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)
I couldn’t wait to hear this.
“For staying out of the goodness of my heart and attempting to talk some sense into you.”
“Do any of us look like we need that?” Thierran asked.
“You always look like you need that.” Kyn shadowstepped, passing his brother.
Shadows spun across the floor, rising within inches of Kyn, forcing him back a foot.
Ash’s wings thickened behind him. “I thought you were going to handle him.”
“Yeah, well, it’s taking me a minute,” Attes muttered.
“If you stand against Kolis,”—Kyn lifted a hand, sending his brother skidding backward—“you will spend the next several centuries regretting it.”
“Do you think we haven’t already spent centuries doing just that?” Attes spat, a pale shade of gray appearing just under his flesh.
Kyn’s lips peeled back. “Kolis has only done what was necessary.”
“Are you serious?” I demanded. “If you’re going to support him, then at least be truthful about who you are supporting.”
“And what would that truth be?”
“That he’s a monster,” I hissed, eather crackling from my skin as I sidestepped Nektas. “And the worst parts of you have benefited from that.”
“It doesn’t have to continue to be that way,” Attes said, clasping Kyn’s shoulder from behind. He spun him around. “You weren’t always this—”
“This what?” Kyn shrugged off his brother’s grasp.
“Violent,” Attes answered without hesitation. “Aggressive. Bitter. Demeaning—”
“He’s always been annoying as fuck,” Ash cut in, shadows swirling rapidly around his legs. “Just wanted to throw that out there.”
Kyn’s head whipped toward Ash. “Fuck you.”
“You weren’t always hungry for vengeance,” Attes rushed on. “You used to live for peace. Both of us did. What you’ve become is Kolis’s fault. His actions have corrupted you.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kyn snarled. “If his actions corrupted me, then it would’ve done the same to you.”
“You think I haven’t felt his influence? I have,” Attes shouted. “All of us have. You know I speak the truth, and the Fates know I should’ve spoken it earlier than this.” Attes’s voice roughened. “I should’ve stepped in centuries ago. But it’s not too late to stop this.”
“It might be too late for you, brother.” Kyn extended his arms. “For all of you.”
“It’s about to be too late for your ass if you don’t get the fuck out of my Court,” Ash warned.
Kyn spun, baring his fangs. Eather swelled inside me, pressing against my skin.
“Look, I get it.” Kyn drew back, his body moving in a disturbingly serpentine manner. “Kolis took your mother. Your father.” He smiled. “Then your Consort.”
The shadows stilled around Ash.
“Of course, you’re angry. You’ve always been angry. But you, brother? You may feel a little regret here and there, but you live. You still prospered. All because of Kolis. All because he kept the balance.”
“Balance he had to maintain because of his actions,” Attes argued, his eyes wide. “Are you fucking serious right now?”
Kyn smirked. “Not to sound cliché, but I’m deadly serious.”
“And you’re also worried,” I said. “I remember what you said to Kolis. You were concerned that his idea of creating life wouldn’t continue to maintain the balance.”
Kyn stiffened. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you do. You tried to hide just how concerned you were in front of Kolis because you’re afraid of him.”
“And you’re not?”
“Who wouldn’t be?” Shadows throbbed around us.
Kyn stared at me for a moment. “Brother, did you swear an oath to her?”
My muscles locked up as Nektas edged closer to me, his hair shielding his face as he dipped his chin.
“I did.” Attes grabbed his brother. “Before she Ascended and rose as the true Primal of Life. Before the eirini.”
“And what exactly do you think she can do for you? For Iliseeum?” Kyn’s laugh sounded like blades being dragged against each other. “She is a mortal.”
My brows lifted as Saion sighed. “She is not quite mortal any longer.”
“It’s kind of embarrassing that you even have to state that,” Ash drawled.
Kyn shoved Attes back once more to fully face Ash. “You want to know what’s embarrassing, Nyktos?”
Attes held up a hand. “Don’t say another word.”
“No.” Ash’s voice was soft, his lips curving into a smile as cool wind blew through the throne room. The faint sound of crackling came from the walls as the candles were snuffed out. “Please, continue.”
“You.” Kyn tilted his head. “I’m embarrassed for you.”
Attes paled. “Shut the fuck up, Kyn.”
“Because you stand here,” Kyn continued, his words slithering over my skin, “beside her. When only a few weeks ago, your Consort was Kolis’s whore.”
My heart stopped. Everything in and around me did.
“And I cannot wait for Kolis to fulfill his promise to me, and she becomes my—”
Ash was a blur of shadows and icy rage, slamming into Kyn in a heartbeat. He had shifted, his skin the color of midnight streaked with pure silver bolts of eather. Twin, sweeping arcs similar to the wings of a draken rose as Ash lifted Kyn into the air. Attes was shouting, but all I heard was the wet splatter of shimmery, bluish-red blood and tissue against the stone floor.