Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
“I should be dead,” Delfai rasped. “I’ve seen my death.”
Frowning, I glanced at the god but didn’t let go of Ash’s arm.
“You were supposed to kill me.” Delfai leaned back against the bookshelf, patches of skin along his arms and neck charred. My stomach churned. “That was how I died.”
“Well, you’re not dead, thanks to her.” Ash’s jaw worked as he glared at the god as if he were about to change his mind. “Congratulations.”
Delfai’s fingers stilled around his throat. “It may be cause for celebration.” His hand dropped to his lap. “Perhaps there is a silver beast and a brightest moon. Two. Not one,” he rambled. “Two then one.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Ash demanded.
“Nothing.” He smiled widely, revealing blood-streaked teeth. “Nothing but hope.”
There was a good chance that Ash had done some damage to Delfai’s mind because what he’d prattled on about made no sense. Silver beast? Brightest moon? It reminded me of the title Ash had given me, but I really didn’t know why he’d be rambling about that—and it honestly didn’t matter.
Neither of us spoke as we left Cauldra Manor, passing guards who hastily bowed but kept a healthy distance. I’d wanted to say goodbye to Kayleigh but knew it wouldn’t be wise for us to linger.
Not when violent, frenetic eather still leaked into the air around Ash.
And I didn’t think I had it in me to hold an appropriate conversation. My mind was too focused on what was to come.
What could no longer be denied.
It was the strangest damn thing as we made our way down the rocky hill, feeling the sun’s warmth on my face. The devastation of all the what-ifs that would not happen. The knowledge that the end was truly coming this time. And the utter collapse of hope.
It was all rather…freeing.
A calmness settled over me.
The ever-present pressure on my chest was still there, but it didn’t squeeze as tightly as it had. And maybe it was because I’d always expected to die. Maybe it was because the soul inside me had also lived through many deaths.
After all, death had been my constant companion, an old friend that I always knew, deep down, would visit one day.
I looked at Ash. He stared straight ahead, the muscle in his jaw ticking with each step. We’d just reached the pines when I said, “Stop.”
“We need to return to the Shadowlands,” he bit out.
“We need to talk.”
“I need to think.”
The breath I took was shaky as I followed him into the thick stand of pines. “You have to do it.”
Ash halted. “There is nothing I have to do.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” I stopped a few feet from him, understanding dawning. “You…you knew how to remove the embers from me this whole time, didn’t you?”
His shoulders went rigid.
“Gods,” I whispered hoarsely. Because I knew—I knew—I was right.
“I didn’t know for sure. It’s not like there has ever been another like you—a mortal with Primal embers in them.” His head bowed. “But I figured that draining you completely was a possibility.”
He could’ve done that at any time. Taken the embers from me. He could’ve Ascended. Stopped Kolis. Stopped Veses. But he hadn’t.
Because he knew that it would kill me.
I let my head fall back as I dragged in deep, stinging breaths.
“But I knew that wasn’t how Kolis took the embers,” Ash gritted out. “I knew there had been another way.”
But there wasn’t.
Blinking the dampness from my eyes, I lowered my head. “We came here to learn how to transfer the embers, and now we know.”
He said nothing, but the air thinned and chilled. A few needles fell from the pines’ branches, drifting to the ground.
My heart began to pound as my throat tightened. “There is no other option. We can’t allow someone else to learn about the embers and take them.”
Slowly, he faced me, his features stark. “There has to be another way. Maybe the Star—”
“How would we retrieve it? Do you know where Kolis keeps it? Know anyone who would be willing to share that little piece of information with us? No. And even if we could find the Star, you heard what Delfai said. It’s too late. The embers have merged with me. Removing them will kill me either way, and I—I don’t want to die.”
“Glad to hear that you finally feel that way.”
I ignored that. “I want a future. I want to live. I want to experience a life where I have control of my future. I want us,” I whispered. “But I need a future where we defeat Kolis and the Rot goes away. Where those in Iliseeum and in the mortal realm are safe. That’s what’s important. The only thing that matters.”
“No, it is not the only damn thing that matters, Sera.” His eyes flashed. “You. Not the godsdamn embers. Not the fucking realms. You matter.”