Page 399 of Born of Blood and Ash

Looking down at the sword’s hilt, he laughed and grasped it.

I pushed forward, and Ash flew toward him, slamming his fistinto Kolis’s jaw. I didn’t make it very far. An arm snagged me around the waistas Kolis staggered and then steadied himself. He pulled the sword free. Theblade shattered, and he vanished again. Suddenly, I was moving through the air—

I smacked into a wall with enough force that my spinewould’ve broken if I’d been mortal. Still, my immediate concern was the lives Icarried within me as I fell forward. Primal or not, the impact had rattledevery part of me and stunned me for several seconds.

Ash’s head cut toward me when I landed on one hand and myknees. I looked up through several loose curls to see Ash coming for me.

The air behind him warped, and Kolis appeared again.

“Behind you!” I screamed.

Kolis’s lips curved up, and Ash turned. The true Primal ofDeath was on him in a heartbeat, gripping the front of Ash’s tunic and baringhis fangs. I shoved up off my hand, desperate to intervene.

“Oh, look,” Kolis spat. “The bitch is already on her knees.”

A roar left Ash, shaking the ruins as he jerked forward,bashing his head into Kolis’s. I started to rise, but a boot connected with myjaw, knocking my head back sharply. Pain shot down my spine, and the musclesalong my neck protested. The sound of fists connecting with flesh echoedthrough the Temple.

A hand clamped down on my throat, lifting me roughly to myfeet and then off them.

Varus stared up at me, his once smooth complexion torn openacross his cheeks. “Payback’s a bitch,” he snarled.

There were only a few seconds to consider how strong theonce-entombed god was before I was suddenly flying into the darkness.

In those brief seconds of weightlessness, I wasn’t thinkingabout myself or Ash. I was thinking about our children. I managed to twist mybody so my upper back and shoulders took the brunt of the impact, a heartbeatbefore I crashed into the floor with enough force to knock the air from mylungs and crack the stone beneath me.

Fuck.

That hurt.

A lot.

A wall suddenly exploded, and Ash and Kolis came through it,sending chunks of stone flying in every direction. By the grace of the Fates,only the smallest pelted me as Ash and Kolis rose toward the pitched ceiling.

They were both in their Primal forms, a blur of shadows andcrimson, clashing with the force of colliding stars and exchanging blows withtheir fists and eather.

An uncomfortable sense of déjà vu swept through me as theyfought, and pain swept up and down the length of my body in waves.

“You still think you can defeat me, nephew?” Kolis’s laughcarried the scent of stale lilacs when he threw Ash to the floor. “I am trueDeath.”

Ash landed in a crouch, his pure silver gaze briefly meetingmine. I willed my stupid legs and arms to move. The pain was quickly fading,but all I managed to do was the lamest thing ever. I gave Ash a thumbs-up.

“There is no Primal more infinite than true Death,” Kolisboasted, crimson-streaked darkness spinning around him. “Nothing more certainand inevitable than I. There is no bond I cannot break, no magic I cannot undo,or life I cannot take.”

A low growl came from Ash. He rose, nearly solid wingsappearing from the mist gathering around him. “You are and have always beennothing.”

Kolis looked down. “I was going to keep you alive, chainedat the foot of my throne until I released her from her misery. Oh, how I lookedso forward to it. Seeing every pain I inflicted on her mirrored in yourfeatures.” Crimson throbbed in the air, and the scent of death filled thechamber. “But I see now that I will just have to settle for your death and herendless suffering.”

Ash sneered. “Are you done talking, for fuck’s sake?”

A hiss slithered from Kolis, and the mist around him whippedout, spreading across the length of the chamber and billowing against theceiling. “It is you who will become nothing,” Kolis seethed, his gaze shootingto me. “And so shall…” He trailed off as his head cocked. “I see your soul. Isee…” He inhaled sharply with a shout of rage. “I see their souls!”

Oh, fuck.

Ash flew off the floor, sending a blast of eather into Kolis.

The true Primal of Death flew back, stopping in midair.“She’s pregnant!” His laugh was coarse—and crazed. “She will get to havechildren?”

Panic threatened to explode through me, but I fought itback. The pain finally retracted, giving me control over my body. I sat up. Myhands were empty. I had no idea where I’d dropped the sword.

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