The embers continued to buzz, pressing against my skin. My senses opened and stretched as I laid the dagger beside Reaver and placed my palm flat on his chest. It was almost like when I’d done it earlier with Thad, but that had been faster, even more instinctive, as if using the embers made them stronger and more responsive. As if the embers were truly mine as I called upon the eather, and it responded tomywill.
Pure, ancient power poured out of my chest, flooding my veins for the second time that day. A hot, heady thrill flowed with my blood. The rush of energy felt different this time, like a reckoning. A…homecoming.
There was a gasp as I inhaled deeply, catching the scent of lilacs—freshly bloomed lilacs.Life. Eather hummed through me, sparking from my fingertips and off Reaver’s chest. The shimmering light swept over Reaver’s small frame in one rippling wave and then seeped through his skin, filling the veins beneath the pale, slightly ridged skin and bruised flesh.
The eather flared and pulsed, then receded slowly into a faint glow that lingered for only a few more moments. The bruise on his chest faded, and then the most beautiful thing happened.
Reaver’s chest swelled with a deep breath, and his eyes opened—eyes a shining, cobalt blue before returning to crimson. “Liessa,” he whispered. Tears filled his eyes, clingingto his lashes.
I shuddered, brushing his hair back from his cheek. “It’s okay.”
“The fuck it is,” Veses exploded as Reaver’s eyes closed. My head snapped toward her as I placed my hand on the hilt of the dagger. “I was actually right. It’s been you.” She took a step back, her eyes—the one I’d stabbed now healed—widening and filling withhorror. “What has Nyktos done?”
“He hasn’t done anything,” I said.
Veses shook her head. “You’re what—?”
Bele lifted the sword.
The Primal struck like a pit viper, moving faster than I could even track. She caught Bele’s sword. The blade shattered in a flare of silver light. Veses slammed her hand into Bele’s chest, throwing her back several feet.
Bele hit the wall by the balcony and fell forward onto her knees. She lifted her head, shoving the dark strands of her hair back from her face. “Ouch.”
Veses brushed the shadowstone dust from her hands as she started toward Bele. I moved, sucking in a sharp breath of pain as I lifted my arm and threw the dagger at the back of Veses’ head. The Primal spun. Her head tilted. “Really?”
The dagger stopped in midair and then flung back toward me.
Gasping, I ducked. The blade whizzed over my head, embedding deeply into the wall behind me. “Shit.”
Bele rose, rushing Veses—
The Primal held up her hand, and Bele went flying. I didn’t take my eyes off Veses, but I heard Bele’s fall. It washard. “If you were smart, Bele, you would stay down. If you do, you may live to see another day,” the Primal warned, turning her attention to me. “But you? You’re definitely going to die. Because you”—she inhaled sharply—“you’re anabomination.”
“That’s rude,” I wheezed.
Eather sparked along her flesh, charging the air as I positioned myself over Reaver, tensing.
“What if I don’t stay down?” Bele asked, rising to her knees.
Veses’ eyes turned into silver orbs. “Then you can die, too.”
Bele spun on her knee, rising as silvery-white light spiraleddown her arms and erupted between her palms. Eather arced, rapidly forming the shape of a bow and arrow. Smirking, she pulled the string of eather taut. “Bitch, I hope you try.”
My mouth dropped open. Taric had summoned a sword of pure eather, but I’d never seen Bele do that before.
“You let go of that arrow, and all you’ll do is piss me off,” Veses warned. “And I mean, really piss me off.”
“Oops.” Bele released the arrow.
Veses spun. The projectile grazed her cheek, splitting it open. She shrieked, lifting into the air as eather sparked from her eyes and fingertips—
The ember belonging to Nyktos suddenly vibrated frantically. A faint tremor moved under the shadowstone floor as Veses’ head whipped to the open doors, to where night had gathered, thick and dark. Another charge of energy swept through the chamber, dancing across my skin. Tiny hairs rose all over my body. The breath I exhaled formed a faint, misty cloud. Every part of my being recognized the source of power pouring into the space.
Thick tendrils of midnight and moonlight spilled into the room, reminding me of what I had seen in my bedchamber that night. Coils of churning mist rolled along the floor and climbed the walls. Whatever air was in my lungs left me as Nyktos stalked forward, his eyes locking on mine. I tried to regain that breath, but the temperature of the air continued dropping, becoming so frigid that my lips started to tingle. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
His skin had thinned to the point where he was more shadow and moonlight than flesh. The power radiating off him drenched the air. Wisps of eather had gathered around him, swirling around his legs and licking over his shoulders. Through them, I saw the faint outline of his wings.
Nyktos was a storm of whirling fury. Shadows laced with thin strips of silver lashed out from him and blossomed beneath his skin. He’d never looked colder, harsher, or more like a Primal of Death than in that moment.