A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“This is why you never collected on the deal.” “You never consented to it.”

I realized in that moment that I’d spent a lifetime believing that the Primal of Death was a cold, apathetic being because of what he represented. I’d been wrong. Ash wasn’t either of those things. He knew that each death left a mark. He understood the power of choice. I even thought of what Aios had said. That there had to be a reason she felt safe with him and trusted him. Ash cared, and I was willing to bet there was more than one decent bone in his body. And none of that helped. At all.

“Thank you,” I whispered, and the words still felt strange on my lips. They hurt a little this time. His gaze returned to me. “For what?” I let out a short laugh. “For having that one decent bone in your body.”

“Because now here we are. You’re in the Shadowlands. And soon, you will be known as the Consort,” Ash said. “My enemies will become yours.”

“Most godlings are mortal. They carry no essence of the gods in them. Therefore, they live and die just like any other mortal.”

“But for most, they don’t survive the change. You see, their bodies are still mortal. And as the Culling sets in, and the eather in them begins to multiply and grow, infiltrating every part of them, their bodies can’t facilitate such a process. They die.”

“It all depends on whether a god assisted the godling,” she said, reaching up to toy with the chain around her neck. “That is the only way a godling survives.”

“What does…meyaah Liessa mean?” That eyebrow seemed to climb even higher. “It means my Queen.”

“Then what did you intend?” “Not to make you feel as if you were my prisoner. You’re not my captive. You never will be my captive.”

“My interest in you is a very real, very potent need.”

“Love is an unnecessary and dangerous risk.”

Love is a beautiful weapon, often wielded as a means to control another. It shouldn’t be a weakness, but that is what it becomes. And those most innocent always pay for it. I’ve never seen anything good come from love.”

“My father loved my mother more than anything in these realms. More than he should have. And still, he could not keep her safe. That is why I have these conditions. These rules as you like to call them. It’s not about me attempting to exert authority over you or control you. It’s about trying to do what my father failed at. It’s about making sure you do not meet the same fate as my mother.”

My touch… It healed?

“The longer a Primal or a god lives, the greater the risk of them becoming more eather than person. Some can handle the endless time better than others, but eventually, it impacts all of us.

“What you know of the Rite and the Chosen is nothing but a lie.”

It is far easier to be lied to than it is to acknowledge that you have been lied to.”

A monster wouldn’t care if they were one.”

“I think I will call you one of my own.” I really had to be asleep. “Why?” “Because you’ve given him peace.”

“You carry an ember of life.”

“My father was the true Primal of Life.” Ash’s cool fingers touched my cheek. “Until his brother stole it from him. His twin, Kolis.”

“It was Kolis who killed my mother, striking her down while she was pregnant with me,” Ash shared, tone flat. “He did it because he believed that it was only fair that my father lose his love just as he did. He destroyed my mother’s soul, ushering in her final death.”

“What Kolis did can’t be undone, but what my father did by placing what had to be his ember of life in you? Hidden away in a mortal bloodline this whole time? He made sure there was a chance for life.”

“Your presence is slowly bringing life back.”

I was no real threat because he would never love me.

Love has never been on the table.”

“He called them his reborn. His Revenants.

“Don’t forget, Sera. You are not afraid. You may feel fear, but you are never afraid.”

“You didn’t just bring her back. You…you Ascended her.”

“Fate answers to no Primal.”

“You have the essence of his power,”

“A Queen of Flesh and Fire. And him, a King risen from Blood and Ash, who ruled side by side with man. And they…they felt right. They felt like hope.”

“Love is the one thing that not even fate can contend with.”

“Love is more powerful than fate.”

“It’s not fair to either of you,” Penellaphe stated softly. “But life, fate, or love rarely is, is it?”

“All life—in both realms—has only continued to come into creation because the Mierel bloodline carried that ember. Now, she carries the only ember of life in both realms. She is why life continues.”

“If you were to die, there would be nothing but death in all the kingdoms and all the realms.”

“You are the heir to the lands and seas, skies and realms. A Queen instead of a King. You are the Primal of Life.”