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“You would simply will it, and it should happen,” Keella explained as Ash cursed. “The Primal of Life—”

“Say no more,” Ash growled as he blocked her. “You cannot do this.”

Aware of the confusion surrounding those around us, I smiled at him. “If it’s just willing it, that won’t take a lot of energy.”

“That’s not how it works.” Ash grasped my shoulders. “And you know it.”

I did.

“I have to,” I told him. “It’s your father, Ash.” Even if we didn’t need to get Sotoria’s soul out of me. “I need to do this.”

His nostrils flared as eather briefly pumped through his flesh. “You don’t need to do any of this.”

“You’re right.” Focusing on the embers, I felt them throb weakly throughout my entire body as I joined my will to them. “I want to.”

“Sera—” He went rigid, seeing something in me that told him it was too late. His fingers pressed into my shoulders. “Liessa…”

I felt no swell of energy, just an awareness of what I’d willed coming into creation. I looked down.

The Star heated in my palm as it started to hum and vibrate. The high-pitched whirring sound came from it again. Tiny streaks of milky light seeped out of the diamond.

Nektas let out a low, trilling sound as the light in the diamond pulsed brightly once and then twice—

Essence poured out of it, forcing Ash to stagger back a step. There were several gasps. A soft, warbling sound came from one of the other draken. Eyes wide, I watched the whitish-silver light spilling into the air between us, becoming a throbbing indistinguishable mass.

Several of the gods backed up as the light reflected off their faces. Even Attes moved away, his eyes wide.

The mass of light twisted and stretched, turning toward Ash.

His breathing seemed to halt as his father’s soul hovered beside him. It throbbed and then extended, forming what appeared to be an arm, and then…

A hand and fingers.

That brushed Ash’s cheek.

Ash’s eyes slammed shut, his large body shuddering as he rasped, “Father.”

Tears blurred my vision as Eythos’s soul began to lift and drift upward.

“I understand,” Ash whispered.

Understand what? Had he heard his father? I blinked, trying to clear my vision, but it didn’t—

I felt my heart stutter, then speed up, beating twice in the place of one. I tried to drag in a breath, but a sudden, stunning pain ripped through my chest, taking with it my sense of sight, sound, and…everything else.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

I slowly became aware of a faint taste in my mouth—a sweet, smoky, lush flavor. Decadent. Powerful. My lips tingled. So did my fingers. I stretched, enjoying the pull of my muscles as I wiggled my toes.

A body moved against mine. A sudden inhalation of breath brought a chest against my back. “Liessa,” a familiar, deep voice murmured—one I’d recognize anywhere, anytime. “There you are.”

Ash.

My eyes fluttered open to a vivid, deep sapphire sky streaked with trailing pink and amethyst clouds. Confusion rose as I squinted. I’d never seen such a sky before. My gaze lowered to trees in an array of blues and violets that bordered on pink, reminding me of the jacaranda trees outside Wayfair.

Disjointed memories flashed. The cavern of lilacs. Arriving in the Bonelands. Freeing Eythos. Wrenching, terrible pain, and then nothing.

I stared at the surreal, brightly colored landscape. Had I…had I died? That didn’t make sense. If I had, I wouldn’t be in Ash’s arms. He couldn’t be near souls who had gone beyond the Pillars of Asphodel without risking the destruction of their souls. And wouldn’t I have remembered passing through them and being judged? Despite what Ash believed about my soul, I seriously doubted I’d end up someplace as beautiful as this. At the very least, I would’ve been one of those souls who needed a more thorough look. Could this be that? If so, why did my temples still ache?