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)
“We still need the upper hand. Something that will catch him off guard. And we already have it.”
Ash didn’t even need to guess. “Sotoria.”
I nodded.
“He is also unaware of what we’ve been doing in Oak Ambler,” he said. “That will be finished any day now.”
“Yes.” I sat up, not leaving his embrace but meeting his gaze. “But we need to draw him out and away from everyone else. He won’t expect us to hand The Star over, and even if he suspects it to be some sort of trick, he’ll still come. He’ll do anything to get her back.”
“As disgusting and disturbing as that is, it’s the truth.”
But there was another truth.
The one thing I hadn’t opened up to Ash about yet. The only thing left unsaid between us but something that had occupied my thoughts from the moment I knew Sotoria’s soul was inside me and what it meant.
I took a deep breath. “But I cannot allow him to have her.”
A slight frown pulled at Ash’s brows. “I didn’t expect you would.”
I placed my hand on his chest. “I also can’t allow Sotoria to be forced into another life where she has no control. One where she runs the risk of Kolis somehow escaping his entombment and getting his hands on her before she can end him.” What Kolis wanted both of us to suffer replayed in my mind. “I…I never want him to see her again.”
His eyes widened. “I want that, too. Fates, do I ever. But she is the only one who can end him.”
“But it’s not fair to Sotoria,” I said. “For her to be reborn yet again, only to have to deal with Kolis once more.”
“Not if we do it right.” Ash disentangled his fingers from my hair. “For Sotoria to be successful, Kolis just has to be conscious, not free.”
“And you think it will be that easy? That it will be as simple as waking him long enough for Sotoria to plunge a bone dagger through his heart?” I challenged. “We don’t know that. What we do know is that the moment Kolis sees Sotoria as he remembers her, he will tear himself limb from limb to get to her. I don’t want to risk that.”
A moment passed. “Then what do you suggest?”
“What we already planned to do until Sotoria was ready. Entomb Kolis,” I told him. “Look, the Ancients have been entombed for thousands of years and are more powerful than he is. There is no reason we can’t do that and then release Sotoria’s soul so she can find peace. He won’t be dead. Balance will remain. You will still be a Primal of Death and the King.”
“I don’t care about being King or a true Primal. That’s not my concern.” Dragging his fangs over his lower lip, he turned his head. “You’re right. There’s no reason we can’t do that.”
I didn’t let hope spark. “But?”
“But the prophecy, Sera. By choosing not to end him, we are fulfilling that part of the prophecy.”
“I know, but we’re going into it knowing there’s a chance he could reawaken,” I argued, even as I felt a tiny kernel of doubt. “We simply have to prevent that from happening, which isn’t impossible. Not when the Ancients have been entombed for so long.”
His gaze came back to me. “The only thing is, we would have to be okay with him still being alive.”
The thought of Kolis still being alive, even if entombed, made me want to scream, but… “But if I have to choose between Sotoria and him, I can deal with him being alive. I can deal with the possibility that he could somehow awaken in a thousand years. Because you know what? We will be ready for him when he does. We won’t let him usher in the end.”
“I get what you’re saying. But, Sera—Fates, the only thing I want is for there to be a future where you never have to think about that bastard again,” he said, cupping my cheek. “Where he is no longer a threat, not even a distant one.”
“And I want that for Sotoria. I want her to have a choice—to find peace or live a life without the threat of Kolis.”
Ash inhaled deeply, the muscle in his temple ticking.
“I know she is only one girl. In the grand scheme of things, she’s just one life. But she has suffered over countless lives because of him. She has suffered to the point where the last time Kolis had her, she asked your father to end her life,” I said, and Ash’s eyes widened. “Kolis told me that. I didn’t want to believe it, but Attes confirmed it. And, Ash, I know what it feels like to get to that point. Yet I still don’t know how bad it got for her. I’ve never been okay with using Sotoria. Never,” I told him. “She doesn’t deserve this.”