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

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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.

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

“When I get nervous, I ramble. And when I feel threatened or am told what to do, I get angry,” I whispered. “I’ve been told on more than one occasion that my mouth would get me into trouble one day and that I should take heed.”

Relatable

“Child, the Fates know you were touched by life and death, creating something that should not be. How could she be anything but afraid?”

“What truly scares you, liessa?” he asked, and I thought…I thought I heard a hint of approval in his voice. “If I do not?”

“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.”

“One of the bravest things to do is to accept the aid of others.”

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.” “You. You came from love.” “And do you truly believe I am something good?

The sudden rush of power I felt that came with the knowledge that he was the Primal of Death and I made him shake.

You carry the ember of life in you, Sir Holland’s voice whispered through me. You carry hope within you. You carry the possibility of a future.

“But I also saw her. I saw them. A Chosen and a descendant of the First.” The eather burned brightly in Penellaphe’s eyes as they met mine. “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.”

“‘And so it will begin with the last Chosen blood spilled, the great conspirator birthed from the flesh and fire of the Primals will awaken as the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction to the lands gifted by the gods. Beware, for the end will come from the west to destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between.’”

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