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

I rolled my eyes as I shifted my weight to my flattened palms. That had been Ash’s plan, but once he’d learned what it would cost, it became the last thing he wanted.

Because taking the embers meant killing me, and he had chosen me, even though I was already dying, and it was foolish.

Still, it was beautiful.

“That’s it, isn’t it? You sought to take the embers from her and rise as the Primal of Life,” Kolis accused, golden-tinged eather sparking from his fingertips. “You sought to hide them from me. To hide her. That’s treason.”

“Treason?” A deep, dark laugh rumbled from Ash, a sound I’d never heard him make before. “You killed my mother and the true Primal of Life.” Shadows spilled onto the floor below Ash, billowing like smoke. “You’re a fucking joke.”

Kolis stiffened. “You want to know what’s a joke? You thinking I had no idea what you’ve been up to. That I haven’t seen through your false assurances and pledges and didn’t know you’ve been plotting to overthrow me and take all that is mine.”

Ash’s fury lashed out, causing the temperature in the room to plummet as I began the slow crawl toward the bodies. “None of this has been yours. You stole it—”

“From your father,” Kolis interjected, moonlight reflecting off the golden band around his biceps. “And I imagine you believe history has repeated itself, but you’d be wrong. The embers of life do not belong to you.”

“She does not belong to you!” Ash roared.

The air thinned once more. I halted, arms trembling. Raw, violent energy drenched the ruined chamber, pimpling my skin.

“You think she belongs to you simply because you crowned her as your Consort?” Kolis’s laugh caused my heart to clench. Golden swirls of eather began churning across his bare chest, where the wound Ash inflicted had already healed. “If she is who she claims to be, she was never yours to crown.”

I needed to get to my feet and get my hands on a sword. And I needed to do it quickly. But my head still swam, and my legs felt strange, like I was disconnected from them. It wasn’t because of the hit to the head, though that hadn’t helped. It was blood loss. I’d lost too much. I could feel that in how hard my heart worked to pump what blood remained inside me, how fast it raced. And I had a feeling, some instinctual knowledge, that told me if I didn’t have the embers, I’d already be unconscious or dead.

As I pushed onto my knees, I thought it was strange that what would inevitably kill me was also keeping me alive.

Kolis stepped forward, his too-perfect lips curved into a smile. “She was never yours, nephew. She has always been mine.”

Ash’s fury lashed out. The breath I exhaled formed a puffy cloud as energy charged the space once more. Ash rushed Kolis, taking to the air.

All I saw was a sneer from Kolis before wispy eather poured from the false King. He rose, slipping into his Primal form, creating a glow that was too bright and painful to look upon for any length of time.

Ash and Kolis met high above me, and it was like seeing the night and the sun crash into each other. The eather-laced shadows and the intense, gold-and silver-streaked light whirled at dizzying speeds, but the wind had stopped. The clouds had ceased their journey across the sky. Everything…everything else had gone silent and still as my chest constricted.

I squinted, catching glimpses of the two Primals between the shadows and daylight. Golden hair, then reddish-brown strands. Black tunic, then white linen pants. Silver cuff and golden band—one that appeared to flash white when the arm moved. Fists. Heads kicked back.

They were punching each other.

Then the swirling around them stilled, and the air began to vibrate and pulse. The embers in my chest hummed— A bolt of eather burst from Ash, hitting Kolis and throwing the Primals apart. The false King caught himself and returned to Ash, his speed shocking. A harsh, low scream tore from my throat when Kolis slammed into Ash. Eather spat and crackled around them as they rose.

They came back down in a blur. I stared wide-eyed and couldn’t make sense of it until one of them crashed into the tile, cracking several feet of the marble around them. Only when I saw the swirling black mist overtaking the brilliant glow did I know that Ash had driven Kolis into the floor.

Relief shuddered through me when the essence around Kolis dimmed enough for me to see Ash straighten. He stepped over his uncle, spitting a mouthful of shimmery blood onto the Primal before reaching down and grasping Kolis by the head—

The false King shot up like a spear, sending Ash flying back. Wind surged, blowing my hair in front of me. Lightning arced overhead. My head tilted toward the horizon, to the west. I saw no signs of the draken.

My heart lurched as Ash and Kolis battled with fists and bursts of Primal energy, their bodies rising and falling so quickly. I turned back to where the guards lay, the distance between them and me seeming insurmountable. But I needed to get to a sword. I wasn’t sure what I would do once I had it, but I had to do something.

Hands suddenly landed on my upper arms. I let out a startled scream, and instinct took over. I immediately tried to break free. My mind knew how to, I’d been trained by the best, but my body wasn’t responding quickly enough. I felt sluggish and disjointed, and all I seemed to do was wiggle like a dying worm.

“Stop,” a voice hissed in my ear—one I recognized.

Attes.

Anger boiled as I jerked my body to the right. “Let go…of me, you…fucking traitorous bastard.”

Attes’s grip tightened, and he turned me sideways, bringing us face-to-face.

I got a really good look at him. And he didn’t look well. Bluish-red blood trickled from his nose, eyes, ears, and the corners of his mouth. The shallow scar running from his hairline, across the bridge of his nose, and down his left cheek stood out starkly.

Godsdamn. That one blast from Ash had really done a number on him.

“Listen to me,” he said, shouting over the wind.

“Fuck you.” I pitched back—or fell back—kicking out. My foot glanced off his chest.

Attes halted, raising his brows. “You really need to conserve your energy, Sera. And listen to me.”

Yeah, that wasn’t happening. “You betrayed…us,” I forced out, feeling dizzy. “After I helped Thad, you…betrayed—”

The ground shook as Ash and Kolis hit somewhere to our right, their bodies digging up tile and sending marble flying in every direction.

Cursing, Attes twisted and pulled me toward him, shifting us away from the rain of debris. I reached up, digging my fingers into his hair and yanking hard. It was a bitch move. I knew it, but it was the best I could manage at the moment.

Attes snarled through bared teeth—fangs. He jerked his head, and I felt a savage burst of satisfaction when I saw strands of golden-brown hair between my fingers.

“Damn it,” he growled. “Stop—”

Fingers clawed, I aimed for that fucking dimple.

“I know what I’ve done.” He caught my wrist, eather snapping in his eyes as Ash and Kolis returned to the sky. “There isn’t time to discuss that or for you to seek revenge.”