More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
August 21 - August 30, 2025
Wavy, reddish-brown hair fell against golden-bronze cheeks as he lowered himself to one knee, placing his left hand flat on the throne room floor and his right palm over his chest. Nyktos was bowing to me. I recoiled from him. “What are you doing?”
Hehe
“Sotoria didn’t belong to him then, and Seraphena doesn’t belong to him now.” Seraphena. I could count on one hand how many people called me by my full name, and none of them spoke it like he did. As if it were a prayer and a reckoning.
Oooft
“I won’t let him lay a finger on you,” Nyktos swore, his eyes flashing. My heart tripped. While that was a nice vow for him to make, I knew it stemmed from the knowledge that I carried the embers of life in me. And because Nyktos was decent. Protective. Good. “Thanks, but I’m not worried about what will happen to me.” Nyktos’s jaw hardened. “Of course, not.”
Because he CARES for you
“What he means to say is that such a thing, a Primal of both Life and Death, is not meant to exist,” Nyktos said. “It would be unthinkable for the embers of both to thrive in one being. But if they could?” He gave a short laugh with a raise of his dark brows. “The kind of power they’d wield? It would be truly absolute. They could unravel realms in the same breath they created new ones.”
Foreshadowing
So Kolis was creating an army of mortals controlled by hunger? Unnerved, I squeezed my knees until I felt the bones beneath my fingers. “That can’t be possible.” Holland opened his mouth. “If you say that anything is possible, even the impossible, I might scream,” I warned. The Fate closed his mouth. “Mortals would fight back, even those most loyal to the gods. He’d have to battle an entire realm, and then what would be left for him to rule over?”
Aw man, I wish
“How long does the mortal realm have?” I swallowed thickly. “Once I die.” “You won’t die,” Nyktos stated as if he had the authority to make such a claim.
Bless him
“Maia,” he said, speaking of the Primal of Love, Beauty, and Fertility. “I had her remove my kardia.” Penellaphe gasped, her eyes widening with shock. “Good Fates,” she whispered. “I have known none who’ve done that.” I was obviously missing something and also getting tired of asking questions. “What is a kardia?” “It’s the piece of the soul—the spark—that all living creatures are born and die with. It allows them to love another not of their blood irrevocably, selflessly.” Penellaphe swallowed. “It must have been terribly painful to have that torn from you. To truly be unable to love.”
NYKTOS NO. WHY.
“Thank you for doing this, Ward,” I said, remembering hearing Penellaphe call him that when they first showed up. “Ward is actually my surname,” he responded. “Vikter is my name.”
STOPPPPPP
What you’ve spent your life preparing to become? What I trained you for? It wasn’t a waste.” Those dark, shining eyes held mine. “You are his weakness.”
Yesssss
But he was Nyktos now. Not Ash. He’d never be Ash to me again.
Nooooo
He smirked. “You lie so prettily.”
Why is this so hot
“You are life.” Her voice lowered…and I swore faint wisps of smoke wafted from her nostrils. “And that is the only reason you still breathe.”
Imagine the damage of just hearing over and over again that you as a person don't matter
“I think…there’s something wrong with me.” The shadows stilled under his flesh, deepening as the eather pulsed through his eyes, momentarily erasing his irises once more. His arm lifted. My breath caught as his warm fingers touched my cheek, sending a faint energy shock through me. “Because you just tore apart a god with your hands, and I found that…kind of hot.”
Hehehe
“Yeah. He smelled my blood and said it smelled like life,” I told him, inhaling slowly as I struggled to ignore the pain. “And like blood and ash.”
Your blood smells like blood? Wild
“Does my blood smell like that?” I asked as I sniffed the air. All I smelled was iron—iron and fresh citrus. My blood and Nyktos’s. “That sounds gross.” “No, your blood smells like a summer storm.” My brows pinched. How could blood smell like that? Better yet, what did that even smell like?
Hahaha
Nyktos stretched his neck, the cords and tendons there standing out starkly. “They will be the longest minutes of my life.” “Yours?” I laughed shakily, a little—or a lot—breathless from the slick rush of desire flooding me. My hand fell to his tattered shirt. Behind my palm, I felt his heart racing. My hips shifted, brushing against the thick, hard ridge of his arousal. “I can sense your need. Feel it. Taste it. You’re drowning in it.” His eyes slammed shut. “I’m fucking drowning in it.” A sharp dart of desire sliced through me. “Then drown with me.”
Smooth talking Nyktos
I wanted to remember these moments because what happened tonight had revealed a painful truth that couldn’t be denied. There would be no more of this. Because I knew what I had to do.
Dis girl is gonna try and Harry Potter herself out of the situation and hand herself in
Ships entered the city through the Black Bay, meaning they were coming from other places within Iliseeum. I was confident that I could get on a ship and then to Dalos, the City of the Gods, where Kolis held Court.
Handing herself over to Voldemort directly...
“Did you seriously just try to run?” Nyktos’s breath stirred the hair on the top of my head. “From me? Why? Why would you do that?”
It was a bit foolish, Sera
“Fuck your rules,” I spat, tremors skating through me. “And my sanity right along with them,” he bit out. “Do you even understand how close you were to death, Sera? Even if you killed the Shade above you, there were at least a dozen more waiting. If I hadn’t felt you and intervened—yet again, if I might add—” “No, you may not.” “You would be dead,” he seethed.
Heh
“They would’ve torn into you, and no amount of my blood would’ve saved you. There would’ve been nothing left of you to even bury. For me to even—” He cut himself off as the fury backing his words punched into the air around us in a wave of icy-hot energy. My eyes went wide as the ripple hit the trees above, shattering them into ash.
Oh damn.
“Tell me I’m wrong, Sera.” My muscles went weak and my neck limp. The essence bled out around him in thick tendrils of black laced with silver. Shadows churned under his skin. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me!” he shouted, the shadows spreading until his flesh was the color of midnight streaked with starlight, and the fingers around my wrists became as hard as shadowstone. “Tell me you were not going after Kolis!” “I had to.” “Wrong,” he snarled, the flash of fangs a shocking white against his skin.
Oh damn. OH DAMN.
but something deep in me, something that had been there, tightening and building for fucking years, began to crack. A messy knot of emotion seeped out, full of fear, need, shame, loneliness, sorrow, and a thousand other things I’d never been allowed to feel. Slices carved from me by all the times I’d been excluded by my family, treated like an unwanted guest, and seen as nothing more than a curse. Wounds made by my mother’s disappointment left to fester each time she looked at me as if she wished she never had to do so again. I was just a vessel full of deep scars left behind from the first
...more
Aaaah
From inside the vast cavern that had shattered open, heat rose from within the emptiness. Power. It felt like it had always been there, bright and hot, ancient and unending. Power flowed through my veins. Silvery-white light crowded my vision— I slammed my hands into his shoulders as that energy, that pure Primal essence erupted from my palms and flowed into— Nyktos.
AHHHHH
“You’re naked,” I whispered. “Does that bother you?” Nektas asked. “Maybe?” Nyktos turned his head to me. “Perhaps you shouldn’t continue staring then.” “How can I not?” I mumbled. Nektas smirked as he waved a hand. There was a brief, faint burst of light, and then only his upper body was exposed. Loose, linen pants covered the rest. “Better?” “I guess…” I blinked. Was I hallucinating? “I wasn’t asking you.” Nektas turned a pointed stare on Nyktos.
Heh
I stiffened as the smoke rapidly spread out in the space before him, quickly taking the form of his warhorse. Odin shook out his black mane as he pawed at the ash-covered ground. I’d forgotten all about the fact that his horse apparently lived in his cuff. “How is…?” I quieted when Nyktos glanced at me. “What?” “Nothing,” I muttered, attempting to quash my curiosity about how he could conjure Odin into existence from a silver cuff. I failed five seconds later. “Is that also magic?”
I like her
“Do not order me about as if I’m a child.” “I wouldn’t if you didn’t behave like one.” I saw red. “You sure as hell didn’t think I was behaving like one when you had me in your bed and your fangs in my throat!” “Whoa,” Ector murmured. Fiery, silver eyes locked with mine. “Sera.” Choking on more words I really didn’t need to speak, I stomped up the stairs like a full-grown-ass woman.
Hahaha
“Your boots are as filthy as your mouth.”
Hahaha
I stared into the darkness, quickly becoming aware of how tightly Nyktos held me. He had his arm clamped down on my waist, and the slip was an inconsequential barrier against the cold press of his flesh to my back. His chest rose and fell sharply, and his breath came in rapid, short bursts against the curve of my neck and shoulder. Was he dreaming? I tried to turn my head to look back at him, but his arm clenched, drawing me deeper against the curve of his body. “Nyktos?” I whispered. There was no answer. Concern rose. I reached down, touching the tense, corded muscle of his arm. A tremor ran
...more
Ahhhh my heart
“None of them will harbor any ill thoughts toward you now. They will see you as you are. Brave and daring.” Nyktos had lowered his head, speaking so only I could hear him. His cool breath danced over the shell of my ear, sending a shiver over my skin. “And if they still harbor any ill thoughts, they will be the last ones they ever have. No matter how loyal they are to the Shadowlands, I will destroy them.”
Ooohooh my...
I looked over my shoulder at him, my eyes narrowing. “Clever bastard,” I whispered. One side of his lips curved up. “I know.”
This made me giggle
“But you’re wrong, though,” I said. “The way to weaken and kill him is sitting right in front of you.” The eather intensified in his eyes. “You promised,” he said softly. I squirmed in the chair. “I did.” He watched me. “I’m trusting you to keep your word, Sera, and that trust is a very fragile thing.”
Don't do it Sera
“Poppies,” I whispered. The flowers that were nothing like those in the mortal realm had delicate petals the color of blood in the moonlight on the outside and were a shade of crimson on the inside. They only opened when someone approached them. Poisonous, beautiful flowers that were unpredictable and temperamental and reminded him of me.
And, it seems, your granddaughter
“I know you’re strong and can fight. That you’re brave. Needing me or anyone to look out for you doesn’t mean you’re weak, that you can’t defend yourself, or that you’re afraid. We all need someone to watch over us.” Heat crawled up my throat. “Do you?” “Desperately,” he whispered.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh my soul
Stay here, Seraphena.” I decided at that very moment, when he said my name like that, that I wanted to punch him. In the throat. Hard. Nyktos stopped at the door once more, looking over his shoulder. “I’ll check in with you later. Until then,” he said, his eyes meeting mine, “behave.” “Yes, Your Highness.” I bowed. “I wouldn’t want to be grounded.” Out in the hall, someone—likely Ector—choked loudly.
Heh
Over his shoulder, I saw Rhain and Ector steadily slinking toward the doors.
Stay for the drama, boys
“One of you please retrieve a bowl of clean water and a cloth for me. The other needs to leave.” “You know, I think I’ll get that stuff for you and then make myself…scarce.” Rhain backed up, grabbing Ector’s arm. “Come, be scarce with me.” “That’s probably a good idea.” Ector pivoted. “He’s got the scary face again.”
These guys
“That was not two minutes,” I panted. “That was two years.”
Draken shenanigans
“What’s wrong with the gown, Your Highness?” “Everything.” I inhaled sharply, no longer feeling all that pretty in the gown. Nektas’s brow pinched with confusion as he glanced at me. “I see nothing wrong with it.” “Of course, you wouldn’t,” Nyktos muttered, leaning back in his chair. “I find it to be many things,” Nektas offered, “none of which are wrong. I could list them for you…”
Every book needs a Nektas
Nyktos was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think you have to know someone to feel a certain way toward them. I don’t even think you have to truly know someone to miss them.” “Really?” “I miss many I barely know. The experiences never shared. The history never made.” His fingers stilled on the desk. “The memories never created.” “The past that’s never mourned.”
Bless
“Perhaps I should’ve left with Nektas. I wonder if he would’ve…enjoyed putting me down for a nap. He did seem to like my gown.” That got his attention.
My god, Sera
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it not odd that so many with the same exact name died today?” Nyktos said nothing. A grin tugged at my lips. “You were pretending to still be writing names, weren’t you?”
Hahahahahaha
A deep divot in his right cheek appeared first, and then an identical one in his left.
Oooh could this be Casteel’s ancestor?
“My want of you isn’t something I can’t control. It’s a choice. I have the courage to admit that, and you don’t. Now, if you will excuse me—” “No.” Nyktos’s hands landed on my hips, stopping me. He stared up at me, his eyes swirling, burning spheres. “You are not excused.”
Ooohoohoooooo
“Sera.” I thought I heard Nyktos whisper my name as I began to doze off. “You were never a ghost to me.”
My souuuuulllll
“Have you asked him about Lethe?” Nektas asked. “Have you shown any interest in learning these things?” I opened my mouth, but I…I hadn’t asked. Nektas eyed me. “When Ash decided to honor the deal his father made, he didn’t want to force any of the responsibilities of being a Consort—something he knew you never agreed to—onto you. If he’d learned you were interested, I’m sure he would’ve volunteered whatever information you wanted to know. Instead, he learned that you never had any intention of fulfilling that deal either. That you had other plans.” My jaw snapped shut. “Even though he
...more
Uncle Netkas over here throwing about all his wisdom
I turned to Nyktos. “Did you use compulsion?” “No.” He laughed softly. “I think I just scared him.”
Hehehe
“You didn’t think I’d succeed at killing him?” “I wasn’t quite sure you’d succeed at the whole making-him-fall-in-love part,” she corrected. “Wow,” I muttered. “You are a bit…temperamental. And those around you do have a tendency to end up stabbed,” she began with a sheepish grin. “I figured you’d probably get yourself killed by growing impatient and just stabbing him.” Nyktos barked out a short laugh. “Now, that was incredibly astute.”
Hahaha
“Why did you visit my lake if you had this?” Nyktos was quiet for so long that I looked at him. He was still staring at the pool. “Because it was your lake.”
I genuinely awww'd out loud
“That’s how I’ll get free.” Eather seeped into his eyes as that lush, full mouth tilted up at the corners. “Is that your grand battle plan when you have no access to weapons? Speak of cocks?”
Hahaha
