“I was, but I was also there to witness the very first of the Chosen be turned into Ascended by Kolis without choice,” she said, sending a bolt of surprise through the three of us. “Neither of us has any way of knowing if the Revenants of this age had a choice, but I should’ve been clearer in what I said. What wasdoneto them is an abomination. They are not who they were before. They’ve become nothing more than reanimated flesh with no desires other than to serve their creator.”
Poppy was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know if that is true for all of them.”
“It’s not for a few of them.” Seraphena sipped from her glass. “I know my other granddaughter is not like other Revenants.”
Poppy’s shoulders visibly relaxed. “Good. I think Millicent may…” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I’m hoping you will be a little more helpful than the last people I asked about stopping Kolis.”
“I assume you asked Holland?” she said with a wry grin as she started to walk again, prowling along the wall. “And he likely said something along the lines of, ‘I cannot answer that.’”
Poppy’s lips curled up. “You must’ve been on the receiving end of that answer.”
Seraphena huffed out a dry laugh. “More than a time or a thousand.” She stopped at the doorway to the Solar, her head cocking to the side. “I’ve never understood what they do and don’t see as interference.”
“Glad I’m not the only one confused by that,” I muttered. “So, any help will be greatly appreciated.”
“You will have to kill him,” Seraphena said, looking at Poppy. “And it will have to be you.” Her gaze shot to mine before returning to Poppy. “And he already knows that.”
Poppy turned to me. “You do?”
“I was told that,” I bit out. “Doesn’t mean I agree with or believe it.”
“Why?” Kieran demanded. “Why does it have to be her?”
Seraphena’s gaze moved from Poppy to me. A moment passed. “Because she is the Primal of Life and Death.”
“And she’s also a badass. We are well aware of that,” I said as Poppy turned back to me. It was my voice. I could hear the shadows in it. “But you also entombed Kolis before.”
“Wedid. It took an army, and we lost many in the process,” Seraphena said. “And Kolis is not without supporters. Gods who have hidden their loyalty to him are now awake. Then there are the Ascended and Revenants who will join him.”
My brows rose as she plucked up one of the straps I used for my swords. Watching her, I couldn’t help but think about Millicent, and not because she looked so damn much like her. Also because she had the same habit of picking up and touching shit like she’d never seen the item before.
Then again, so did Poppy.
“If I know him,” she continued, “he will work hard to convince more to come to his side.” She laid the strap down as Kieran shot me a look. “He can also be very convincing. He will gain an army in addition to those he’s summoned from the Abyss.”
“What,” Poppy asked, “did he summon from there?”
“We’re still trying to determine exactly what he freed. That is what we’ve been dealing with, by the way,” she said. “They don’tanswer his summonses without making some pit stops along the way. Right now, we know he summoned thesekya.”
“The fuck is that?” I muttered.
She arched a brow. “They go by many names—shrew, ni’mere, furie. They are half mortal and half really large bird.”
Poppy’s mouth dropped open.
“But,” Seraphena stressed, “they have not entered the mortal realm.” She paused. “Yet.”
“Yet?” Poppy murmured. “That’s…reassuring.”
“At least we stopped thelyruefrom escaping.”
“Do I even want to know?” Kieran asked.
“They were one of Eythos’s attempts at creating dual life that didn’t go so well.” Her head cocked. “Imagine a wolven unable to control their shifts, with an insatiable hunger for flesh.”
Kieran’s mouth snapped shut.
“Unfortunately, most ended up in the Abyss upon their deaths, which means Kolis controls them—he controls everything that resides there, even the creatures created by the Ancients.”
