A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire 1)

Ector glanced down at me, raising a brow.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. It had to be the pain in my back that ebbed and then surged. The shock. Everything.

The third guard fell to his knees, begging. He too shattered into nothing.

“He seems angry,” Ector spoke over my head.

“You…well, he’s been moody lately,” Saion replied, and I felt another laugh taking form. “Let him have his fun.”

“I’m not going out like that.” Pike—the utterly idiotic man—lifted the bow and fired.

The Primal twisted, moving so fast it was nothing more than a blur. He caught the arrow just before it made contact with his chest. “

“Now that was a bold move,” Saion commented. “A really bad one, but bold.”

“You fired an arrow at me? Are you for real?” The Primal tossed the arrow aside. “No, you don’t have to go out like that.”

“Oh, man,” Ector added with another sigh.

The Primal was suddenly in front of Pike. I hadn’t even seen him move.

Taking hold of Pike’s arm, he twisted sharply. Bone cracked. The bow fell, clattering off the tile as the Primal gripped the man around the throat. “There are many ways you can be taken out. Thousands. And I’m well acquainted with all of them,” he said. “Your options are endless. Some painless. Some quick. This way won’t be either.”

The Primal’s head snapped forward. There was a brief flash of fangs, and my stomach hollowed. He tore into Pike’s throat, ending the man’s short, abrupt scream of terror. Wrenching his head back, the Primal forced the man’s jaw open as he spat a mouthful of Pike’s own blood into his mouth. My stomach churned with nausea as I planted a hand on the tile. The Primal shoved Pike aside. The mortal fell to the floor, twitching and grasping at the jagged tear in his throat. I couldn’t look away. Not even when he stopped moving and his blood-coated hands slipped away from his neck.

Ector’s head cocked to the side. “You call that moody?”

“Well…” Saion trailed off.

The Primal then turned to Tavius. “You.” Ice fell from the word.” He looked down, his blood-smeared lips curling into a smirk. The breeches along the inside of Tavius’s leg had darkened. “So afraid you pissed yourself. Do you regret your actions?”

Tavius said nothing. I didn’t think he could. All he could do was nod jerkily.

“You should’ve thought about that before you picked up that whip,” the Primal growled. “And touched what is mine.”

What is mine?

Another laugh tickled the back of my throat. Now he claimed me?

A rush of air stirred around me. I blinked. That was the amount of time that had passed. The spot where Tavius once stood was empty. My brows lowered. A second later, my mother screamed. I turned, barely feeling the pull against the tender skin of my back.

The Primal had Tavius pinned to the statue of Kolis, several feet off the floor, the whip wrapped around his throat. The Primal’s skin was more silvery than dusky now, thinner, and those shadows became even more apparent. “I would ask what kind of mortal you are, but it is evident that you’re a pathetic pile of shit shaped into that of a man.”

Tavius’s face turned a mottled red and purple as he sputtered, digging at the whip around his throat.

The Primal’s chin dipped as his head cocked. With his other hand, he reached for Tavius’s waist and jerked his hand back. He held the dagger he’d gifted me. “This,” Nyktos growled, hooking the blade into one of the leather straps that crossed his chest, “does not belong to you.”

“No! Please! He’s my stepson.” My mother rushed forward, stumbling over the hem of her gown. “I don’t know what got into him. He would never do this. Please. I beg of you—”

“Beg and pray all you want. It matters not to me.” The Primal’s voice turned guttural as the shadow wings swept high, stirring the air once more. “He has proven what little significance and value he has to this realm.”

“Don’t do this,” my mother cried, holding out her hands. I squeezed my eyes shut. Not wanting to hear her beg for him… “Please.”

“He’s a monster. He’s always been a monster.” Ezra’s steady voice cut through the room, and I opened my eyes. She hadn’t risen from where she knelt. “Our…our father knew that. Everyone knows that. He is, as you said, of little significance.”

“But he is the future King,” my mother said as Tavius’s eyes bulged, and veins protruded from his temple. “He will never do something like this again. I can promise you that.”

I stared at my mother, my chest rising and falling rapidly as she continued pleading for his life. That icy fire returned, washing away the shock and the disbelief. It dulled the pain in my shoulders and upper back. It dulled everything. I pulled away from Saion and pushed to my feet. I stood on surprisingly steady legs, my gaze never leaving my mother, even though she had not looked at me.