Page 120 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

The limb slammed into a nearby pier, causing Poppy to jump. My hands fisted.

“You sure about that?” I said as I felt Poppy nudging Delano to get off her.

Rhahar nodded. “The leviathan existed before the Primals ruled these realms. They are as powerful as any god, even in this form,” he said, and I figured that meant it had been created by the Ancients.

Why , was anyone’s guess. “And we have to refrain from really using the essence while in the mortal realm to avoid…other issues.”

Delano grumbled, stepping to the side as I focused on Poppy’s mark, linking with her. Please stay behind me .

A moment later, I heard her. I still can’t believe we can communicate like this.

It’s coming in handy right now, I told her as Rhahar glanced toward the bay. I know you don’t want to listen, but you’re exhausted. I can tell.

Water splashed as the kraken was dragged into the bay. Finally.

“The kraken wasn’t the only…thing to attack,” Poppy said.

I didn’t hear her moving around, so there was that, but I did hear footsteps slowly approaching us. I tensed.

Malik , Kieran said.

Hearing his name reminded me of how I wanted to punch him for coming right toward the wave.

Rhahar turned back to us. “What else?”

“Ceeren,” I answered, and Rhahar’s gaze sharpened. “Dead ceeren,” I added.

“And seahorses,” Poppy said.

Rhahar blinked. “Seahorses? That’s…” He shook his head and looked at the darkening clouds. “They were gone before I even reached maturity.” His chest rose with a deep breath. “Kolis called them.”

“Figured,” I said, letting myself relax a fraction. “Is there anything else we should be worried about that might have gotten out of the Abyss?”

“Yes.” His attention shifted back to the sky. “He is the true Primal of Death. All those who serve within the Abyss serve him.” His eyes narrowed, and his fingers twitched at his sides. He swore, then glanced back at us. “Sorry about the cursing.”

“It’s fine.” Poppy sighed.

“I wish it were,” he muttered, and all the tension that had left me returned. “Ash was right.”

“Ash?” Kieran questioned.

“Nyktos,” he clarified.

The Asher. Made sense.

Delano looked at the bay and the still-fighting kraken, its limbs flailing.

“What…was he right about?” Poppy questioned.

“He said it was a diversion.” Rhahar stepped back, and I wondered if he was having a more detailed conversation in his mind. “The attack here and the one on the Shadowlands. One was a diversion.”

There was something vaguely familiar about that.

Iliseeum , Kieran told me through the notam . Where Death reigns .

Rhahar’s attention shifted back to the sky. “Son of a bitch, he was right.”

Kieran stepped forward. “You want to key us in on what he was right about?”

“That it was…” Rhahar’s nostrils flared as the shadow that had not lifted deepened over the wharf and the bay. The dense clouds started to churn. “A trap.”

Lightning flared overhead, arcing from one thick cloud to the next. When the blinding flashes receded, thin streaks of crimson seeped from the center of the inky mass, spreading across them like veins of fire. A heavy, choking sensation settled over me.

Poppy pushed to her feet, swaying. Kieran steadied her.

Eather pulsed, filling Rhahar’s eyes as he turned to us. “He’s coming for—”

Water exploded from the bay as Primal mist spilled out of Rhahar. He shot into the air like an arrow as the kraken’s tentacle broke the surface.

Instinct seized me. I grabbed Poppy by the waist as red-tinged lightning struck in rapid succession, hitting the wharf and the bay as the wind lifted Rhahar toward his cousin.

Lifting Poppy in my arms, I held her to my chest as eather bled from Saion, distorting the air around him as the kraken’s limb lashed through the air like a jagged spear of bone.

Poppy shouted, her fingers digging into my shoulders—

A sickening crack reverberated through the air as crimson-tinged lightning struck the spot where Saion and Rhahar had been, and it kept coming, one strike after another, each with a clap of thunder that would shatter the eardrums of any mortals on the ship or the wharf.

Silver light erupted in a mass of crackling, hissing sparks. I could no longer see the Primal gods or the kraken as the air warped and started to roll.

“Get down!” Kieran shouted, dipping to grab Delano.

I spun, glimpsing my brother flattening himself to the ground as I pressed Poppy into the wharf.

An intense, scorching wave of power rippled through the air.

My jaw clenched as I saw Malik grab on to anything he could as the release of energy traveled across the wharf.

Windows shattered throughout Lowertown as the slender palms dotting the landscape snapped.

Buildings all along the lower street collapsed.

It’s okay, I told Poppy through the notam as she jerked beneath me. It’s okay .

Roofs peeled back on the structures behind them as the shockwave howled, and the ground trembled beneath us.

It’s all right, I reassured her, even as the earth cracked, splitting into thin fissures, and the sound of the rocking ships echoed all around us. I kept telling her it was okay until the screaming roar of unfettered power receded, and the weak rays of the evening sun fell upon the wharf.

“Cas,” Poppy whispered, the press of her fingers against my chest surely leaving bruises.

Exhaling raggedly, I dipped my head and kissed her forehead before rising just enough to look over my shoulder.

Several of the remaining ships were gone, destroyed, and where the two Primal gods had been…

Aurelia flew low over the sea. Her mournful call, low and aching, rolled across the clear skies as she circled the bay.

The Primal gods were gone.

The ground began to shake.