Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
She learns where Ash is, and the gods tell her he was worried about her. She goes to her room and decides there will be no more physical contact with Ash. She’ll stay in her quarters and use her bathing chamber despite the bad memories there. Somehow, she needs to create distance between them, and she wants her own future.
Sera requests bath water and actually bathes in her tub. After, Bele wants to know what happened before the events in the pool chamber and reveals that she knew Veses was in the palace. She goes on to say that she thought the Primal’s visits would stop and tells Sera that Nyktos has never acted the way he does with Sera before—and it’s not just because of the embers.
Bele tells Sera that he verbally slayed them after his bravery speech and adds that she’s seen Veses feed from Nyktos before but has never seen them having sex. She explains that sex doesn’t always happen with feeding and tries to reassure Sera that Nyktos doesn’t trust or even like Veses.
Sera’s not quite so sure. Seeing is believing, after all.
Ash comes to see Sera and apologizes for what she thinks she saw. She reminds him that it happened only hours after she told him she wanted to be his Consort but refuses to admit that she’s hurt. She does lash out and snap that his claim of virginity was a lie, though. Trying to get to the bottom of it, she asks him what she saw, and he tells her it’s complicated. She finally admits that it hurt her feelings and breaks off their pleasure deal, stating she wants to be free of him completely once the embers are out of her.
Later, she goes to talk to him about Irelone and is super polite—not like herself at all. She figures Nektas can go to see Delfai with her, but Ash says he will go so he can hear what is said about removing the embers. She states that she wants to leave immediately, and he asks her to wait because there have been sightings of Kyn’s draken near.
Finally, he comments that he doesn’t like how she’s become: how she was trained to be—empty and blank. He tells her to be herself and accepts the blame for what happened, pleading with her not to change. She admits that she doesn’t want to be like she is now, but she won’t allow herself to feel like that again.
Self-preservation is a slippery slope.
The summons comes, and Sera realizes she could be kept in Dalos. She worries that Kolis will be able to sense the embers in her and is told how him sensing anything can be explained away—she has taken a lot of Ash’s blood. When she asks how nice they’ll have to be to the false Primal, Rhain tells her to do anything and everything Kolis orders her to do, adding that Nyktos can only refuse a few things on her behalf.
Sera refuses to be a part of whatever Kolis does in retaliation for Ash not answering the summons in a timely manner and insists they should go soon. He tries to say she’s more important, and she cuts him off. Reaver sticks up for her with Nyktos, and it delights Sera. Though she is surprised to hear that he’s protecting her from Ash.
Once again, she refuses to do anything until they answer the summons. He capitulates, and they make plans to leave for Dalos in an hour. Sera changes, and Aios asks her if she’ll go after Kolis. Sera opens up to the goddess about Sotoria and her being Kolis’s graeca. She explains that killing Kolis is her destiny. Being Nyktos’s Consort never was.
Aios asks her why it can’t be both, then tells Sera about her time in Dalos as one of Kolis’s favorites. Sera can’t believe what she’s hearing and apologizes, telling Aios how strong she is. The goddess tells her that Kolis is incapable of love, even for his graeca. Which means…he has no weakness.
Sera doesn’t believe that can be true of anyone. When she meets up with Ash, he tells her she’s beautiful, and she tells him not to say that. He explains that they’ll have to act as they did with Attes while in Dalos—as if they can’t get enough of each other. All that manages to do is irritate Sera because she can’t believe he doesn’t get that she was never pretending. She tells him it’s too late for that, and he asks why she even wanted that from him to begin with.
She confesses that she wants a life and a future and won’t try anything with Kolis. Though she does worry that he will recognize her and try to claim her. She’s reminded that she doesn’t belong to anyone. Nyktos says he will protect her, but Kolis could try to keep her. Ash says he’ll level Dalos and leave it in ruins before he lets that happen. She begs him not to intervene if Kolis recognizes her as Sotoria, and he snarls that the embers aren’t the only important thing. She is.