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)
Blood welled and ran down my arm. I lifted my wrist. “Drink.”
Her hands shook when she grasped my arm. Rain-slicked hair fell forward. She sealed her mouth to the wound and drank as I stood there. I didn’t really feel it or know how long it took, but Penellaphe suddenly released my arm and jerked her head back. Warmth had returned to her skin.
“Rise,” I said, guided by the instincts of a Primal of Life. “Rise as the Primal Goddess of Wisdom, Loyalty, and Duty.”
Ruby-red stained her lips, and her eyes widened. She pressed a hand to her chest, the veins along the top lit with a golden glow. “Oh…”
Lowering my arm, I stepped back. A sudden wave of dizziness swept through me. I forced out a long, slow breath. A level of detached curiosity filled me as I watched the essence travel through her veins, disappearing under the sleeves at her wrists to reappear along her throat.
“Sera.” Attes touched my arm, his voice low. “Close your wound.”
I started to lift my arm but halted when eather filled the veins of Penellaphe’s cheeks. Her eyes got even wider, filling with eather until her pupils were no longer visible. Her chest rose sharply, and then she shot to her feet, knocking the chair over.
The air shifted around us, thickening and charging with all the combustible energy. Particles of eather lit up all around Penellaphe, moving throughout the atrium and beyond the palace. The Court of Lotho burned with silver light. Arcs of eather erupted from the particles, slamming into Penellaphe and returning to a source, a home.
Penellaphe’s head jerked back, and she threw out her arms. Blinding light streaked from her, sparking and hissing. She rose into the air, reaching the ceiling. The glow was so intense my eyes watered as eather enveloped her entire body. The howling wind and rain ceased. Through the windows, I saw the thick clouds breaking apart to reveal the clear night sky.
There was silence and then the staggering high-pitched call of a draken. Then another. And another.
The eather around and inside Penellaphe throbbed and then flickered out. She dropped from the air, but Holland was there before Attes or I could do anything. He caught Penellaphe, cradling her limp body in his arms. I was…so out of it that I hadn’t even felt his arrival.
Nice of him to show up.
“I got you,” he murmured, brushing his lips over her brow before lifting his gaze to mine.
“Sera,” Holland called. His painfully familiar features were tense, but his gaze was soft. “Thank you.”
My eyes slammed shut, violent emotions swirling dangerously inside me. I stepped back and turned away, swaying slightly.
“Sera,” Attes started.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” He caught my arm, irritation and concern filling his tone. “You’re dizzy, aren’t you? Don’t even bother lying. You’re walking like you’ve drunk a fifth of whiskey.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Because I have no idea what you plan to do next, and I doubt you realize the vulnerable state you’re in right now.” The angles of his face were tense and smeared with dried blood, making his scar stand out more. “You’re a fledgling Primal and have used way too much eather.”
“I’m fine. I drank from Embris,” I said, wincing.
“And you just Ascended Penellaphe. Whatever you gained will deplete quickly.” Attes folded an arm around me, swearing under his breath. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”
I didn’t protest, not even when he tugged me against his side. I was…I was done. And I was tired—
Awareness of another Primal throbbed in my chest as the mist began to lift from the floor. My head shot up. I recognized that sensation—the imprint. A hazy image of—
“Motherfucker,” Attes roared, sensing his brother.
My heart lurched, pumping adrenaline through me. I wrenched myself free of Attes, spinning to where Holland held Penellaphe. My eyes locked with Holland’s. His were wide, and the bright silver pupils had dilated until no color was visible.
“I didn’t see this,” he rasped. “This was not a thread.”
The breath I took froze in my chest. Gods. Holland…a Fate, an Ancient, sounded afraid.
Why would he be afraid of Kyn?
Holland rose swiftly, holding Penellaphe tighter to him. “Do not fight,” he said through gritted teeth. “You will not win, Seraphena.”
He vanished with the new Primal.
The glass walls of the palace exploded, sending shards through the atrium. Attes flung out a hand and grabbed my arm. A wall of silvery eather went up, shattering more glass.
“Fuck,” he snarled, pulling me back to him. Mist whipped around us.
A burst of energy reverberated through the large chamber, piercing the mist. Without warning, we were moving in opposite directions. I slid across the floor, boots slipping. I fell to my knees just as the horned tail of a draken whipped through the atrium, right above my head, before slamming into Attes. The Primal flew across the chamber, hitting a marble pillar with a fleshy smack. I jumped to my feet, and he fell to his knees, catching himself.