Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
I grinned.
“Did you know Primals have an extremely high tolerance?” Placing the bottle down, she glanced over her shoulder at us. I shook my head. “Well, except for me since I was born mortal.” She picked up her glass and turned. “And yes, that was unnecessary information.”
My grin spread but faltered when I saw the paleness of her face.
Seraphena drew her lower lip between her teeth and glanced between us. “Gods, this is going to go over like a ton of shadowstone covered in dakkai shit,” she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. The imagery those words created caused my lip to curl.
“Okay.” She dropped her hand. “When you were with Holland earlier, did he tell you anything about your…ancestry?”
“Only that you and I are direct descendants of the first mortal created by Eythos.”
“Come again?” Casteel snagged an arm around my waist and pulled me to him.
“I forgot to tell you that,” I said. “It didn’t seem important.”
He looked at me as if I had just said needing air to breathe wasn’t important.
“You are of the Mierel bloodline, and we descend from the first mortal.” She folded an arm across her waist. “Did he tell you why you have become who you are?”
“You mean why I’m this kind of Primal? Basically, because I’m the second daughter of that bloodline. And…” My cheeks warmed. “And because of the Joining.”
“That is all he told you?” she asked. When I nodded again, her sigh was more of a groan. “Of course, he left out vital information.”
My eyes narrowed as I recalled the back-and-forth between Lirian and Holland. “He did say it was a bit more complicated.”
Seraphena barked out a short laugh. “Complicated? That’s one way to put it.” With a frown, she picked up the small crystal ball. “What do you know about Sotoria and the Cliffs of Sorrow?”
I jolted, surprised by the question and…strangely uncomfortable. “Ian told me her story once—about her picking flowers and Kolis…” The memory of the field returned once more. I shook my head. “I thought it was just a legend, but Nektas told us it was true. Kolis fell in love with her, and when she ran from him and fell to her death, he went to his brother to have her brought back to life. But Eythos refused.”
“Love,” she huffed, stepping onto the platform. “Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with someone you only saw once?”
“No,” I said. The dream took shape in my mind again. I recognized the field now. It was the meadow at the foothills of the Cliffs. There had been a girl with deep-copper hair…picking flowers.
“Sounds kind of absurd,” Casteel said, drawing me from my thoughts.
“Agreed.” Her shoulders bunched. “But he was obsessed with her. So much so that he refused to let her go, even in death.”
“Yeah,” Casteel said with a frown. “Nektas told us that’s why Kolis stole his brother’s embers, which allowed him to become the Primal of Life. But he said Kolis couldn’t take all of them from Eythos.”
“And you ended up with some of the essence in your bloodline—in you,” I added.
She took a drink. “Did he tell you that Kolis brought Sotoria back?”
“No.” My thoughts raced. “He…brought her back after she crossed into the Vale?”
Seraphena’s head lowered. “He did once he became the Primal of Life. And he did it more than once.”
“My gods,” Casteel uttered. “What a sick fuck.”
Eather flooded her eyes as she held the paperweight in a tight grip. “Eythos tried to help Sotoria as much as he could, attempted to keep her out of Kolis’s reach. As a Primal of Death then, he could capture her soul upon her death. With the help of the Primal of Rebirth, he made sure she was reborn.”
“Wait.” I stepped to the side. “So, she died multiple times?”
Seraphena nodded.
“How?” Casteel asked, his tone flat as he gently squeezed my hip.
“The first time—well, the first time after being brought back?” She exhaled heavily. “Kolis held her captive for quite some time. She had no hope for freedom and…”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “She ended her life?”
“In a way.” Seraphena placed the crystal down instead of throwing it, which is what she looked like she wanted to do. “Sotoria was reborn many times—the exact number is unknown. But since first learning about all of this, I discovered that every life ended either at Kolis’s hands or because of him. She could not escape him. Not in life or death.”
Nausea churned as I took a step forward, needing…I didn’t know what I needed. Space? Something. The strange discomfort and unease grew as Casteel’s gaze sharpened on me. I moved around the sitting area, seeing the Cliffs in my mind. “Why are we talking about Sotoria?”
“Because the three of us are connected.” She halted by the middle of the table. “We share the same blood.”