The War of Two Queens (Blood And Ash, #4)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“You have faced Craven and vamprys, men wearing masks of mortal flesh. Stared down Atlantians who’ve wanted to harm you, seized cities, and freed me,” he said, touching my cheek. “You’re more than a Queen. More than a goddess on the verge of becoming a Primal. You’re Penellaphe Da’Neer, and you’re fearless.”

Kieran’s arm flew out in a flash. I saw a glint of bloodstone, and then the hilt of the dagger was flush with Callum’s chest. “Thank you,” he growled, jerking the dagger up and out. “Fucker.”

A rough laugh came from Millicent as Callum hit the floor. “Never gets old,” she said, stepping over his body. “He recovers fast, though. Go for his stupid head next time.”

Isbeth screamed—and, gods, that was the sound of pure anguish. She brought the dagger down—into Malec’s chest. His heart. My mouth dropped open. Isbeth had… She’d stabbed Malec in the heart with shadowstone.

The golden, now-bloody Revenant. Callum smiled. A nearly overwhelming sense of dread exploded in my chest as Callum slowly turned his head toward me. He clasped his hands together, bowing. “Thank you.”

“You succeeded where she didn’t,” Callum said. “And I’ve been waiting a long time for you. He’s been waiting for the sacrifice. The balance the Arae always insist upon. Waiting for the one born of mortal flesh, on the verge of becoming a great Primal power. You arrived as promised, but…” He extended his arm. “But you weren’t the only one. As long as both shared the blood of the Primal of Life and were loved, it would restore him. She just needed you—someone of his bloodline—to find Malec. We all know that Ires surely wouldn’t have done that. We’d have had to free him. And, well, he’s kind of…pissy, to say the least.”

“Then what is this?” Millicent demanded. “Who is the Harbinger?” “She is the Harbinger.” Callum’s head swung to her. “The warning.” His eyes widened. “What did you think, dear? That she was the one who would destroy the realms?” He glanced at me. “A Primal born of mortal flesh? Her?” His laugh echoed through the valley. “Seriously?”

“It should’ve been you on the altar. That was the plan. That is what all of this has been about. You.” He pointed to Millicent and then to me. “And you. Yeah, we’ll have to deal with you later.” Callum winked. “But now, it’s time.” “Time for what, you silly fuck?” Kieran snarled, grasping the hilt of his sword. The Revenant’s eyes closed. “Time to bow to the one True King of the Realms.”

“This whole time, he too has slept fitfully. Kept well fed under the Temple of Theon.” Kieran’s skin blanched as a shudder rocked me. “The children,” I gasped. “The extra Rite.” “He had to be strong enough to awaken, and he was.” Callum dragged his teeth along his lower lip. “When you shed the mortal flesh and began your Ascension, it freed him. And soon, when Malec takes his final breath, he will be at his full strength. All these years—all these centuries and centuries—he’s been waiting. Sleeping even more restlessly after your birth. Sensing you, feeling you. He’s been waiting and waiting for the proverbial key to his lock, for his…pretty poppy to pick and watch bleed.”

Death. Destruction. Stale lilacs. Oh, my gods. The dread exploded into panic as I jerked to the side. “

“Not something.” Callum rolled onto his side, the wound…dear gods, the ragged hole in his chest still there, though no longer oozing blood. “The True King’s guards. The dakkai.”

wasn’t enough time to explain everything. “It’s Malec. He’s dying. That’s what’s causing this. He dies, and Kolis will be at full strength.” “If that happens, we will all pray for death. Get to him. Now,” Reaver said,

She had begged me to wake her. How could the Consort be so powerful? Because she was no Consort. She held my stare and smiled, and I…I understood. She, too, had been waiting.

I planted my palms against the stone, and my hands sank into the rock as I threw my head back and screamed the name. Not that of the King of Gods, but the Queen of Gods. The true Primal of Life.

I lifted my eyes, seeing a strange shadow before me—the outline of my head and my shoulders and two…wings. Just like the statues guarding the city of Dalos that had once protected the Primals within. Except these were made of eather, a swirling mass of light and darkness. My entire form was suddenly nothing more than crackling, flaming silver light and endless shadows.

Seraphena. The true Primal of Life. The one I’d gotten the gift of life and healing from. Not Nyktos. His gift was the shadows in my skin, the death in my touch, and the coldness in my chest.

felt was red-hot. “What you have wrought and brought upon these realms will not heal you or steal away your pain,” I said, and her other arm snapped. “It will not bring you glory, peace, or love.” Isbeth’s left and right legs broke at the knee, and I took in the pain, let it become a part of me. “And for what you have done to those of her blood, you will be erased,” I proclaimed. Blood seeped from Isbeth’s eyes. Her nose. Her mouth. “Nothing of you will be recorded in the histories that are yet to be written. You will not be known, neither for the deeds you’ve done as a mortal nor for your infamy as a Queen. You are not worthy of remembrance.”

“I can manifest clothing if I choose to do so. Reaver is not nearly old enough for that.” My brows lifted. “He’s not?” “He may be older than everything you know, but he is still a youngling,” Nektas explained, and my heart twisted, because I thought of his youngling. Jadis. “And to many, he is still Reaver-Butt.”

“Seraphena—the Consort. She’s the true Primal of Life.” “She is the heir to the lands and seas, skies and realms,” Nektas said, speaking softly. But the words…they were full of respect, and they reverberated like thunder in my chest. “The fire in the flesh, the Primal of Life, and the Queen of Gods. The most powerful Primal.” He paused. “For now.”

“And doesn’t. The Consort is the one who chose it to be this way. For her to remain unknown. Nyktos only honors it because it is as she wishes.”

“What Kolis did when he stole Eythos’s essence had catastrophic consequences. It prevented any other Primal from being born. The Consort’s Ascension was like a…cosmic restart,” he explained. “But only if a female descendant was born and Ascended would that restart begin anew. And it begins with you and your children if you choose to have them. They will be the first to be born Primal since Nyktos.”

“Because what Nyktos and the Consort did to stop Kolis—what balance the Fates demanded—meant there could be no more Primals born. The why behind that, well, there’s not enough time in the realms to go into that,” Nektas said. “But Nyktos was supposed to be the last born Primal, and the Consort would be the last Primal born of mortal flesh. You,” he said quietly, “were never supposed to be.”

Nektas’s gaze settled back on me. “You are not just a loophole. You’re many things. The Primal of Blood and Bone—the true Primal of Life and Death.” He spoke in the way he had when he’d spoken of the Consort, and the essence hummed through me. “Those two essences have never existed in one. Not in the Consort. Not in Nyktos.”

“Kolis was already awake.” Nektas nodded. “And what was done here tonight freed him.”

“You only slowed what was done, preventing Kolis from returning to full, flesh-and-bone power. But he will if left unchecked.” Nektas stared at the ashy vine, his lip curling. “His corruption is already here, tainting the lands. This is why the Primal of Life aided you in restoring life to so many. You will need every one of them if you have any hope of stopping him.”

Kolis is not the only one who has awakened. The Consort and Nyktos no longer sleep. That means the gods will be awakening all across the many Courts of Iliseeum and in the mortal realm, and many of their loyalties do not lie with the Primal of Life. The war you fought hasn’t ended. It has only just begun.”