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

“Liessa?” His head jerked at the sound of a…footstep?

My skin pimpled all over. A sudden pressure spread along the nape of my neck. My gaze flew to where my fingers were pressed tightly into the skin of his arms. “I can’t feel you.” My throat dried as I held on tighter. Or thought I did. I could barely feel his skin beneath mine anymore. “I can’t feel you any longer.”

“It’s okay,” Ash told me, his voice rough.

But it wasn’t okay. The tall, sweeping elms above us collapsed into smoke. The breeze vanished. Bone-deep desperation rose as I looked up at him.

“I don’t want to wake up,” I whispered, my heart cracking. I grabbed hold of him, but I couldn’t feel him. “Please, don’t let me wake up. I don’t want to leave you. Please.”

A noise came from Ash that sounded as if it had been dragged from the depths of his soul. “Sera—”

I jolted awake, my eyes flying open. I dragged in a ragged breath and tried to ease the pressure clamping down on my chest. My eyes burned with tears, causing the bars to blur just as Ash’s face had.

It had been a dream.

I knew that, but it had felt real. I could still feel Ash—his touch and kisses, the weight of him against my body. I could even feel that now, the fullness of him inside me and the dampness between my thighs. My hands still tingled with the feeling of his flesh against mine. It all felt so damn real. Still did.

But it couldn’t be.

Because there were no bright stars above me, only bars. And beneath me? The softness of the divan I’d fallen asleep on. There was no tranquil quiet—the distant, guttural howls of the dakkais could be heard.

I was once more caged.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





The Chosen arrived sometime later. It could’ve been hours, or another day could’ve passed, I couldn’t tell. But there were fewer Chosen than before under Callum’s watchful gaze.

I made sure I remained at the divan while they collected the used towels, replaced the water in the pitchers with fresh, and then set the table with what appeared to be a carafe of water and a tall, slender, capped bottle and four glasses.

“I’m relieved to see you’re a quick learner,” Callum commented after the last Chosen had left the chamber.

I looked over at him. “My life is complete knowing that.”

The Revenant smirked. “I’m sure it is.”

Rolling my eyes, I looked away. My heart was beating fast, mostly out of concern that somehow Attes’s visit would be discovered.

But Callum said nothing. He just silently stood near the cage.

Frustration stoked my temper as I focused on him. “Do you need something?”

“No.” That polite smile appeared.

“Then why are you just standing there, staring at me?”

“Does it bother you?”

“Who wouldn’t be bothered by it?” I replied, unfolding my legs.

“I wouldn’t.”

“Well, I don’t really think your opinion counts.”

The golden paint shimmered when he lifted his head. “Why is that?”

“I can’t imagine you’re right in the head.” I scooted to the edge of the divan, letting my feet touch the floor. “What with dying multiple times and all.”

He laughed. “At least I come back. You—”

“I know. I won’t.” I raised a brow. “Not exactly a clever insult, considering I’m mortal.”

Callum shrugged as I glanced at the doors. They weren’t completely closed. I could see the glint of golden armor through the gap.

My fingers tapped the cushion as my gaze slid back to him. I thought about what I’d seen in the dimly lit part of the sprawling structure. “I…I saw other Chosen.”

“I was under the impression that when you made your poor attempt at an escape, you saw many Chosen,” he replied. “And frightened them.”

I almost laughed. Yeah, I’d likely been a terrifying figure, but I knew I wasn’t what truly scared them. “I’m not talking about them. I saw one feeding on another.”

Callum said nothing.

“And she killed him,” I continued. “But he came back. Not like you. He was—” The embers suddenly pulsed in my chest, jerking my attention to the doors.

“You feel him?” Callum asked. “I can see that you do.”

My palms turned clammy as I rose. “Then why do you ask?”

“Because,” he answered, much like a rotten little child.

The doors swung open, and I couldn’t prevent the immediate burst of fear upon seeing Kolis enter the chamber. It invaded all my muscles, causing me to go rigid. Even after I forced myself to relax, it lingered like a dark cloud.

Intrigue flickered across Kolis’s features as he approached the cage. “What are you two discussing?”

I opened my mouth to lie with who knew what, but Callum, the bastard, beat me to it.

“She was asking about the Chosen she killed,” Callum shared, retrieving the key from his pocket. “And then the one who returned. She was sharing her astute observation of how Antonis wasn’t a Revenant.”

Antonis, I repeated to myself. So that was the name of the Chosen who’d come back to life and tried to attack me.

“Of course, not.” Kolis frowned and looked at me as if I were somehow supposed to know what he was. “Some would call him cursed. A once-mortal, now-decaying body plagued with an insatiable hunger. Craven.”

A flurry of nerves churned in my belly as Callum unlocked the cage door. The soft creak of the hinges sent shivers down my spine. I told myself that he must not know about Attes because I doubted we’d be talking about Craven if he did.

“They are nothing more than an unfortunate…side effect.”

“Side effect of what, exactly?” I asked, watching Callum step aside.

“Of creating the Ascended. They are the product of maintaining balance and giving life.” Kolis smiled then, ducking as he entered the cage.

Fear collided with my already-frazzled nerves, unleashing a surging tide of potent emotions I battled to restrain. I gritted my teeth in a desperate attempt to keep them at bay, ignoring the flare of pain it caused. “The Ascended? I don’t think I understand.”

“The woman you spoke of? The one I was told you killed.” The smile faded as the door was closed behind Kolis. “She was an Ascended. My child.”

I drew back in surprise. “You don’t mean that in the literal sense, right?”

“I played a role in the creation of her new life,” he replied. “Does that not make her my child?”

I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t know what he meant by playing a role. “How?”

“By Ascending her, just as my brother did with those before.”

A jolt of incredulity surged through me. Everyone had said that no Chosen had Ascended since Kolis’s reign began.

With keen discernment, Kolis’s observant stare flitted across my face. “That surprises you to hear? Did my nephew not explain how the Chosen are made into gods? It’s through Ascension.”

I tensed at the mention of Ash.

“Whether or not he did, I can see you don’t believe me.” His jaw clenched, and the gold flecks brightened in his eyes. “You think I cannot give life just because I cannot make a god like my brother did?”