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Straightening, he gave me one of his polished smiles. Then he turned and started walking again. Exhaling a ragged breath, I followed him. After a couple of moments, large, golden doors came into view, bearing the symbol of a wolf—the same prowling, snarling animal I’d seen etched into the floors of the atrium.

But these doors were far wider than what I’d seen Kolis enter through before. My steps slowed.

Kolis waited for me to catch up to him. When I did, Elias walked ahead, opening the doors to reveal a sliver of gold-plated floor and little else. Glancing at the glowing crown upon Kolis’s head, I had a feeling we were just outside the portion that had once been the Council Hall.

I halted, fingers twisting around the tassel of my belt as the embers thrummed stronger. I could hear the hum of voices. There could be gods in there, but there were definitely Primals. I felt them, and nausea rippled through me.

“So’lis?” Kolis spoke softly. “Are you all right?”

I didn’t feel okay, but I nodded.

“Do not lie. You’ve gone pale.”

Swallowing, I looked away from where Elias waited just beyond the doors. My eyes met Kolis’s. The concern in his stare was evident, and that was disturbing for a litany of reasons, but I could use it. “I’m nervous.”

“About?”

“Whoever is out there.” I nodded toward the doors. “Crowds make me anxious, especially when they consist of gods and Primals.”

“You have no reason to be.” Kolis smiled. “I will protect you.”

In my mind, I pictured myself repeatedly kicking him in the face. “I know.”

Kolis seemed pleased by my response, enough that his smile became uneven—more genuine—as his gaze moved over me. “I didn’t tell you this earlier,” he said, “but you look very lovely today.”

My smile became more brittle. “Thank you.” Then my tongue loosened, and I wasn’t all that sure why I said what I did next, nor why the thought even popped into my head. “But you prefer the way I looked before.”

The uneven curve of his lips faded. Several heartbeats passed. “I do.” His gaze shifted to my hair. “It was such a stunning shade of red—a color like the richest wine.” He blinked. “We’ll have to do something about that.”

My brows snapped together.

“Come,” he said again, as if I were a slow-moving hound. “They await us.”

They.

Those who stood not long ago and watched me be crowned as the Consort of the Shadowlands and marry Ash, would now watch whatever it was Kolis demanded of me.

The last time I’d stood before those behind the doors, I’d been dressed in silver lace and glimmered like the distant stars winking to life above.

Now, I was adorned in gold, and I would have to…

I needed to behave as if I at least tolerated Kolis. Wanted to be here. My mouth dried. I didn’t care what they thought of me, but I did care what this would mean for Ash and whatever support he’d attempt to gain from them.

An anxious restlessness surged within me, twining with tendrils of sorrow. It was a potent mix, a swirling maelstrom of emotions belonging to both Sotoria and me. I felt the essence swelling inside me and knew that if I just let go, it would burst forth, casting the devastation I felt inside me onto all those beyond the doors.

Gods, a small part of me wanted to let it happen. Wanted all of them to know what I felt like inside. To experience the yawning hopelessness and bitter desperation. All the suffocating fear and soul-shattering shame. I wanted them to suffer as Ash was—as so many countless others had. I wanted to take all the pain and make them drown in it.

My body tingled.

And, gods, the inherent knowledge that came from the embers knew if I just let go, what I wanted would become reality. I could do it. I could drive Kolis to the ground. The potential left me breathless—

Jerking, I blinked rapidly. What was I thinking? My heart pounded as I fisted my hands. Good gods, I was experiencing delusions of grandeur. The embers may be powerful, but not enough to take on who knew how many gods and Primals and Kolis.

The embers throbbed as I drew in a long, deep breath. I cleared my mind just as I would when my mother sent me on her errands. I had a job to do. The opinions the Primals would surely have about me didn’t matter. Only securing Ash’s freedom did. I would get through this and then ask Kolis about Ash. I quickly pulled some unbound curls forward, shielding the healing bite and providing some coverage for what the gown didn’t hide. When I followed Kolis, my steps were steady despite not feeling the floor beneath my feet.

Conversation quieted under the open ceiling of the grand hall. As the humming in the embers slowly faded, my gaze flickered across the sweeping marble and gold pillars lining the massive circular Council Hall that had to be at least half the size of the one in Lethe.

The pillars bore faint cracks.