I clawed at the arm around my waist—at the air. Kicked at him, at nothing. The agony was too much. With each deep draw he took, a fire ripped through me, tearing my bones from my skin and leaving flames in their place. Spasms of agony seized my chest, my throat, and this—oh, gods—this was it. This was how I would die. He was going to drain me and take the embers. I would be the first to burn, and then the rest of the realms would follow.
Iwasdying.
I wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Ash, to tell him that I loved him. There was no saving him or any of the gods or realms. I wouldn’t fulfill my destiny. I jerked, my fingers curlinginward, nails digging into my palms—into the imprint—
Ash could sense my pain. Feel it. Gods, could he feel this from where he was? He would know, though, when the imprint vanished from his palm. He would know then.
Kolis’s chest swelled against my back as he drew even harder, deeper—
Heat poured into my chest as the embers began to flare faintly, weakly, but the heat kept building and building. And that presence seized me again. That awareness. That voice. The voices.
No. No. No. No.
It wasn’t just my voice screaming. It washers. Sotoria. All the lives she’d lived. And it was ours that moved my tongue.
“You’re killing me,” I slurred, eyes heavy. “You’re killing me again, after all these years.”
Kolis’s head jerked up. “What?”
My tongue felt useless. Bulky. The ceiling flickered in and out. There was no pain. The only thing I felt now washeranger—ourrage.
“What did you just say?” Kolis turned me in his arms. His face blurred. Blood smeared his lips, his fangs. He shook me, rattling my head. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“It’s me…” A laugh that didn’t sound like mine at all parted my lips. “Sotoria.”
Kolis went completely still as his eyes searched my features, looked over my hair, my body. He shook his head, his lip curling, mouth dripping with blood. “Liar,” he snarled.
“It’s…not a lie. Eythos had her soul…” My heart felt as sluggish as my words. “And he placed it with the embers, to be…born again in me. I’m her.”
“There is no way.” He gripped my hair, jerking my head to the side. “Clever lie, though.”
“Your Majesty,” a voice interrupted. Attes. When had he arrived? “A moment please.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” The tension on my neck didn’t let up as Kolis barked out, “Onesecond.”
“Keella,” Attes said.
Kolis went rigid once more.
“You know that Keella helped Eythos capture her soul so she could be reborn.” His voice was closer. “You know she’s outthere, and you haven’t been able to find her, even though you have taken every Chosen—every mortal who bears an aura. Could it be because she has not been reborn in all these recent centuries?” Attes questioned. “Could it be that you have finally found her?”
“This is a trick,” Callum snapped. “Do not trust her, and do not trust this Primal.”
“I know how to kill you, you shit,” Attes growled. “Speak of me again like that, and I’ll prove it.”
A tremor ran through Kolis’s arm as he lifted my head, forcing my face to his. He stared down at me, his eyes widening, the eather swirling and then stopping until only gold flecks were present.
“Think about it, Kolis,” Attes continued. “Your brother was very clever. He could’ve taken Sotoria’s soul and placed it with the embers to protect her and to fuck you over. You know he would.”
Kolis shuddered.
His arms loosened, and I started to fall. He caught me before I hit the floor, going down on his knee as he lifted me to his chest. He cradled my cheek with a shaking hand—then cradled me to him, letting my head fall to the side of his arm. I shriveled at the feel of him, shrank inside myself at the sight of thehorroretched onto the false King’s features as he realized who he held in his arms—as he realized who he’d have to kill.
Again.
Kolis shook. He rocked as my gaze drifted to the open doors and the shadowy leaves swaying in the balmy breeze. To the—
To a wolf.
A wolf crouched at the trunks of the trees. A wolf more silver than white.
A silver beast.
Bathed in the brightest moonlight.
Ash.