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Heart stuttering, I lifted the dagger to my throat.
“Fucking Fates,” Attes snapped from behind me, his voice low. “That wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“Stop fighting,” I repeated, ignoring the Primal of War and Accord. “Do this for me. Please.”
I was focused on Kolis, speaking directly to him, but Ash reacted first.
The thinning shadows whirling around and inside him vanished. Blood leaked from his parted lips and nose. His jaw was already swelling, and his tunic was burned in places, revealing charred flesh beneath. But it was his eyes that caused my heart to lurch. They were wide and stark, the wisps of eather still.
Kolis was slower to respond, the golden glow only fading enough that his features became visible beneath it. He wasn’t much better off than Ash. His chest was also a burned, bloody mess.
“Sera,” Ash rasped thickly, his hands lifting halfway. “What are you doing?”
I swallowed, my stomach full of knots of anxiety, but my hand was steady. “Stop fighting, or I will slit my throat open.”
Kolis’s chin snapped down. “You will do no such thing.”
I pressed the tip of the blade into my skin until I felt the prick of pain. Suddenly, Ash…gods, it seemed like he had no control over his body. He jerked back a step. “Yes,” I said, keeping my gaze trained on their chests. I didn’t trust either of them not to use compulsion. Though avoiding eye contact wouldn’t prevent them from doing it. Not completely. “I will. And if I even think one of you is about to use compulsion, I’ll do it.”
“Sera,” Ash said again. “Put the dagger down.” He took a step forward, seeming to completely forget about Kolis as his scorched chest rose and fell rapidly. “Please.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my hand trembling. “I will—” I gasped, a sharp sting of pain slicing across my throat when someone ripped the dagger from my fingers.
Ash shouted, and the fear in his yell…gods, it was palpable. I immediately knew I’d made a grave mistake.
Oh, gods.
I’d underestimated what they would and wouldn’t do. I’d thought I could distract Kolis. That he would be vulnerable to his love, his obsession for Sotoria.
But I’d distracted Ash, too.
The dagger I’d held to my throat was now in Kolis’s hand.
The false King of Gods was so damn fast. He twisted, slamming the dagger into Ash’s chest.
Right into his heart.
CHAPTER THREE
The blow Kolis landed knocked Ash back, and horror seized me.
The blade was just shadowstone. It should have little effect on a being as powerful as a Primal, but the numerous injuries marking Ash’s body had weakened him. That much was clear.
Ash caught himself, reaching for the hilt of the blade as he staggered forward, his wide eyes fixed on me and the wet warmth I could feel dripping down my throat. He dropped…oh, gods. He fell to his knees.
“Run,” he choked out, pitching forward onto one hand.
A high-pitched, terrified sound blasted my ears. It was a scream. My scream. The embers fluttered, briefly swelling before stalling. Pressure built in my chest and head, rapidly becoming an unbearable weight. I started toward Ash but didn’t make it. My legs collapsed, and I hit the cracked floor. Starbursts exploded across my vision.
Snarling, Kolis grabbed a fistful of Ash’s hair, yanking him back. The dagger was still in his chest, in his heart. “I offered you grace.”
“Stop,” I wheezed, my fingers pressing into the tile as I crawled forward on my belly.
Kolis threw Ash onto his back. “And you tossed it back into my face.”
Arms and legs shaking, I pushed up onto my knees. “Please,” I forced out, blood dripping onto the floor beneath me. “Stop—” My throat seized, cutting me off.
“You, of all people, should know better.” Kolis swung his leg up and then brought his foot down on the dagger’s hilt.
