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 strangled sort of laugh escaped me. He was worried about me? Me?
Nektas stopped in front of me and grabbed my right hand. The flesh there was still pink and raw. He leaned in, sniffing, and growled low in his throat. “You’re bleeding.”
“What?” Attes demanded. A moment later, I felt his hands running up my back, searching for a wound.
“I’m fine.” I pulled myself away from them.
Nektas’s eyes narrowed. “No, you’re not. You haven’t healed completely.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Worry filled Attes’s tone and stare. “Were you wounded by Ancient bone?”
“No. I don’t think so.” The room felt too small with them here. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Disagree,” Nektas stated.
My hands were trembling as I ran them down my face. “I am the last person either of you needs to worry about right now. Kolis—”
“Fuck Kolis,” snarled Nektas, his pupils contracted further into slits. “Attes, summon the Healer.”
“No!” I shouted, feeling the tenuous hold I had beginning to slip. “I don’t need the Healer. I don’t need either of you with me. I just need to be alone right now.”
“Attes.” Nektas ignored me. “Go—”
“Do you all know what I did? Why Ash is stuck at the Pillars? It wasn’t just Kolis. It was also me! I killed!” I screamed, my control completely snapping. I turned, finding Attes standing behind me. “I killed so many innocent people tonight!”
“Kyn killed more,” Attes said. “So did Embris. They did it on Kolis’s orders—”
“That doesn’t change what I did. I tried to fix it. I tried—” I stiffened, horrific images filling my head. Anger and sorrow pumped through me so intensely that, for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. In the distance, I heard another draken let out a series of staggered, anxious calls.
Images of the fire-lit hills and villages flashed before me, replacing those of my family. I saw the guards on Dalos’s Rise. The one who’d said he wouldn’t fight me. I saw Jove. I saw the Chosen huddled together in fear. The Priestess and all the destruction.
You murdered coldly and without thought or care. You’re no better than me.
“What did I do?” I whispered, my body shaking. “What have I become?”
Attes reached for me. “Sera—”
I pushed him away. The Primal stumbled back, and I doubled over, clutching my head. There were screams again, but this time, they were mine. My chest tightened. Nektas was speaking, but I couldn’t hear him. There were other voices now. I felt Nektas’s arms around my waist. I heard more draken as lightning flashed outside the balcony doors. I couldn’t breathe when I saw Jove. My entire body shook as I saw the limp babe in the Priestess’s arms. Ezra and Marisol. My mother. The ruined homes, broken streets, and leveled villages. The nameless, faceless lives I’d exchanged for those I’d brought back.
I was losing control again.
Breaking.
Pressure descended on my chest, and wind battered the walls, blowing open the balcony doors. I suddenly remembered what Veses had said when she came here. She’d warned me. She’d fucking warned me. Lights all along the wall flickered, and the bulbs burst. The bed rattled. I couldn’t calm myself. Couldn’t hold myself together like I knew I should. I couldn’t be stronger. Better. I didn’t even try.
I screamed.
I screamed until a hum filled every part of my being. My skin began to vibrate. Fire erupted along my flesh. Clothing tore. The sheath on my thigh snapped. My bones cracked and then fused back together as I shifted.
The nota took over.
The draken held me in his arms as I struggled, snapping and clawing at him. He didn’t let go, not even when I brought him to his knees. He held on, my claws scraping against the shadowstone, chipping the floor. I needed to be free. To run. To not think or feel.
“I’m not letting you go,” the draken grunted. I tried to throw my weight against him. “I’m sorry, Sera. I know you think that’s what you need right now, but it’s not safe.”
I growled, hissing and straining against him. I hurt. Outside. Inside. It was too much.
“Should I summon Kye?” a softer voice asked. “He could give her a sedative.”
“Is she still bleeding?” a deeper voice asked, carrying Primal power. My head snapped in his direction. I bared my fangs at the scarred Primal. His brows shot up.
“Either she is, or I am,” the draken said. “Actually, both of us are.”
“Then we don’t want to sedate her until we find out why she hasn’t healed completely.” The Primal watched me warily. “Plus, I’m half-afraid she’ll try to eat the Healer.”
“I think you need to be more worried about her eating you,” another voice came. I twisted my head to the far right, snarling at the auburn-haired god. “Please, do not let her go.”
“Trying not to.” The draken managed to work an arm under my chin, clamping my head against his chest. “I think it’s best if you leave.”