Page 26 of Born of Blood and Ash

My grip tightened on the glass. “I…I don’t think youwould’ve gladly seen it all burn, but I…” Heart thumping heavily, Itook a drink and then set the glass down. “I would do the same for you.” Eatherstirred beneath my skin, reacting to the truth in what I’d said. I would dounspeakable things, stuff far worse than what I’d already done, to keep Ashalive. I was more than capable. “That’s probably not good. Actually, it isn’tgood, considering the whole Primal-of-Life thing. But it doesn’t disturb me.”

Primal essence swirled in Ash’s eyes. “Then, for the sake ofthe realms, we’d better ensure that both of us remain alive.”

Holding his stare, I nodded. “Agreed.”

Ash slid the plate toward me. “Please, eat.”

I picked up my fork and, feeling his gaze on me, took a biteof the savory chicken. My stomach immediately thanked me.

“You are a fledgling,” he continued after a moment. “Meaningyou will tire more easily after repeatedly using the essence. But you willstill be stronger than all the gods and likely many of the Primals.”He speared a slab of grilled beef and moved it to his plate. “Looking back, youalready were. A young god, let alone one in their Culling, wouldn’t be able todo much with eather while surrounded by so much shadowstone.”

I glanced at the ceiling’s glossy surface. Shadowstone absorbed energy—the eatherthat could be found in all living things—from the environment, weakening thegods’ and Primals’ ability to tap into the essence.But I’d almost brought the entire palace down on our heads after finding thePrimal Goddess of Rites and Prosperity feeding from Ash. Just thinking about Veses and how she’d taken advantage of Ash’s need toprotect me caused eather to thrum hotly within me.But I couldn’t unsee her stricken features as Kolis handed her over to Kyn forpunishment.

I shifted, feeling uncomfortable. How could I hate someonewith every fiber of my being but still feel bad for them? I shoved severalpieces of chicken into my mouth, refusing to think about her. Or feel all thatbad for her.

“And newly Ascended Primal or not, you can killanother Primal. You’re more dangerous now without the experience or controlwhen it comes to the full extent of your powers, but you will have to replenishthe spent eather more than you will as time passes.You can do it by resting, eating, or feeding.” There was a second of silence.“I do hope you choose the third option.”

Freezing with another piece of chicken halfway to my openmouth, I peeked over at him.

A shadowy grin appeared, and all kinds of parts of me coiledpleasantly. “Even if you don’t use eather, you willneed to feed more often in the beginning than you will later. Usually, once aweek.”

Oh…

“You will be more susceptible to injury than any otherPrimal. Wounds that would kill a god are normally nothing more than a splinterto a Primal, but for a newly Ascended one, it could take you down for severaldays. Even leave scars.”

My stare dipped to the faint mark on his chin as I thoughtabout weapons fashioned from the bones of the Ancients. I knew they could put aPrimal into stasis, even kill a fledgling if left in them for too long, and itwould utterly destroy a god or godling, leaving nothing behind for even me tobring back.

The tasty chicken lost some of its flavor with the knowledgethat Kolis had most of the bones. “You don’t have any weapons fashioned fromthe bones of the Ancients, right?”

Ash shook his head. “Kolis forbade it. Deeming me notentirely trustworthy.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Neither does Keella. Though I’mnot sure about Maia,” he said, referencing the Primal Goddess of Rebirth, andthe Primal Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Fertility.

I nodded absently. “I know the weakness can last severalyears.”

“It can.” Ash cut down the center of the beef and then begancutting half of it into smaller sections. “But the length of time variesbetween Primals. I’m in my second century and not atmy full power.”

Considering what I’d seen of him, that was hard to believe.“But you killed another Primal.”

“Not sure Hanan counts,” he remarked dryly.

I smirked at that. There were basically two ways to kill aPrimal. One came at the hands of another Primal, which wasn’t easy. And theother was…well, death by the one they loved. I’d always believed the latterreferenced only love between those not of the same blood, and it did, but Eythos’s demise proved that wasn’t always the case.

The skin behind my left ear tingled. Their weaknesses weredifferent, as were Attes’s and Kyn’s. Theirsimultaneous creation from the same Ancient made it so their love could be aweapon wielded against each other. That was how Kolis had been able to kill hisbrother. And the fact that Eythos had placed whatremained of the embers of life in my bloodline. It had all become the perfectstorm.

A perfect, messed-up storm.

Because Kolis hadn’t known that Eythoshad passed on the rest of his embers, nor had he believed his brother stillloved him.

Kolis hadn’t meant to kill Eythos.

I glanced at Ash. He had a hard time believing that hisfather could still love his brother after everything. I couldn’t fault him forthat. There was a good chance he wouldn’t readily accept the part about hismother having a fondness for Kolis either, and I wasn’t even sure if that wassomething he needed to know.

I got my thoughts back on track. “Hanan did count, though.He was the Primal of the Hunt and Divine Justice,” I said, trailing off. Belewas now the ruler of Sirta, the Court that had once belonged to Hanan. But wasshe a Primal? After the goddess Cressa fatally wounded Bele with a shadowstone dagger and I brought her back to life, no oneknew exactly what she was. She felt like a Primal to the others butnot. So…

The tingling behind my ear returned as I nodded to myself.Bele had Ascended when I brought her back, but she had risen into Primalhood with Hanan’s death.

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