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)
My chest tightened as I reached for the glass. “He’s right. Kolis has demanded my presence.” I took a drink. “I’m to appear before him by noon tomorrow, or he will attack Carsodonia.”
The table went tomb-silent.
Naill was the first to break it. “With what army? We outnumber any forces he could’ve gathered.”
“He has over two hundred gods,” I reminded him.
“And we have three of…whatever you all are,” Emil countered, his golden eyes flashing angrily. “And a Primal of War. Fuck those two hundred cunt gods.”
My brows shot up.
“Kolis wouldn’t need an army or two hundred cunt gods,” Attes interjected. “If that Isbeth—or whoever she was—spoke the truth.”
“What truth?” Vonetta demanded.
“That Kolis isn’t as weak as we previously believed,” I stated. “That he was being fed for hundreds of years.”
“Fed from…” Vonetta trailed off, tension bracketing her mouth.
I knew she was thinking about the pit beneath the Temple in Oak Ambler: the bones, many of which were small. The dried blood. Hundreds of years’ worth of Rites, and who knew how many innocent mortals who simply disappeared…
“Kolis could’ve been in a stasis instead of withering away,” Attes continued. “He would be at full power or damn near close.”
“If that’s the case, why wouldn’t he have attacked by now?” Malik demanded, having moved out of his typical slouched position to sit forward.
“That’s not Kolis’s style,” Attes answered, and my gaze dropped to his hand. His finger—the thumb—tapped off his glass, and I knew if Casteel didn’t have the dagger in his, he’d likely be doing the same thing. “He’s all about the show. Even to his detriment.”
“What could he possibly hope to gain by meeting with you?” Vonetta asked. “He has to know we won’t negotiate for peace.”
“That’s not what he wants,” I said quickly. “He wants to become the Primal of Life and Death.” Aware of three sets of eyes on me, I cleared my throat. I wasn’t being entirely truthful. And Kolis could still very well want to become that for all I knew. No one else needed to know about…Sotoria. At least, not like this. We didn’t have time for the questions that revelation would spawn, and I couldn’t afford to delve into any of that right now.
My gaze flicked up from my glass to meet Delano’s. He sat silently on Emil’s other side. The look in his eyes… I wondered if he knew—if he’d overheard something.
“So,” Naill drawled. “It sounds like a trap.”
“I would normally agree with that statement.” Attes looked up through several locks of sandy-brown hair. “However, he’s requested that a Fate be present.”
“What the…a Fate?” Emil exclaimed.
“It’s a common practice—or it was during my time—whenever a meeting between two or more Primals was held, and there was a concern that things could go sideways or agreements not be honored,” Attes explained. “The one requesting the meeting would summon a Fate to oversee it. Normally, the Fate would be the one to deliver the message to the other Primal.”
Casteel’s gaze flicked to the Primal as the dagger danced between his fingers. “Normally? Then it would be considered abnormal for a Fate to not be the one to deliver the summons?”
“Abnormal, yes, but not unheard of.” Attes glanced at Casteel, his gaze dropping to the dagger. “It all depends on the Fate.”
“And how lazy they are?” I suggested.
Valyn coughed on his drink, his eyes widening on me. Hisa and Naill were looking at me the same way.
“Exactly,” Attes confirmed with a faint smile.
They turned astonished eyes on him.
“If you’d met one and were in their presence for two seconds, you would understand,” I said.
“I can agree with that,” Delano murmured. “They are not as…expected.”
Vonetta jerked forward, her braids swinging as she turned her head to Delano. “You met a Fate?”
“A little bit ago.” Delano’s gaze bounced between us. “I’ll have to tell you later.”
“I don’t understand,” Malik stated. “If Kolis wants to become the Primal of Life and Death, I assume that requires…” His gaze shot to Casteel as the dagger stilled in his hand. “Things to go sideways. At least for Penellaphe,” he added.
“Poppy,” I corrected.
“So, does Kolis think he can…do what? Convince you to go along with that?”
“I have no idea what Kolis thinks,” I replied. And, gods, that was the truth.
Malik stared at me and then looked at his brother. “I don’t like this.”
Casteel didn’t respond, likely because it was unnecessary. None of us liked this.
“Again, Kolis likes to put on a show that builds anxiety and fear,” Attes said. “This wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like this while asking for something he knows will be refused.”
“He sounds…lovely to deal with,” Vonetta muttered.
“You said the Fate is there in case things go sideways,” Kieran broke in. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It normally means no one can be harmed or worse,” Attes answered.