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

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

There was no way he could know that in the two hundred years it had taken for me to be born, the knowledge of how to kill a Primal had been obtained. Love. They had one fatal weakness that made them vulnerable enough to be killed, and that was love. Make him fall in love, become his weakness, and end him. That was my destiny.

Dun dun duuuuuunnnnnnn

A hand clamped down on my mouth, and a strange jolt went through me at the exact moment an arm folded around me, pinning my arms to my sides. The shock of the contact—the jolt of someone touching me, touching my skin with theirs—cost me the split second I had to break the hold. I was jerked back against the hard wall of a chest. “I wouldn’t make a sound if I were you.”

Let's GOOO

“You’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you?”

Hehe

I saved your life, and you’re trying to kick me?”

Brilliant

maybe even as tall as the Primal of Death was.

He probably IS the Primal of Death...

This man was…he was absolutely, without a doubt, the most stunning man I’d ever seen.

YESSS

It struck me then that I’d tried to kick a god—multiple times. I’d tried to stab a god.

Uhhoooooo

If I had a child, or if any descendant of mine had been harmed, I would burn through both realms just so I could flay the skin from the body of the one who’d hurt them.

YEAH YOU WOULD

“How about now?” he asked. “Are you afraid?”

Let’s GOOOOO

Unsheathing the dagger, I brought it to his throat. “Are you afraid?” Only his eyes moved, flicking to the hilt of the dagger.

Let’s go AGAAAAINNN

“I do. I bet you do also. But you’d still try.” His gaze flicked down to where I had the dagger pressed against his skin. “Is it strange that knowing that makes me think of how your tongue felt in my mouth?” My entire body flashed hot even as I frowned. “Yes, a little—”

Okay why am I so much more into this vs when Casteel would say it?

“And you, liessa, are very brave.” His thumb moved, sweeping over the curve of my jaw.

KISS AGAIN ALREADY

“Are you seriously asking me why I haven’t thought about killing you?” “You’re a god,” I pointed out, unsure if he was being truthful or just toying with me. “And that is reason enough?” “It’s not? I threatened you. I pulled a dagger on you.” “More than once,” he corrected. “And I’ve been rude.” “Very.” “No one speaks to a god or behaves toward one in such a way.” “They typically do not,” he agreed. “Either way, I suppose I’m not in a murderous mood tonight.”

I LOVE ITTTTTT

“You’re not unworthy. You’re not a curse or anything like that. You carry the ember of life in you. You carry hope within you. You carry the possibility of a future,” he said.

Holland 🥹

“It’s not your fault,” he repeated. A knot formed in the back of my throat at his tone. It was the same gentleness he’d used when I was seven, crying until my head ached because I had been forced to remain behind while everyone else left for the country estate. The same compassion he’d shown when I’d been eleven and sprained my ankle after landing on it wrong, and when I was fifteen and nearly gutted when I hadn’t deflected his attack in time. The kindness had been there when I was first sent to the Mistresses of the Jade in the months before my seventeenth birthday and didn’t want to go. Sir Holland and my stepsister Ezra were the only two people who treated me as if I were an actual person and not a cure—a fix that didn’t work.

First tears

“I’m definitely perturbed,” he replied, and I could think of dozens of better adjectives to describe the state of my rage if someone had almost stabbed me in the heart. “As I said, it stung. For a moment.”

Perturbed 😂 Ded.

“That wasn’t exactly what I was suggesting,” I pointed out. “I meant that since you seem pretty—” “Thank you.” I shot him a bland look. “Since you seem pretty powerful, couldn’t you demand to know what they’re doing?”

Hehehe

“What does liessa mean?” The god didn’t answer for what felt like a small eternity. “It has different meanings to different people.” The eather pulsed in his eyes, swirling once more through the silver. “But all of them mean something beautiful and powerful.”

AHHHHH

“I swam underwater and ended up beyond the waterfall. It’s quite beautiful there, by the way,” he continued unrepentantly. “Can you, for one moment, imagine my surprise when a few seconds later, a young, very demanding mortal appeared out of the darkness and started removing her clothing? What was I supposed to do?” Fire swept across my face. “Not watch me?” “I wasn’t.” A pause. “At least, not intentionally.”

Hehehehehe

“Like a goddess made of silver and moonbeams, rising from the depths of the darkest lake?” he finished.

This male

Curiosity blazed through me now. What were the shapes? Don’t ask. Keep your mouth closed. Don’t ask. Don’t— “Is that ink?” I blurted out, hating myself for asking and for continuing to speak.

Self control on point

“I know. That was…inappropriate of me.” “Very,” I muttered, thinking my response was just as inappropriate, all things considered.

This is such a Casteel/Poppy argument

The polished black blade blurred. I blinked away the sudden wetness and swallowed, but the messy knot still clogged my throat. The emotion had nothing to do with the shadowstone. It didn’t even have to do with who I knew must have given it to me. It was just… I’d never been gifted anything in my life. Not on the Rites when gifts were often exchanged among family and friends. Not on my birthday. But I had been given a gift now—a beautiful, useful, and wholly unexpected one. And it had been a god who’d given it to me. Ash.

Aaaaaaah

She was strong, Sera. She was the kind of warrior that fought back through the grief of losing her life at such a young age. Through the loss of peace and control, no matter how badly the odds were stacked against her. That’s why you remind me of her.”

Holland 🥹

“I am known as the Asher,” he said, and I shuddered. Is it short for something? I’d asked when he told me his name. It is short for many things. “The One who is Blessed. I am the Guardian of Souls and the Primal God of Common Men and Endings.” His voice traveled through the Great Hall, and absolute silence answered. I could barely force air through my lungs. “I am Nyktos, ruler of the Shadowlands, the Primal of Death.”

Let’s fucking GOOOOOOO

“Who took part in this?”

YESSSSSS

“He seems angry.” Ector spoke over my head. “You…well, he’s been moody lately,” Saion replied, and I felt another laugh taking form. “Let him have his fun.”

Hehehehe

“You fired an arrow at me? Are you for real?” The Primal tossed the arrow aside.

I’m no expert, but I feel like an arrow won’t take out a PRIMAL, you idiot.

The Primal then turned to Tavius. “You.” Ice fell from the word. He looked down, his blood-smeared lips curling into a smirk. The breeches along the inside of Tavius’s leg had darkened. “So afraid you pissed yourself. Do you regret your actions?” Tavius said nothing. I didn’t think he could. All he could do was nod jerkily. “You should’ve thought about that before you picked up that whip,” the Primal growled. “And touched what is mine.”

I am GIDDY

“As you wish, liessa.”

I love it, I love it

“You,” I croaked. “Get everyone out of here,” the Primal ordered. “Get everyone out of here, including yourselves.”

Uhho

“How exactly have you paid for it, Princess?” he challenged, and my spine stiffened. “You were given back your life, were you not? Your freedom to choose what to do and not do with it. Something I already know you value very highly.”

He tried to give her freedom 🥺

“What led to this?” He took a measured step forward. “What did they do to you?”

AHHHH AGAINNNNNN

“But you spoke with no fear. You acted fearlessly. Each time I saw you,” he continued. “You interested me, and I hadn’t expected that. I didn’t want that. But at that lake, you were just Seraphena,” he said, and my breath snagged at the sound of my name spilling from his lips. It was the first time he’d said it. “And I was just Ash. There was no deal. No perceived obligations. You stayed simply because you wanted to. I stayed only because I wanted to. You let me touch you because that was what you wanted, not because you felt as if you had to. Maybe I should’ve told you, but I was…enjoying myself with you. I wasn’t ready for that to end.”

My heart

If he bit my hand off, I would be so very disappointed.

Hahahaha

“Actually, we were about to take little Reaver-Butt here out for some airtime.” Lailah grinned as the draken let out a squawk of agreement.

STOP IT, IT'S REAVER

“I’m here for your safety,” Ector corrected. “I’ve also heard you tend to wander off into dangerous areas.” “I don’t have a habit of roaming.” “I’m sorry. Maybe I misheard and it’s that you have a habit of entering places without making sure they’re secure.”

Hehehe

Unnerved, I didn’t realize that Ash had stopped until I walked straight into his back. I gasped. “Sorry—” Ash jerked, air hissing between his teeth. That sound. My gaze flew to his face. Tension bracketed his mouth—his eyes had darkened to a steel gray, and the white aura had brightened behind his pupils. Instinct urged that I take a step back because the sound he’d made reminded me of a wounded animal. Was he hurt? I reached for him out of a different kind of instinct, like I had when I’d come upon the kiyou wolf. Immediately, I thought of the Shades. “Are you okay?” “Don’t,” he snapped.

Nooo, sad male backstory incominggggg

“My interest in you is a very real, very potent need.” His fingers skimmed the curve of my jaw and then the line of my throat. They stopped over my wildly beating pulse. “It’s almost as if it’s become its own thing. A tangible entity. I find myself thinking about it at the most inconvenient moments,” he said, his breath dancing over my lips. Against my better judgement, anticipation sank into my muscles, tightening them. “I find myself recalling the taste of you on my fingers a little too frequently.”

Nyktos… please.

“So, keep that in mind the next time you doubt the realness of my interest,” he warned. “Because I won’t have you up against a wall. I will have you on your back, under me, and neither of us will remember our fucking names.” He pressed a kiss to my pounding pulse. “Are we clear, liessa?”

Lordy

“Why, as a grown woman who has been introduced as your Consort, would I need an escort?” I questioned. “Why, as a grown woman, would you enter residences without making sure they were empty first?” he countered.

Hehehe

Three days later, the dull ache had returned, settling in my temples. Along with the faint traces of blood when I brushed my teeth.

Culling?

Behind me, Rhain chuckled. “Are you worried Daddy Nyktos will be upset with you for allowing her in here and send you to bed without your supper?”

Heh

Cracking open the door, I peered out into the hall, half surprised not to find Ector standing there. I didn’t waste a second. I quietly closed the doors behind me and crept out into the hall.

Rookie error you guys

I remembered Ash’s warning, but how dangerous could they be when no gate or wall separated the woods from Haides?

ugh

“Thirty-six.” My eyes fluttered open. “What?” “Freckles,” he said, his cheeks…pinker than usual. “You have thirty-six of them on your face.”

Stoppppppppp it's tOO CUTE

“Slept beside someone?” “That. Or anything really. Not with Veses. Not with anyone. I’ve never lain with anyone before.”

The MALE is the virgin?!??! I never thought I'd see the day

My attention shifted to him, and I caught sight of Jadis hopping after Reaver, nipping at his tail. I didn’t think I’d ever seen something stranger…or more adorable.

The fact that I know what happens here makes me so sad

He tasted of smoky whiskey and the coldest hour of night.

He tasted of what?

“What are you up to?” Ash asked, his voice deeper and full of shadows.

Hehehe, get readdddddyyyy