Page 131 of Born of Blood and Ash

My heart pounded as I forced myself to breathe in for thecount of five. I glanced at Kolis, and this time, that fucking smirk was on hislips.

My chest squeezed. What had I said? That it was time tostart having faith in myself? Panicking was not doing that. I held my breath.Whether or not I should’ve been in this position was irrelevant. I was here,and while I wasn’t fit for this and clearly didn’t have all that faith inmyself, I was good at pretending. After all, I stood in front of Kolisand behaved as if no part of me feared him. So, I needed to hold it together. Ineeded to think. My heart slowed, along with my racing thoughts. Think.Some of the pressure left my chest.

And after what felt like an eternity, my first thought wasthat we would offer Kolis no such promise of safety.

I started to speak but then stopped. I knew that Koliswanted to avoid war, and the lives of others had to be more important than ouranger, right? A chance for peace had to be bigger than retribution, even if itwent against the very core of who I was. That is what Eythoswould’ve chosen, but it is not what I would choose for myself.

Fuck.

Okay. Go with my instincts? Wasn’t that what Aydun had said?I briefly closed my eyes. I could not be as I was. I needed to be better. Lessmonstrous. There had to be a balance between those two things. One thatprotected the realms and was tolerable to all he victimized. There had to be.

And there was one that came close.

I opened my eyes. “I have a deal.”

Kolis arched a brow. “And what is that?”

“You can keep Dalos, but you willnot rule. You will remain as the Primal of Death, but you will have noauthority over Iliseeum, the Shadowlands, or themortal realm.” I met his stare. “You will renounce the throne and not seekvengeance against any who have stood against you.”

“Is that all?” Kolis asked, and I nodded. “What’s in it forme?” he added.

“Balance will be kept, and you will get to live out yourexistence,” I forced out, repeating what he’d offered.

“And Sotoria?” he asked.

The fucking creep… “My deal does not include Sotoria.”

His fingers stretched outward and then slowly lowered ontothe arm of the throne.

“You don’t want war,” I reminded him. “Neither do I.”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” Kolis countered. “Your natureis not all that different from mine.”

I tensed. “I’m nothing like you.”

“That’s what you want to believe, but I’ve seen you as youtruly are. I know the kind of violence you’re capable of.”

My tenuous grip on my anger started to slip. “You believethat because of what I did to you?”

“No.” Kolis leaned forward, his lips curling upward. “I knowit because of how eager you were to slay Evander.”

My chest hollowed. No. Kolis was wrong. “I wasn’teager. Nor did I enjoy it. That is one of the many differences between us,” Isaid, watching him shift back onto the throne. “Do you accept the deal or not?”

“You haven’t accepted or rejected mine,” Kolis pointed out.

“You do not need to right now,” Aydun broke in. “Neither ofyou does. You both have time to think it over.”

“That is true,” the false King said. “But do you really needthe time?”

“Do you?” I shot back.

Kolis’s lips curled up in a poor replica of a smile, andthen he towered over me, no more than a foot of space separating us. Gasping, Ijerked back out of shock as my heart kicked violently against my ribs. Evenwith my newly heightened senses, I hadn’t seen a flicker of movement from him.That was how quick he was.

Not even Ash could move that fast.

The bastard may look weak, but he was still incrediblypowerful.

And I was…I was still very much afraid of him.

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