A Fire in the Flesh (Flesh and Fire, #3)

“I am under the impression it varies. Odin didn’t appear until a few years after I became a Primal of Death.”

“A few years? That’s annoying.” Bele rolled her eyes. “Anyway, we heard that Kolis was out of commission from some god named Elias, but we didn’t let him say much more before we bound his mouth.”

I blinked. “Before you did what?”

“We tied him up and bound his mouth,” she repeated. “Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t know him. None of us does. All that we know is that Attes popped in, dropped the asshole off with his gold-painted face, and then said he’d be back before any of us could even address the fact that that fucker was here.”

“Oh, my gods,” I muttered as Ash made a noise that sounded a lot like a laugh. “Elias is not a bad guy. And Attes…I’m not explaining all that again.” I shot Ash a glare. “Is Nektas here? He would know all of this.”

“Nektas is doing his draken thing.”

“As if he couldn’t have shifted into his mortal form at any point to tell you all that Elias didn’t need to be bound?” I started walking toward the Temple, where I assumed Bele had come from.

“Yeah, he could have. He didn’t.” Bele fell into step beside Ash and me. “Look, the god’s alive. No harm. No foul.”

I wasn’t sure tying someone up fell under no harm, no foul.

“By the way, I apparently have even more bad news for you.” Bele glanced at me. “Veses is—”

“Freed. I know. I saw her,” I said. “Was anyone hurt?”

Bele shook her head. “We didn’t even realize she had escaped at first. Went down there and saw that she’d basically chewed her damn arms off. I think she was more concerned with getting the hell out of there than vengeance.”

So Veses had been telling the truth.

The trees thinned out, revealing more of the old Temple I now saw sat below some rocky cliffs.

“See.” Bele gestured at the sweeping columns. “The god is alive.”

I did see Elias. It was kind of hard to miss him since they’d tied him to the middle pillar of the Corinthian-style Temple, bound at the legs, arms, and mouth. But it was the shadows falling over the Temple that drew my attention. Two draken flew overhead, the larger of the two the black-and-gray-scaled one. Branches along the tops of the nearby trees swayed as Nektas circled the lowest cliff overlooking the Temple, while the onyx-hued draken slowed, extending his wings. He landed on the Temple’s roof, his claws digging in as the entire structure shuddered under his weight.

Dust and stone rained down. My lips parted as several smaller pieces smacked harmlessly off the ground while a spiral, scroll-like ornament broke off, coming right down on Elias’s head and shoulders. The god gave a muffled grunt before his body slumped.

Slowly, I turned my head to Bele. “No harm, no foul?”

Bele’s eyes were wide. “He’ll live.”

My brows lifted.

“That is not my fault.” She crossed her arms. “Not like I knew Ehthawn would decide to land there of all places.”

The ache in my temples increasing, I turned back, watching Ehthawn extend his neck to lower his diamond-shaped head. He nudged the unconscious god before tilting toward us. Vertical pupils surrounded by crimson focused on me as he made a low, chuffing sound.

“He’s apologizing,” Bele explained.

“Uh-huh.”

Ehthawn sniffed, his warm breath ruffling the strands of hair around my face. He let out a soft, almost mournful squall.

Ash’s hand tightened around mine, seeming to respond to the sound the draken made. I glanced at him. Like before, his features were locked down.

Ehthawn moved in closer to me, his eyes closing. I tugged my left hand free, then hesitated. Other than little Jadis, I didn’t often touch a draken in this form, but he didn’t pull his head away. I lightly pressed my palm to his powerful jaw. The scales were smooth and dry, only the ridges of each rough. A trilling noise, almost like a purr, radiated from Ehthawn.

“It’s okay,” I told him, even if I doubted he was really apologizing. My gaze flicked over his flat, broad nose. Thickness coated my throat as I glanced at the blue, cloudless sky above, not seeing another draken. “Orphine?”

Ehthawn made that mournful sound again. My heart began squeezing. Bele had fallen silent.

“Orphine fought bravely,” Ash said quietly. “She did so until her dying breath.”

Fingers curling against Ehthawn’s scales, my eyes closed. Sorrow rose, slicing through my chest. I wasn’t sure I could call Orphine a friend or say she really even liked me, but I had been closer to her than Davina, who’d fallen in the fight against the entombed gods. I respected Ehthawn’s twin, and she’d respected me. And if we’d had more time, I thought maybe we could’ve become friends.

Grief lodged in my throat as I opened my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I whispered to Ehthawn as Ash stepped in closer to me, coolness coming off his body in contrast to the heat of the draken’s scales.

Ehthawn gave another chuffing noise and then drew back. More dust fell, coating Elias’s shoulders.

“Get him down from there before the whole roof collapses on him,” Ash ordered.

Bele sighed. “Fine.”

Ash threaded his fingers through mine as Bele stalked forward, unsheathing one of the shadowstone daggers on her forearms.

“I should’ve told you about Orphine,” Ash said in a low voice. “With everything going on…”

“It’s okay.” I let out a ragged breath. “Did she…?” I pressed my lips together. “Was it quick for her?”

“I believe so.” Ash tucked a curl behind my ear. “She is at peace now in Arcadia.”

I wished knowing that lessened the grief. I watched Bele slice through the rope at Elias’s shoulders. The god pitched forward and then crumpled to the mossy ground…headfirst.

“Whoops,” Bele exclaimed, returning the dagger to its sheath. “He’ll live.”

I sighed.

Lips twitching, Ash led me toward the Temple steps as Bele hoisted the unconscious god over her shoulders. Mindful of the vines trailing up the steps, we climbed the stairs, the stone warm beneath my feet. Not even halfway up, my breathing became labored, and sweat broke out across my forehead. I refused to let it show, though, forcing my legs to keep moving.

We’d only taken a few more steps when Ash stopped just above me, dipping his head to mine. “Let me help you.”

My back stiffened as I stared ahead, lifting one protesting leg and then the other so I stood on the same step as he did. “I’m fine.”

“Liessa, look at me.”

“What?”

A salty breeze lifted the hair from his shoulders as he said, “There is no shame in needing help.”

My cheeks warmed.

“And there is only strength in accepting aid.”

“I can climb stairs,” I persisted, even as my muscles screamed in denial.

“I know. That doesn’t mean I can’t help you.” Eather spun in his eyes. “Allow me this. Please.”

I swallowed a curse. “I think you’ve caught on to how I can’t deny you when you say please.”

One side of his lips kicked up. “I have no idea what you speak of.”