Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Then I remembered. I did.
The eather.
I rolled my eyes at myself.
“Are you…dancing with yourself?” Aydun asked.
“I’m not dancing, you—” Eather throbbed intensely before fading out, warning me. I inhaled sharply. “Another Primal has arrived.”
“They have.”
I spun toward the Ancient. “I was unaware of other Primals being here.”
Aydun plucked off a wilted leaf that had landed on his shoulder. “Only Nyktos was prohibited from attending.”
“That’s bullshit,” I hissed, the wind picking up.
His eyes flashed to mine. “The summoner sets—”
“The rules. I heard you the first time.” I turned back to the still-closed doors, not liking this one bit. Any number of Primals could’ve just arrived. My mind flashed to Kyn, then Veses, and the essence stirred wildly inside me. “What are the rules regarding the other Primals and fighting?”
“There can be no violence of any kind among the Primals.” He came to stand beside me. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried.” I stared at those doors. “I’m disappointed.”
His head swung toward me.
Fuck it.
I climbed the steps and crossed between two columns.
“What are you doing, Seraphena?”
“I’m not waiting.” Focusing on the doors, I summoned the eather. The gold-plated doors swung open, slamming into the walls with a crash as they snapped off their top hinges. “Oops.”
Aydun sighed.
Smiling a little, I strode into the palace. We hadn’t entered this way when Ash and I came before. Attes had led us past some bungalows and brought us into the hall that led to the atrium, where I assumed Kolis would be. I glanced at the gold-cushioned settees lining the walls of the entryway. The foyer split into two wings.
I turned left. There really wasn’t a reason for my choice, so I hoped it was the vadentia leading the way.
“We really should wait,” Aydun suggested, following me.
“We’ve waited long enough.” I entered a hall, passing several closed doors on one side and windows facing a courtyard on the other. Two doors were at the end of the hall. Of course, they were gold-plated, as were the ceiling and the wall sconces, the handles on the doors, and the windowsill trim. Gold veining even streaked through the marble floors.
Kolis was so fucking tacky.
“We waited a few minutes,” Aydun pointed out.
“As I said, we waited…” I paused, sensing something…off. My steps slowed as my skin prickled. It was almost like what I’d felt right before the Ancient appeared, except this felt…wrong. Sacrilegious, even. Almost as if I had entered a Temple and cursed the god it served. My eyes narrowed on the doors ahead.
I didn’t hear footsteps, but I knew something was near, and I was right.
The gold-plated doors swung open, and all I saw was gold—gold clothing, gold-painted wings, and golden hair.
My lip curled as a mixture of anger and unwanted empathy rose. “Well, now I know why I suddenly felt something profane.”
Callum halted ahead of me, the painted wings on his face twitching a second before his expression smoothed into a smile as well-practiced as Kolis’s. I didn’t like the Revenant for a whole slew of reasons. The feelings were mutual, but what wasn’t was the sorrow I couldn’t help but feel for him. Sotoria’s brother was a tragedy.
“Seraphena,” he said, his tone level. Courteous, even. “I see you are as charming as ever.” His eyes, which were such a pale shade of blue they were almost lifeless, drifted over me. “And as inappropriate.”
“How so?”
“You’re dressed worse than a common tavern wench and not fit to meet with the King,” he replied. “And you were supposed to wait outside.”
“Two things.” I quickly glanced at the sheath and the golden hilt of the dagger on his left arm as I held up two fingers. “I got tired of waiting.” I lowered my pointer finger, leaving the middle one still raised. “And I’m meeting no King today.”
Callum’s mouth tightened. “Charming.”
I turned my hand around so my middle finger faced him.
“Very charming.” He clasped his hands behind him. “But not as much as the last time I saw you. How are your arms feeling?”
Muscles throughout tensed. “Perfect.” I smiled. “How is Kolis feeling? Last I saw, he had a few extra holes in him.”
Callum tilted his head. “You will see for yourself soon enough.” He stepped to the side and turned as he said, “Come.”
I kept smiling, even though it hurt my face as I followed Callum through the doors, making sure I walked on his left side. We entered a wider hall lined with marble statues of… I saw a chiseled jaw and features similar to Ash’s. “Kolis has statues of himself as decoration?”
“Of course he does.” Callum stared ahead. “He is the King.”
“Of tackiness?”
“And what are you the Queen of?” Callum responded, his chin tipping up a notch. “The Queen of Nothing? No, that doesn’t sound right. How about the Queen of Lies?”
“To be honest, Queen of Lies has a nice ring to it.” On my other side, Aydun frowned. “I kind of like it.”