Page 2 of Born of Blood and Ash

My stomach suddenly twisted sharply.

That wasn’t the first time he’d said that. Ash was asfascinated by my hair as I was by his smiles. He loved the pale shade. But Ifelt stagnant, heavy air. Breathe in. Smelled the suffocating scent ofstale lilacs. And no matter how badly I didn’t want to, I saw the true Primalof Death before me, his uneven smile fading. He looked at—no, he scrutinized—thecolor of my hair. I heard Kolis’s voice—

“He hated my hair,” I blurted, my heart thudding like ahammer against my ribs. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, seeing bursts of whitelight.

Ash’s fingers halted. “What?”

“Kolis,” I whispered, realizing then that I was gripping hisarm. I was with Ash, surrounded by his citrusy, fresh-air scent. It was hisfingers in my hair. I was in the Shadowlands. Safe. Ascended and strong.Protected. But, most importantly, I was more than capable of defending myself.I forced my grip to relax. “He hated the color and brought it up often.”

Tension poured into Ash’s body, and his skin cooled evenmore.

Damn it.

I hadn’t meant to take away his peace. Or maybe it wasn’t mewho had stolen it. Perhaps it was Kolis—who wasn’t even here.

Ash’s chest rose against mine as he took a deep breath. “Yetanother example of how much of a fucking idiot Kolis is.”

“Sotoria had red hair,” Iexplained, picturing punching myself in the throat repeatedly. “I think thatwas the issue.”

“I don’t give a fuck what her hair looked like.”

“It’s not like it was her fault,” I said, immediatelydefending the soul that, courtesy of Ash’s father, had resided inside me untilrecently. Now, she—the only person who could truly kill Kolis—was in the Stardiamond. But I felt protective of her.

I likely always would.

“I didn’t say it was.” His hand delved deeper into the massof curls, and he gently guided my head back. “Sera?”

“What?”

“Look at me.”

Was I not looking at him? Nope. Face burning, Iopened my eyes. Only a few inches separated us, and all I could see were thick,black lashes framing irises the color of cooled iron streaked with white andlit by a glow of eather.

“I wanted you to be looking at me as I make you thispromise.” His voice was hard, as icy as the coldest, cruelest dungeon, and soat odds with how he handled me. “I know Kolis can’t be killed. Not yet. But I willhurt him. Badly. I will make him wish he was dead. He will beg for it.”

A shiver danced across my skin. I didn’t doubt that oath.Not for one second. And while I wanted to be the one to cause the bastardunimaginable pain, Kolis had killed Ash’s father and mother. And so manyothers. Kolis had caused Ash far more pain than I could comprehend.

“I have no problem with that,” I said. “As long as I get acouple of minutes with him. With a very sharp object.”

“Deal.” His fingers curled around the strands of hair.

“I…” I trailed off, distracted. Having gained enoughdistance that the entirety of Ash’s face came into view, I saw him—reallysaw him. All at once, the constant, almost chaotic stream of thoughts slowed. Iscanned his features, and all thoughts of the realms disappeared. Wonder filledme.

It was like I was seeing him for the first time.

Everything about him appeared clearer to me. Details wereapparent, vivid, and varied. His thick, wavy hair—even damp—was an array ofbrowns, some dark and others light, mixed with hints of chestnut. One strand,already forming a loose wave as it dried, kissed the corner of lush lips acolor somewhere between pinkish-red and brown. Another lay against the strong,cut line of his jaw. There was a shadow of stubble there I didn’t think Iwould’ve been able to see before with my mortal eyes.

Good gods. How had I not noticed this the moment I came outof stasis?

Eyebrows that matched the darkest shades in his hairfurrowed. “Sera? You okay?”

“Yeah.” I dragged my gaze away from him and checked out thebedchamber, rising onto an elbow.

Only a small lamp by the bed had been left on. Normally,that wouldn’t have been enough to make out any real details, but it was clearto me that Ash wasn’t the only thing I could see better. The entrance to thebathing chamber had been left open, and I saw straight through to the otherdoor that led to a private chamber used for meetings when Ash wanted to be nearhis personal quarters. I saw the vanity and could make out the faint strokes ofgray in the marble. The marks left by a brush when the wood of the door hadbeen stained were also visible to me. Even the glint of the shadowstonewalls the lamplight didn’t reach.

My stomach churned as I thought about what the false King ofGods had said about shadowstone. That it was slag: acombination of whatever had been melted by dragon fire—including things like people—andthen cooled.

Gods, that still grossed me out.

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