“He’s not a God of Sky and Soil,” Kieran said, slowly crouching behind Poppy and Delano. “He’s the Eternal God.”
“He’s also Saion’s cousin,” she said, and I knew the fact that she knew that would hit her later.
Rhahar turned, the pure silver of his eyes locking on us—on Poppy.
Delano rose, his chest vibrating in a low growl as I shifted forward so we both blocked her.
Rhahar lifted a brow, one side of his lips tipping as he started toward us.
I shot upright, moving so I stood in front of Delano. “Do not come one step closer.”
The smile spread and then faltered as his eather pressed against my skin. “Holy…” Rhahar’s head cocked to the side. “Fuck.”
“Did he just say fuck?” whispered Poppy.
“I did,” he replied. There was a pause, and when he spoke again, I picked up on an accent I hadn’t heard before—a cadencethat rolled and lifted with each word. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“No. Not really,” she said, sounding a little breathless as I felt her trying to move. I wished she would stop doing that. I could feel her exhaustion bearing down on me. “It was just unexpected. You’re a Primal god and all.”
“And?” he asked as I tried to get a read on him. I picked up absolutely fucking nothing.
“Kind of seems inappropriate,” she said. “That’s all.”
That eyebrow rose again. “Doyousay fuck?”
“Yes,” was her response.
“Poppy,” Kieran said under his breath, “it’s probably best to stop talking.”
Rhahar’s gaze flicked to him, and his head tilted again. “Attes was telling the truth.”
I stiffened at the name, but before I could respond to that, the bay erupted.
“Oh, no,” Poppy muttered, her worry pressing down on me. “Not again.”
The funnels started to spin, generating streaks of essence that shimmered.
“It’s okay,” Rhahar assured us.
None of us was reassured.
Except for Delano.
The fluff of fur had stopped growling and was eyeing the Primal god with curiosity instead of hostility.
The funnels crackled, turning into pure eather as the ground shook. I had no idea what the fuck the kraken was up to, but by the sounds of it, another warehouse had bitten the dust.
Eather whirled through the form of Saion as the clouds above him thickened once more. With a sweeping motion, the essence surged across the bay, hissing and spitting through the air. Ididn’t take my eyes off the Primal god before us, but the essence had donesomething. The kraken roared.
“That’s close enough,” I warned, feeling the essence pressing harder against my flesh.
“We’re here to help.” Rhahar’s steps slowed. “We would’ve been here earlier, but…we had our own issues to deal with.”
“What issues?” Poppy asked.
I couldfeelKieran’s sigh. I couldhearthe exhaustion in her quiet voice as the wharf shook. From the edge of my vision, the kraken lurched backward, fighting against the pull as it was dragged back toward the bay.
“That thing over there was freed from the Abyss,” he explained, nodding toward the kraken. “We’ve had our hands—” He lifted a hand as a thrashing tentacle swung in our direction, flinging it back.
