Seraphena snorted. “He told me he felt sorrow and anger for the life that was lost, desperation to somehow undo what was done, and…” Her jaw tensed. “And joy for being close to one who shared Sotoria’s blood.”
“Ew,” I groaned.
“Pretty much,” she said. “However, with the rest of the Revenants, he felt only a duty to create life—which he had to. By then, the embers of life he’d stolen from his twin were losing their strength, and there was a threat to the balance. And it worked. Though how long that façade of life would’ve continued working is anyone’s guess.”
I turned that over in my mind. “That could explain why Millicent is different, too. I imagine Isbeth felt similar emotions. Well, that and the eather she carried in her blood.”
Casteel leaned against one of the pillars framing the platform. “How did Kolis create the Revs, though? He wasn’t creating new life like you did with the wolven.”
“He reanimated them with his blood and will,” she answered.
Casteel cast a frown in my direction. “We learned that Isbeth was creating Revs with the blood of a King or a future King.”
Seraphena’s brows snapped together. “She needed powerful blood, and my son’s would not have worked. A King or a future King of an Elemental bloodline would be powerful enough to restart a heart, but it would’ve taken more than that.”
“Magic,” I surmised.
She nodded. “Forbidden magic not even known to us.”
I looked out the window, seeing the sun start to fade. “But itislikely known to the Fates.”
“And Callum,” she said.
“Yeah,” I whispered, my throat drying as my gaze connected with Seraphena’s. There was something she wasn’t saying.
Something thatcomplicatedthings.
“So.” Seraphena cleared her throat. “The only way we could prevent Sotoria from being reborn and waking Kolis was to ensure the Mierel bloodline ended with me.”
“That didn’t happen.” Casteel unfolded his arms. “Obviously.”
“I was already pregnant with the twins before we entombed Kolis.” Her gaze lowered. “If we had known…”
My blood was pounding even harder in my ears, and my stomach continued to churn as I heardthatvoice.
I’ve had all your firsts.
“It meant we could never allow our sons to have children. Both Malec and Ires were aware of what would happen. We didn’t hide it from them. They fully understood the risks.” Seraphena looked up. “So, that was why, as hard and unfair as it was, we denied the heartmate trials. Isbeth was already pregnant, proving to Ash and me that Malec would not take the necessary precautions. And it’s why I helped to entomb my son. He could not be…trusted not to make the same mistakes.”
With your first breath, you woke me.
“It was one of the hardest things Nyktos and I ever did.” Her voice thickened, and eather flared in her eyes. “But we had to. So Sotoria wasn’t reborn as the second daughter to become the giver of blood and the bringer of bone.”
Casteel pushed off the pillar. “The Primal of Blood and Bone.”
When your eyes first opened, I saw again.
“Born in a shroud of crimson and gold.” Eather pulsed behind her pupils. “Bearing a royal mark, the symbol of Death.”
My knees felt weak. My nostrils burned.
Seraphena swallowed. “But fate finds a way, doesn’t it?”
I’ve always been with you.
Casteel slowly turned my way, his eyes widening.
“No.”A tremor started in my legs. He moved toward me, but I kept backing up. “No.”
