Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“I can sense the eather in you, Valyn.” I had my suspicions regarding what he was, especially with Setti, and where the bloodsteed had been discovered. And, of course, with what Seraphena had mentioned. “You are not just an Atlantian. And I’m betting it has something to do with Attes.”
Valyn turned his head slightly at the name. “I’m half-Atlantian. My mother was an Elemental, and…”
“Your father?” It was almost as if he couldn’t say it.
“Was—is—a god,” he admitted. Casteel’s body was so taut he practically vibrated with the tension. “My father went to sleep when the rest of the gods did.” Exhaling heavily, he reached back to rub his neck. “I imagine he’s awake now. Likely in…Vathi.”
“Your father?” I shifted my weight as the air hummed with the rise of eather. A breeze picked up, stirring the jacarandas’ limbs.
He nodded. “He’s Attes’s son.”
Casteel looked at me, and I let out a long breath and nodded. “Fucking gods,” he muttered, unfolding his arms to shove the hair back from his eyes. “Attes is my great-grandfather?”
“He is,” Valyn said, his gaze searching his son’s face.
“And exactly who is your father?” Casteel demanded as I leaned into his side. I ignored the faint charge of energy that danced from his body to mine. After a moment, the contact seemed to help him. Some of the tension faded from his body. “Since I’m guessing it wasn’t the man you claimed died when you were a boy.”
Valyn took a deep breath. “Elian.”
“That’s…” Casteel trailed off, shaking his head as my suspicions were confirmed. The history I’d heard was that Elian was an ancestor, perhaps a great-grandfather, and King of Atlantia at some point before Valyn. And I didn’t think anything Casteel had been told disputed that.
“I know you probably think this is just another lie—”
“If it isn’t that,” he interrupted his father, “what would you call it?”
“I’d call it something I was warned to never speak of,” Valyn replied. “Not even your mother knows.”
That surprised me. Clearly, Casteel was shocked, too, because he went silent. Then, so did his father. I glanced at Kieran. His face was blank, but I assumed he was just as shocked.
“Why don’t you tell us what you are?” I said, ending the tense silence. “You’re not a godling.” That was the result of a mortal and a god, and obviously something that hadn’t happened in many years. The vadentia was silent on what happened when it came to a god—who was apparently only two generations removed from the Ancients—and an Elemental Atlantian.
“No. I’m a…demigod,” he muttered, dropping his hand as he looked up. “Not a demis or a deity. Just a demigod.”
“Just a…?” A short laugh escaped Casteel. “Can you harness the essence?”
“I’ve remained in the mortal realm far too long for that. I have more in me than a normal Elemental, but I can’t summon it.” He looked away from Casteel with a heavy sigh. “Not like you can.”
Slowly, it all clicked. “You weren’t born in the mortal realm.”
“No, my father took my mother back to Iliseeum before she gave birth.”
My brows knitted as I turned sideways. “Why would he have done that, knowing it would weaken you?”
“I can’t answer that, Penellaphe. My father rarely spoke of it or how any of it came about.” He cleared his throat and straightened. “He wanted to pretend he was just an Elemental—and he pulled it off somehow.”
I watched the pink blossoms sway behind Kieran’s still form. “Magic,” I whispered, my neck tingling. Powerful, old magic. “Was it because of the war with the deities?”
“I used to think so.” Valyn squinted as he stared at the statue. “But he was hiding what he was before the war. Again, it wasn’t something he talked about, and I knew not to bring it up.”
“Why?” Casteel bit out the word.
“Apparently, my grandfather had…” He dragged his hand over the stubble on his jaw. “All I was ever told was that Attes angered the Fates by messing with the threads of his bloodline. I’m not sure exactly why that would do such a thing, but I know damn well I wasn’t the first demigod. I might not even be the last.”
I mouthed threads of their bloodline. I supposed that made sense if Attes wasn’t supposed to reproduce. But why would that be the case? Why would the Fate’s—
And the second daughter, with blood full of ash and ice…
The prophecy.
Blood full of ash and ice. What did that mean? My thoughts raced. From blood and ash… Ash could mean ruin. Destruction. Their kingdom rose from blood and ruin. But ice? I wasn’t sure. The answer felt like it was right in front of my face, but I couldn’t see it.
I held my arms tighter to my chest. “And that was all?”
“Besides that, and Elian warning me to keep my bloodline to myself, yes.” His eyes met mine—eyes so much like his sons’. Like Attes’s. My chest squeezed as he said, “And that’s the truth, Casteel. Shit.” He dropped his hands to his knees and rubbed them. “Just talking about it has me half-expecting the Arae to appear.”