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)
Shadowstepping between Courts or even realms was like using the Primal essence for anything else. It was a result of my will. I just needed to think of where I wanted to go and then will it.
Except I didn’t know exactly where Ash was in Vathi. He could be at the palace or somewhere else, but could I shadowstep to where Ash was?
The answer came to me in an instant.
Running my palm over the top of Reaver’s head, I turned to Kars and Rhahar as I pictured Ash in my mind. “Keep an eye on things.”
“Damn it,” Kars exploded.
Smiling, I grabbed onto the image of Ash as I harnessed the Primal essence.
“Seraphena!” Rhahar lurched forward.
Power surged through me like a fiery torrent as I willed myself to Ash’s side.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Strands of gold and silver spilled out from me, forcing Rhahar back as the tendrils of eather whipped against the air, ripping open a blinding tear.
I walked through it without a second thought.
Eather spun maddeningly as a fierce rush of pine-and-sea-scented wind enveloped me, tossing the wisps of hair that had escaped my braid across my face. Awareness throbbed in the center of my chest, and I felt him.
Then I heard Lailah gasp and say, “Fates.” Through the essence, I briefly saw her staggering to the side. I may have nearly shadowstepped into her.
Whoops.
The tendrils of gold-and-silver-streaked eather slowed and faded, revealing slivers of stone, ivory walls covered in bright-green ivy that glistened in the sunlight, and comfortable-looking brown leather settees. Several people were there, but at first, I only saw him.
Ash stood only a few feet from me, a shadowstone dagger strapped across his broad chest. He crossed that space in half a heartbeat.
“Sera.” He clasped my cheeks, and a charge of energy shifted between us. “What are you doing—?”
“Is everything all right?” I cut in as Nektas appeared to Ash’s left. We were on some sort of veranda.
“Of course.”
“That’s debatable,” muttered Attes in his familiar, deep voice just as I heard the distant sound of barking dogs.
“What do you mean it’s debatable?” I started to turn my head toward Attes.
Ash wasn’t having it. He kept my attention on him. “Forget about him.”
“That’s rude,” the Primal remarked as Lailah crossed between Ash and Nektas, holding a bronze cup.
“You shadowstepped here?” Ash stated. “By yourself?”
The way he said it, like I was a child not old enough to ride a horse by myself, stroked my already frayed nerves. And not in a good way. “Three things.”
Behind Ash, Nektas pressed his lips together and sat on one of the wicker settees.
“Number one,” I said, holding up my hand, “I obviously shadowstepped here. Number two, I’m also clearly capable of doing so by myself.”
Ash straightened. “Number three?”
“I’m not a child,” I snapped and saw Lailah’s eyes double in size as she lifted the cup to her lips.
“Trust me, liessa,” Ash drawled, his voice dropping to a shadowy, silky tone that stroked all the right nerves. “I know you are no child.”
I ignored the simmering heat curling low in my stomach. Now was not the time for that nonsense. “Good to know we’re on the same page, but I wasn’t done. I came here because I was worried about you.”
“Liessa…” The line of his jaw softened. “That was four things.”
“Don’t even try being cute,” I warned him. “I should’ve just ignored the feeling I had.”
“Sometimes, I think, ‘Hey, I’m feeling lonely. Maybe I should look for something more long-term,’” Attes said to no one in particular. “But then I’m always quickly reminded of why I’m more into the short-term.”
Lailah huffed out a dry laugh. “As if that is a choice,” she said under her breath.
A throat cleared behind me. This time, Ash didn’t stop me from turning. Before I could even meet his gaze or speak, Attes lowered himself to one knee and placed his empty hand over his chest.
“Meyaah Liessa,” he said, his head bowed so deeply that his hair tumbled forward in waves.
“That’s not necessary,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time.
“It’s completely necessary,” Ash drawled.
I shot him an arch look. He simply winked at me.
“I agree with Nyktos,” Attes replied. “I’m honored to do so. It has been far too long since I have felt pleasure upon paying such respect.”
The air chilled behind me.
“I would gladly spend a hundred years on my knee before you,” Attes continued, his tone turning to silk. “Both of them if you so requested that of me.”
“Well, that’s really not necessary at all.” I fought a grin as the temperature in the antechamber cooled more. “You can rise, you know.”
“Your wish is my command.” Attes rose, lifting his head. A flicker of surprise washed over his face as he blinked—correction…as he blinked one eye.
My mouth dropped open. It wasn’t the shallow scar running from his hairline, across the bridge of his nose, and down his left cheek that had caught my attention. His right eye was swollen shut, and the skin around it and the lid were a gruesome shade of reddish-purple. “What happened to your eye?”