His grip on my wrist loosened, and I started to slip free.

  I didn’t see the blow coming.

  Pain exploded along the side of my face. Blood pooled in my mouth as I pitched sideways, stopping my fall with one good hand and the other connected to a destroyed wrist. The pain was sharp and searing, like hot lightning streaking through me as I spat a mouthful of blood.

  I can handle this.

  I had to. I needed to. Because the longer I kept him occupied, maybe—just maybe—someone would have time to show up. Someone could stop him before he went to Carsodonia.

  Keep fighting, I told myself. And I repeated that as I rocked back and kicked out, hitting nothing but air where Kolis had been.

  “Missed me,” he taunted.

  Breath stalling, I whipped my head around. Where did he—?

  His hand clamped down on my throat, immediately cutting off my air. He lifted me clear off my feet, his grip tightening as I clawed at his hand. The fragile cartilage of my windpipe ground together. “I wanted your screams before, and I got them.” He smiled. “Now, I want to hear you apologize.” His grip loosened, letting in the tiniest bit of air. “Let me hear it, so’lis. Apologize.”

  “Fuck,” I rasped, “you.”

  Kolis’s eyes briefly closed, and then he sighed as if I were a small child who had disappointed him.

  Without warning, I was flying backward into the alcove. I crashed through something—a table? Sharp glass sliced through my back as I felt something wet that smelled like whiskey. I hit the floor hard on my side, the air whooshing out of me.

  I can handle this.

  Breathing raggedly, I put my hand down and pushed up.

  Kolis stood before me. “Apologize.”

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  The corners of his mouth tightened, and then he moved, the back of his hand striking me across the face. Starbursts exploded behind my eyes, and I smacked into the side of a crimson settee, knowing the skin of my cheek had split wide open.

  I can handle this.

  Lifting my gaze, I spotted the still-intact crystal decanter, lying among the bits of ruined furniture and shattered glass. It looked pretty solid. Snapping forward, I gripped the neck and whirled as a hiss of pain escaped my tightly sealed lips.

  Kolis caught the bottle, ripping it from my grip. “Now. Now.” He set the bottle down on the small end table. “Let’s not go wasting more good whiskey.”

  Spinning, I extended my leg, aiming straight for his—

  Kolis vanished.

  Either he moved that fast, or I was losing the ability to track him. I stumbled, catching myself on the settee.

  “Apologize, so’lis.”

  His words once more stirred the hair along the nape of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. I drove my elbow back, this time connecting with a hard wall of muscle.

  Kolis grunted out a laugh. “What was that supposed to do?”

  Clearly, nothing.

  Absolutely fucking nothing.

  And that infuriated me.

  I whipped around—

  He drove his foot down on the back of my leg, snapping the bone. A short, strangled cry escaped as red-hot pain shot up and down my leg.

  I can handle this.

  His grip burned my arm, and another bone cracked. Then another and another. Both legs. Both arms. The pain…it was everywhere. There was no escaping it. No way to breathe through it or hide from it.

  Kolis picked me up by the throat, and before I could break his hold, before I could really feel the raw fear taking root in every fiber of my being, he slammed me down, back first, onto his knee.

  Something cracked somewhere deep inside me, and that snap rang dully in my ears as pain came in a bright flash, shorting out every nerve ending.

  Kolis let go, and I fell to the floor. I didn’t feel the impact. My legs and arms had no feeling, but inside, I felt wet and cold.

  “Hmm,” Kolis hummed, drawing my wide eyes to him. He loomed over me, one side of his still-bloodied lips curled up. “I think I broke you.”

  I thought he had, too.

  Because when he knelt and ran the backs of his knuckles across my cheek, I couldn’t move away from him. Couldn’t even lift a hand as he worked an arm under my shattered body and lifted my upper half. Couldn’t stop my head from lolling back and exposing my throat.

  He’d broken something important deep inside of me, and I didn’t have enough essence left in me to heal. Panic sprouted in my chest and unfurled like a noxious weed. There was no stopping it, even as I told myself that I could handle it. That I wouldn’t show him an ounce of fear again. But it coated my skin and drenched my blood.

  I can handle this.

  “Such a fucking waste.” Kolis’s voice thinned. “I really did love you, so’lis. All you had to do was love me back. That was all I ever wanted.”

  My heart thudded heavily as my eyes flickered over the ruined, bloodied Hall.

  “But you couldn’t do that for me.” He brushed back some hair that had come loose from my braid. “No one could.” His voice thickened then, becoming rough around the edges. “No one except my brother.”

  Before I could even process his words, he sank his fangs into the flesh of my throat once more. I barely felt them pierce the skin, but I could feel the deep tugging motion in my chest as he drank. I willed my body to move, but nothing did.

  I can handle this.

  The panic and fear were reaching deep inside me, finding the part that had hidden itself away the moment the thing masquerading as Isbeth delivered her message. The part of me that was Poppy. Not the version from when I wore the veil or the one with godly powers, but the one who had finally found the courage to face the truth, no matter how harsh it was. The one who’d learned how to really laugh. Who had learned to stop hiding her scars—both seen and unseen. Who had learned to accept them. The Poppy who’d discovered what freedom felt like. And what love tasted like. The Poppy who had only begun to discover herself. And that fear and panic wasn’t just rotting that part of me from the inside; it was undoing all I had done to become the person I was today. And it felt irrevocable.

  The mouth at my throat suddenly ceased its hungry movements, and Kolis stiffened. Through half-open eyes, I saw the essence rising to the surface. Dark crimson shadows appeared under the skin of his shoulders and swirled down his arms, slipping under the golden band.

  He shifted, and my head fell back farther. My gaze swept over the Hall—

  Something snagged my attention. The doors to the Great Hall. They were open. Hadn’t they been closed before? And Attes…

  I saw the pool of blood.

  But Attes was gone.

  And now, the doors… They were closed.

  A faint buzzing sensation erupted along my waist and back. I could feel it, and the sensation quickly increased until it felt like I was being stung by a hundred angry hornets. My jaw locked, and my fingers spasmed. A searing ache bloomed beneath my skin, tightening and throbbing—

  Oh, gods. It was his essence.

  A tremor rocked me as I felt my flesh starting to blister and burn. I tried to use my legs to break his hold, but my feet slipped over the tile. I kept my jaw locked. He wanted me to scream, and he’d already gotten one from me. And more. He’d gotten my pleas, begging him to stop. He wouldn’t get anything else.

  I could handle this.

  I had to.

  I stared blindly as fiery agony crawled across my skin, causing every nerve ending to burn. Pain- and panic-fueled desperation flooded my senses. Darkness flashed across my vision. My limbs jerked as if attached to invisible strings being pulled. I couldn’t take it. It was too much. The scent of charred flesh rose. I couldn’t breathe. My chest compressed. I couldn’t handle this.

  I wanted it to be over.

  I wanted to die.

  And that was proof that I wasn’t strong. That I hadn’t grown. It felt like a facade, and that shattered my very being.

  I screamed.

  Again.

  I screamed, tearing up the inside of my throat—

  Sharp, sudden pain lanced through the blistering agony. It exploded, shooting upward and spreading across my jaw as Kolis tore his fangs free. A ragged, low whine escaped me as he jerked his head up. His features were blurry—all but his lips. His red-smeared lips.

  Kolis’s head cocked, and then he cranked it to the side. “What the—?”

  A streak of crackling, silver eather raced above my head, slamming into Kolis with a loud crack. The impact tore me out of his grip. I hit the floor, sound and light giving way to blissful nothingness. A heartbeat passed. Maybe more. Then I felt the essence thrumming weakly, stirring me from the abyss. Sound returned in muffled fragments of shouts, crackling energy, and rattling and thumping noises. The doors to the Great Hall… Someone was banging on them. Air surged into my lungs. Sensation came next. A deep, throbbing ache bloomed in my throat. Burning pain seared the left side of my waist and back. My eyes fluttered open.

  “Step away from her,” an unfamiliar voice demanded, the rich tone carrying an accent that reminded me of Cas’s but was stronger. “Now.”

  “Or what?” Kolis huffed that cold, brittle-as-dry-bones laugh. “What are you going to do, Theon?”

  The breath I took—the too-thin and too-shallow breath—halted.

  Theon?

  The Primal God of Accord and War? Could it be that Theon?

  I tried to force myself to move, but I was stuck lying on my stinging back. All I could manage was to turn my head, and the effort blurred my vision, making everything swim. I blinked until the haze cleared enough for me to make out the shape of a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in dark clothing. His skin was a rich brown, and his hair hung in tight braids beneath a bronze-and-black helmet. My eyes couldn’t focus enough to make out his features, but I knew it was him.

  A bolt of silver eather arced through the Hall, and stone cracked to my left, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

  “I’ll make you,” Theon said, wisps of mist spilling from his fingertips.

  “Oh, that I would love to see.”

  Theon’s arm shot out, and a burst of eather left him, streaking through the space between Kolis and me.

  “Guess what? You missed.” Kolis’s laugh was deeper, thicker, and echoed through the chamber. “Want to know what else?”

  “Not really.” Theon’s head turned slightly.

  I thought he might be tracking Kolis, but I couldn’t lift my head from the floor to see if the true Primal of Death was moving.

  “You’re a fool,” Kolis said. “To have come alone.”

  My gaze flickered over the blurred shapes of couches and lounges. I couldn’t see anything in the shadowy alcove.

  Theon said nothing.

  “You’re taking a huge risk facing me alone. You think you can take me?” Kolis asked, moving into my line of sight. “I expected you to be less reckless.”

  I felt a sudden dull throb of awareness.

  A…a draken was near.

  I didn’t think I had enough essence left in me to tell who it was.

  “I mean, look at Attes,” Kolis went on, his blood-streaked white pants rippling as he neared one of the pillared entrances to the alcove. Dark crimson shadows twisted under the skin of his stomach and chest. “It took nothing to take him out.” He twisted his head from side to side, as if working out a kink. “Then again, he is no longer a Primal of a Court. That weakens him.” He paused. “She weakens him.” He huffed as I flinched. “Idiot.”

  “Are you done talking yet?” Theon asked.

  Kolis stopped.

  “Good. Maybe you’ll realize it’s awfully quiet out in the hallway.” I couldn’t see the smirk on Theon’s face, but I heard it. “And you would also notice that Attes is no longer here.”

  Kolis’s head whipped toward where Attes had been lying. His nostrils flared.

  A thunderous impact shook the manor, sending thin fissures racing down the domed ceiling. Then, a low, rumbling growl came from above.

  The shadows stilled beneath Kolis’s flesh as he looked up.

  “I didn’t come alone.” Eather spat from Theon’s fingers as he cocked his head. “And you should’ve known that. Sensed it.”

  The swirling darkness beneath Kolis’s flesh deepened.

  Theon’s laugh was low and throaty. Challenging. “Seems like someone’s been cast from Iliseeum.”

  I had no idea what that meant, but Kolis sure did. The flesh of his arms thinned as he snarled. “Fuck the Fates.”

  Kolis spun, his gaze locking with mine. He shot forward—

  A bolt of eather crashed into him, spinning him into the air. He flew back, eather lighting up his veins as he smacked into a pillar. The stone cracked and shuddered. He hit the floor on his knees, but he didn’t stay down. He was on his feet in a breath and coming straight toward me.

  “You don’t know when to stop.” Another blast of eather left Theon. “You never did.”

  Kolis ducked, but the eather struck his shoulder, spinning him around. Hitting the edge of the dais, he threw out his hand and caught himself.

  “Ouch,” Kolis gritted out. “That stung.”

  “It did more than just sting.” Theon stalked forward, coming into focus. He had daggers strapped to his chest, and beneath the black-and-bronze helmet, his eyes glowed with silver fire. “There’s a hole in your shoulder. In case you didn’t realize it.”

  Gods, I wished the hole was in his head.

  “Just a flesh wound.” Kolis straightened and lowered his chin. Golden-blond hair fell forward, brushing the sides of his face. “Which won’t be what I say about you when I’m finished.” He flashed me a smile that bared his teeth and fangs—fangs covered with my blood. “We’re not finished, so’lis.”

  Fuck you.

  I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. My tongue felt too thick and heavy. But based on the way the essence flared in his ruby eyes, he knew what I was thinking.

  A loud groan sounded as the pillar Kolis had hit toppled forward. My heart stalled as it fell toward me. Gods, I had a feeling I would definitely feel that when it landed on me. Desperate, I tried to summon the essence, but the weak pulse did nothing. I couldn’t even lift my arms—

  Suddenly, two leather-encased legs were in front of me. A web of silver eather erupted from the fingertips of one hand as eather formed in the other, the essence lengthening and taking the shape of a spear. “Get her out of here,” he commanded.

  A heartbeat later, a blur burst out of the alcove, racing across the hall.

  “You did bring a friend.” Crimson-streaked shadows climbed over Kolis’s shoulders as he laughed. He lifted his hand, and dark eather powered down his arm.

  “Friend?” a deep voice scoffed as the newcomer dipped under the streak of eather and went down on a knee, sliding across the floor. He skidded to a halt beside me. A dark hood obscured his face. Even when he turned his head, I still didn’t see much. I caught a glimpse of skin somewhere between sun-kissed and olive, and eyes so deep blue they bordered on amethyst. And scars—two deep, straight cuts that started in the center of his forehead and ended at the corners of his lips.

  I couldn’t…feel what he was, which I thought should concern me more than it did.

  “I’m not his friend,” the newcomer—who had to be a god—responded.

  “Don’t lie.” Theon laughed, spinning as he launched the spear-shaped eather. “You’re my best friend.”

  The god huffed. “Just wait until you sleep,” he muttered, and I was beginning to think I was hallucinating the conversation. The stranger turned his head to mine, and even though I could no longer see his features, I felt his stare. “Hello.”

  My lips parted, but all that came out of my mouth was a wet cough that caused my chest to seize.

  “Don’t try to speak,” he said softly. “Don’t need you choking on blood.” The hooded head tilted. “Well, more than you already a—” A flash of bright eather streaked overhead, stinging my eyes. He swore, his head jerking up as Theon went flying backward. “Fuck.”

  He started to rise, as if to go to him, and then stiffened. He cursed again, wrenching his body around. “Come on,” he said gruffly. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

  He worked his arms underneath me and lifted, igniting a wave of pain. A weak whimper escaped me as the realm flickered in and out of focus.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, adjusting me so my head rested on his shoulder.

  A crack of energy jerked my attention upward as the god rushed us across the Hall. Everything was blurry as he turned, but I could make out Kolis and Theon. They were high above us, near the highest point of the dome, crimson and silver Primal mist swirling around them in dizzying speeds as they exchanged blows with their hands and eather.

  A pained shout echoed, causing my chest to squeeze. Darkness crept into the corners of my vision as the chamber seemed to tilt. Above us, Kolis and Theon almost appeared as if they were embracing each other. That was how close they were. The pulsing, crimson Primal mist stilled, and the air all around us…vibrated. Kolis had his fangs buried in Theon’s throat and his hand… Kolis’s hand was inside Theon.

  The Primal’s body jerked, his head kicking back as a crimson glow lit up the veins of his cheek and throat. I dug my fingers into the god’s coat—

  Theon flew backward, hitting the wall, but he didn’t fall as his arms stretched out to his sides. The front of his shirt was torn open and—oh, gods—so was his chest. The glow in his veins pulsed and grew, and Kolis…he was holding something lumpy and red in his hand. It fell to the floor below with a wet, mushy splat that turned my stomach as stone cracked along the dome, making it sound as if something was digging at it from outside.

  Kolis struck, moving so fast that he was on Theon in less than a heartbeat, grabbing him by his mangled throat. With a roar, Kolis sharply twisted his arm, tearing through muscle and bone.

  The god carrying me stumbled, his head jerking back as the draken I’d felt earlier let out a sharp, staggering call, and its thick, dark talons punched through the ceiling. The taste of bitter horror momentarily swamped the metallic tang of blood as the very realm seemed to inhale, sucking the air from the Great Hall.