Page 156 of Born of Blood and Ash

“I could be repeating it wrong.” Frustration rose. “That’scompletely possible.”

But if I hadn’t?

“That could be the case.” Ward leaned forward, resting hiselbows on his knees. “But it sounds like someone may know exactly what thatpart of the prophecy states. Someone other than Kolis.”

My gaze darted to Penellaphe, andI knew the moment she realized the same thing I did.

She smiled. “Keella.” Excitementglimmered in Penellaphe’s ocean-blue eyes. “She’s oldenough that she could’ve learned about the Ancients’ dream and was cleverenough to keep Kolis from realizing it.”

I nodded in agreement, more than hopeful. It had been clearto me that Keella had known something when sheapproached Ash and me at the coronation and spoke about my title. Could it bethe vision? And could that possibly mean that she not only knows what it meansbut also its correct order?

“Nyktos is currently asking Attes to assist with summoning the Primals,”I shared with them. “We already plan to visit the ThyiaPlains afterward to speak with Keella about theAncients.” I forced a heavy exhale. Patience had never been a virtue of mine. Iwanted to go to the Thyia Plains right now, but Ineeded to be smart instead of impatient. Which was also not normally a part ofmy nature. “I will ask her then.”

“Now, this summoning-the-Primalsbusiness?” The goddess picked up her cup. “Are you asking them to come to theShadowlands?”

“We are.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Reaver take noteof the biscuits. “We know it will be risky, but we decided it was important forus to know who will stand with us and who will rise against us.”

“We.” Penellaphe gave adelicate shudder. “You have no idea how long it has been since any of us hasheard the Primal of Life use the word we when speaking of decisionsbeing made. It’s positively orgasmic.”

Ward arched a brow and gave her a sideways look.

Grinning wryly, I leaned forward and picked up one of theflaky biscuits. “There was something else I wanted to talk to Holland about.”Sitting back, I tore a small piece of the pastry off and said, “I wanted to askhim about Eythos’s plan and Sotoria’ssoul.”

“Oh, I’m not sure what I can tell you about that.” Surpriseflickered across her lovely features as she looked between Ward and me. “But Ican try.”

“I don’t understand what Eythoswas thinking when he developed this plan of his,” I began, trying to make senseof my thoughts as I offered a piece of the biscuit to Reaver. He took itquickly and without taking my fingers in the process. “He placed the embers oflife and Sotoria’s soul together to create a weaponthat could kill Kolis.”

A frown tugged at Penellaphe’sbrow. “Yes. That is how I understand it.”

“But he had to know that Kolis cannot be killed unlessanother can be Ascended to take his place. Kolis made sure that wasn’tpossible. Which is something Eythos knew,” I said asReaver reached over and snatched the remainder of the pastry. I hoped he wasn’tlistening too closely to us. “I assume he believed that I, as Sotoria, would succeed in killing Kolis, and then his sonwould Ascend as the true Primal of Life—which is a huge risk to take on just anassumption. He would have had to believe that I would not only want to killKolis but would also be capable of doing so. And perhaps that is also why hewent to Holland in the first place. Hoping the Fates would get involved somehowand prepare me.”

Penellaphe’s frown deepened.

“But that doesn’t address the fact that with Kolis’s death,his essence would return to the realms. It would cause untold destruction andupset the balance. And I know what happens when the balance is so greatlyuneven.”

“That is true,” Penellaphe began,returning her cup to the saucer, “but only if the last of the true embers ofDeath aren’t removed from Kolis and transferred to another strong enough towithstand the power of them and Ascend. That is not the same as a naturalAscension, but it should work since the Arae are the ones who obtained the Stardiamond for a situation such as this.”

I rocked back. “I hadn’t even considered that,” I admitted.Had Ash? “If no gods can rise to take the embers, transferring them is sort ofa loophole,” I murmured. That made sense, but… “But it’s still a huge risk. Onethat leaves no room for error. Eythos would’ve beenworking off the assumption that not only could I manage to kill Kolis withoutgetting taken out in the process, but also that it would be done after welearned about something like the Star diamond, located it, and then used it totransfer the embers. All at the same time his son took the ones from me. Eythos couldn’t have been that reckless.”

“But you did learn of The Star. Things happen for a reason,”she stressed, her stare meeting mine. “Some things work out, whether it is theArae or the essence itself.”

“And that is what Eythos wasbanking on?”

“I think Eythos may have believedthat Nyktos would take the embers from you beforethey were impossible to remove,” she reminded me, sending a glance at Reaver,who was happily chowing down on his second biscuit. “Removing the emberswouldn’t have removed Sotoria’s soul. You would havestill been able to weaken Kolis enough for the embers to be transferred.”

“In other words, Eythos neverexpected his son to fall in love with the weapon he created. Or myrecklessness,” I said, thinking about how the tiny bit of blood I’d taken fromAsh the first night we were together had changed everything.

“But your recklessness also saved you, did it not?” Penellaphe asked. “You may not have survived the Cullingeither way, and you wouldn’t have Ascended to become the true Primal of Life.”

Holland had once suggested something similar.

“But his plan didn’t work in more ways than one. I’m not Sotoria. Her soul only resided in me. Even if everythingelse had gone as planned, I may have been able to weaken him but not kill him.”I fell quiet upon realizing that Penellaphe wasgaping at me. “Did Holland not tell you? He had to know that I wasn’t her. Attes knew. So did Callum.”

“There is only so much Holland can tell me unless I happenupon the information myself,” she said. “And even then, he must walk a fineline regarding what he confirms.”

I blew out a heavy breath. “That would drive me insane.”

Penellaphe laughed softly. “It hasbeen…trying, but I love him.”

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