Page 60 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“I know.” I remained right where I stood. “Arae or not, I don’t trust you.”

The colors in his irises spun and then settled. “I did not come here to harm you. The last thing I want to deal with on top of the mess your wife’s Ascension caused is said pissed-off wife.”

“Her Ascension—”

“Don’t lie to yourself, Casteel . Or to me.”

My hands fisted. I wasn’t surprised that he knew my name. He was a Fate. But I didn’t like hearing him say it. “So, Kolis is awake. That’s not her fault.”

“You’re correct. It’s not.” He extended the other leg. “But that’s not the mess I’m talking about. What I’m speaking about is what is beyond the Veil. What your wife’s Ascension caused.”

I fought the urge to claim that she hadn’t caused anything. But that wouldn’t get me answers or tell me where my wife was. “She felt pain and death in a way I’ve never seen her experience it before.”

“She felt the pain and death of thousands—tens of thousands. And then some,” he stated, causing my entire body to jerk.

“When the loss of life is that great, a Primal of Life will always be drawn to it. Being that she is a true Primal of Life, she was not immune to the need. Neither was Seraphena, but she couldn’t cross the Primal Veil as easily as your wife apparently can.

Seraphena was stopped. Your wife could not be. ”

I probably shouldn’t have felt pride at hearing that, but I did.

“Luckily, I was able to keep you from making the same mistake. Though imagining Holland dealing with both of you?” A grin appeared. “That would’ve been entertaining.”

“Are you…?” My chest hollowed. “Are you saying she is in some land beyond a Veil with someone named Holland?”

He nodded. “Holland is like me.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.”

“He’s far more patient than I am. Is that reassuring?”

I didn’t even bother answering that. “I want to go to her. Now.”

He snorted softly. “That’s not going to happen.”

Feeling the essence swell, I stepped forward.

A brow rose. “She will return to you soon enough.”

“That’s not good enough, Aydun. ”

“She will return unharmed, and that will have to be good enough, Hawke .” Bright silver streaked through his irises. “Unless you force me to cause you harm. And you know what happens then.” His smile was sharp like a blade. “Do you want her to be vulnerable again?”

His message was loud and clear. I halted as a surge of raw fury washed over me. The atmosphere around us charged as my nails sharpened again, pricking my palms. When I spoke, the tone had a rough, jarring edge and a low rumble. “You’re threatening her?”

The question hung heavy in the air with chilling intensity as he watched me. “No. I’m warning you.”

“That’s one and the same.”

“I suppose it is.” He crossed his arms. “You don’t fully understand that you’re no longer a singular entity. But one would think you’d already feel enough guilt over being the cause of her weaker state.”

I flinched.

Fucking flinched.

Power pulsed through my veins as I stared at the Fate, wanting to unleash the eather.

But something flickered over his features. The right side of his lips curled before quickly flattening out. It was fast, but I saw it and wondered if he wanted me to lash out.

“ She’s not indestructible, Casteel.”

I hadn’t forgotten—would never forget. And it felt like a fist punching straight through my chest.

“So, tell me something, Casteel. Will you become the…fatal flaw in her armor?” he asked.

A chill swept down my spine as he repeated what Attes had said. “You’ve been eavesdropping, haven’t you?”

Aydun smirked.

Suspicion grew as I relaxed my hands. The fucker was right. Just as Attes had been. Losing my temper and getting my ass beaten down by a Fate would only hurt her. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the fury down, burying it.

“You are…unexpected,” he remarked.

“So I’ve been told.”

Aydun smiled, but it didn’t look entirely real. Almost as if he were merely going through the motions. “Well, I’m relieved to see you’re not a fucking idiot. Besides, you and I need to have a little conversation about what your wife’s Ascension truly means.”

The flesh on the back of my neck tightened.

He was quiet for a few moments. “You’ve figured it out—what your wife truly is—and you’re wise enough to keep it to yourself.”

I wasn’t sure if it was wisdom, disbelief, or distrust.

“But what you don’t truly understand is that what she is should not exist. Not anymore.”

“She is not a what ,” I seethed, my tenuous hold on my temper slipping. “She is a person—”

“One whose Ascension has set in motion a chain of events that I fear cannot be stopped.” Aydun leaned forward.

“Do you know how important balance is?” He went on without giving me a chance to answer.

“You probably don’t. The gods went to sleep long before you were born, and even the eldest of your kind has forgotten to ensure such knowledge was passed on, despite its importance. ”

I didn’t say anything, hoping he’d get to the fucking point because I was more concerned about Poppy. She was in some foreign land, and I couldn’t do shit to help her if she needed it. I glanced down at the gold imprint. She was okay. She would be.

“Everything here and beyond relies on balance, Casteel.” The chair creaked as he tipped back and picked up another piece of cheese. “Where there is prosperity, there must be loss. With love, hate must exist. Life must give way to death. And so on and so forth.”

That sounded like a load of shit, but I kept that to myself. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“But it is more than that. There must be a balance of powers, too. When there’s not, there will be signs—ones hard to ignore.”

Immediately, a hard-to-ignore sign came to mind. “The sun?”

“That would qualify as one.”

I exhaled. “There are more?”

“Many more,” Aydun said. “Her Ascension unsettled the balance and freed Kolis. The damage from her Ascension, which so many prayed would never happen, has already been done and cannot be undone. That bell has been rung. The die cast. The bridge burned. The last chapter of the story written—”

“I get it,” I growled. “For fuck’s sake, man.”

“But what you don’t get is that her Ascension was not the only threat to the balance. Penellaphe is the Harbinger. The Bringer.” The color of the ink on the sides of Aydun’s face deepened and began churning as his eyes held mine. “Of Death and Destruction.”

“Kolis,” I bit out.

Aydun smiled faintly. “He is the Great Conspirator.”

My eyes narrowed. “And?”

“And it wasn’t understood what that meant until it was too late.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate on what sounded like nothing more than disjointed thoughts. He didn’t. “Attes was right.”

“About?”

“That you are all vague as fuck.”

His lips flattened. “We wouldn’t have to be if any of you were even half as wise as Eythos. Which isn’t saying much.”

“What does this have to do with Kolis’s brother?”

“Almost everything.” He sat back. “Either way, what your wife’s Ascension has created will continue to add to the imbalance. It’s started the clock—one that’s ticking and counting down.”

I knew what he was about to say next. The words felt tattooed into my bones. “‘For the end will come from the west—’”

“‘To destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between,’” Aydun finished with a heavy sigh. “The end has begun. And when it comes, what happened beyond the Primal Veil will seem like a blessing compared to what will happen throughout the realms.”