Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
A chill swept down my spine despite the humid wind. “They will awaken?”
“Consciousness will return to the oldest and strongest of them. That is no small step, but one of many that will lead to their Awakening.” His head tilted. “Just as Kolis’s betrayal of his brother was a step. What Eythos did altered it, but it was another step. The blood you took from Nyktos was one more.”
I drew back, my skin warming. “I didn’t realize Ancients were such…lurkers.”
“There is a lot you don’t realize.”
Impatience snapped at me. “Why do I have a feeling you won’t fill me in on all those things?”
“Balance,” he purred. “But what I can tell you is that some things are inevitable. Eythos saw this, and he had a plan.”
I crossed my arms. “And what a great plan that turned out to be.”
“And you have a plan.”
I laughed then, the sound biting. “I’m not sure what plan you think I have beyond figuring out a way to get rid of Kolis—”
“It’s more than just him,” he cut in. “Trust your instincts.”
“You mean the vadentia?”
“I mean…” he said, pressing a finger to my chest, just below my collarbone.
I swatted his hand away. I couldn’t have stopped myself from doing it even if I’d wanted to.
He was unfazed. “Your instincts.”
“All right,” I said, staring at him. I supposed he was talking about my gut instincts. “Thanks for…whatever this was.”
The churning colors in his eyes slowed. “Preventing this war was a thread not seen, but neither were you originally. Do you understand what that means?”
I looked around at the trees Aios had created as if they held the answers. They didn’t.
“You are what has been snipping those threads—ending some and weaving new ones. Trust your instincts,” he said. “For if what comes from this meeting is war, it will not end, not until there is blood and bone.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Aydun’s confusing warning haunted the back of my thoughts, but there wasn’t time to really dwell on it. He took my hand once more and shadowstepped us smack-dab into the front courtyard of Cor Palace.
“A heads-up next time would be nice,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my roiling stomach as the eather throbbed, alerting me to another Primal.
Aydun arched a brow. “I’ll take that into consideration.”
Not for one second did I believe him as I looked up. Four staggered crystal towers rose from the center of the palace. Cracks in the crystal fractured the sunlight. My gaze lowered to the diamond-encrusted stone fortress. Large and slimmer fissures ran the length of the columns and the walls behind them.
Someone must’ve done some housekeeping. There weren’t bodies staked to the walls of the fortress or hanging from the trees this time. If there had been, there was a good chance I might’ve vomited all over the Ancient.
“You okay?” Aydun asked, glancing at my hand.
“Shadowstepping sometimes makes me nauseous.” I dropped my arm. “This whole place nauseates me.”
His left eye narrowed slightly, then the other side of his mouth curved up. “Interesting.”
I shot him a look. The Ancient was…an odd one. I started for the colonnade steps.
“We must wait,” Aydun stated. “To be allowed in.”
Stopping, I blew out an aggravated breath. “And how long are we to wait?”
“As long as it takes for someone to receive us.”
A low, rough laugh escaped me. “Oh, I know exactly what Kolis is doing.”
“Hmm?”
“By making me wait outside, he’s making it known that he doesn’t consider me his equal,” I bit out. “My mother used to do that when nobles she wasn’t fond of from other kingdoms visited.”
“Your mother sounds like a lovely person.”
I snorted.
“Does this reception surprise you?”
“No.” Temper rising, I crossed my arms before I used them to do something that would change Aydun’s mind on who was the calmer one between Ash and me. There were no guards on the colonnade, but there hadn’t been before. I looked over my shoulder, but the purplish-pink tops of the trees blocked my view of the Rise around Dalos. With everything that had happened, one would think the place would be teeming with guards.
It was kind of insulting that it wasn’t.
“It shouldn’t take long,” Aydun said.
“Yeah, well, I’m not a patient person.”
“It’s something you will eventually learn to be,” he replied.
I turned halfway to him. “Exactly how old are you?”
Aydun’s head tilted sideways as his forehead creased. “How long has this realm existed?”
I frowned. “I have no idea.”
“Neither do I.” He shrugged. “But I’m that old.”
My mouth dropped open. “Gods, you’re even older than Nektas.”
“All of us are,” he stated.
I jerked, unable to even think of Holland as being that old. My brain simply couldn’t process that as I turned back to the gold-trimmed doors. I shifted my weight back and forth from one foot to the other, wishing I had some sort of weapon on me.