Page 160

Sera is shocked by the Arae’s appearance, and Nyktos discovers that Holland was the knight who trained Sera in the mortal realm. He accuses Holland of tampering with destiny while masquerading as a mortal and finally understands how Sir Holland knew about the healing tea.

As Holland and Sera reunite, Nyktos accuses the Arae of learning about the deal and taking the place of someone who was meant to train Sera to kill him. Holland corrects him and says it was just to kill, not to murder him specifically. Nyktos asks why Holland never informed Sera of the pointlessness of her endeavor and displays his annoyance that the Arae intervened at all.

He then asks Holland if he knew what would happen to Eythos. Holland says he didn’t, but if he had, he would have stepped in, the consequences be damned.

Nyktos asks why his father did what he did and is told the better question is what he did. Nyktos learns that Eythos took the ember he passed onto Ash to keep him safe. He also learns that he and Sera are soulmates. After Sera talks about the sense of rightness she’s felt with him since day one, he confesses he’s felt the same.

He asks what his father’s motivations could have been and learns about Penellaphe’s vision and the prophecy. He thinks the great conspirator and the bringer of death must be Kolis and reveals that he and Eythos were both in the west—in what is roughly present-day Carsodonia.

They discuss timing, and Nyktos vows he won’t let Sera die before she turns twenty-one. When he’s told he can’t stop fate, he says it can go fuck itself.

Holland reveals the threads of destiny, and Nyktos is shocked and furious to find that some of them indicate that he’ll kill Sera. There are many ways he can, but one is unintentional. He’s then floored to learn that his blood will make Sera go through her Culling, which horrifies him because he knows she won’t survive it. Sera tells him it’s not his fault.

Holland shows him the one thread that can disrupt fate—unexpected love—and tells him that he’s right, Sera will not survive the Culling without the sheer will of that which is more powerful than the Fates or even death. She needs the love of the one who aids in her Ascension.

He further learns that the only way for Sera to survive is with the blood and love of the Primal her ember belonged to. The revelation horrifies him because of things he set in motion many, many years ago.

Many more than Sera knows at this point.

Sera tells him it’s unfair, and he tells her it’s more unfair to her. Then the bomb really drops. He finds out that Sera is the reincarnation of Sotoria, Kolis’s long-lost obsession, and they find out exactly what his father did and why. No god has risen since Eythos hid the ember in the Mierel bloodline—until Sera Ascended Bele, anyway. The last bit of information they receive isn’t much better. He’s told that life has only continued because the ember is still in Sera. If she dies, everyone and everything will die right along with her.

Which can only mean one thing.

Seraphena is the Primal of Life.

Nyktos bows to Sera and relays the conclusion he just reached. She says she doesn’t deserve to be the Primal of Life, snapping at him. When she starts having a panic attack, Nyktos calms her and then asks Holland and Penellaphe if they’re positive no one else knows what Sera is. They tell him that Eythos, Embris, and Kolis knew about the prophecy, but the last two didn’t know anything more than that as far as they’re aware.

Sera makes her feelings on prophecies clear, and Nyktos agrees with her. He then tells her that Kolis’s actions killed hundreds of gods, and that the Gods of Divination were hit the hardest. No mortal has been born an oracle since.

Nyktos reminds Sera that only those present at the time it happened know that she Ascended Bele. Neither Hanan nor anyone else knows the full extent of what Eythos did when he put the ember in her bloodline.

Sera reveals that she recently saw Kolis in the mortal realm, and the news stuns Nyktos. He remarks that Sotoria didn’t belong to Kolis then, and Seraphena doesn’t belong to him now.

He tells Penellaphe and Holland that Kolis knows something is in the Shadowlands and has already sent a draken and the dakkais. He assumes that, as the Primal of Life, Kolis can’t enter the Shadowlands and asks Holland to confirm. The Arae refuses to answer.

Nyktos assures Sera that Kolis is no fool and wouldn’t make a move on her in front of others and risk blowing his façade as the fair and rightful King but promises he won’t let Kolis lay a finger on her. When she reveals that she’s not worried about herself but is worried about him, it doesn’t surprise him at all. He tells Sera that he’s more afraid of her running to Kolis than away from him.

He tells everyone that his uncle has not summoned him yet, though he expects it to happen soon, and he can only delay the inevitable, not refuse the command.

Nyktos asks Holland about the Revenants and learns they’re not the only mockery of life Kolis has managed to create. There’s also the Craven—which he realizes is what Andreia Joanis turned into.

He tries to tell Sera that she didn’t kill her stepfather by way of fate, and explains that while the Arae are cosmic cleaners, their balancing of rules only applies to mortals, not gods. Therefore, there should be no innocent-death fallout from her Ascension of Bele.

As discussions continue, Nyktos clarifies for Sera that a Primal of Life and Death isn’t meant to exist. He says that such a being would be unstoppable and able to destroy realms in the same breath they create new ones.

He tells them that Kolis wants to rule over both realms, and Nyktos imagines his uncle’s creations are meant to aid him in his bid to take over Lasania and the other kingdoms and make mortals subservient to him.

Holland reveals to Sera that Nyktos can’t save her as he is now. When she doesn’t understand, Nyktos tells her that he made sure love was a weakness nobody could ever exploit and had the Primal Maia remove his kardia. He can care about others, but love can no longer sway him.

Discussions return to how to keep Kolis—or anyone else—from snatching Sera out of the Shadowlands, and Penellaphe tells them about a charm. Nyktos is surprised to learn about it.

After thanking Penellaphe for everything she’s done, the goddess leads him away to speak to him privately, but he keeps a close eye on Sera while he talks to the goddess.

Once Penellaphe and Holland leave, Nyktos asks Sera what she’s thinking. He felt her go from anger to sadness to sorrow. He tells her it’s hard not to read her emotions since she projects a lot. She asks him about his kardia, and he’s evasive about when he had it removed—telling her it doesn’t matter. He says that only Maia and Nektas know what he did. He then fesses up to how badly it hurt and reveals that he almost lost consciousness. If he had, he says he would have gone into stasis. But then he explains a bit more about why he did it: he didn’t want to endanger anyone because of how he felt. And he believes he actually cares more because he can’t love. Caring for others is more important to him than loving someone.

Nyktos tells Sera she needs to stay hidden. No one will think her being his Consort and the power they felt is a coincidence, especially if they meet her and feel the eather inside her. If they do, they’ll definitely question what she is.

Nyktos confesses that her original plan annoyed him but that’s not why he’s mad now. What enrages him is that she doesn’t value her life at all, and hasn’t since the moment they met. He tells her that him saying such a thing isn’t meant to be an insult, it’s just an observation. He then goes on to tell her that her safety is worth everything—even the Shadowlands, and stresses that he means it with every part of his being.