“And if I want to argue anyway?”
He pinned me with a bland look. “If it makes you feel better to do so, then go ahead. I’m sure it will entertain Nektas.”
“It will,” the draken confirmed.
I blew out an exaggerated breath. “I guess I’ll just sit around and—” Something occurred to me. “If we find Delfai, and he’s able to tell us what to do to remove the embers, will the process cause what happened when Kolis stole the embers in the first place? The death of gods and Primals?”
Nyktos’s eyes met mine. “And if it does?”
My stomach dropped. “I would be exchanging my life for the lives of others.” I saw the guards falling from the Rise, swamped in flames. I thought of Davina. “I can’t do that.”
Nyktos’s head tilted. “No, I didn’t think you would.”
“It’s a good thing neither of us believes such an event will occur then,” Nektas said, and my gaze whipped between the two. “That happened because Eythos was the true Primal of Life. You would not yet be a Primal. The act wouldn’t have the same catastrophic consequences.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?” I demanded.
“I wanted to see if I was right about what you would choose,” Nyktos said.
I resisted the urge to throw my glass at him. “So, what would happen to the embers? Would they go into someone else?” My eyes went wide, the hope now becoming a wildfire. “Could you take them? They belong to you, don’t they? The Primal of Life wasyourdestiny.”
“It was my destiny.” Nyktos’s eyes glimmered faintly. “And if this works, it will be mine again.”
Chapter 10
I watched Nektas carry a sleeping Jadis out of the office. The little draken was sprawled over one broad shoulder, limbs and wings limp but tangled in her father’s hair. He was taking her to one of the bedchambers on the second floor that I’d learned had been converted into a nursery of sorts.
Apparently, while sleeping, Jadis had a habit of unconsciously slipping into her mortal form, and as Nektas had put it, no one needed to see her naked as a jaybird.
Though I wasn’t sure what that even meant. As far as I knew, jaybirds didn’t wear clothing.
“You really got her to eat with a fork?” Nyktos asked.
Slowly, I twisted around in my chair to face him. He still leaned against the desk. “I did.”
Nyktos smiled. It was close-lipped and faint, but it still had a transformative effect, warming the cold beauty of his features. “I’ve tried to get her to do it on more than one occasion. Usually end up with her knocking the fork from my hands or throwing herself on the floor. Sometimes simultaneously.”
I grinned at that. “Nektas said I might remind Jadis of her mother—the color of my hair or something like that—and thinks that helped.”
“Possibly.” His gaze met mine and then flickered away. “Halayna’s hair was on the lighter side. Not as fair as yours, though.”
Not like moonlight? Thank the gods and the Fates everywhere I didn’t ask that. “How did…how did she die?”
Nyktos didn’t answer for a long moment. “She was murdered.” He dragged a hand over his chest. “She was summoned to Dalos, and Kolis murdered her.”
I sucked in a shuddering breath. “Why?”
“Kolis loathes Nektas. He wanted to make him pay for being loyal to my father and then to me since he believes that Nektas should’ve been honored to servehimafter he became the Primal of Life.”
Heart aching, I shook my head. “So he killed Halayna to punish Nektas?”
“Kolis would’ve preferred to kill Nektas, but he knows better than to do that without a really good reason.” Nyktos lowered his hand. “Unless Kolis killed Nektas in self-defense, many of the other draken throughout Iliseeum would have taken the act personally. They would have gone after Kolis and any who defended him.”
My brows shot up. “And the other draken didn’t take him killing Halayna personally? And why couldn’t the draken just take Kolis on themselves?”
“A draken can gravely wound a Primal, but they cannot kill one,” he reminded me. “And many of the draken did take what Kolis did personally. But with Nektas, it’s…different. He’s old.”
“How old?”