“And with you so close to him,” Nektas continued, “he won’t risk it.”
I opened my mouth, but I really didn’t know how to respond to that. At all. So, I said nothing. No one said anything.
“We just ran into Attes,” Ector said, breaking the awkward silence. “Guessing what he said is true. Kolis is demanding you ask for his permission?”
“It is,” Nyktos confirmed, his forearm tensing under my fingers. Remembering his reaction in the war room, I pulled my hand back.
“Fuck,” Ector uttered.
I seconded that emotion as I glanced over my shoulder at Nyktos. “Did you know he could do that?”
“Gaining the King of Gods’ permission was a tradition back when my father ruled.” Nyktos leaned back in the chair, putting a little more space between us. “Primals and gods sought his approval before a coronation, hoping he would give his blessing. But Kolis hasn’t done it once. Nor has he ever shown any interest in such a thing.” The muscle along Nyktos’s jaw flexed. “But I should’ve expected this—that he’d pull this shit.”
After all, you are his favorite.
“He’ll use this as a chance to find out how the embers of life were felt here,” Nektas said. “I bet he’ll offer that in return for his permission.”
Ector’s amber gaze darted from me to Nyktos. “You can’t let him know the truth.”
“No shit,” Nyktos replied.
“But what will you tell him if that’s the case?” As soon as I finished asking the question, I understood. “Attes said that neither he nor the other Primals had forgotten who your father was or who you were meant to be. Kolis could think it was you.”
“That’s far better than him thinking it’s you,” he countered.
I gaped at him. “No, it’s not.”
“Kolis would know it’s not Ash,” Nektas interrupted. “He’s already tested Ash enough to know that he has no embers of life in him.”
“Tested…?” I trailed off, thinking of the ink swirling over Nyktos’s skin. I knew as Ector looked away, rubbing his hand through his hair. I knew without even asking. Some of those drops represented those that Kolis had killed to see if Nyktos could bring them back to life.
Gods.
Nyktos had gone still behind me, and I hoped I wasn’t projecting and that he wasn’t reading me. I didn’t think he’d appreciate the sorrow I felt for him.
Nyktos finally spoke. “I would lie. I would tell him that I felt it, searched for the source, but haven’t found it.”
“He’d believe that?” I asked, looking back at him.
“I’ve had to convince Kolis of many things,” he told me. “I will convince him of this when he issues his summons—whenever he’s damn good and ready. Which—”
“Presents many issues,” Nektas finished.
That was an understatement.
“Believe it or not, Kolis’s interference isn’t the only issue we’re now facing,” Nyktos said. “Not after Attes met Sera.”
I twisted back to him with a frown. “I doubt Attes thinks I’m anything more than a mouthy pair of breasts.”
Ector snickered.
Nyktos’s eyes flared with eather. “He was provoking you.”
My scowl deepened. “When he called me an accessory?”
“Not then. Later. I could sense him using eather. He was feeding into your emotions, amplifying either calmness or violence.”
There was a reason Primals didn’t often enter the mortal realm. Their presence could change the moods and minds of mortals and impact the environment around them. The Primal Maia could evoke love and fertility. Embris could increase one’s wisdom or guide them into making poor choices. Phanos could stir the oceans into a frenzy. Attes’s brother, Kyn, could engender peace or vengeance.
“You really think he was trying to do that?” I asked, thinking of when the eather in Attes’s eyes had grown brighter. “To me?”
“Without a doubt,” Nyktos confirmed.
“But I didn’t feel calmer or more violent…than normal,” I said, and he huffed out a laugh. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“Exactly,” Nyktos said.
“Oh, shit,” Ector murmured. “Attes would’ve realized that his presence had no impact on you.”
A sharp slice of unease lanced my chest. “But Nyktos told him I was a godling—”
“Neither godlings nor gods are immune to a Primal’s abilities,” Ector said. “We don’t react to their presence as quickly or recklessly as a mortal might, but it would affect us if a Primal wanted it to. That’s why the gods in Kyn’s Court are a bunch of bastards, and the ones in Maia’s are a horny lot.”
My lips pursed.
“Besides the Arae and the draken,” Ector continued, “only one other would be immune.”
Nyktos’s gaze caught mine. “Only a Primal is immune to another Primal’s presence.”
“Good gods, that could mean…” I squeezed my eyes closed. It could mean that Attes might suspect the truth. That it was me who carried the embers of life. The Consort-to-be, who was about to be summoned by Kolis. My breath scraped against my throat.
“Give us a minute,” Nyktos said, and when I opened my eyes, both Ector and Nektas were gone, the doors closed once more. More than a few seconds passed in silence before Nyktos spoke again. “It’ll be okay.”
A strangled laugh left me. “Attes might now realize it is I who carries the embers of life. And Kolis is going to summon both of us. How in the world is that okay?”
“It could be worse.”
“How?”
“Kolis could’ve outright denied the coronation. Forbidden that I take a Consort.”
“He can do that?”
Nyktos nodded. “I could still take you as my Consort, but you would not be recognized as such by the other Courts.”
Meaning whatever protection the position offered would have no longer existed. Neither the gods nor the draken could defend me against a Primal. If one of the other Primals or Kolis himself seized me, Nyktos would have no support if he retaliated—and I knew he would. “Will he do that?”
“If you asked me that yesterday, I would’ve said no. Now? Anything is possible.”
Anything…
My heart started beating in a way that made breathing difficult. My thoughts raced. Muscles tensed. “What if I…what if I look like Sotoria?” I whispered.
“He will not touch you.” Nyktos cupped my cheek, and my eyes closed at the faint trace of energy moving from his fingertips to my skin. “I will not allow it.”
The safety in his promise, the security of it, threatened to wrap around me. It was already beginning to calm my heart, and I didn’t want to fight it. I wanted to rely on the promise. On him.
Nyktos’s forehead touched my temple, and some of the rigidness eased from my muscles. I started to relax into him. “He will not have a chance to learn if you look like her.”
Eyes flying open, I jerked back. “Nyktos—”
“You will not go anywhere near him.”
My stomach lurched. “You just told me what happened when one delays in answering Kolis’s summons. I will not be the reason for more death.”
“You have never been the reason.”
“Bullshit.”
“Kolis has been the reason. Not you. Not your actions. It has been him. Always him.” Wisps of eather stirred in his eyes. “You need to understand that, Sera. You are not at fault.”
It was hard to accept that when Kolis had been reacting to my actions.