I sucked in a sharp breath, realizing that Holland must’ve known this but lied. Or had he? Could sharing this information be seen as crossing a line? Then again, what this Arae had done had definitely crossed all the lines. “Aren’t the Arae supposed to be…I don’t know, neutral and not interfere in fate? Giving Kolis the Star sure sounds like interference to me.”
His dark eyes flicked to mine. “The Arae often walk a fine line of guidance and interference, don’t they?”
I stiffened, and Delfai’s smile grew until a shiver of unease drifted down my spine. Then I remembered what Ash had told me about how the Primals fell. “When the Primals began to feel emotion, so did the Arae.”
Ash nodded. “I imagine that most remained neutral, but the capability to feel emotion changed everything.”
“Andeveryone,” Delfai added, turning that eerie smile on Ash. “I have no knowledge of which one gave Kolis what he wanted, nor the true reason behind doing so. It could’ve been a nefarious act, or they simply fell prey to what they feared would happen to Primals if they could love. It is possible their emotions were exploited, forcing them into such an act to protect someone they loved.”
“Love,” I murmured, swallowed. “Maybe it is a weakness.”
“I believe it to be the one thing more unpredictable than even a Primal ember. Therefore, stronger,” Delfai countered, drawing my gaze to him. “Love makesanythingpossible. Makesanyonecapable of the unexpected.”
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable as the god continued staring at me. “Where is this diamond now?”
His dark eyes glimmered. “Kolis has it,” he said, and my stomach sank. “He knows what it’s capable of. He wouldn’t want anyone else to be able to access it.”
“Great,” Ash snarled with a flash of fangs.
“But you want to know how to remove the embers fromher,” Delfai said. “To do so, you wouldn’t need the Star.”
My head snapped up. “Can we get a little more detail on that?”
“At this time, you are simply the mortal vessel for the embers—”
“She is not simply a vessel,” Ash growled as eather charged the air. “Not now. Not before this moment, and not going forward.”
The catch in my breath and my heart left me a little dizzy as I stared at Ash. I wanted to hug him. Kiss him.
“My apologies.” The god bowed his head. “What I meant to say is that she is the current holder of the embers, a living being allowing the embers to grow in power. Therefore, transferring them from her will not be the same as it would be to remove the embers from a Primal born and fully Ascended.” His eerie, unflinching gaze settled on me. “They would just need to be taken from you. And doing so will mean only a rather minor impact on the realms.”
I…I felt relief. Sharp and sweet. But there was also dread blossoming in my chest.
Delfai’s gaze slid to Ash. “You will become what you were once meant to be after your father entered Arcadia. The true Primal of Life, and the King of Gods.”
I thought that sounded right and just, but the embers…they hummed erratically. Almost as if they didn’t like what they were hearing. But the embers weren’t some kind of conscious entity. They were…they were responding to me. To my emotions. To what I was thinking.
To thoughts I might not even acknowledge.
Relief had eased the lines of Ash’s face as he asked, “How exactly would I take them from her?”
“Another simple process. One that could’ve occurred at any point during her Culling and before her Ascension.” Delfai was still staring at Ash in the same unsettling manner that he had looked upon me. “You must feed from her.”
“That’s it?” Frowning, I glanced at Ash. “But he has fed from me.”
The odd little smile faded from Delfai’s lips. “He must feed until the last drop of blood is taken. Until there is nothing but the embers left. Then, they will transfer to him. He will Ascend. But you…” He sighed. “You will not survive. You will die.”
Chapter 45
You will not survive.
I jerked as the god’s words echoed over and over.
“No.No,” Ash snarled as energy charged the air. Shadows blossomed beneath his flesh, churning rapidly. “You’re wrong.”
“You can successfully remove the embers. Any Primal could because she is, whether or not your father intended, a placeholder for them,” Delfai said quietly enough, but it sounded as if he shouted the words. “The realms are lucky no one else has learned of their existence in her,” he said, and I flinched. “But she cannot survive such an act.”
Death always finds you. Holland’s voice whispered through my thoughts.By the hands of a god or a misinformed mortal. By Kolis himself, and even by Death.