It was now my lips that parted. A hot, heady flush swept through me, pooling low in my stomach. No part of me should’ve been anything but terrified or disturbed by Nyktos’s words, especially since I didn’t doubt them for one second. But a whole lot of me was…aroused. And I didn’t think any of those parts were the Primal embers, even though they seemed to throb in agreement with Nyktos’s words.
Hanan rose, tension bracketing his mouth. “You think it wise to threaten me?”
“I think it’s fucking unwise of you to evendareto speak to me after you sent your guards to my Rise to make demands,” Nyktos replied. “And baseless accusations.”
“Baseless?” Hanan laughed as streaks of eather whipped through his eyes. “A god from my Court Ascended into Primalhood withinyourCourt. All you had to do was turn her over to me, and we could’ve possibly avoided what is surely to come.”
“Her?” Nyktos said, and that was all he said.
“Bele.”
I kept my face blank even as my heart sped up. I hated even hearing her name on the Primal’s lips.
“I haven’t seen Bele in many moons. Nor would I know where she is, as she is not a member of my Court.” Nyktos liedso smoothly I almost believed him. “You should keep a closer eye on your vassals.”
“You’re really going to go this route? Pretend you have no knowledge of a god Ascending in your Court? Or whom it was?”
Nyktos’s thumb swept back and forth, creating the only warmth in the entire atrium. “And are you really insinuating that it couldn’t have been Kolis to have done it? Maybe you’ve fallen out of favor with him and he’s setting you up. Or perhaps you don’t believe he’s able to do such a thing? Is that it?” Nyktos laughed. “Then I would be really careful. Because I don’t think you want Kolis to know you have such little faith in his…strength.”
Hanan blanched. “That is not what I’m saying.”
“It’s not?”
“No. But I do believe we will see just how quickly this one breaks,” Hanan spat, the eather pulling back from his eyes even as the embers hummed in my chest. “Sooner rather than later, I imagine, since His Majesty is about to arrive. And I have a feeling he will have more questions about how exactly a god Ascended than he will about your would-be Consort. I will have what I want before the day is over, and you will…well, likely return to rule over your Court of the Dead with nothing, per usual.”
Nyktos’s fingers stilled as he leaned forward, then stopped. The air left the atrium with the breath I took. Goose bumps spread over my flesh, and my chest tightened.
Smirking, Hanan backed up as a flurry of painted guards filled the atrium, doors leading to the dais opened, and…
Kolis, the false King and true Primal of Death, entered.
Chapter 35
An enormous presence poured into the atrium, settling upon my skin as the scent of stale lilacs choked me. My eyes stung as golden-laced eather churned along the floor and spilled over the edge of the dais, sparking off the marble and licking over the pillars of the dais, stirring the curtains. My bones felt as if they would crumble under the power flooding the chamber. The eather spread like whirling fog kissed by sunlight, but there was something in that light.
Something…wrong.
Nyktos’s chest pressed against my back. I barely heard him whisper “breathe,” but I obeyed as the mass of swirling, throbbing power began to recede. A roar of rushing blood filled my head as the essence collapsed to the floor at his bare feet, where it coiled like a pit viper against his white linen pants, waiting to strike.
I became aware of Nyktos standing—ofmestanding. His hands were on my hips, guiding me to my knee. It felt wrong, in every part of me, to kneel, but I placed one trembling hand on the floor and the other over my heart as I bowed.
Because if Nyktos could, I sure as fuck could.
The back of my neck prickled. Awareness rose. I could feel Kolis’s stare, and the embers inside me throbbed. Panicthreatened to take root as I bowed to the monster who had ruled my life before I was born.
Ruled all the lives I couldn’t remember.
Calling on that veil of nothingness, I slipped it on, snuffing out my fear and anger as I counted the seconds between each breath. I would not crack here. I would not break.I would not. I would not. I would not.Not today. My hands steadied. My chest loosened. My heart beat. I breathed.
I was nothing once more.
“Rise” came the voice drenched in warmth and sunlight. A voice that, if listened to closely enough, carried a blade-sharp, bitter edge to it.
The crimson gown slid across the floor like a puddle of blood racing toward me as I rose. Nyktos had positioned himself so he stood partially in front of me, and only then did I realize that Attes had returned with his brother, who had slightly darker hair but was of the same height and breadth of shoulder.
He wavered slightly on his feet and was half-undressed.
“And sit,” Kolis ordered. “Before this jackass falls on his face.”