Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Poppy’s lips curled up. “You must’ve been on the receiving end of that answer.”
Seraphena huffed out a dry laugh. “More than a time or a thousand.” She stopped at the doorway to the Solar, her head cocking to the side. “I’ve never understood what they do and don’t see as interference.”
“Glad I’m not the only one confused by that,” I muttered. “So, any help will be greatly appreciated.”
“You will have to kill him,” Seraphena said, looking at Poppy. “And it will have to be you.” Her gaze shot to mine before returning to Poppy. “And he already knows that.”
Poppy turned to me. “You do?”
“I was told that,” I bit out. “Doesn’t mean I agree with or believe it.”
“Why?” Kieran demanded. “Why does it have to be her?”
Seraphena’s gaze moved from Poppy to me. A moment passed. “Because she is the Primal of Life and Death.”
“And she’s also a badass. We are well aware of that,” I said as Poppy turned back to me. It was my voice. I could hear the shadows in it. “But you also entombed Kolis before.”
“We did. It took an army, and we lost many in the process,” Seraphena said. “And Kolis is not without supporters. Gods who have hidden their loyalty to him are now awake. Then there are the Ascended and Revenants who will join him.”
My brows rose as she plucked up one of the straps I used for my swords. Watching her, I couldn’t help but think about Millicent, and not because she looked so damn much like her. Also because she had the same habit of picking up and touching shit like she’d never seen the item before.
Then again, so did Poppy.
“If I know him,” she continued, “he will work hard to convince more to come to his side.” She laid the strap down as Kieran shot me a look. “He can also be very convincing. He will gain an army in addition to those he’s summoned from the Abyss.”
“What,” Poppy asked, “did he summon from there?”
“We’re still trying to determine exactly what he freed. That is what we’ve been dealing with, by the way,” she said. “They don’t answer his summonses without making some pit stops along the way. Right now, we know he summoned the sekya.”
“The fuck is that?” I muttered.
She arched a brow. “They go by many names—shrew, ni’mere, furie. They are half mortal and half really large bird.”
Poppy’s mouth dropped open.
“But,” Seraphena stressed, “they have not entered the mortal realm.” She paused. “Yet.”
“Yet?” Poppy murmured. “That’s…reassuring.”
“At least we stopped the lyrue from escaping.”
“Do I even want to know?” Kieran asked.
“They were one of Eythos’s attempts at creating dual life that didn’t go so well.” Her head cocked. “Imagine a wolven unable to control their shifts, with an insatiable hunger for flesh.”
Kieran’s mouth snapped shut.
“Unfortunately, most ended up in the Abyss upon their deaths, which means Kolis controls them—he controls everything that resides there, even the creatures created by the Ancients.”
“I guess it’s a good thing we have one,” I said, glancing at Reaver. He’d gone quiet, just sat there with his chin nearly touching his chest. “And that we have you and Nyktos.”
“But you don’t have us,” she said.
My gaze snapped back to her. “I’m going to need you to repeat that because I’m sure I didn’t hear that right.”
Seraphena grimaced. “You heard me right. We are Primals of a Court. There is only so much we can do—only so much any of us can do.”
I opened my mouth, but Poppy spoke first. “That’s why Rhahar sacrificed himself.”
“I knew that,” Kieran said, and Poppy narrowed her eyes at him. “But there is also the Blood Treaty that says only gods born in the mortal realm will have full power.” He looked back at Seraphena. “I don’t know why you or Nyktos cannot fight, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have any power.”
“Because if they fight in the mortal realm, they will end up destroying most of it,” Poppy murmured, her eyes widening. “That’s why Saion was…struggling to get the leviathan under control. He wasn’t able to use his full power.”
“Correct,” Seraphena confirmed.
Poppy looked at Kieran, her eyes glittering with an adorable amount of smugness. He struggled to remain impassive and not smile in the face of it.
“Was Kolis born in the mortal realm?” I asked.
“He was,” she answered. Of course, he was. “Those not born in the mortal realm aren’t without power. And luckily, I happen to know a Primal without ties to a Court who isn’t a baby Primal like you all.”
“Baby?” Kieran muttered. “Who’s a baby?”
Reaver snickered. I’d thought the fucker had fallen asleep. “She means the three of you. But especially you.”
“Okay, Reaver-butt,” Kieran snapped.
The draken picked up the knife and started flipping it.
“Sorry.” Seraphena’s smile grew as she glanced at me, and fuck if that expression didn’t unnerve me. “It was just something a friend called newly Ascended Primals.”