Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Ector arrives in the mortal realm and confronts Sera. She knows he’s a god, but he tells her not to kneel to him, making her realize that she’s never knelt for Ash. Ector tells her that he was ordered to give her something and presents her with a narrow birch box. Inside, she’s stunned to find a gorgeous new shadowstone dagger and feels a flush of emotion. She’s never been given a gift before.
That is just so very sad. Everyone should be given a gift at some point in their life, especially when they’re young.
Sera’s nursemaid passes away, and Sera starts feeling more and more ill after the funeral. She tells Sir Holland about her symptoms, and he instructs her to rest and says he’ll bring her something to help her feel better. When he returns, he tells her the story of Sotoria and says that Sera reminds him of her. He also assures her that everything will be okay regarding her becoming Consort and the fate of the realm.
As an Arae, he would know… But Sera doesn’t know that yet.
The Rite arrives, and Sera attends, posing as the Queen’s handmaiden. In the Sun Temple, Sera feels the energy of the place coating the air and crackling across her skin. It reminds her of the jolt she got when Ash touched her.
As she watches her stepsister, she realizes that she’s jealous of Ezra and wishes she was worthy of her family. A Chosen is presented to the King of Gods, and Sera is shaken when Kolis looks directly at her. She wonders if she only imagined the Primal’s attention, but thinking about it only makes her head hurt worse.
Later, Ezra comes to Sera, clearly shaken and asking for her help. When she sees why, Sera realizes that Mari—Ezra’s friend—is dead. Her sister begs her to save Marisol, and Sera realizes that Ezra loves the other woman. Sera brings her back from the dead and worries for a moment that she’ll come back like the seamstress did—not mortal any longer. Her fears are assuaged when she realizes that Mari doesn’t have fangs. Ezra thanks her and tells her she is and has always been a blessing, not a failure. They hug, and her stepsister says she loves her. Despite the positive outcome, Sera worries about the feeling of dread overtaking her. She fears she’s playing like a Primal and will be punished for it.
After a night full of nightmares of chasing a dark-haired man and having wolves and serpents chasing her, Sera wakes late the next morning, thinking—and hoping—the Primal of Death doesn’t know what she did. Unfortunately, she rouses to find Tavius in her room. She immediately reaches for her dagger, only to find it gone. Sera accuses Tavius of being behind the attack the other day, and he tells her that he wouldn’t waste his coin on her.
Seeing that Tavius has her dagger, she lunges for it, and he pins her to the bed. He tells her the King is dead, and he is now the ruler of Lasania. She also finds out that Sir Holland has been reassigned and sent to the Vodina Isles to work on a so-called peace treaty. She knows that’s not true. He was sent there to die, as the people of the Isles no doubt want revenge for what she did to their Lords.
Sera asks her stepbrother why he hates her and realizes that he sees her, the last rightful Mierel heir, as a threat. She hadn’t considered that… Still, she tells him that he is not and will never be her King. He calls in the guards, and they take her to the Great Hall.
Tavius secures Sera to the statue of the Primal and whips her. As she feels something dark and oily spark within her, icy fire pours out of her body, her blood hums, and the center of her chest throbs. She feels as if she can taste shadows and death in the back of her throat. She vows she’ll kill Tavius—slice his hands from his body and carve his heart from his chest before setting him on fire. When laughter erupts from her, it’s an ancient, endless, dark sound that isn’t hers.
Suddenly, the Primal of Death appears, and she’s stunned to see that it’s Ash. He shatters one guard, making her laugh darkly. When Ash claims her as his Consort, she laughs again.
She had to be in shock, and her injuries certainly didn’t help.
Ash confronts Tavius, and the icy fire in Sera’s veins returns as she watches her mother beg for her stepbrother’s life. Instead of killing him, Ash leaves Tavius to Sera, and she kills him. Still riding on the high of taking care of that menace, she realizes the familiarity she’s felt with Ash makes sense now, and it enrages her. Furious, she attacks him.