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)
Heart stuttering, I jerked back. “What is everyone doing?”
“We are bowing,” Rhahar answered, “to you, meyaah Liessa.”
“You don’t need to do that.” Warmth crept into my cheeks. “Or call me that.”
Beside him, his cousin’s head tilted slightly, revealing a hint of one rich, deep-brown cheek raised in a grin.
“It’s tradition to greet the Primal of Life in such a manner,” Ash explained, and my gaze swung to him. He kept a hand on Jadis’s back as she all but teetered on his shoulder.
“Gods are supposed to bow to any Primal, which none of them do for you,” I pointed out.
A clawed hand fisted in Ash’s hair, tugging strands out of the knot at his nape as he said, “That’s because I don’t require it of them.”
“I don’t either.”
“You’re different, liessa.” He reached up and gently pulled Jadis’s claws free of his hair. “You’re the true Primal of Life. This is how they honor you whenever you enter the same space as them.”
“I’m not different.” I threw up my hands in frustration and turned to them. “You don’t have to do this—wait.” I spun back to Ash. “Are they supposed to do this every time I enter a space?”
Jadis let out an angry screech.
“Yes,” Ash stated, catching Jadis’s hand as she made to go for his hair again.
“Oh, no. Nope. We are not doing this every time I enter a chamber,” I told them, horrified. “I will lose my mind.”
“Please, don’t do that,” Saion said. “We’ve already dealt with one supreme ruler who wasn’t quite right in the head.”
Someone who sounded an awful lot like Bele chuckled under her breath. My narrowed gaze swung toward the dark-haired Primal goddess.
“You know,” Ash drawled from behind me, “all you have to do is command that they don’t.”
I opened my mouth.
“But perhaps you should give them permission to rise first,” he tacked on.
I slowly turned my head to him. “You couldn’t have reminded me of that at the beginning?”
“Perhaps.” He once more tugged Jadis’s hand free of his hair.
“I hope she pulls out every single strand,” I hissed.
“Godsdamnit,” Rhahar groused.
“You know what I always say,” Saion replied, each word rolling off his tongue with an unmistakable undertone of amusement. “A wise man never makes the same bad wager twice.”
My mouth dropped open. “You two bet again on how long it would take before Ash and I started arguing?”
“More like Saion is stealing money from his cousin again,” Bele retorted.
“Oh, my gods.” I pinched my brow, briefly closing my eyes. “Why are you all still bowing?”
“You haven’t given them permission to rise,” Ash commented.
“For fuck’s sake,” I snapped.
“Language,” Ash whispered as he passed me, stepping onto the dais. He placed Jadis in one of the chairs at the table. “There are younglings present.”
“How about you go—?” I cut myself off as two wide, sapphire-blue eyes appeared above the back of the chair.
Clutching the sides of the chair with incredibly small, clawed hands, Jadis chirped, and I heard something that sounded like…wee.
“Can the true Primal of Life get tension headaches?” I asked of no one in particular as Ash motioned for Reaver to get down. “Because I really think I’m getting one.”
“It’s not likely,” Bele answered, her voice trembling with restrained laughter as Reaver pushed off the credenza, extending his wings to slow his descent. “But not impossible.”
“Can we rise yet?” Theon asked from where he remained, kneeling beside his twin sister.
I sighed heavily. “Yes. Please. You all may rise.”
“Thank the Fates,” Saion muttered.
My lips pursed. “And I command that none of you bow to me just because I enter a chamber.”
Tightly braided hair fell back as Lailah lifted her head. Grinning, she rose as I remembered the somewhat flirty argument I’d witnessed between her and Attes. I so badly wanted to ask her what was up between them, but it was likely none of my business and not really important at the moment. Still, I was nosy. “Your command is our will,” she said.
“Meyaah Liessa,” Bele tacked on.
“Now you’re just trying to annoy me.” I folded my arms.
Adjusting the sheaths on her forearms, Bele lifted her head. “I would never—holy shit, your eyes.”
“Are beautiful,” Ash said—or warned—from where he was pouring whiskey into two short glasses, his voice lowering the temperature in the chamber by several degrees.
Essence throbbed throughout my body. “If that was supposed to be a compliment,” I told him, “it sounded more like a threat.”
“Yeah, it did.” Bele leaned against the table.
Ash arched a brow, not denying it.
“But they are really…” Bele trailed off as Ash’s icy stare shifted to her. “Amazing. They are so amazing.”
I stared at her.
Saion approached, brows pinching with curiosity as Reaver watched with keen alertness. “I’ve never seen eyes like that.” He glanced at Rhain. “Have you?”
The auburn-haired god shook his head. “I have not.”
Everyone was staring at me, and I, well, felt like throwing myself onto the floor and pretending I was still in stasis. “Ash thinks it’s because I was mortal. But yes, they are super unique and weird—”