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“I launched no attack against the Shadowlands. If I had, they would be nothing but ruins.” Eather crackled in his eyes. “And my brother had no choice. When Kolis had you kill Thad, it forced Kyn’s hand. Just as Kolis planned.”
My stomach twisted with nausea as I thought about the young draken Kolis had forced me to slaughter as punishment for Ash not seeking his permission before announcing that he was taking me as his Consort. “I brought Thad back.”
“I remember. But Kyn didn’t know that. He still doesn’t, for obvious reasons,” he reminded me. “Kyn was supposed to capture you, but not before he leveled the Shadowlands, leaving only the road to the Abyss and the Vale remaining. When I took you, I stopped that from happening.”
I inhaled sharply, thinking about the people in the city of Lethe, both mortal and god. I felt a little dizzy. “Was that what Kolis ordered?”
“In a roundabout way. He told Kyn to make a statement.” Attes’s shoulders tensed. “You don’t tell a Primal of War or Vengeance that and not expect utter devastation.”
I swallowed down the knot of fear building in my throat.
“The attack ended as soon as I took you,” Attes said. “I swear.”
“You give your word?” I sneered, heart thumping. “As if that means anything.”
He sighed. “You don’t trust me.”
“No shit,” I snapped.
Attes studied me for a few tense moments. When next he spoke, his voice was lower, calmer. “Kolis has known about you for a very long time.”
“I know.” My hands curled into fists. Fury surged at the painful reminder that Kolis had been aware of me since the night I was born, and had only been waiting for the embers to mature and me to use them. And everything Ash sacrificed? The deal he’d made with that bitch Veses, allowing her to feed from him to ensure my existence was kept secret? It had been for nothing.
The embers in my chest throbbed, responding even more now. Static raced down my arms, startling me. Lifting them, I saw that the fine hairs there had risen.
Attes’s stare sharpened on me, almost as if he sensed the energy ramping up inside me. Maybe he did. Either way, I needed to calm myself. That was easier said than done, though, when I normally existed in one of two states: restless or ready to murder someone. Most of the time, there was no in-between.
And I really wanted to murder Veses.
Badly.
However, I was in a fucking cage, talking to Attes, and Veses was hopefully still imprisoned in the House of Haides, so that wouldn’t happen.
“Then you know there was no stopping what happened,” Attes said. “Kolis would’ve taken you one way or another. The only thing that could’ve been prevented was the unnecessary mass loss of innocents.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” I nearly shrieked.
“I don’t need your thanks but would appreciate it if you kept your voice down,” he ordered. “There are guards outside this chamber. And while shadowstone is thick, it’s not completely soundproof.”
“What will happen if they discover you in here?” I asked, giving him a cursory glance. “Naked?”
“Does my nudity bother you?” The fucker grinned until a godsdamn dimple appeared in his cheek.
Fuck common sense.
Bending, I picked up the comb I’d dropped and threw it right at his face. “No,” I growled as his hand snapped out, catching the comb an inch from his nose. “But I bet it will bother Kolis.”
The grin disappeared as he tossed the comb onto the bed. “Yeah, it would.” His gaze dipped to my mouth and jaw. “But you would likely pay a far steeper price for it than I.”
Cheeks warming, I realized he was looking at the bruises. I stiffened. “As if you care.”
“You have no idea what I care about or don’t.” His jaw tightened as he looked at the closed doors.
“You’re right. And, frankly, I don’t care.”
“You need to.” A moment later, he waved his hand, and a pair of black leather pants appeared out of thin air, encasing his legs.
Reluctant jealousy rose. If I had that talent, I’d conjure something that constituted clothing. I started to ask him to do that for me but realized wearing something that didn’t run the risk of flashing a nipple would raise questions.
