Page 30 of Born of Blood and Ash

“Are you reading my emotions again?”

“It’s kind of hard not to when you’re projecting.”

I sighed. “I really need to work on that shield.”

“It won’t help if you’re projecting,” he reminded me andlifted his hand. The bowl of fruit slid smoothly across the table, coming to astop at his fingertips.

I narrowed my eyes. “Show-off.”

He grinned. “I could taste your nervousness and unease whenyou were talking about the gods coming to Lethe. It was thick and tart, andthen it changed to something…sweet.” His brows knitted as he studied the fruitin the bowl. He nudged several pieces aside before picking up a glistening,vivid red strawberry. “Like this but dipped in chocolate.”

Warmth lit up my chest as I twisted toward him, drawing oneleg up. “Is that what love tastes like to you?”

His eyes returned to mine as he offered me the strawberry.“Was that what you were feeling?”

I took the fruit. “Yes.”

“Then that is what it tastes like to me.” He picked upanother berry without looking at it and popped it into his mouth. A tiny dropof juice clung to his lip, drawing far too much of my attention. “Decadent andlush.”

Muscles low in my stomach curled, and I had to force myselfto look away before I did something rather inappropriate. Like climb all overhim midsentence.

“You know,” he said, “if there was a way to prevent theothers from realizing you Ascended and give you more time to adapt, I would doit.”

“I know.” I took a small bite of the fruit, which wasdifficult to swallow. The rise in anxiety was so not me having faithin myself. “I’m just being ridiculous.”

“No, you’re not.” He set the bowl aside as I finished offthe berry. “You weren’t prepared for this, Sera. And even if you had beenraised from birth to expect such, you’ve gone through a lot in a very shortperiod of time.”

Not wanting to think about the a lot I’d gonethrough, I nodded and wiped stickiness from my fingers.

“But you won’t be facing any gods or Primalsalone,” he stated softly. “I will be right beside you, as will those who servethe Shadowlands.”

I glanced at him, finding another sugar-dusted strawberrybetween his fingers. I took the tasty fruit and bit into it.

One of those rare, wide smiles appeared, exposing thestraight line of his teeth. As I stared at him, I was mesmerized by how itsoftened the harsh beauty of his features. There was also a naturalness to thiskind of smile, like his lips were always meant to be curved in such a way. AndI thought that if he had lived a different life, that smile would be the firstthing seen by many.

Wondering how I got so damn lucky, I pressed my forehead tohis. “I love you,” I whispered. “I love you so very much.”

Ash clasped the back of my head, his fingers curling aroundthe strands of my hair. His lips found mine, and the kiss conveyed those threewords with just as much power as if they had been spoken.

“Finish eating,” he said against my lips, and I felt hismouth curve into a smile. “Please.”

My lips twitched as I picked up my fork. In the silence, mymind went back to what we had been talking about before all of that. I pushedanother chunk of chicken around my plate, wondering how long the realm wouldremain quiet. My intuition told me nothing, and without eyes in Dalos, we had no way of knowing.

I suddenly thought about Elias, one of Kolis’s close guardswho had been spying for Attes. “Do you think Attes has any other spies in Dalos?”

“I’m sure he does.” Ash speared a sliver of meat. “He cameby when you were in stasis, but I didn’t speak with him. Nektasdid.”

“Did Nektas say if Attes knew whether Kolis was still in stasis or not?”

“The only thing the Primal mentioned was that Kolis had notbeen seen in Dalos.”

That could mean anything.

“But I’m sure he’ll be back.” Ash paused. “Unfortunately.”

Ignoring that last part, I hoped Attesreturned soon. I wanted to make sure he had the Star diamond somewhere whereKolis nor anyone else could get their hands on it—

I nearly dropped my fork. “That golden, mask-wearingmotherfucker.”

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