“No. I’m a…demigod,” he muttered, dropping his hand as he looked up. “Not a demis or a deity. Just a demigod.”
“Justa…?” A short laugh escaped Casteel. “Can you harness the essence?”
“I’ve remained in the mortal realm far too long for that. I have more in me than a normal Elemental, but I can’t summon it.” He looked away from Casteel with a heavy sigh. “Not like you can.”
Slowly, it all clicked. “You weren’t born in the mortal realm.”
“No, my father took my mother back to Iliseeum before she gave birth.”
My brows knitted as I turned sideways. “Why would he have done that, knowing it would weaken you?”
“I can’t answer that, Penellaphe. My father rarely spoke of it or how any of it came about.” He cleared his throat and straightened. “He wanted to pretend he was just an Elemental—and he pulled it off somehow.”
I watched the pink blossoms sway behind Kieran’s still form. “Magic,” I whispered, my neck tingling. Powerful, old magic. “Was it because of the war with the deities?”
“I used to think so.” Valyn squinted as he stared at the statue. “But he was hiding what he was before the war. Again, it wasn’t something he talked about, and I knew not to bring it up.”
“Why?” Casteel bit out the word.
“Apparently, my grandfather had…” He dragged his hand over the stubble on his jaw. “All I was ever told was that Attes angered the Fates by messing with the threads of his bloodline. I’m not sure exactly why that would do such a thing, but I know damn well I wasn’t the first demigod. I might not even be the last.”
I mouthedthreads of their bloodline. I supposed that made senseifAttes wasn’t supposed to reproduce. But why would that be the case? Why would the Fate’s—
And the second daughter, with blood full of ash and ice…
The prophecy.
Blood full of ash and ice. What did that mean? My thoughts raced. From blood and ash… Ash could mean ruin. Destruction. Their kingdom rose from blood and ruin. But ice? I wasn’t sure. The answer felt like it was right in front of my face, but I couldn’t see it.
I held my arms tighter to my chest. “And that was all?”
“Besides that, and Elian warning me to keep my bloodline to myself, yes.” His eyes met mine—eyes so much like his sons’. Like Attes’s. My chest squeezed as he said, “And that’s the truth, Casteel. Shit.” He dropped his hands to his knees and rubbed them. “Just talking about it has me half-expecting the Arae to appear.”
If they did, they would have me to contend with. And right now, I doubted they wanted to test how that would pan out. “I think they know better.”
Valyn frowned.
I quickly moved on. “I kept thinking there had to be something up with your bloodline—why the essence seemed to be…stronger in you than in Kieran,” I told Casteel as I glanced somewhat apologetically toward Kieran, who returned my look with the enthusiasm of a rock. “Like how you can shift already.”
Valyn’s brows went up as Casteel cut his stare to me.
“And then there is Setti.” I stopped to look at Valyn.
He leaned back on the bench, reminding me of Malik when he’d taken the paperweight.
“You do know what Setti is, right?” I asked.
“I do—and no, I don’t know how or when he ended up on my father’s estate. Or why.”
Casteel said nothing to that as he crossed his arms once more.
Something occurred to me. “Can other gods sense you?”
“I think they may sense something. Like I feel different than other Elementals. But not that I’m a demigod,” he said, glancing back at Cas and then me. “Why couldn’t he sense it?” Then his gaze snapped to the trees. “Or Kieran, for that matter?”
“Good question.” Casteel’s expectant gaze turned to me. “And don’t say it’s because you’re special.”
I snapped my mouth shut. Damn it. “I don’t know why neither you nor Kieran felt it. It probably has to do with me being a Primal of Life and Death.” Another thing occurred to me. “And I guess the draken never sensed it either…or just failed to mention they sensed all that essence in you.”
