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

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Veses. The Primal of Rites and Prosperity was in Nyktos’s lap. Touching him. Riding him. Feeding from his throat.

I trembled as I took a step forward, my mouth opening. The sound that came from me hurt my ears, and with it came a tidal wave of pain and fury and power—ancient, infinite power. Unleashed. The stone table shattered into ashes.

“You’ve got to stop this, Nyktos.” Black dust fell against his cheeks and into his reddish-gold hair. “Before it’s too late.”

They were protecting you.” “They were choking me.” “They were trying to cover you, to keep you safe. Okay, let me explain it this way,” Rhain said when he saw my look of disbelief. “Primals are a part of the very fabric of the realms. The roots keep them connected to the realms while they rest. Understand?”

“I am not combative.” She raised her brows. “I’m…assertive.” “Aggressively assertive,” she countered. “As you should be—as all of us need to be. So, no shame there.”

“I shouldn’t be talking about this because I don’t know what the hell I saw the day I walked in on them. I mean, I know what I saw, but I don’t get it.”

“Or, at the very least, discussed who else you would be sharing such intimacies with so I could be prepared in case I happened to walk in on something hours after telling you that I wanted to be your Consort.” He flinched.

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.” Eather churned in his eyes. “Is that the deal you’re asking for now?”

“Yes.” Nyktos went completely still. “Then so be it,” he said, and the words felt like an oath. A bond. Unbreakable.

“As I told you before, I quite enjoyed the more…reckless side of your nature.” I was still on the outside. Inside, however, I trembled. “But this?” He lowered his hand to the surface of his desk. “This was how you were raised to be, wasn’t it?” I sucked in a breath. “Pliable. Submissive. Quiet.” He paused. “Empty.”

“Don’t say it,” I warned as he took a step forward. “The—” Reaver expanded his wings, startling me. I leaned back as he stretched out his thin neck and lifted his head. Nyktos drew up short as a low rumble radiated from Reaver’s chest, and smoke wafted from his nostrils. Stunned, I stared at the small draken.

“That’s a good Reaver-Butt.” Reaver hummed as he eyed Nyktos. He made a low, chattering sound.

“He’s protecting you.” I frowned at the back of Reaver’s head. “You’re not going to do anything to me.” Nyktos sighed. “He knows that, but he’s just letting me know that he doesn’t appreciate me upsetting you.”

“I’m Kolis’s graeca.” Aios’s chest rose with a sharp breath. “That’s impossible.” “I have Sotoria’s soul,”

“Eythos knew what he was doing when he put her soul in with the embers. He was creating a…a weapon. I am Kolis’s weakness. If I’d made it to him, I could’ve stopped him. That is why I left.”

“You are…you are very strong. I hope you know that. But I wish you didn’t have to know.”

“What does is whether or not Kolis is capable of loving again, even his graeca. And he’s not. There’s nothing but rot and decay where his kardia should be. Kolis has no weakness.”

I curled my hands into fists. “I wasn’t pretending to be infatuated with you.” Nyktos eyed me. “You weren’t pretending at all.” The back of my neck tingled. “That wasn’t what I was saying.” “I know, but that doesn’t change the truth of it. It was never an act. None of it.” I sucked in a shrill breath. “Congratulations on realizing that when it’s too late,” I snapped.

“Because why would you want that from me—want more— when you know I’m incapable of giving you what you deserve.” “And what is it that I deserve?” “Someone who loves you, unconditionally and irrevocably. Someone who had the courage to allow themselves to feel that,”

“You do not belong to him. You do not belong to anyone,” he bit out. “If he recognizes you as Sotoria, he will try to keep you. I will not allow that to happen.”

“If Kolis recognizes me as Sotoria, I don’t want you to intervene.”

“I cannot be the cause of a war that will destroy cities and end in countless deaths. I would never be free then. Whatever life I had wouldn’t bring me any joy, knowing that,” I said, my voice trembling. “I couldn’t live with it. I would be as good as dead. I know the embers are important, but—”

“It is not only the fucking embers that are important, Sera. You.” He inhaled sharply as I jolted. “You are important. And what you ask of me is to walk away, leaving you to not only certain death but also with Kolis. If Aios told you all, then you know what that will entail. And you also have to know that it will be far worse for you because ...

Letting Kolis destroy yet another innocent—destroy you—will take what is left of that goodness. I will become something far worse than Kolis.”

“I will see you again.” I believed him. I just hoped it wasn’t at the beginning of a war.

“Just remember, no matter what happens, a part of you is good. That cannot be tainted by what may come. You are not a monster. And you will not be one when we return.”

“Then all of us, those good and bad, are a little monstrous,” he said.

I’d been about to beg him to use compulsion, and he must have known that. Instead, he’d kissed me. And he kept kissing me.

“I sense no…soul.” Attes’s head swung sharply back toward the fallen god. “That’s impossible.” “And I see none.” Nyktos steered me farther away from the fallen god. He looked at the other Primal. “Either his soul hasn’t left his body yet or he has none. I would know.” “Yeah, you would.”

“I think you find some perverse pleasure in irritating Nyktos.” “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.”

“Why did you kill Kyn’s guards?”

“They were taking young ones years out from entering their Culling to their encampments,” he said, and a rumble of disapproval radiated from Nyktos and against my back.

“Why is the wolf the crest?” “My family has always been…partial to wolves,” he explained after a moment. “My father once told me that there was no other creature as loyal or protective as a wolf. Or spiritual. He saw them as he saw himself. As a guardian.”

“I keep seeing silver hawks. Like the night in the Dying Woods. There was one then.” “That’s impossible.” Nyktos’s fingers began to move once more, trailing in idle circles along my hip and waist. “You were lucky to see one in the Red Woods, but not even a hawk would enter the Dying Woods.”

Kolis, the false King and true Primal of Death, entered.

They were the same yet opposites, one whose beauty had been designed to be infinite in its finality, to strike fear in your heart. And the other whose beauty was nothing more than a pretense. A façade. A trap.

Nyktos smiled, and my stomach tumbled at the mockery of such a gesture. “I will do to you what you have done to those who dare to touch those who belong to you.”

And it was only then that I allowed myself to feel any sort of relief. I didn’t look like Sotoria. Because Kolis didn’t recognize me.

“I didn’t like his tone.” Kolis snorted. “It is not Dyses I’m speaking of. He’ll be fine.” “Unfortunately, I don’t think he will be,” Nyktos said. “Considering I removed his heart.” The false King’s smile grew then, flashing teeth, and my unease ramped up. “Yes, well, we will see about that, too.”

“Who else could it have been? Only the Primal of Life can Ascend a god,” Nyktos said. My breath snagged in my throat as the air in the atrium became hot, thick, and humid. The gold in Kolis’s eyes brightened. “What are you suggesting, Nyktos?” “I believe that he’s suggesting that only one person could’ve been capable of such a miraculous event,” Attes said. “You.”

“I would advise you to be more thoughtful in voicing your concerns, Hanan, lest you find yourself falling out of my favor.” Kolis echoed Nyktos’s earlier words. “And it would be considerably unwise to do so when there is another who could take your place.” “Yes, Your Majesty,” Hanan said, clearly shaken. “Leave my sight.” The tendrils spun along the dais. “And do not return until I summon you.”

“We truly didn’t think it would be a cause for concern because Nyktos did believe you to be too busy for such things. But it was I who was the cause, and I am deeply regretful.”

“You are…brave, Seraphena, to admit such a thing to me, the King. That alone would make you most worthy. But I will have you prove yourself to me.”

“I don’t understand.” Kolis inclined his head. “A life is owed to me to pay for the dishonor.” “But he…” I gestured at the draken, swallowing. “What has he done?” “Nothing,” Kyn bit out.

“And if I…if I don’t?” I asked. Nyktos turned to me, his face bloodless. “You will refuse the coronation?” “He will kill me instead,” the draken spoke then as he looked up at the false King. “And then he’ll kill you. But not before he summons a draken from the Shadowlands to also be killed.” Kolis chuckled softly. “I detect no lies.”

His eyes met mine. Resigned. “Do it,” he said quietly. “I am prepared to enter Arcadia where my family awaits me.” The horror clamped my throat shut. He truly expected this, and that…that made it worse. “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.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. The draken gave a curt nod and then closed his eyes.

I met Kolis’s stare, and while it was my lips that curved, it was Sotoria who smiled as I paid the price.

His gaze flew to mine. “Meyaah Liessa,” he rasped.

“You’ll be safe here to rest.” He nodded, eyes closing. “Thad.” “Excuse me?” I questioned. “Thad,” he repeated sleepily. “My name is Thad.”