His linen shirt was burned on his shoulder and stomach and stained with blood. It was all I could see as the palace shook once more.

"I'm going to destroy Veses ," I promised, each word hissed with heat and vengeance. "I will lay waste to every guard." Power swelled inside me, pulsing through every vein. The floor trembled beneath me, cracking tile. "I will bring what remains of her draken to the ground." My left arm snapped out, catching a guard. I turned my head toward him. The hand I had around his throat shone the color of the sun. His eyes widened with fear. "And I will lay waste to her Court."

The sword slipped from his grip. "Please—"

A rumble came from the back of my throat, and I felt my nailbeds sting. My fingernails started to lengthen. I squeezed, tearing into his throat. Blood poured down his chest and splattered off the floor. His head rolled back and then fell as his body crumpled.

"Breathe." Ash was at my side. "Breathe through the anger."

I looked down at him— wait . Down at him?

"You're levitating again," he said, his silvery gaze full of heat. "And you're burning as brightly as the sun. It's fucking making my dick hard."

I blinked.

"But you're also close to shifting." He turned as shadowy eather rose, stabbing through the head of a guard. "You cannot shift, liessa ."

The babes .

I dropped, landing on my feet. The quick reminder eased the rage pummeling through me just enough for me to pull in some semblance of control. I'd been this close to…

To fucking snapping.

I will not lay waste to her Court , I reminded myself. Kill her? Yes. Yes, I was going to do that for sure.

"You good?" Ash had a shadowstone sword in hand again, presumably taken from a fallen guard. He deflected a blow.

"Yes."

He struck the man down. "Then let's finish this."

We moved in unison like dancers swept up in a melody of violence. The winding hallways of the palace became our stage, every turn a potential ambush, every shadow a hiding place for death as guards kept coming at us. But Ash and I were two halves of a single deadly entity.

"Left," he called out, and I trusted the instruction implicitly. My turn was sharp, just in time to parry a wild swing aimed at my head. With a twist and a thrust, I reminded myself that hesitation was a luxury I could not afford.

Up ahead, guards waited in front of the double doors.

Ash tossed his sword aside as he moved forward. One of the guards got jerked up and away from the door, her body twisting and writhing. Another exploded into a fine shimmery dust. Ash threw out his arm, stopping me a second before draken fire burned through the ceiling and the remaining guards, leaving smoking piles of shadowstone and, well…stuff I wasn't going to look too closely at.

Ash lowered his arm, and I raised mine. My eyes narrowed on the doors. I blew them off their hinges. I caught a glimpse of Veses in her diamond dress just as one of the doors smacked into her.

Ash laughed.

Sheathing the dagger, I shot forward. The door lifted from Veses , smashing into the curtained bed. She rose, brushing dust off her glittering gown.

I was on her in a heartbeat, driving my knee into her stomach as I caught her arms, pinning them to the floor. I smiled down at her. "I told you I'd be seeing you again soon."

Her eather -soaked eyes stared daggers at me. "I thought you were trying to be a better person," she sneered.

"I was." I rose, grabbing a fistful of those ringlets as I dragged her to her feet. "As in the past tense."

"Or more like you were never better," she snarled.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

Her eyes widened a fraction with surprise.

Smiling, I threw her to the side. Veses screamed as strands of her hair snapped. She crashed into the mirrors, shattering them.

Shaking the hair off my fingers, I walked to her as she stood. Eather poured into her veins, and her flesh thinned. She glanced at where Ash stood just inside the chamber, arms crossed and leaning casually against the wall. "Do you let her fight your battles now, Ash ?"

My brows shot up. Did she just use that name?

"Only when I'd rather cut off my arms than have my skin touch yours," he replied.

Her lip curled. "There was a time—"

My fist slammed into her jaw, knocking her head back. She staggered, catching herself.

She slowly lifted her head. Blood poured from her mouth. "That wasn't necessary."

"Your lipstick is smeared," I said.

She frowned, lifting her hand to wipe at her cheek and mouth as she turned to look at herself in one of the still-intact mirrors. "My lipstick is fine—"

I grabbed her hair with both hands this time, pulling her down so fast and hard her feet kicked into the mirror.

Veses grunted. "I'm getting really tired of you touching my hair," she snapped, rising onto her elbows. Essence rippled over her. "You've made whatever point you're trying to make. Congratulations. You've killed some guards and draken and destroyed my palace. You're such a big, bad Primal now."

"You think we're here to just make a point?" I asked. "What do you think we'll do after we've made it?"

"Leave and gloat while I crawl back to Kolis to tell him how powerful you are?" She shrugged a shoulder. "Honestly, I don't give a fuck. You won't beat loyalty into me."

A laugh escaped me as understanding dawned.

The corners of her mouth turned down. "What is so funny, Seraphena ?"

"Other than you?"

She rolled her eyes.

"You know, I expected you to run. I was surprised you didn't." I stared down at her. "I thought you were smarter than this."

"She's not," Ash remarked.

Veses started to turn her head toward Ash.

I snapped forward, straddling her. I grabbed her chin, forcing her attention back to me. "Don't look at him."

"You that insecure?" she spat.

I laughed at her. "You stayed because you really thought we were here to prove some kind of meaningless point?"

She raised her brows at me.

Then I truly understood. "That is why you haven't truly tried to defend yourself." Part of me couldn't believe it. "You think…"

"She does think you're better than her. Better than Kolis and his loyalists," Ash said. "And she's correct, but she came to the wrong conclusion on what that means for her."

He was right.

The way she went completely still beneath me said we were both correct. Her next words further confirmed it. "You're not going to kill me," she said, her lips twisted in a smug smile. "You had your chance before and you didn't. And you won't after what happened to Embris ." She let her head fall back. "You haven't Ascended anyone to take my place. I would've felt it. I know you won't allow what happened after Embris to repeat."

I lowered my head until we were inches apart. "I didn't Ascend another to take your place because I will."

The smile slowly slipped from her face.

"I'm going to kill you, Veses ."

Her lips parted. "No."

"No?"

"You wouldn't." Her gaze darted to Ash. "She won't."

Ash smiled. "She is."

Her wide gaze fixed on me. "Then I was wrong. You're no better. You're not just or fair—"

"Clearly, you have no idea who you're speaking to. He's the inherently just and fair one." I nodded in Ash's direction. "I'm the one who has to work at it."

"Work at it?"

"Yes. But you?" I tapped my fingers off her cheek as essence swelled in me—in her. "You're not worth the effort."

Pure, stark terror bled from her and choked the air.

I leaned in, my lips brushing the curve of her ear. "There is no room for forgiveness and fairness. I'm the reaction to your past actions. I am the consequence." Tendrils of eather rose from the floor. Strands of pure energy swirled around us. "You should be grateful, Veses ."

"Really?" she gasped.

"A part of me wanted to make your death last for years—for the length of the deal you made with my husband. I wanted you to feel every painful, choking second of desperation and humiliation. I wanted to witness your pleas turning to silent screams of hopelessness. And gods…" I laughed again, the sound throaty and twisted. "That does sound like a good idea."

" Liessa ," came the soft warning.

"But I am not cruel," I said. "That is the difference between you and me. I don't want to find pleasure in another's suffering."

She cried out as the eather lashed over her leg, stinging her skin.

"Okay. I lied. I do find a little bit of pleasure in your suffering," I said, tilting my head. "But I will not extend it. Because for whatever fucked-up reason, you did try to warn us. For that, I will not draw this out."

She inhaled sharply.

"I will take your Court, Veses , and I will make sure all knowledge and memory of you is stripped away. No generation going forward will know of you. You will not be forgotten, Veses . You will be unknown ." The eather lashed out again, taking a strip of flesh. "You will die today."

Veses tensed, and I felt her summoning eather . It was too late for that. Jerking her head back, I struck, sinking my fangs into her throat. I drank deeply and hard, not allowing myself to taste her almost too-sweet blood.

She broke my hold on her arms, but Ash was there. He would touch her to protect me. He caught her wrists, holding them down as I pulled more and more of her life force into me. She bucked under me as another draken crashed into the palace. I drank and drank until I felt her heart stutter. I released my fangs then.

I lifted my head and, guided by instinct, placed my hand on her chest. Strangely, I didn't look her in the eye. I didn't want to as I willed the essence from her body. Her back bowed, lifting clear off the floor. I drew my hand back. Thin filaments of eather stretched from her chest to my palm. The essence soaked through my flesh, causing my breath to catch. Her eather pulsed and flowed, making light dance across the broken mirrors and walls. It poured out of her, and the floor began to tremble, the walls shuddering.

I didn't want to look at her.

But I did.

I made myself meet her gaze.

"Sera," Ash whispered. "Look at me."

I couldn't.

I shook my head, holding Veses ' stare as the last of her essence left her body and entered mine—as the eather receded from her eyes and veins. I didn't know why I said what I did next. Maybe it was because I knew what Veses had gone through. At one point, she had been different but had become something cruel and sick due to Kolis's actions and influence. Perhaps she even willingly became what she was. But she wasn't always like this. Maybe I truly had no idea why I said what I did.

"I wish it could've been different for you," I said, my voice hoarse as the life flickered from her eyes. "I'm sorry it wasn't."