Page 188 of Born of Blood and Ash

“I don’t care what you do with him as long as you get himthe fuck out of here,” Ash bit out, turning to the others. “This meeting isover.”

The blood and gore weren’t visible on his shadowstone-hued flesh as Ash faced me. His eyes met mine,and he stalked toward me, silently taking my hand and shadowsteppingus from the throne room.

Cool fingers brushed my cheek, catching several curlsand tucking them behind my ear. “What are you thinking, liessa?”

I sat on the side of the tub Ash occupied, my chin restingon my forearm. The water had turned red with blood, but it had since beenemptied and fresh had been brought in.

“Many things,” I murmured.

“What’s the most pressing?”

They all felt equally pressing as my gaze lifted to Ash’s.The striking lines of his face were relaxed and showed no sign of him havingripped the heart from another Primal’s chest.

And then bit into it.

“I was thinking about the eiriniand how close we came to breaking it,” I said, trailing my fingers through thewater. My gaze briefly lifted to his. “I was thinking about Attes.Everything with Kyn must be so hard for him.”

“It would’ve been less so if he’d gotten the fucker out ofthere.”

“It’s his brother.” I watched the suds swirling over Ash’sthigh. “He was trying to do it without hurting him.”

“And that’s a problem.” The tips of Ash’s fingers smoothedover a strand of my hair. “Because, at some point, he will need to hurt hisbrother.”

“I know.” I pulled my fingers from the water andstraightened. “And he knows that.”

He huffed. “You sure about that?”

“He knows what happened when Eythosgave Kolis too many chances.”

His gaze tracked the strand of hair he threaded through hisfingers. “Yeah, and I think he was more so reminding himself.”

“Possibly,” I murmured. A huge part of me childishly hopedthat Kyn and Attes wouldn’t have to come up againsteach other, but the very real possibility weighed heavily on my mind and heart.I had to shift my thoughts to something else. “So, Thierran?There’s something…”

“Not quite right about him?” Ash suggested.

“Yes.” I grinned. “I tried to read him but saw and feltnothing.”

Ash’s fingers stilled in my hair. “I would strongly adviseagainst attempting that again.”

My frown returned. “Well, after that dire piece of advice, Iwant to try it again.”

Ash sent me a look of warning. “The oneiroucan do more than just invade someone’s dreams.”

“They can steal them.”

“It is more than that. They are known by another name: Sol Eder.”

The translation caused my stomach to dip. “Soul Eater?”

“Yes. They can manipulate the emotions of theirtargets—including gods and Primals—both when theysleep and while they’re awake.”

My lips parted. “I think I know what kind of shit you were talkingabout now when you warned him.”

“They are the only gods that can mess with us if they catchus off guard,” he said, as serious as when he ripped out Kyn’s heart. “Most aresmart enough not to try it. But if they catch you in their heads, it’s in theirnature to do the same in return. And what they can do is far more than learningdetails about a person. They can create an emotion out of nothing, includingmanifesting and amplifying fear. They can drive someone mad in their sleep andsend a god fleeing before a sword is even raised.”

What did it say about me that I thought that ability waskind of interesting? Creepy, but definitely interesting.

“You don’t fuck with them, Sera. Not unless you plan to endthem immediately after doing so.”

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