“Or let me die,” I said. “That god wasn’t there on orders that required me to survive the attack.”
Nyktos slowly turned his head to me. “Come again?”
“He saw an entombed god creeping up on me and did nothing to stop it.” I frowned. “I thought I told you that.”
He lowered his hand to the table. “You didn’t.”
“Oh.” I sat back, twisting my hair. “So, yeah, I don’t think they wanted me alive. Maybe just out of the picture, which kind of makes me think it wasn’t Kolis, if what Penellaphe said about the embers of life is true.” And considering that I carry Sotoria’s soul, but I didn’t tack that on. As far as I knew, those in the room only knew that I carried an ember of life.
“Well, whoever was behind it almost got what they wanted…” Bele trailed off as the air in the war room chilled.
A tangible tension flooded the space. Swords and daggers rattled on the wall. My eyes lifted to the ceiling as the overhead lights flickered.
“Ash.” Nektas called his name softly.
Slowly, I looked at Nyktos. Shadows had appeared under Nyktos’s skin. The air crackled. “Almost,” I reiterated quietly.
Whirling silver eyes met mine. The essence slowed, and the charge of energy gradually faded from the room. His gaze dropped to where my fingers rested on his arm.
I was touching him.
In front of others.
I hadn’t even realized I’d done it. Feeling my cheeks warm, I jerked my hand away. I didn’t think Nyktos appreciated it. Touching in those rare, intimate moments after he’d given me his blood didn’t equate to him wanting my touch whenever. I stared at the scarred table, breathing through the sting of…disappointment. But in what? Him? Me? I glanced up, and Rhain’s icy stare met mine.
Clasping my hands together in my lap so I kept them to myself, I cleared my throat again. “Anyway, I just don’t think it makes sense that it was Hanan. Wouldn’t he want me alive? Wouldn’t any of the Primals who figure my arrival and Bele’s Ascension are related want me alive so they could hand me over to Kolis?”
“A Primal had to be behind this,” Nektas said. “No other could command a draken to attack. The question is which one? Who would know or suspect enough about you to be willing to anger both Nyktos and Kolis by allowing you to die?”
Nobody had an answer to Nektas’s question, likely because no one knew which Primal would be willing to anger both the Primal of Death and potentially the false Primal of Life.
To be honest, I wasn’t worried about that as much as I was the risk to all the others if this mystery Primal launched another attack. Or if Kolis grew tired of just being curious over the embers and decided to summon Nyktos to find out what happened. My stomach pitched as my skin chilled.
“You were injured?” Aios asked as she walked with me to my chambers.
I glanced at the goddess. The shadows smudging the skin under Aios’s citrine eyes worried me. The hollows of her heart-shaped face were deeper than before, and her concern was clear in the press of her full lips.
“Not much.”
“That wasn’t the impression I got from Bele.” Aios tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “She said you were bitten.”
“Barely,” I lied, not even sure why I didn’t want to share what Nyktos had done for me. Maybe because a part of me couldn’t believe it. “Are you staying here tonight—or what’s left of tonight?”
Aios nodded. “I’ve been staying close because of Gemma.”
Gods, the Chosen must’ve been terrified during the attack. “Can I see her?”
Aios looked away. “Maybe later.”
Tension settled into my shoulders as I trailed my fingers along the cool, smooth stone of the railing. There could be a ton of reasons why I couldn’t see Gemma now, starting with the fact that she was probably asleep. But my mind immediately went to the worst one. What if Aios didn’t want me around the once-Chosen?
Aios had acknowledged that I hadn’t wanted to harm Nyktos, but acknowledgment didn’t equate to forgiveness. She’d been forthcoming with information when I first arrived, when most—including Nyktos—hadn’t. Aios had been kind and welcoming, but I had disappointed her. I’d heard that in her voice and seen it in her expression. In the brief times we’d been together since she’d learned the truth, Aios hadn’t been as friendly as before, and that stung. Because I liked her.
I swallowed a sigh as we rounded the third floor. “How is Gemma?”