Elias glanced at Ash, then swallowed upon seeing whatever look Ash sent him. “I am honored that you would be concerned for me. I can do this safely.” He looked at Attes, a gleam lighting up his amber eyes. “If you lend me something big enough to haul his ass out of here with and fast. Like perhaps Setti?”
“I think you just want to ride my horse,” Attes remarked, dragging his fingers over the cuff encircling his biceps. “But yes.”
A thin stream of mist drifted from Attes’s cuff, rapidly spreading and taking shape, solidifying into a massive horse the size of Odin with a glossy, shadowstone-hued coat. Setti shook out his mane, making a soft, low-pitched nicker.
“I will never get used to seeing that,” I murmured, my gaze moving to the cuff on Kolis’s arm.
I thought of the weird milky reflection I’d seen there. I hadn’t seen his steed—
Wait.
Milky-white light.
Eythos.
“Wait!” I shouted as Attes took hold of Setti’s reins. The warhorse stomped hooves twice the size of my hand. My heart pounded. “My gods.” I twisted toward Ash, my eyes wide. Gods, his father… “I almost forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“The diamond.” I slipped free of Ash’s hold. Or tried to. He moved with me, his arm at my waist. “The Star diamond.”
Attes stepped around Setti as Ash straightened, asking, “You found it?”
“Yeah. Yes. Do you know what it is?”
Elias shook his head, but Attes nodded. “Eythos told me about it.”
Ash stared at him, a whole lot of stuff likely beginning to click into place.
“You’re not going to believe this.” I twisted around. This time, Ash let me go. Even though my legs felt as if only thin tendons held them together—barely—they were thankfully steady. “It’s here. It’s been here the whole time.”
I shuffled toward the ruined cage. “I don’t think I destroyed it. Hopefully.” I peered inside, relieved to see the cluster of diamonds still at the center of the cage. “There it is. In the ceiling. Kolis had it hidden there.”
Ash joined me, a muscle in this temple throbbing as he surveyed what was left of the enclosure and what remained inside it.
“Up there,” I repeated softly, not wanting him to think about anything else he saw. “I don’t have much time to explain all of this, but we need that diamond.”
His shoulders squared as he lifted his gaze. “You sure that’s it?”
“He summoned it. And when he did, it changed shape, becoming a diamond that looked like, well…a star.”
“How did he summon it?” Attes asked, coming to our side.
“He spoke in Primal, I think.” I wiped my damp palms on my gown. “Do you think The Star could hold Sotoria’s soul?”
Attes rubbed his jaw as he eyed the cluster of diamonds. “I don’t see why not when it can hold embers.”
“I feel as if I’m missing vital information,” Ash remarked.
“You are.” Quickly as possible, I filled him in on the part about Sotoria’s soul. “Kolis said something like…like vene ta meyaah but not.”
Ash repeated what I said back, his brows furrowing. “Do you mean vena ta mayah? It translates into come to me.”
“Yes!” The translation made sense. “Do you think it will work if someone else says it?”
“It’s like some kind of ward,” Ash said, his gaze dropping to the bed. His chest rose. “If so, neither Attes nor I will be able to summon it.” He met my gaze. “But you could.”
“Because of the embers,” I surmised.
He nodded. “But I don’t want you to do that.”
Attes stiffened. “We need to get Sotoria’s soul out of Sera before anything else happens.”
“You may need that,” Ash corrected, eyes flashing a vivid silver. “But what I need, what Seraphena needs, is to not use those embers.”
My stomach twisted at what Ash wasn’t saying. That using the embers would push me over the edge, completing my Ascension.
“You don’t understand,” Attes argued. “We may not be able to kill Kolis yet, but one day, we might, and only Sotoria will be able to do it.”
“I don’t give two shits about one day,” growled Ash. “I care about right now, and what using those embers will do.”
“It’s not just that.” Eather laced Attes’s eyes. “Sotoria’s soul will be trapped here when—”
“Don’t”—a storm of fury blew off Ash—“even think of finishing that sentence.”
Attes stepped back, thrusting a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry—”
“Don’t finish that sentence either.” Shadows bled beneath Ash’s flesh.
Neither sentence needed to be finished. We all knew what wasn’t being said. Sotoria’s soul would be trapped here if I Ascended, which wouldn’t happen. Or if I died, which was happening. That was the strangeness I felt in my body, the hollowness in my chest. Because the embers were no longer there.
They were everywhere now, becoming a soft hum in my blood and a faint vibration in my bones.
Whatever the ceeren had sacrificed for me had either run its course, or what I’d done to put Kolis out of commission and free Ash had used it all up. Attes knew I was dying. That was what he was apologizing for. And Ash…
Ash knew, too.
But Sotoria wasn’t the only reason I needed that diamond. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the cage.
“Sera,” Ash snapped, suddenly beside me. “I don’t want you in this cage ever again.” Eather streaked his cheeks as he clasped mine. “Not for one second.”
Gods, I loved him.
“You need to conserve your energy,” he said, tension gathering in his body. “And we need to leave. Now.”
Sensing that he was about to pick me up and shadowstep to the gods only knew where, I wished there was another way to share what I’d discovered with him. “It’s not just about Sotoria.” I spoke past the emotion clogging my throat. “It’s about your father. His soul is in The Star.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Ash stared down at me, his lips parting. “What?” he rasped.
“Are you sure?” Attes demanded, his voice nearly as rough as Ash’s.
I nodded. “I’m positive. When I touched it earlier, I…I knew his soul was in there.”
Ash’s entire body jerked. He stepped back, almost as if out of reflex.
I didn’t take my eyes off Ash’s. His were so bright I could barely see his pupils. “I need to get The Star for him, too.”
His throat worked on a swallow as his gaze flickered to the ceiling. “My father…” He shook his head as his gaze returned to mine. Tension bracketed his mouth, and his voice lowered as he said, “I don’t want you using the embers.”
“Ash—”
“Not for him. Not even for me. I will not have you risking your health and—” His voice…gods, it cracked. And so did my heart. Eather whipped through his irises. “I will not risk you.”