Book Review: A Light in the Flame

Title: A Light in the Flame
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction.

What It’s About: Asher and Sera are shocked about the prophecy and Ash lowers himself to one knee in deference to her, though they start to argue soon after between themselves as Ash is determined to keep her alive at all costs. The problem is that she has to go through the Culling and have the love of the Primal who Ascends her, which could be Nyktos, except he had his kardia removed and is incapable of loving someone. Sera is shocked to find out that she is Sotoria, the mortal at the center of Kolis’ obsession that started all of this, and tries to come to terms with it. While they can’t change what has already happened–Bele’s Ascension–they need to tread carefully as Kolis may be curious to find out what is in the Shadowlands. Seraphena has no choice but to become Nyktos’ Consort, which will provide her some protection as currently anyone can make a move against her and Nyktos would be helpless to do anything. Penallaphe believes that Kolis won’t show up or care about the Consort Celebration, but he has been known to meddle in things. They try to weigh the facts–Kolis had sent the Dakkais after Gemma’s reincarnation, but he did not do anything as a result of Bele’s Ascension, and Nyktos hasn’t been summoned by Kolis to his court in Dalos.

During their conversation, they try to figure out what the Revenants are and when Sera describes what happened to her seamstress in Lasania, Holland tells them that she was a Craven–which is what happens to mortals when their life force or blood is stolen and never replenished, resulting in a desiccated corpse with a rotted mind and bodies that are not themselves. They also discuss the fact that there shouldn’t be a Primal of Life and Death, because it will be a massive amount of power to destroy realms and form of life and no balance. Unfortunately no one will know how long the realms have if Seraphena dies, which causes Sera to panic and ask if there is anyway they can warn Ezra. Holland tells her that Queen Ezmeria has been making much needed changes in Lasania, and Sera also finds out that Ezra had married Marisol. Seraphena also accepts to take on a charm that will make it difficult for her to be taken against her will. As they leave, Holland apologizes to Sera that he could not reveal more during their times together, as he is part of the Arae and walks a fine line of meddling with Fate. He adds that the thread of fate that broke off for her was unexpected, unpredictable, and it’s as ever changing as her thoughts, her heart and Nyktos’ heart–her greatest chance of survival is love as it is more powerful than even the Arae could know, and all of the remaining threads have showed that she would die by a certain age. The idea of seducing Kolis makes her feel horrible–it’s not what Sera wants to do, even though Holland did tell her that her knowledge and education would come in handy.

Nyktos and Seraphena continue their conversation in the privacy of his office, where he tells her that he chose to get his Kardia removed because he saw what the loss of love did to his father and to his uncle, so he didn’t want to repeat either of those mistakes. He warns her that they will most likely be getting unwanted visitors due to Bele’s Ascension, and she needs to stay hidden until the coronation, but Sera wonders if it wouldn’t make more sense to cancel the coronation as in five months she would go through the Culling and die anyway. They continue arguing, and Nyktos reveals that Hate and love are not two sides of the same coin–love comes from the soul, and hate is the product of the mind due to atrocities committed by others or by themselves. He also reveals that while Sera planning to kill him was annoying, what angered him even more was the fact that she places so little value on her own life. Nyktos tells her that she is important to the shadowlands, and that the embers that she carries are far too important, and he values them. She realizes that he values the embers, not her, and before Nyktos can figure out why she is recoiling, they get interrupted by Rhahar, who tells Nyktos that there is a problem at the Pillars of Asphodel, where souls faced judgment. Nyktos gets changed and asks Saion to take Sera back to her chambers, with the promise that they will finish the conversation when he returns.

Saion walks her to her room and they talk, with Saion mockingly calling her the Consort and she asks him if she will be his Consort ever. He stays silent as they known that she is a consort in name only, and not really respected as such. They enter the rooms, and come face to face with Orphine, the draken, who tells them that she has heard their entire conversation and that she is there to protect Sera from anyone who poses a threat, making a remark that it’s unfortunately not anyone who is a threat to Nyktos. She adds that Nyktos is special to them, but that Sera is also special because she is life, and it’s the only reason she breathes. Eventually, after washing herself, Sera falls asleep in her chambers. She is woken by a large crack, and a glowing sky–Orphine tells her to not go outside, but Sera goes onto the balcony and is immediately choked by the smoke-filled air. The two of them step out into the chaos of the fight, after Orphine agrees to protect Sera, and they continue fighting against the draken. At some point Sera comes face to face with a god, who shreds her skin with his fangs, and then tells her that her blood smells like life, like blood and ash, before he gets taken out by Orphine, while Sera continues to fight forward through the pain. But then she’s almost taken out again, when Nyktos shows up in his Primal form with wings and starts ripping gods/ people apart with his bare hands. Sera finds him in front of her quicker than she could track him, and tells him that there’s something wrong with her because she found it kind of hot that he tore apart a god with his hands. He picks her up and they argue some more about her being in pain, but eventually he carries her to her chambers, where he inspects her wound, and she tells him about the God that told her about her smelling like blood and ash. He then tells her that she suffered really bad bites, twice, and that he will give her blood–she is in the Culling and she cannot afford to lose any more blood.

At first Sera resists, but after more begging, she does begin to drink Nyktos blood, and everything is amplified, including her feelings. He points out that it’s his blood and that it may make her want, which she does admit. Before they know it, they are entangled in that want, and Nyktos gives in to her request–they are only momentarily interrupted by Nektas. An hour later, Sera is in the War room, listening to Nyktos and his most trusted people discussing what happened, why, who was involved, and no one has any idea–it’s all speculation. Bele blames herself, but then Sera says it’s her fault for Ascending her, which results in more question on how the god knew what Sera looked like. Bele mentions that whoever was behind the attack almost got what they wanted, and Nyktos goes completely still, resulting in Nektas, and Sera trying to calm him down. Ultimately, Nektas points out that it would have had to be a Primal that was behind the attack, as no other could command a draken to attack, while wondering who would be willing to anger both Nyktos and Kolis by allowing Sera to die.

Sera makes the decision afterward that she is going to go to Dalos, find Kolis and kill him. She makes her way out of her room, in to the Dying woods on the way to the Red Woods. She hears a rattle from above and finds a silver hawk–the same type as the one she saved the other day in the Red Woods and the hawk helps her in the fight against the Shades. At one point, Sera touches a shade with the eather in her, and causes it to start building itself back together–the typically skeletal looking being suddenly starts to have lungs, heart, skins, bones, and more. The shade calls her Meyaah Liessa, before hissing energy sweeps over it and the other shade, and they completely dissipate. Seraphena just lays there as the silver light disappears and then when she hears Nyktos call her name in a hard, cold voice, she knows that he is beyond furious. She also realizes that Nyktos will not let her leave or let her get out of his sight, so she does the one thing she’d never done before–runs.

Nyktos catches up with her, and they get into another argument, during which Sera spits out that she was actually trying to save him. That’s when Nyktos realizes her plan, and when the shock hits him from what she was going to do, she uses that as her opportunity to get free of his grip. She doesn’t get far, and when she boomerangs to face him, she puts her dagger against his throat. He tells her to go ahead and do it, but to cut him deep to the spine and run super fast because he will not be down for very long. At the end of it, he calls he Liessa, an old Primal word for Queen but also for something powerful, which completely rocks her to her core. Nyktos uses that to his advantage, flipping her over, but Sera fights back. Suddenly Nektas shows up, and though they wrestle for a little longer, Sera drops her dagger. Nyktos then tells her to tell him that he’s wrong, that she wasn’t going to go after Kolis. Sera responds that she had to, which in turn angers him and causes him to transform into his true Primal form. They continue arguing about her decision to go after Kolis, and at some point, something inside her cracks as a result of the messy emotions. Sera slams her hand against Nyktos’ chest, releasing pure, Primal essence into him, and shoving him backwards. This terrifies Sera, because it looks like all of his veins are filling with either, when suddenly he roars and starts destructing everything around him. Nektas sweeps over them, and at first Sera is afraid that he is about to kill her for what she did to Nyktos, because after all Nektas sees Nyktos as family, but the Draken actually settles next to her and protects her from Nyktos’ reaction. Once everyone is calmed down, they continue to talk by Nektas’ wing, and Sera tells Nyktos what she did to the Shade, which surprises both of the men, and causes Nektas to turn into his human form. Nektas asks a few more questions, and reveals that Eythos could raise the bones of the dead, but it’s not the same as restoring life to the recently departed. It means that the embers are really strong, but also it’s not something that anyone knew that Eythos could do. In the end Nyktos tells Sera that it’s her destiny to be his Consort, and when Sera says that it means to die as his Consort, he tells her that there might be a different way to save her.

They return to the palace, and Orphine starts to apologize for failing to watch over Sera. Nyktos tells Ector that Sera was attempting to make her way to Dalos to kill Kolis, and then Nyktos takes her to his room and tells her that she’s going to be sleeping within arms length of him. He lays down next to her, puts his arm around her and the two of them drift off to sleep only for Sera to be woken up shortly after without any reason. When she touches him, Nyktos asks her to promise him that she will never go after Kolis again, and she does promise him that. The next morning Orphine tells her that Sera’s willingness to take such a risk speaks of integrity, and is to be honored and respected. The whole castle is quiet, and Orphine walks her into the Throne room, where Sera sees hundreds of men and women standing there dressed and armed to the gills. She recognizes Rhain, Saion, Rhahar, and Ector, as well as the drakens–Lilah and Theon and Reaver. She walks up to the dais where Nyktos is standing, with Orphine, and then he asks her to join him on the dais. He tells her that all of the people in the throne room are his most trusted allies who have sworn to protect the Shadowlands and stand against Kolis as the false Primal of life and his allies. All of them would die to protect it, and are working to restore Ilisseum to a realm of peace and fairness like it used to be. He then speaks up louder to let his voice carry in the chamber, and tells everyone that Seraphena has not taken any oaths, sworn her loyalties or even wear the crown of the Consort, but she risked her life to protect everyone in the Shadowlands, by planning to turn herself over to Kolis. The shock ripples across all of the individuals there, and Nyktos adds that she will be a Consort worthy of every one of them who would wield their swords and shields to guard her, of the whole Shadowlands. Ector is the first one to break rank, and lower himself to one knee, saying that they will do what they can to be deserving of such an honor. Shortly thereafter, everyone else follows suit. And Sera realized that it accomplished two things–bringing her into their fold by gaining favor with those that were unhappy with her, and also made sure that none of them would be likely to aid her in future attempts to go to Kolis. Nyktos tells her that he means every word of it, and she suddenly feels like she could be more than a vessel for the embers.

Nektas and Sera talk about a variety of things after the announcement, and Sera is the only person who can get Jadis–Nektas’ daughter–to eat off a fork. Nyktos shows up and mentions that Penellaphe had mentioned Delfai an old and powerful God of Divination. While Nyktos cannot find him, he knows what could find Delfai–the Pools of Divanash that have been relocated to the Vale, a place that neither he nor Kolis could enter. Sera wants to go right away, but Nyktos says no to that at least not until she becomes his Consort because it would offer her some protection. She then realizes that while Delfai may be able to tell them how to remove the embers, that would mean that the deaths of Gods and Primals would happen the same way as it happened with Kolis, and she cannot have her life exchanged for others. Nektas says that it would not result in death because Eythos was the Primal of Life when the event took place, but she is not yet a Primal, so the act would not have the same catastrophic consequences. In the end, the embers would go to Nyktos because being the Primal of Life was his destiny and if it works, it would be his destiny again.

When Nektas leaves with Jadis, Nyktos and Sera talk, giving her the opportunity to ask Nyktos how Halayna died. She was murdered by Kolis when he called her into Dalos because Kolis hates Nektas. Apparently he believes that Nektas should’ve been honored to serve Kolis after he stole the embers, but Nektas remained loyal to Eythos and then to Nyktos. Kolis would’ve preferred to kill Nektas but if he killed him in any manner outside of self-defense, all of the other draken throughout the realms would have gone after Kolis as they would’ve taken the act personally. This is because Nektas is very old; he was the first draken–the dragon that Eythos befriended and turned into part human. Nektas was the one who gave the fire to the flesh that Eythos turned into the first mortal. Nyktos reveals that a few of his close guards know what the plan is, what is inside her–more than one ember–and that she is in the Culling (because they’ve seen the signs), but they do not know that she has Sotoria’s souls. Nyktos tells her that if he were to become a Primal of Life, he would make the Rite, to ascend as a chosen a choice rather than a requirement. He explains to Sera that the purpose of the Chosen is to replenish Iliseeum and be a balance by having Gods that know what it’s like to be human. Both of them hope that the Chosen haven been turned into Craven, and realize that Revenants are different than Craven. Nyktos reveals that Kolis is the oldest of Primals, which means that while he may not be killed, he may be weakened to the point that they may be able to entomb him. Sera says that he’s wrong, and insinuates that she could be the one who kills him, but Nyktos continues to stay adamant that it will not be the truth. Nyktos also tells Sera that the Rot should disappear once the Embers of life are in him, which fills her with relief, because it means that there is a future for her realm/country. Still Sera wants to do something to ease the situation in Lasania, but Nyktos tells her that anything from Ilisseum would quickly degrade as it moved between the Primal and Mortal realms. He tells her more of what the Shadowlands used to look like before the Rot overtook it too. He admits that the Rot spread slowly at first but then all of a sudden, things started dying, and when Sera asks how long ago it started, Nyktos said that it would be 21 years in five months when the Rot started to creep up and around Iliseeum.

When Nyktos asks her opinion on the plan, Sera hopes that it works, but then she realizes that she can now hope too–that maybe she could have a future without an early death, and she felt a bit selfish for it because it would mean more attacks until the plan was carried out in full. Then they talk about the Coronation, and he tells her that they won’t be seeing each other tomorrow because there’s a belief that seeing one another before the start of the coronation will ward off bad luck. He also admits to her that there will be other Primals there at the ceremony, which will be followed by a feast. He will be the one placing the crown on her head and bestowing her with a title–one that he has not yet chosen, but will come up with before then. Nyktos promised her that he will have her protected at all times, but hopes that the Fates find them worthy so that the feasts can begin. He tells her that while she can protect herself, we all need people to look over us and after us, including him. He also adds that they need to sort out the whole matter with her power–he’s unsure if she will have that amount of power to wield after she goes through the Culling without the embers, but she could still be a strong Godling or God. They are interrupted by Saion, who tells them that there is a problem at the gate, because the the Cimmerian are there. Cimmerian are lesser gods several generations removed from Attes, the Primal of Accord and War, and his brother Kyn, the Primal of Peace and Vengeance. But Saion informs them that these Cimmerian have come from Hanan’s court, so Nyktos asks about Bele, and when he finds out that Bele is with Aios, Reaver and Jadis, he asks about the count–100 Cimmerian are at the gates. They go back and forth on the matter, and Sera wants to know what would happen if things go south, to which the two men explain that Cimmerian are gods that use eather to feed their abilities in the sense that they pull strength from eather, and it amplifies their abilities or makes them stronger. Saion adds that the Cimmerian love to fight, and Sera offers to join the fight as well, though Nyktos tells her to stay put. Ector interjects that she can fight, at which point Nyktos reminds him that this is the time for what they’ve discussed numerous times–Ector to shut the fuck up. Nyktos then explains to Seraphena that they don’t know why the Cimmerian are there, but if they are attempting to take her, they will also know that he will have little support in getting her back especially if she’s not his official Consort, so he doesn’t want to make it easier for them to kidnap her. He orders Saion to stay with her.

Sera and Saion talk and he asks her about her attempt to escape to kill Kolis, but she doesn’t reveal more than asking him if Nyktos would make something like that up. Then she decides to leave the office and the two of them go to the Rise to see what is going on, even though Saion continues to complain that it’s such a bad idea. She picks up a quiver full of arrows and watches the ordeal from the Rise. One of the Cimmerian warriors starts speaking about a ripple of power being felt throughout all of the courts, and Saion recognizes him as Dorcan, one of the really old Cimmerian and someone you do not want to cross on a battlefield. The conversation does not seem to be going well, with Dorcan asking for Bele, accusing Nyktos of not knowing what is going on in the Shadowlands, and telling him that he’s had a couple of rough days. Nyktos doesn’t give into anything, doesn’t rise to anything nor does he admit to anything, but it’s very tense. Dorcan tells Nyktos that all they want is to take Bele to Hanan’s Court, to which Nyktos replies that shouldn’t Hanan be here to make that request, before reminding everyone that Hanan’s a coward. The talk between the two continues before it devolves into a fight amongst the two sides. Saion commands her to stay unseen and if Nyktos becomes overpowered, to get to Bele and Aios. She understands, and Saion jumps off to go fight. In the meantime Sera keeps shooting arrows at Cimmerians, while keeping her eye on Nyktos to make sure that he’s okay. She narrowly avoids the daggers thrown her way, only to find Nyktos chopped off the head of that soldier, and she returns the favor to him by shooting down a soldier that was running at Nyktos.

Suddenly things go black as the Cimmerians create the black cloud, and Sera quickly finds out that they can use this cloud to quickly scale the Rise. She feels like a blindfold has been put on her eyes and quickly remembers the lessons from Holland, who had taught her to hone her other senses with a blindfold on. She realizes then that Holland really did walk the fine line of interference. She manages to pay attention and jab two soldiers, as well as throw off one Cimmerian before she finds herself against Nytkos. He shoves her against the parapet wall and his body, as a draken had arrived– Nektas. He joins the fray, killing gods easily, and Nyktos points out that Sera has been hurt, noting that he’s not sure he would be able to stop drinking her blood. He tells her to stay put, jumps off the rise and stalks to Dorcan who assumes he has a message for Hanan, but then Saion tells Nyktos that Dorcan has seen Sera, so Nyktos severs his head, after Dorcan tells him that if he doesn’t give Hanan what he wants, he will go to Kolis and it will end badly for Nyktos.

Rhain and Ector are in the office with Sera, while she paces waiting for Nyktos. Rhain doesn’t trust her, though Ector tells him that he should give her a chance; after all, if it hadn’t been for her being good with a bow and arrow, he may be dead at this point. When Rhain says nothing, Ector gives his gratitude for saving him, and then Rhain follows with his gratitude. Ector tells him that he’s being an ass, and goes on a speech about how Sera has had their backs and carries the embers of life, which surprises Sera as she wasn’t sure where she stood with Ector. In anger Rhain says that she’s not the ember of life, she’s just a vessel and spills that Nyktos had to sacrifice some things for her, but when she asks, Ector jumps in saying that Rhain is being overdramatic. Nyktos stalks in all pissed off, asking if he did not ask her to stay put, and how dare she risk Saion’s life, who had no choice but to join the fray because he was tasked with protecting her. She claims that he’s the one that’s committing misdeeds, and Nyktos tells her he’s curious how she’s going to rationalize this. In that moment, there is something inside her that shifts. She then tells him that when she found out she no longer was bound by the duty, she finally became her own person, one who gets to make their own choices, and she will not be ordered around or told what to do, because she’s done living that way. He asks Ector and Rhain to get water and make themselves scarce but then continues to push Sera’s buttons about how her instincts don’t work properly. She finally snaps that she never really had the opportunity to develop those instincts because of how she was raised, and Nyktos stills. Then he asks her to explain as he’s trying to understand.

It all comes down to her being raised from birth to believe that her kingdom was dying due to a deal that her ancestor made with the Primal of Life, and what was she supposed to do? Kick her duty to someone else by making another deal with a Primal. He asks her what her life was like, but Rhain interrupts them, and Sera uses the opportunity to ask him what he sacrificed for her. He tells her that it was nothing, and asks her to lift her sweater, and Sera hesitates, but ultimately pulls it up. Nyktos takes a look at her injury and tells her that it’s not a bad wound so she doesn’t need his blood and so there’s no worry of him taking advantage of her. Sera realizes a few moments later what he said, and questions it, to which Nyktos says he knew what kind of effect his blood would have on her and he should have left her or restrained himself when the effects came on. She then admits to him that the whole thing had everything to do with her attraction to him. That attraction between them starts up again, when he lifts her on his desk and they talk–about her blood and his touch being cold. Nyktos then reveals to Sera that he’s not really moving fast, at least not in the way that she thinks, and tells her that he uses eather to will himself where he wants to go, in a maneuver that is called shadow stepping. He tells her more about it and how it works as well as admits that she may be able to do it to some extent because of her powers already. Then he asks her what she was thinking about earlier and she tells him it was Tavius, her step brother. Nyktos asks about him and Sera tells him that Tavius was not kind; that he had been mean to her verbally as they grew up, but then he tried to physically abuse her, and she would kick his ass. Nyktos asks why he whipped her that time, and she tells him that Tavius just hated her, and he was a person who likes to dominate others so when he can’t do it, it makes him more determined. Sera reveals that both Tavius and her mother blamed her for the Rot, and Tavius believed she should be punished for failing to become Nyktos’ Consort. Nyktos asks what would have Tavius done to her if he hadn’t stepped in, and Sera tells him that he probably would have tried to touch her and it would have ended with his favorite part of him in his throat. This causes Nyktos to burn the cloth he was holding and char the desk. Sera admits that Holland and Ezra may have known, but there was nothing they could’ve done though Holland did intervene more than once, while Ezra didn’t truly know the extent of Tavius’ transgressions. Nyktos realizes that when he tried to deny her as his Consort in order to give her her freedom, she never really got it, and he apologizes to Sera for it, which makes her emotional.

He offers to go take her mother and put her next to Tavius in the Abyss, but Sera ultimately says no. Sera returns to her chambers and chooses to take Nyktos’ advice to rest as she was cut with shadow stone and is going through the Culling. She ends up reading, but then decides to drink wine and eventually pleasures herself, though she feels Nyktos’ presence in the shadows and hears his voice commanding her as she daydreams about what he would do to her while they are in bed together, before falling asleep. The next day she has breakfast with Nektas, and then together they head out of her chambers to find Jadis. They find her and spend some time with both her and Reaver in one of the rooms of the castle, while Nektas and Sera talk about Nyktos’ plan. Sera confides in him that she would like to go already, but Nektas explains the dangers that come from traveling without protection. Nektas steps out momentarily to speak to Rhain, while Sera watches the two young drakens, and Jadis not only manages to throw a tantrum, but also set one of the chairs on fire all because Reaver had gotten on top of the cabinet and did not want to come down. Nektas determines that it’s time for a nap, and they leave, but on the way out they go past Nyktos’ office, and Jadis wants to go to him, which they end up doing. Nyktos is not pleased with the outfit that Sera is wearing, and a small discussion ensues around that topic. Nektas eventually leaves, and Sera questions Nyktos about his night, though he gives nothing away about what happened in her chamber. They have a philosophical conversation about people they haven’t met or seen but hating or missing them. Sera then asks about the army that Dorcan had mentioned, and Nyktos reveals to hear that not every Primal has one. She questions why the army didn’t help when the dakkais attacked, and comes to the realization that he was planning to go to war with Kolis.

Nyktos attempts to dismiss her, but Sera chooses to stay in his office as he had told her she can go anywhere and be anywhere, so she begins asking him questions and he tells her about the Book of the Dead–the book that lists the names of those who will die the day that it’s opened, but Nyktos reveals that he actually has to write the names down and while he is not killing them, writing their names down enables that they are able to cross through the Pillars. They continue their seductive banter and thought they also occasionally add comments that hurt the other in the banter. She taunts him by saying that she’ll find someone else to distract, and make her way to the door to exit, but he catches her, and tells her that as long as she’s his Consort she will be very selective in how she spends her time with others, and that she will take care of her own sexual needs or resist those desires. It’s then that she tells him that it’s because he watched her do it so he knows she’s more than capable of doing it, but she tells him that it only gets her so far. Nyktos then threatens her that if someone else touches her, he’ll do worse things to them. They ultimately agree that they’ll do pleasure for the sake of pleasure, before Nyktos warns her that a Primal is about to arrive, and apologizes to her ahead of time for how he’s about to behave. And then Attes walks right in, so the two Primals go toe to toe by showing off their primal energy and in their words. Some of the words and actions by Attes leave Sera unsettled, unease forming in her chest. She does speak her mind with her own threat when Attes refers to her as an accessory, but then he asks Nyktos if Veses has seen her, to which Nyktos responds no. Attes also mentions that there has been a lot of complications, and Nyktos says he assumes Attes had nothing to do with that. Then ultimately asks Attes what he wants, but Attes dances around topics, bringing up Dorcan and then asks how it’s possible that someone Ascended in the Shadowlands. When Nyktos dances around the topic himself, Attes tells him that Hanan is throwing a fit in Dalos, and that no one has forgotten who Eythos was nor who Nyktos was meant to be. Nyktos asks him if he’s here to satiate his own curiosity or if he came on Kolis’ behalf, to which Attes responds that he is curious but also Kolis asked him to deliver a message to Nyktos.

Kolis is aware that he had taken a Consort, and has decided to deny Nyktos’ right to a coronation all because there hasn’t been a coronation in years, and he wants it to be more traditional, which means that Nyktos must gain Kolis’ permission to crown a Consort. Kolis will summon them when he’s ready, so the Coronation will not take place the following day. This angers Nyktos and he tells Attes to leave, but the room continues getting colder, so Nyktos asks Sera to argue with him so that he doesn’t go after Attes. Sera decides to start kissing him, and it gets hot and heavy fast, but luckily they are unable to go any further as Nektas arrivesand asks them if it’s true that Nyktos has to go get permission from Kolis. Nyktos explains the story behind the tradition, and also they talk about how Kolis has tested Nyktos over the years to see if he has the ember of life in him, and how Nyktos has managed to convince Kolis that he is loyal to his uncle. Nektas walks Sera back to her room, tells her more about what Nyktos had to do in order to lie to Kolis that he’s loyal to him, and then asks her why she no longer calls him Ash, to only then tell her that Ash is the name Eythos called Nyktos and has special meaning to him, and to allow someone to call him that is specially. Ultimately Nektas ends the conversation saying that Nyktos can be to Sera what she wants him to be. The next day, Sera is bored out of her mind and feeling restless, so she walks around the Castle with Saion, including eating breakfast at one of the rooms. On her way back, she overhears training, and ends up sparing with Nyktos, including getting him a couple of times, while making her demands known. Even though Nyktos does capture her and takes her sword away from her, she manages to gain the upper hand by elbowing him, while getting her dagger out of its hiding spot and holding it to his throat, while everyone else is hooting and laughing.

That evening, Paxton visits Sera’s room and sees that she hasn’t used the water, but before he can get Nyktos, Nyktos opens up the door between the two of them. Nyktos himself sees that she hasn’t actually used the water, but he doesn’t actually go ahead and heat it up. Instead he disappears for a few minutes, and when he returns he leads her back into his bathing chamber, and tells her that one of his men had told him that she wasn’t using her bathing chamber, and it should’ve occurred to him that it would not be appealing for her to use the bathing chamber in which she was attacked. She ends up falling asleep in the bath, and Nyktos watches her sleep. Once she wakes up, he heats up the water for her and she brings up the fact that —and then she sucks him, while he makes her come and drinks her blood. They talk about her time as the Consort in her realm. They end up resting, and she falls asleep hearing him say that she was never a ghost to him. She wakes up hours later to Nektas staring at her, and he tells her that Erlina left the clothing for the coronation as well as that Nyktos is at Court, and she realizes that he didn’t keep his promise to her. Nektas also reveals that Nyktos understands her position and her actions, not that he has forgiven her, which is way easier than understanding and acceptance, but also mentions that he found Nyktos fully at peace when he found them together. Sera falls asleep again, and wakes up to Nyktos staring at her, but then realizes that he brought up food for two, keeping his promise to her. They talk some about Lasania, the Rot and how her life and the embers are intertwined. He also agrees to take her into Lasania to visit her step-sister Ezra, and to visit the Pools of Divanash–she will go with Nektas. They talk more about Kolis, Nyktos’ goodness and Sera not being a good person–all that she did at the hands of her parents. He gives her a history lesson on Primals and what it meant for the Primals when they started to feel emotions. She tells him that her offer is still on and they have sex/

The next day Nyktos takes Sera home to Lasania, and she meets with Ezra, surprising her. She tells her enough information to make sure that Ezra is able to prepare Lasania for what could be a devastating loss of life. Luckily, Ezra has already started negotiations and getting food, but she also tells Sera that they’re going to use the land destroyed by the Rot to build homes to help manage the overcrowding. As they leave, Sera comes face to face with her mother and Nyktos tells her that she should be thanking Sera for still being alive, because she doesn’t deserve it at all, according to him as she must’ve known what her stepson was capable of.

The following day, Nyktos rides with Sera to the entrance to the Vale, and lets her enter with Nektas. The two of them head into the vale, and make the trip to the Pools of Divanash, where Sera reveals a deep secret–she took too much of a sleeping draught because she didn’t want to wake up. Then she asks to see Delfai, the God of Divination, and it shows her where he is–Irelone, with Kayleigh, the girl that was set to marry Tavius. Sera tells him the truth about what they did to get her out of that betrothal, and then on their ride back they encounter nymphs. Sera kills one easily with her eather, and then they head over to the castle. Sera heads to see Nyktos first, and then finds that Veses is straddling him, feeding from his throat. She runs away, to the pool that Nyktos showed her and unleashes her power, destructing the stone table there, and also the stone pool with ashy roots. Nyktos finds her getting swallowed by roots and tells her to breathe, but it doesn’t stop her, so he finally compells her to sleep.

She wakes up and Rhain asks her what happened in the pool area–so she tells him that she just lost control and panicked. She also finds out that she’s been asleep for three days, and then mostly spends a while talking to Bele about Veses and Nyktos. Nyktos shows up and tries to apologize and talk to Seraphena about Veses, but they get into an argument over Veses mostly because Nyktos doesn’t want to tell Sera the truth about what is going on between them. Sera tells him that she doesn’t care what is going on between Veses and him, because she should have made a different deal–she would be his Consort in name only, and once Kolis was defeated, she would give Nyktos the Embers, and she wanted to be gone.

Sera visits him the next day, and they decide to go to Irelone, though Nyktos is not happy with how accommodating she’s acting, and how pliable she is–something he points out to her and tells her that she was taught to act this way. Suddenly Nyktos cries out in pain, and shows her the mark on his hand–Kolis has summoned them. Everyone is in Nyktos’s office, and they make the plan to go to Irelone first, and then to see Kolis. But when Sera finds out that Kolis got upset in less than a day that Nyktos didn’t respond to his summons, she urges them to go to see Kolis first. They go to court, encounter Attes, and Nyktos kills a man named Dyses, who stared at Sera too keenly. Dyses actually later comes back to life, and Nyktos and Sera talk about it, concluding that he must be a Revenant. During the visit to Kolis, Sera is forced to kill a draken boy, and when Attes takes him away to Vathi, she asks Nyktos to take her there too, where she proceeds to bring the boy back to life.

Once they’re back in the Shadowlands, Sera is attacked in her bedroom by Veses, and Bell comes to her rescue. Between the two of them they are able to hold off Veses but barely, and Sera brings Reaver back to life–he was hurt terribly by Veses, to the point of death. Nyktos shows up and takes Veses down, before having his men take her to the tombs–ones she would not be able to get out of. Afterwards, Sera feeds from Nyktos, because it’s the only way for her to heal without going into stasis, and she sees a memory of hers–one that she pulls out of Nyktos, which tells him that she’s closer than ever before to Ascension. They end up having sex.

The next day, they talk about Veses, but Nyktos is unable and unwilling to tell her what the deal is between Veses and him. At least the day of the Coronation has arrived, and after Sera gets ready in her dress, she calls Rhain–one of Nyktos’ trusted guards, and asks him just exactly what Nyktos sacrificed for her. Rhain tells her that Veses somehow found out about Eythos’ deal and threatened to tell Kolis about it so that he could take Sera from the mortal realm and used her to get to Nyktos. But Nyktos bargained with her for a price, since Veses is more interested in Nyktos than she is loyal to Kolis–he would service her with his blood whenever she wanted, and while Primals don’t need to feed often, Veses visited often enough but Nyktos couldn’t refuse because Sera’s ass was on the line. Sera realizes that Nyktos was protecting her-not the embers, and she’s pissed off enough to try to kill Veses, but Rhain stops her. He realizes that she saw them together that day when she destroyed the pool, and she admits to it. As they head out, Rhain asks her if she loves Nyktos–it’s not something that she can answer.

She goes to the coronation in a horse drawn carriage, and the coronation goes without a hitch–beautiful, and easy. Both of their hands are imprinted with golden swirls–a blessing granted to the married couple if they are favored. The following day, they both head to Irelone, see Princess Kayleigh, and Delfai. He tells both Seraphena and Nyktos about the Star, a type of diamond that is the conduit that would transfer the essence. The Arae had told Kolis about it, and now Kolis has it. But Delfai tells him that in order to take the embers from Seraphena, he needs to feed on her–take all of her blood, and then the embers will transfer to him, at the cost of her life. Ash doesn’t like this, even though Delfai tells him that there are no other options but three that he lists, Ash starts strangling him, but Seraphena intervenes, and when Ash lets go of Delfai, he believes that there’s hope as he had seen his own death at the hands of Ash. . On their way back to the Shadowlands, they argue, and Ash tells Seraphena that he would’ve loved her if he could’ve–that her life means something, so he cannot kill her.

They return to Lethe and find that it’s in the midst of an attack–dakkais, draken and Kyn had shown up–Attes’ brother who was mad that Sera killed the young draken boy. Ash and Sera are warned by Saion, but still head out into the hallway where they find the heads of Ector and Aios on pikes. Ash goes off to fight, while Sera takes Aios down with Saion’s help and brings her back to life. She tries again with Ector, but the dakkais overrun her, Saion and Rhain. Ash tries to get the Dakkais to him, but the whole place is swarmed with the Cimmerian and the Dakkais. Sera tries to get around, and finds herself face to face with Attes, who tells her that this is the only way. She watches as Ash keeps trying to fight Dakkais and Cimmerian, and he tells her that she can either remove the charm and come with him to save the lives of the people in Lethe, or she can ensure that everyone dies but Ash.

Sera wakes up later, not knowing if Attes had honored his vow and stopped the attacks in Lethe. When she hears someone enter and she’s looks around, she finds herself inside a gilded cage, and on the other side, there is a Revenant named Callum–he had been in Lasania speaking to her mother. He reveals that he’d known her mom for many years, and was the source of information on how to kill a Primal. She realizes then that Kolis knows the truth about her–Callum tells her that he had learnt that truth on the night of her birth when her father called the Primal of Life to make another deal. King Lamont, Sera’s father, did not know Eythos was the one who made a deal with his predecessor, so he spoke freely with Kolis, demanding another deal be made that freed his daughter from any obligations. As they continue talking, Sera realizes that no one mentions anything about Sotoria’s soul, so it seems that no one has been aware that she’s Sotoria. Kolis finally shows up, and they talk about the prophecy–he has knowledge of it too, and tells Sera that they often come in threes. He tells her the full prophecy, believing that some of it has to do with his sister in law, and with Sera. She realizes that he was waiting for her to fulfill the prophecy–she is the carrier of the Primal embers of life, the bearer of two crowns and she restored the young draken to life. Kolis admits that he was waiting for her to reach the point of power were the rest of the prophecy to take place–resulting in a Primal of Life and Death. Kolis wants to be the one who is that Primal, and Sera laughs saying that he deserves his death which is what it sounds like from the Prophecy. But he tells her that he intends to change it anyway because he wants more power. He thanks her for preparing the embers, and then he strikes, drinking her blood. Then a different voice–Sotoria’s voice–starts screaming and then as Sera speaks, it’s Sotoria who says that he’s killing her again after all of these years. Attes comes in and tells him that it could be possible–that it would be something that Eythos would do just to fuck with Kolis. Kolis is horrified that in order to do what he wants, he would have to kill the one person that matters to him–as Sera looks onto the emblem of Ash’s family–the white wolf.

My Thoughts: I love this series. I love the intensity of the relationship and I’m so heartbroken for Nyktos; that he’s so afraid of love that he had that kardia taken out. I wonder if he will love Seraphena, and if in the coming book of the series, he gets it put back in or he finds a different way to love her so that she can survive the culling. I mean, considering that the other series talks about Seraphena, I suspect something will happen, but boy is there a lot of anticipation of the how. This is one of my favorite series in recent years, and I truly cannot wait to read the next book that comes out later this year. My calendar’s marked, and I’m ready for it.

Oh and the fifth book in the From Blood and Ash came out and it’s something I’m currently reading.