Page 204 of Born of Blood and Ash

Her full lips, painted to match her crimson gown, thinned.

“What?” I challenged. “No bitchy retort?”

“Sera,” Rhain warned under his breath. Then he spoke louderto Veses. “What do you want?”

“I already told you.” Her chin lifted a notch, and mymuscles tensed. “I am here for Nyktos.”

Hearing her say that twice? When all I saw was her in Ash’slap, feeding from him? Using him? Fury seized control. I shifted my weightforward and drew my legs up. Rhain cursed, and I felt his fingers graze my arm,but I was so very fast now.

I launched myself off the battlement of the Rise. Cool airreached me, catching the sleeves of my blouse in a rush. There were only a fewheartbeats of weightlessness as the hard ground raced up to greet me.

Instinct took over. My body relaxed, even as my knees bent.I landed with my feet shoulder-width apart, sinking into a crouch as thejarring impact traveled up my spine. Air punched out of my lungs. Dull painflared in my hips but quickly faded. My gaze locked with Veses’as I straightened.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then herexpression smoothed out into bland indifference. “Impressive,” she purred.

I smirked. “I know.”

A large shadow broke free of the rapidly gathering clouds,its widespread wings casting a foreboding silhouette over the road leading tothe Rise.

Several guards scattered as the onyx-hued draken landed beside me, Ehthawn’ssword-sharp talons digging into the newly grown grass beside the road. Hislong, sinuous tail coiled, whipping across dirt and stone as he stretched histhick neck past me. His horned head was only a few feet from Veses as he let out a body-shaking roar, exposing large,bone-crunching teeth. Sparks of silver fire danced in the space between him andthe Primal goddess.

Her chest rose sharply, straining the thin material of hergown as the glow of eather pulsed behind her pupils.

“You’re not welcome here,” I told her.

Her gaze lowered, tracking over the vest and pants I wore.One side of her lip curled in distaste. “Nyktos haswelcomed me here many, many times in the past.”

I took a step forward, smiling as she retreated. “Thekeywords there are in the past.”

She huffed. “That could change, especially when Nyktos grows tired—”

“That won’t happen,” I cut her off. “I know that seemsforeign to you since you have no idea what it feels like to have someone loveyou.”

Her lips thinned, and the eatherpulsed brightly, proving I’d struck a nerve with my admittedly nasty barb.

But fuck her.

For real.

“You know what I know?” Veses’expression smoothed out.

“Can’t wait to hear it.”

She smiled. “I know how fickle the heart is.”

“That should tell you something, shouldn’t it? That a fickleheart is what you know?” I sighed. “Gods, I do feel sorry for you, Veses.”

She flinched as if I’d slapped her. “You’re a fool if youdo. There is no reason—”

“There are several reasons to feel empathy for you, Veses.” I eyed the Primal goddess, remembering ourconversation after I’d intervened on her behalf in Dalos.“And you know each one of them.”

Some of the color drained from her face.

“But let me make one thing clear. Even though I feel sorryfor you, I still want to kill you, and you know exactly why.”

The skin above her eyebrow twitched as her eyes rose tomine.

“And you also know I’m fully capable of doing so,” I tackedon as the gates opened behind me. “I’m the Queen, Veses.No one would stop me, yet you came here to speak to my husband. So,who is the fool?”

---