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)
They head down the bluffs, engaging the dakkais as the creatures advance on the homes in Lethe. He, Bele, Saion, Rhahar, and Theon crouch on horseback, firing arrows at the enemy. When he gets next to the bay, he recalls Odin to his arm and fights hand-to-hand.
Suddenly, several dakkais about to attack him from behind drop dead, and Ash finds Sera firing arrows at them.
The draken incinerate the dakkais, and Ash looks up to check on Sera. Nektas takes the enemy draken down, and Ash orders Rhain and Ector to return Sera to the palace. He arrives later with Saion and Nektas and asks her if she got injured. He confirms that Kolis was behind the attack and likely knows something is in the Shadowlands but doesn’t know the source.
Ash tells Sera that his father wouldn’t have put the ember in a mortal body without a reason, and until they figure out what that was, Kolis absolutely cannot get his hands on her.
When Sera feels shame for what she’s done, he laughs, thinking she’s a very good actress. He adds it to the list of her many talents and decides to shame her more by discarding her pain. It made me sad to see that, because it was so very clear that he was lashing out because he was hurt.
Sera tells him off for reading her emotions and promises that none of her actions or feelings have been fake. She then adds that she’s glad he didn’t take her three years ago because it means she doesn’t have to do what’s been expected of her.
Nektas whispers something to Ash, and he tries to send the draken to the wall, telling him he’s fine. Finally, he admits that most of the blood on him is his.
Despite the pain he’s in and his increasingly weakening state, he doesn’t believe that Sera’s ember is powerful enough to work on a god or a Primal—which we find out later he’s quite wrong about. Regardless, he doesn’t trust her enough to let her try to heal him.
Ash orders Nektas to put her somewhere safe, even from herself since she clearly doesn’t value her life. When Nektas eventually brings her to him, he gets irritated. Nektas says he thought he was following orders—matchmaking draken!
When Sera suggests that he needs to feed, it raises Ash’s ire, and he sends her away. But before she leaves, he asks if she truly has no fear of dying.
She still doesn’t leave, and he roars at her to go, warning her that if she doesn’t get out, he’ll feed from and then fuck her. She taunts him, and he calls her reckless, admitting that he might kill her if he takes from her—he hasn’t fed in decades.
Giving in, he feeds and tears off her gown, unable to stop the flood of emotions bombarding him. When she suggests he hasn’t taken enough, he tells her it has to be enough. As the feelings from the bite ramp up, Sera begins pleasuring herself. One thing leads to another, and he feeds more as he takes her, watching where they’re joined, the dark, hazy outline of his eather wings forming behind him as he fights his true nature.
He tells her he’s never felt anything like what he’s experiencing. When she echoes his sentiment, he asks her not to lie, then warns her that her faith in him is reckless.
What else is new? She’s always reckless.
In the afterglow, he can’t stop himself from asking her how she can be so convincing. She takes offense and tells him off again.
Ash insists he’s had more than enough blood and admits that ripping off her dress will be his favorite memory for years to come.
Coming from someone who’s been lost to the throes of passion and experiencing another lose control, it is quite titillating and something not easily forgotten.
After telling her to rest—which she doesn’t appreciate—he tells her that she’ll never get him to fall for her and reinforces that she’ll never be able to weaken him to the point where she’d be an actual threat. She challenges that assumption—as she challenges just about everything.
Ash spends some time away from Sera. The next time he sees her, he arrives just after Sera fights off Hamid’s attack in the bath. He reveals that he tasted her fear and came running. When she shows ire that he read her emotions again, it both amuses and arouses him.
As he gets the details of what happened, he’s floored to discover that her attacker attempted to strangle her. When Sera states she’ll never take a bath again, it greatly upsets him. He is about to question Hamid when Ector kills him, further irritating Ash.
He takes Sera to her bedchambers and admits that he hadn’t gotten around to assigning a guard to her today. He asks her about the attack and inquires whether Hamid said anything during. He orders Rhain and Aios to sit with Gemma and instructs them to reconnoiter Hamid’s house for clues.