The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“Because it meant risking having a daughter.” My skin chilled. “That’s why they stayed in Iliseeum.”

“Until they didn’t.” Nektas’s gaze flicked to the night sky. “They were not forbidden to come here. They were born in this realm. But they were strongly advised against it. The risk was too great. Creating that cosmic restart allowed for what Nyktos and the Consort did to stop Kolis to be undone.”

But we’d stopped it. Malec lived. For now. “Why were they born in the mortal realm?”

“Nyktos and the Consort felt that it was safer that way.”

His answer left me with more questions, but there were far more important ones to ask. “So, I’m what? A loophole?” I said, and Kieran scowled. “One that Isbeth learned about and exploited?” It could’ve been Malec who told her of this or… “Callum. Where is he?”

A growl rumbled through Casteel’s body. “I think he peaced out the moment you called out the Consort’s name.”

“That’s because he knew what it meant.” Nektas’s features had sharpened. “He must be found and dealt with.”

“That is at the top of my list of things to do,” Kieran said.

“Good.” Nektas’s gaze settled back on me. “You are not just a loophole. You’re many things. The Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death.” He spoke in the way he had when he’d spoken of the Consort, and the essence hummed through me. “Those two essences have never existed in one. Not in the Consort. Not in Nyktos.”

“Is that a good or a bad thing?” I whispered.

“That is yet to be known.”

Casteel’s arms tightened around me. “We already know that it means something good.”

Nektas eyed him as tiny kernels of unease took root. “Then make sure of it.” He rose with a fluid grace at odds with his size. “Ires? Have you found him?”

Setting the worries aside for another time to stress over, I cleared my throat and ended up dragging my tongue across my fangs again. I winced as I figured it was well past the point I should stand. Rising to my feet, I held back a smile as both Casteel and Kieran held me as if they worried I’d topple over again. “I know where he is.”

“Then take me to him,” Nektas said.

I started to turn when I halted, looking down. Something strange caught my eye. “What is that?”

Kieran toed aside a fallen sword that had fallen on the vines that had grown over the steps. But where most of the vines were dark green in the starlight, this section was the color of ash. Not charred. Just gray. And it had spread from there in thin, dull veins, turning the moss underneath the same lifeless color.

I bent, reaching for a vine, but Casteel caught my hand. “Why,” he asked, golden eyes tired but dancing with amusement, “must you touch everything?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m a tactile person?” I said, and one side of his lips tipped up, hinting at a dimple. My fingers curled around empty air. “What do you think this is?”

“Kolis,” Nektas said from behind us. “As I said, what was done to stop him has been undone.”

The three of us faced him, our hearts lurching at the same moment. Casteel’s eyes narrowed. “Malec lives. We stopped what Isbeth planned.”

Nektas’s head cocked. “You stopped nothing.”

My stomach twisted as I suddenly understood what both Callum and Isbeth had meant—why I had sensed that we hadn’t stopped them and were too late. “Kolis was already awake.”

Nektas nodded. “And what was done here tonight freed him.”

“Son of a bitch,” Kieran growled as Casteel’s lips parted.

“You only slowed what was done, preventing Kolis from returning to full, flesh-and-bone power. But he will if left unchecked.” Nektas stared at the ashy vine, his lip curling. “His corruption is already here, tainting the lands. This is why the Primal of Life aided you in restoring life to so many. You will need every one of them if you have any hope of stopping him.”

“Entomb him again?” I asked.

“Kill him.”

My mouth dropped open.

“And exactly how do we do that?” Anger and frustration burned through Casteel. “When it appears that the Primal of Life and Nyktos were unable to do so?”

“If I knew the answer to that, do you think I’d be standing here?” Nektas questioned, and I snapped my mouth shut. Those vertical pupils constricted and then expanded. “Take me to Ires. We must find Jadis. And then, I will need to return to Iliseeum, and you—all of you—must prepare. Kolis is not the only one who has awakened. The Consort and Nyktos no longer sleep. That means the gods will be awakening all across the many Courts of Iliseeum and in the mortal realm, and many of their loyalties do not lie with the Primal of Life. The war you fought hasn’t ended. It has only just begun.”