Bele spun on her knee, rising as silvery-white light spiraled down her arms and erupted between her palms. Eather arced, rapidly forming the shape of a bow and arrow. Smirking, she pulled the string of eather taut. “Bitch, I hope you try.”
My mouth dropped open. Taric had summoned a sword of pure eather, but I’d never seen Bele do that before.
“You let go of that arrow, and all you’ll do is piss me off,” Veses warned. “And I mean, really piss me off.”
“Oops.” Bele released the arrow.
Veses spun. The projectile grazed her cheek, splitting it open. She shrieked, lifting into the air as eather sparked from her eyes and fingertips—
The ember belonging to Nyktos suddenly vibrated frantically. A faint tremor moved under the shadowstone floor as Veses’ head whipped to the open doors, to where night had gathered, thick and dark. Another charge of energy swept through the chamber, dancing across my skin. Tiny hairs rose all over my body. The breath I exhaled formed a faint, misty cloud. Every part of my being recognized the source of power pouring into the space.
Thick tendrils of midnight and moonlight spilled into the room, reminding me of what I had seen in my bedchamber that night. Coils of churning mist rolled along the floor and climbed the walls. Whatever air was in my lungs left me as Nyktos stalked forward, his eyes locking on mine. I tried to regain that breath, but the temperature of the air continued dropping, becoming so frigid that my lips started to tingle. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
His skin had thinned to the point where he was more shadow and moonlight than flesh. The power radiating off him drenched the air. Wisps of eather had gathered around him, swirling around his legs and licking over his shoulders. Through them, I saw the faint outline of his wings.
Nyktos was a storm of whirling fury. Shadows laced with thin strips of silver lashed out from him and blossomed beneath his skin. He’d never looked colder, harsher, or more like a Primal of Death than in that moment.
“She knows.” Bele rose, the crackling bow of eather still trained on Veses, another arrow of pure energy at the ready. “About Sera.”
Golden ringlets whipped around Veses’ head like snapping serpents as she lowered herself to the floor. “Nyktos—”
“Shut up,” he snarled, his gaze remaining fixed on me as he lifted his hand. A bolt of eather exploded from his palm and arced across the chamber like lightning. I flinched against the blinding light, gathering Reaver close to me out of instinct.
Veses wasn’t faster this time.
The blast of energy hit her in the chest, throwing her back. I gasped as her entire body lit up. For a moment, she was suspended in the air, her veins glowing as light flooded her mouth, nostrils, and eyes. Then she flew backward more, slamming into the wall, and I didn’t think I’d ever been more thrilled to hear the fleshy sound of a body smacking into an unyielding surface.
Veses slid down the stone, twitching and shaking as she came to a stop, slumped over. The crackling energy faded, leaving behind the scent of charred flesh. Blood dripped from her nose, mouth, and trickled from her ears. The skin above her elbows and wrists was dark and burnt.
Veses was out, but I didn’t know for how long.
“Take her,” Nyktos ordered as he crossed the chamber, the faint outline of his smoky wings briefly visible once more before they faded. “Lock her in one of the cells.”
I blinked as Orphine came forward, along with who I guessed was her brother, Ehthawn.
“I wish we could just toss her ass in the Abyss,” Ehthawn muttered, gripping the arm of the unconscious Primal and hoisting her over his shoulder like a sack of lumpy grain. I thought I might be smiling.
“Sera.”
I jerked at the sound of my name.
Nyktos knelt in front of me, and I saw no one else. Blood smeared his left temple, and I didn’t know if it was his or someone else’s.
“Reaver was hurt,” I rasped, glancing down at him. “She hurt him.”
He touched the young draken’s cheek as I felt his gaze on me. “But he’s not hurt any longer.”
“He’s just sleeping right now.” I trembled as I stared down at Reaver, his skin having returned to its usual dusty, golden hue. “I had to do something. He was really hurt, and I couldn’t—”
“It’s okay.” Nyktos’s hand rose, and just his fingertips touched my cheek. “You saved him. That’s all that matters.”
“But she knows,” I warned him. “And she’s not like Attes. She won’t keep this secret. No matter what is going on—”
“She won’t get a chance to tell Kolis,” Nyktos interrupted, carefully dragging his fingers along the curve of my jaw where the skin ached. “She won’t be able to get out of the cell.”
“She didn’t want to tell Kolis. She wanted to kill me once she realized what I could do.” My back throbbed as I leaned forward. I winced. “That doesn’t make sense, right? But she…she was afraid once she realized what I could do.”
Eather flared in his eyes as his gaze swept over me. His jaw tightened. “Bele? You okay?”
“Yeah.” The goddess drew close. “Sera is right. Veses looked freaked the hell out.”
“She felt what happened earlier today,” I told him.
“What the hell happened earlier today?” Bele asked.
Nyktos held up a hand, silencing her.
I drew in a shallow, pained breath. “But she came here because she said she’d felt something different about me when I saw—when she was here last,” I said, not looking at him then. It was important that I tell him this. “And that’s why she came back. The Shades—”
“It was her,” Nyktos interrupted. “I didn’t realize that until Rhain found us. He would’ve gotten to me sooner, but there were a lot of Shades. So many they were overwhelming Orphine and Ehthawn.”
I winced, knowing that meant he’d had to kill the Shades, and I knew that would get to him. “I’m sorry.”
Nyktos jerked so forcibly that I looked up at him. His eyes were wide and fixed on me.
Figuring he was confused by what I was apologizing for, I said, “I know you don’t like to kill the Shades. I’m sorry you had to do that.”
He continued staring at me as if I’d sprouted two heads.
“It was her.” I pushed past the growing pain. “One of her draken freed the entombed gods. She sent them and one of her guards to take me. She said it was because she knew there was more to why you’d take a Consort,” I said, and the eather lashed through his eyes. “She was behaving as if she were helping you.”
“That is the last thing she was doing.” He looked at Bele. “Take Reaver to my quarters. Stay with him. He’ll likely be confused when he wakes.”
“Will do.” Bele bent, but I held onto Reaver’s small body, reluctant to let him go. She looked up at me. “I’ve got him.”
I knew he was okay, but for some reason, I held on.
“You can let him go, Sera.” Nyktos carefully turned my head to his. Pressure clamped down on my chest. “He’s okay. You’re not. Let Bele take care of him so I can take care of you.”
My heart tripped up as my grip on Reaver loosened enough for Bele to gently work an arm under Reaver’s shoulders. Nyktos drew the blanket up, keeping him covered. “Thank you,” I whispered, feeling a little out of it. “Thank you for coming when you did.”
“No need to thank me.” Bele lifted the slumbering youngling in her arms. “I’ve been waiting for ages to get my hands on that bitch.”
I laughed, and it hurt in my jaw, chest, and other places too numerous to count.
A muscle ticked in Nyktos’s jaw as he looked over his shoulder. I saw Saion and Theon. “Keep watch over Veses.”