Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“Now, this summoning-the-Primals business?” The goddess picked up her cup. “Are you asking them to come to the Shadowlands?”
“We are.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Reaver take note of the biscuits. “We know it will be risky, but we decided it was important for us to know who will stand with us and who will rise against us.”
“We.” Penellaphe gave a delicate shudder. “You have no idea how long it has been since any of us has heard the Primal of Life use the word we when speaking of decisions being made. It’s positively orgasmic.”
Ward arched a brow and gave her a sideways look.
Grinning wryly, I leaned forward and picked up one of the flaky biscuits. “There was something else I wanted to talk to Holland about.” Sitting back, I tore a small piece of the pastry off and said, “I wanted to ask him about Eythos’s plan and Sotoria’s soul.”
“Oh, I’m not sure what I can tell you about that.” Surprise flickered across her lovely features as she looked between Ward and me. “But I can try.”
“I don’t understand what Eythos was thinking when he developed this plan of his,” I began, trying to make sense of my thoughts as I offered a piece of the biscuit to Reaver. He took it quickly and without taking my fingers in the process. “He placed the embers of life and Sotoria’s soul together to create a weapon that could kill Kolis.”
A frown tugged at Penellaphe’s brow. “Yes. That is how I understand it.”
“But he had to know that Kolis cannot be killed unless another can be Ascended to take his place. Kolis made sure that wasn’t possible. Which is something Eythos knew,” I said as Reaver reached over and snatched the remainder of the pastry. I hoped he wasn’t listening too closely to us. “I assume he believed that I, as Sotoria, would succeed in killing Kolis, and then his son would Ascend as the true Primal of Life—which is a huge risk to take on just an assumption. He would have had to believe that I would not only want to kill Kolis but would also be capable of doing so. And perhaps that is also why he went to Holland in the first place. Hoping the Fates would get involved somehow and prepare me.”
Penellaphe’s frown deepened.
“But that doesn’t address the fact that with Kolis’s death, his essence would return to the realms. It would cause untold destruction and upset the balance. And I know what happens when the balance is so greatly uneven.”
“That is true,” Penellaphe began, returning her cup to the saucer, “but only if the last of the true embers of Death aren’t removed from Kolis and transferred to another strong enough to withstand the power of them and Ascend. That is not the same as a natural Ascension, but it should work since the Arae are the ones who obtained the Star diamond for a situation such as this.”
I rocked back. “I hadn’t even considered that,” I admitted. Had Ash? “If no gods can rise to take the embers, transferring them is sort of a loophole,” I murmured. That made sense, but… “But it’s still a huge risk. One that leaves no room for error. Eythos would’ve been working off the assumption that not only could I manage to kill Kolis without getting taken out in the process, but also that it would be done after we learned about something like the Star diamond, located it, and then used it to transfer the embers. All at the same time his son took the ones from me. Eythos couldn’t have been that reckless.”
“But you did learn of The Star. Things happen for a reason,” she stressed, her stare meeting mine. “Some things work out, whether it is the Arae or the essence itself.”
“And that is what Eythos was banking on?”
“I think Eythos may have believed that Nyktos would take the embers from you before they were impossible to remove,” she reminded me, sending a glance at Reaver, who was happily chowing down on his second biscuit. “Removing the embers wouldn’t have removed Sotoria’s soul. You would have still been able to weaken Kolis enough for the embers to be transferred.”
“In other words, Eythos never expected his son to fall in love with the weapon he created. Or my recklessness,” I said, thinking about how the tiny bit of blood I’d taken from Ash the first night we were together had changed everything.
“But your recklessness also saved you, did it not?” Penellaphe asked. “You may not have survived the Culling either way, and you wouldn’t have Ascended to become the true Primal of Life.”
Holland had once suggested something similar.
“But his plan didn’t work in more ways than one. I’m not Sotoria. Her soul only resided in me. Even if everything else had gone as planned, I may have been able to weaken him but not kill him.” I fell quiet upon realizing that Penellaphe was gaping at me. “Did Holland not tell you? He had to know that I wasn’t her. Attes knew. So did Callum.”