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August 9 - August 15, 2025
I’d locked eyes with the creature, terrified that it would rip me apart. But all it had done before loping off was look at the pile of rocks in my arms as if I were some sort of idiot child.
“You may not be Chosen, but you were born into this realm, shrouded in the veil of the Primals. A Maiden as the Fates promised. And you shall leave this realm touched by life and death,”
circle me like one of the large, silver hawks I’d often spotted above the trees of the Dark Elms.
become his weakness, make him fall in love, and then end him.”
A circle with a line through it. The symbol filled each stone tile. Having never seen it before, I wasn’t sure what it meant.
And when he’d granted King Roderick’s request, this was the price the Primal of Death had requested: the firstborn daughter of the Mierel bloodline as his Consort.
Make him fall in love, become his weakness, and end him.
“You’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you?” Feisty? Little? Thing? I was neither little nor a thing, but I was feeling all kinds of feisty.
I guess I’ll add this to the ever-growing list of things I end up regretting.”
But since saving your life is still interfering with my evening plans, I want to make sure my generous and benevolent actions are worth what I lost by coming to your aid.”
“There isn’t a decent bone in the entirety of my body. So, no, I do not have this thing you call common decency.”
We’d kissed out of necessity, and it had been pleasant. Okay. It had been more than that, and I feared I’d inevitably spend my life comparing every future kiss to this one, but none of that explained the bizarre feeling I had that I shouldn’t be walking away from him. But I did.
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.
“What drowns out that fear and pushes you to run so eagerly toward death?”
Make him fall in love, become his weakness, and end him.
Tilting his head to the side, dark hair slid across his cheek. “You stabbed me.”
“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?”
“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.”
It was a kiyou wolf.
I’d only seen one up close; when I was half the size I was now. The white wolf.
It is a gift given by the King of Gods, one that should be held close to your heart and only ever used when you’re ready to become who you were destined to be. Until then, you are not a Primal. Play as one, and the Primals might think you are.”
“You still could’ve said something so I wasn’t just standing there—” “Like a goddess made of silver and moonbeams, rising from the depths of the darkest lake?” he finished.
“In case you’re wondering,”—his voice was a kiss against my skin—“this is me intentionally staring.”
“It’s amazing to witness.” “What is?” “These moments when you suddenly remember what I am. Is this another attempt to use common sense?” I lifted my chin a notch. “Unfortunately.” “Is it not going well again?” “Not exactly.”
“You lie so prettily,”
“Why haven’t you left, liessa?”
“I want to kiss you, even though there is no reason for me to other than I want it.” The heated intensity of his stare held mine. “I would even go as far as to say I need to.”
He was…he was like the brightest star and the deepest night sky given mortal form. And he was utterly beautiful in this form, wholly terrifying.
“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.”
Oh Nyktos you sure know how to make an entrance
“He seems angry.” Ector spoke over my head.
The commentary from Ector and Scion is epic and hilarious
“You should’ve thought about that before you picked up that whip,” the Primal growled. “And touched what is mine.”
“Do not allow this to leave a mark.”
“You will not die by my hands, but I will have your soul for an eternity to do with as I see fit. And I have a lot of ideas.” He winked as he patted the mortal’s cheek. “Something to look forward to. For both of us.”
“And don’t call me that.” I frowned. “Nyktos? That’s your name.” “I am not that to you.”
“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
...more
If he bit my hand off, I would be so very disappointed.
“I have so many questions.”
“You lie so prettily,” he murmured. “So easily.”
“I’m still the same person who sat beside you at the lake.” His balm-covered fingers slid up my shoulders. “You know that, right?”
Quite a few Primals enjoy…pushing me.”
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.
“Does anything happen to the mortal when a Primal or god feeds off them?” “No. Not if we’re careful. Obviously, a mortal may feel the effects of the feeding more than any of us would, and if we were to take too much, then…well, it would be a tragedy if they were not third sons or daughters.” Her lips tensed. “It’s forbidden to Ascend them—to save them.” Curiosity trickled through me. “Why?” Tension bracketed her mouth. “They would become what we call demis—a being with godlike power that was never meant to carry such a gift…and burden. They are something else.”
“Ash?” Ector repeated. His brows rose. “I didn’t know you two were on that kind of name basis.”
I am not that to you.
“What does…meyaah Liessa mean?” That eyebrow seemed to climb even higher. “It means my Queen.”
His gaze slid back to mine. “I am sorry, Seraphena.” The way he said my name, my full name… He made it sound like a sin.
“I do not prefer for us to remain strangers. To be quite blunt, Sera, I would prefer that we were once again as close as we were at the lake.”
You’d have to really make a draken mad for it to want to eat you. We’re not nearly as tasty as we probably think we are. Too many bones and not enough meat, apparently.”
“My interest in you is the furthest thing from just talk.”
