A Light in the Flame (Flesh and Fire, #2)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Nyktos’s chest rose sharply against my back. “You like it,” he said, sounding a bit awed—maybe shocked. But he also sounded very interested as he drew a hand to my hip. “You like it like this.” I was trapped. Dominated. Vulnerable to his whims. And I…I more than just liked it. I felt damp desire hitting me, because it was his whims I was open to. It was he who was taking control.

Oh lordy

“Like what?” His voice was a heated whisper against my ear. “Being dominated?” I gave a full-body shudder as tension curled wickedly in the pit of my stomach. “I like…submitting to you.”

Let 's GOOOOOOO

The only warning I had was the brush of his nose, and then I felt a scrape on the side of my throat. He didn’t pierce the skin or draw my blood, but the feel of his fangs, sharp and ready at my vein, sent me over the edge.

Uhm. Yeah. Wow.

“And, finally, you make it sound like it’s impossible for Lathan to have had anxiety.” “Because a godling is powerful. Strong. Whatever.” “You have embers of life in you. Primal embers.” His leg brushed mine underwater as he angled his body toward me. “You’re strong. Lathan was just as recklessly brave as you are. None of that has anything to do with the mind.”

This is nice

but he’d said I was strong. Not the embers. Me. And that mattered. Because it reminded me that I mattered.

My soul

That was all I could do as the cyclone of water arced and tipped over. A sound that was half-shriek, half-laugh left me as the funnel came down, pelting me as if I had been caught in a heavy rainstorm. I staggered back, shoving the hair from my face. “Okay, that’s not fair.” “I know.” Grinning, I drifted closer to him. “Do it again.” Nyktos laughed. “So demanding.” But he did it again. And again.

SO SWEET

“The poppies,” I whispered. “The poisonous, temperamental poppies that remind you of me.” “The powerful, beautiful poppies that also remind me of hope,” Nyktos replied, his thumb smoothing under my lower lip before returning to my hip. “Those poppies are the hope of life. The power of those embers. Proof that life cannot be defeated, not even in death.”

AHHHHHHHHHHH

Dark silver eyes locked onto mine, and I felt that same sweeping motion in my chest and stomach as he said, “She’s very important to me, Nektas.” “I know,” the draken responded.

Ahhhh

“I’ll be waiting for you, liessa.”

Why do I think this is going to go very badly

“That’s Kayleigh Balfour.

That's Poppy's last name!!!

You okay? Now, the question was loaded with meaning because not only the Pools of Divanash knew a secret not known to others. Nektas did, too.

To be fair, out of everyone to know, uncle Nektas is good one

“Not everyone can always be okay,” he said quietly. “And if you happen to find that you’re not, you can talk to me. We’ll make sure you’re okay. Agreed?”

First tear

“I knew this trip felt too uneventful.”

For real

And for him to demand that I seek pleasure from no one else? How dare he?

I refuse to believe it. I REFUSE.

She had his blood in her. Did she have anything else inside her? With her gown, I couldn’t—

I REFUSE.

Red marked his throat. Puncture wounds.

I don't understand

“Because I’ve seen them together before.” I stopped breathing, just for a few seconds as I stared at her, and then I dragged in a deep breath, holding it as the realization that what I’d seen hadn’t been a one-off thing sank in.

WHAT IS HAPPENING. AND TO THINK I PUT HIM HIGH ON MY LIST. THE... BETRAYAL.

“If you say that because I must become your Consort, I understand all the reasons why. But I will be that in name only. And once you remove the embers and Kolis is defeated, I want out of this. I want my freedom. That’s the deal I should’ve made with you.”

WHERE IS NEKTAS WHEN YOU NEED HIM

black leathers and a midnight-colored tunic

Lol

“I have many perverse pleasures,” Attes admitted. “But I wanted to make sure you remembered what I told you when we first met.” His steps slowed. “That while I found your sharp tongue to be refreshing, and even alluring,” he said, his cool silver eyes meeting mine, “others will not. Especially those you will find here at Cor Palace.”

Good reminder

“What is your name?” “It does not matter,” the young draken said. “It does,” I whispered, my eyes blurring. “No,” he said quietly. “It is not a name you need to remember.”

This is heartbreaking

“Thad,” he repeated sleepily. “My name is Thad.”

THAD. It's THADDDDD

“I feel too many things. Curiosity and excitement that remind me of what I think yearning must feel like. Need. Want,” he said roughly, his voice low. “Amusement at times. Sometimes, even anger. But always awe. I am always in awe of you. I could keep going, but most of all, what I feel is the closest thing to peace I’ve ever experienced.”

I am struggling with my emotions

“What was the price?” I asked hoarsely. “He agreed to…service her needs with his blood. To feed her whenever she desired.”

I KNEW THERE HAD TO BE A REASON

“Besides the fact that she’s a Primal, and you cannot actually kill her?” he said. “You have a coronation to get to.” “I can try.” I sidestepped him. “And still accomplish both. It’s called multitasking.”

Hahahahahh

Maybe only indigestion.

HAHAAAHHA

Aios stood next to who I believed was Kars, the muscular, fair-haired guard who’d offered to watch over me. Aios’s gown was sleeveless and an emerald green.

Why do I feel like JLA is naming people so I know who is going to die

And I knew right then, as I stood there trembling, who he was to me. He wasn’t Nyktos. He never had been. He was Ash, and I… I was in love with him.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy

The Primal of Rebirth faced us once more, and that smile returned. An old smile. Knowing. Clever. The embers in my chest hummed. She inclined her head and then looked at Ash. “Your father would be so proud of you.”

Blessssss

A storm of emotions flooded me. I didn’t feel fear or disbelief as I looked at him. I felt wonder. A wild fluttering in my chest and stomach. A need for him that went beyond the physical. A powerful empathy for him—the need to protect him even though he was more than capable of doing that himself. A feeling of rightness, or as Aios had said, the feeling of being at home. Of being seen. The knowledge that I’d do anything for him. Anything. The fear that I would never be worthy of what he had sacrificed for me. And the determination that I would do everything to be that. I was drowning in all those feelings until my heart began to pound with the intensity of what I felt—with the knowledge that it was he who held my heart—only him.

Beautiful

She fed from me. Sometimes, she made it pleasurable. Other times, it burned like the Abyss. And if I disagreed with where she wanted to feed from, it was almost always the latter in terms of how she did it. I actually preferred when it was that way. It was far better than the alternative. Gaining any sort of pleasure from her was—and is—the last thing I want. But the only thing of mine she has ever had in her is my blood.”

Fkn bitch

“I wish…” Voice thickening, he trailed off into the darkness, never finishing what he’d been about to say. Telling me what he wished for.

I bet he wishes he could love

“That’s it?” Frowning, I glanced at Ash. “But he has fed from me.” The odd little smile faded from Delfai’s lips. “He must feed until the last drop of blood is taken. Until there is nothing but the embers left. Then, they will transfer to him. He will Ascend. But you…” He sighed. “You will not survive. You will die.”

Should have seen this coming

“Perhaps there is a silver beast and a brightest moon. Two. Not one,” he rambled. “Two then one.”

Sotoria's soul dies and Sera's lives on?

“It’s not,” I insisted. “This isn’t right or fair, but you know what you have to do, Ash.”

Could he not just bring her back to life once the embers are in him?

“Even if you had your kardia, Ash, there was no guarantee you’d love me—” “Yes, there is.” His eyes were wide and wild as he caught my wrists. “I would’ve loved you if I could have. There would’ve been no stopping me.”

My heart

“When it comes time,” I whispered, “can you take me to my lake? I want it to be done there.” Ash’s chest stilled against mine. His eyes slammed shut as the tendons of his throat stood out, and his features sharpened and thinned. “I promise.”

Proper tears

Ector.

No

The color of wine.

NO

Tension settled in the corners of his mouth. “You shouldn’t thank me yet.” I stared up at him as the breath I drew in went…nowhere. Every part of my being rebelled against the instinct suddenly screaming at me. “Why?” I cried. His stare was expressionless. “Because this is the only way.”

I freaking trusted you

realms. A shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, to become a fire in the flesh,’”

Book naaaaaaames

“That was why you waited. For me to be crowned?” “Yes.” “Then why did you delay—?” Bringer of life to mortal, god, and draken. My stomach cramped. “You needed me to restore the draken’s life.”

oooohhhh

Because Attes had been playing us even then with Thad’s life.

Dick. I'm still mad about this

And the great powers will stumble and fall, some all at once, and they will fall through the fires into a void of nothing. Those left standing will tremble as they kneel, will weaken as they become small, as they become forgotten. For finally, the Primal rises, the giver of blood and the bringer of bone, the Primal of Blood and Ash.’”

Kolis, my guy... You aren't moonlight... Why would this apply to you?

‘A silver beast with blood seeping from its jaws of fire,

Why do I feel like this has something to do with her toothache