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Ash’s gaze cut to the false King and the gilded bone protruding from his chest. He inhaled sharply, and I figured what he saw and what it meant had finally caught up to him.
Storm-hued eyes swept to mine. “I knew it,” he whispered.
“That I wasn’t really her?” I asked.
“Those questions need to wait,” Attes interrupted, and Ash’s expression became emotionless. “You really need to get her out of here, Nyktos. She cannot be here when my brother arrives.”
Ash glanced at Attes and then dipped his head, speaking into my ear. “You okay?” When I nodded, he pressed his lips to my temple. “Stay put. We’ll leave here soon.”
I started to frown as he released me. My legs felt a little wobbly, so it took some effort to keep that from showing as Ash strode away from me.
Attes faced him. “Nyktos, I know you likely don’t trust me, but I have never been loyal to Kolis.”
“Is that so?” Ash said, his voice soft.
Warning bells immediately went off. When he spoke like that, things got bloody.
“Your father was like a brother to me—even to Kyn at one time. I would never truly stand behind Kolis after that. I did everything I could to run interference and protect what your father planned. You have to know that deep down—”
That was all he got to say before Ash’s fist slammed into the Primal’s jaw. My eyes went wide as Attes staggered back.
“Uh,” I murmured as Elias shifted nervously by the doorway.
I wasn’t sure what propelled the god’s anxiety more: the two Primals or Nektas’s entire head right behind him. Smoke wafted from the draken’s nostrils as he blew out a breath.
“Fuck.” Attes spat blood. “Okay. I deserved that.”
Tendrils of eather-laced shadows gathered at Ash’s feet as he grabbed hold of Attes’s breastplate, dragging the Primal to him. They were nearly eye to eye, and I thought I should intervene, but Attes was right. He had deserved that, but…
“Attes can be trusted,” I said.
“He had better hope so,” Ash said, and I heard the smile in his voice. It wasn’t a friendly one. “You and I?” There wasn’t even an inch of space between their faces. “We’re going to have a little chat.”
Holding Ash’s glare, Attes nodded. “Yeah, we will, but not here. If Kyn arrives, he’ll—”
“I know what he’ll do,” Ash snarled, and my knees locked. “So you know what I’m going to do.”
“I do.” Attes’s voice had roughened, and his gaze darted to where I stood.
My knees unlocked, and I started toward them. “We should—” A wave of hot dizziness hit me, immediately causing a fine sheen of sweat to break out across my forehead. The entire chamber seemed to tilt, and I squeezed my eyes shut as my stomach churned.
“Dear Fates,” Attes rasped.
Ash was at my side in a heartbeat, one hand on my shoulder to steady me. “Sera?” His cool palm cupped my cheek. “Talk to me.”
I clamped my jaw shut, fighting the rise of nausea as I focused on the relief his cold touch brought forth.
“Is it your breathing?” Ash’s voice dropped to a whisper, and he stepped into me.
Gods, the fact that he’d even thought of that and made sure only I could hear him… I inhaled through my nose as the nausea receded. “No, I…I was just dizzy.” I opened my eyes to see his concerned stare latched on to me. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” Attes’s voice was closer.
Ash’s head snapped to him. “Do you want to get punched again?”
“Not particularly,” the Primal responded, his skin blanching. “You saw what I did.”
“What did you see?” I demanded, glancing between them. Neither answered. “What?”
