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

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“I don’t know why Ires took her. She was young when we went to sleep. And when she was awakened, she would’ve been untested. It wouldn’t have been safe for her.” I felt the strange urge to defend a man I didn’t know. “Maybe he didn’t think it would be dangerous.” Reaver huffed, and I swore I saw faint wisps of smoke coming from his mouth. “I think…I think he knew something had happened to his brother and went to look for him. Malec was lost to us long before we realized,” he said, his words similar to what Nektas had told me. “But Malec was Ires’s twin. So alike as children, you couldn’t tell them apart. As they grew older, their differences became clear,” he said, his rough, unused voice turning distant. “Ires was cautious and thoughtful in everything, while Malec was reckless and didn’t often stop to think of what he’d done until afterward. Ires was content in Iliseeum, but Malec had grown restless, visiting the mortal world as the deities slowly built Atlantia. Because both he and Ires were born in this realm, he could come, but that was not without its limitations. The longer he stayed, the more his power lessened. Still, he chose to stay, even knowing what he would have to do to stay strong.” That lessening of his power must explain why no Primal notam existed between Malec and all the wolven like they had with me. “How did he stay strong?” “He had to feed, Liessa.” One eyebrow rose as Reaver looked down at me. “He had to feed often. Any blood would do for a god or a ...