A Fire in the Flesh is the third book in the fantasy romance series by Jennifer L. Armentrout in the Flesh of Fire series. Flesh and Fire series is the prequel to the From Blood and Ash series following Sera, the True Primal of Life and Nyktos, Primal of Death.
In A Fire in the Flesh, Seraphena is captured by Kolis who thinks she is Sotoria incarnated, while Nyktos is in stasis so he cannot rescue her. With both of them in captivity, Kolis, the False King of the Gods is closer than ever to what he always wanted, to Ascend as the something new.
Read our full summary of A Fire in the Flesh in this post. This post contains spoilers.
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Synopsis
Seraphena and Nyktos Get Separated
Seraphena fades in and out consciousness as her ascension looms while Kolis tries to coax Sotoria out of her again. Attes, The Primal of War and Accord and Callum, the first Revenant try to influence Kolis to deal with Sera different way, Attes wants to get get help while Callum thinks he needs to take the embers now.
Nyktos arrives, transforming into his primal form. In his rage to free Seraphena, he kills hanan, the Primal of the Hunt and injures Kolis. Kolis says he just declared war.
Nyktos rejects Kolis as the King of the Gods and his claim on Seraphena. They clash, and Sera manages to use compulsion to stop them. She threathens to slit her own throat which causes Nyktos dearly as Kolis stabs him in the heart with a shadowstone dagger.
Kolis imprisons Nyktos, and calls Sera his graeca. Sera collapses from using her powers and Kolis taks her to Phanos, the Primal of Skies and Seas. Phanos uses ceeren essence to stabilize Sera at the cost of their lives.
Sera, feeling guilty that the ceeren died for her and wanting to free Nyktos, steals Kolis’s shadowstone dagger and stabs him. Kolis urges her to not to push him and reveals his true Primal of Death skeletal form and forces Sera’s obedience with compulsion. He also threathens her that if she’s not Sotoria, he’ll have his revenge.
Sera is put in a gilded cage. The cage is setup so that Kolis can watch his captives at all times. She turns a glass sex toy into a weapon, and when Callum enters her cage she kills him.
She makes a run for it, realizing she’s in Cor Palace in Dalos and she finds rooms where people are having orgies and terrified Chosen. She even finds a Chosen feeding on a man. She intervenes but is knocked out and she’s back to her cage with Kolis watching her.
Kolis cals her So’lis, meaning my soul. Sera realizes her best chance at escaping his manipulating Kolis’s obsession with Sotoria.
Callum returns, and taunts her about her failed escape. He kills a Chosen in front of her to emphasize his position of power.
A massive silver hawk arrives, revealed to be Attes. Sera lashes out at Attes for betraying her but he reveals he did to save everyone else’s lives. He reveals, he knew who Sera was this entire time due to his close relationship with Eythos.
He also reveals that Sera is not Sotoria reborn but her soul is trapped in her. Sera, realizing making Kolis fall in love with her, won’t work. Attes swears an unbreaable oath to her and tells her he’ll craft ancient bones to keep Kolis down.
Sera dreams of her lake, reunited with Nyktos. While dreamwalking, they reunite and have sex.
Seraphena Endures Captivity
Callum returns and taunts Seraphena. Kolis explains that Craven are a side effect of Ascension. Sera tries to manipulate Kolis using her training before she met Nyktos and Kolis questions her feelings for Nyktos. Sera claims Nyktos only keeps her around because of the embers in her.
Kolis reveals Nyktos is in stasis and that shadowstone is made out of material burned out of dragon fire. It can block eather.
He also questions that Nyktos’s feelings for her. Kolis says he’ll consider freeing Nyktos if she is truly Sotoria.
Kolis displays Sera in a revealing gown.
Kyn arrives and reveals Shadowlands is holding on and brings Rhain as a captive. Sera realizes she can hear Rhain’s thoughts who urges her to destroy the palace with her eather. Kolis sentences Rhain to death but Sera exchanges herself with Rhain’s life.
Sera spends the night sharing a bed with Kolis, leaving her violated.
The next day, Kolis introduces her to Ione, a goddess who can read thoughts and lies to determine whether her claims of being Sotoria is true. Ione lies to Kolis despite finding out the truth about Sera. Kolis embraces Sera. Sera asks him to release Kolis as promised. Kolis lashes out and bites her.
Kolis pins her down and Sera instinctively lashes out with the embers of life inside of her. Afterwards Kolis is remorseful and begs for forgiveness.
Attes visits her and is infuriated that Kolis bit her. Sera dismisses the concerns, and asks about Nyktos, and learns that their destinies are not much different as Nyktos is impaled by bones of an ancient to hold him under.
Callum doesn’t believe that Seraphena is Sotoria and tells Kolis. Kolis brushes it off and reveals that Callum is only in denial that Sotoria, his sister, has reincarnated.
Seraphena learns that Callum took his own life after Sotoria died, overwhelmed by his guilt. Kolis Ascended Callum, making him his first Revenant.
Seraphena tries to learn more about Nyktos’s condition. Kolis admits he’s jealous although he appears to want to honor their deal. He is also frustrated that Seraphena is now physically afraid of her after he bit her. He forbids Sera from using the embers again.
Sera grapples with the fact that she is at Kolis’s mercy. Repulsed, afraid and feeling alone she also deals with feelings of guit and worry. She has another dream where she sees Nyktos and doesn’t answer questions about what Kolis is doing to her. Nyktos tells Sera to tell Kolis only Nyktos can ascend her.
Sera ponders if they can dream walk because they are mates of heart and their fates are more intertwined than they thought before.
Sera Frees Nyktos
Kolis allows Sera to leave her cage and takes her to the City of Gods. Sera witnesses more depraved acts, a side effect of Kolis’s proximity due to the Primal of Death.
He holds court with a pillow at his feet for Sera to sit. Other courts are present. Keella, the Primal of Rebirth questions Kolis’s kidnapping of Nyktos’s Consort. Kolis deems their marriage illegitimate. Keella asks Sera if she’s staying with Kolis willingly and Sera lies to protect those she loves.
Sera sees a god feeding from a mortal and is horrified. Kolis claims they know each other. Sera approaches another god and stabs them with shadowstone, something Kolis encourages her to do. The servant is in despair, revealing that she was enjoying the exchange. Sera realizes Kolis tricked her. Kolis accuses Sera of acting impulsively and punishes her by making her sit on his lap.
Veses arrives and reveals she stopped a coup in her court. Kolis tells her she failed him by not telling him about Nyktos and Sera and orders Kyn to assault her. Sera is shocked by the cruelty of his court but holds her tongue thanks to her lifetime of training but not for long. She tries to intervene.
Kolis takes her back to her cage and shackles her for her insubordination. He tells her he’s doing this to her out of love.
Callum comes back, and tells her deep down Kolis knows she’s not Sotoria. He also reveals that Eythos killed Sotoria.
When Kolis returns, he releases Sera from her chains and holds her.
Sera wakes up, and with desperate determination, apologizes to Kolis, earning his approval. Kolis drains a mortal’s blood, and tells her the primal of life must ascend mortals to preserve the balance of the realms. He reveals life and death needs to be present to sustain the balance.
Sera realizes, they cannot kill Kolis. If they do, it would cause the utter destruction of the realms.
Sera questions why the fates trained her the way they did if she cannot kill Kolis. She remembers the Star diamond.
Veses arrives and taunts Sera, claiming she enjoyed the punishment. She reveals she escaped Shadowlands by chewing her arms off.
Kolis arrives and asks to sleep with her again. He also reveals he didn’t have sex with anyone since Sotoria to remain loyal to her.
Sera feels her Culling reaching to it’s end, plagued by headaches, bleeding gums and fatigue.
Kolis takes her for a walk, and Sera learns about Revenants. They don’t need to eat, sleep or feel. Callum is different because Kolis felt emotion while he ascended him, something he canno replicate.
He shows her Carcer Mountains, where Nyktos is being held.
Kolis says he wishes Seraphena was more like Sotoria. When Sera feigns being offended, Kolis apologizes. Sera asks for the Star diamond. Kolis reveals it’s on the roof of her cage and gives her the diamond.
Seraphena touches the diamond which triggers a series of visions. She sees the diamond being created by dragon fire. She sees the jealousy between Kolis and Eythos. She sees Kolis kill Eythos. Sera realizes Eythos’s soul is in the diamond.
Sera draws on the embers of life which infuriates Kolis. Sotoria speaks once more to get Kolis off of them.
Drawing on her power, Sera unleashes a blast of eather, disintegrating her cage. Her power reaches far ends of the realm, and frees Nyktos.
Sera taunts Kolis then stabs him with the bones from the cage, putting him in Statis. She senses Nyktos coming for her. She collapses just as Nyktos arrives.
Eythos’s Soul Finds Peace
Sera awakens in Nyktos’s arm as Nektas and the forces of the Shadowlands wreack havoc. Nyktos is about to kill Kolis. Sera stops him, knowing it would upset the very creation of the realms. She asks Nyktos to get the embers out of her.
Elias, one of Kolis’s guard arrives and reveals he serves the true Primal of Life, pledging himself to Sera. Attes arrives telling them Kyn is on his way.
Sera takes the Star diamond, revealing to Nyktos his father is in the diamond.
Sera uses the embers, threatening triggering her ascension. She wants to release Eythos’s soul so he can find peace, and wants to put Sotoria’s soul in the diamond.
They go to the springs and reconnect. Nyktos confirms he also remembers their dreams. Sera tells Nyktos she’s out of time.
Sera and NYktos shadowstep into the Bonelands where countless beings who fought and died the Ancients. They find Bele, Saion, Rhain waiting for him.
Attes brings Keella, who tells them the Primal of Life can transfer Eythos’s soul. Sera releases Eythos’s soul.
She collapses, the embers she used taking a toll on her.
She wakes up in Keella’s palace in Thyia Plains. Nyktos tells her his father told him he’s proud of her and he’s found peace.
They discuss what to do next as they need Sotoria to be reborn so they can eventually kill Kolis.
Nyktos objects to Sera using any more of her powers but she refuses. She transfers Sotoria’s soul into the Star, Sotoria promising her they’ll see each other again.
Sera tells everyone how much she wishes she could be with them longer and asks Nyktos to take her to her lake.
Nyktos takes Sera to her lake, and asks Nyktos to live fully and love again after.
Not wanting her last memories to be of Kolis, Sera asks Nyktos to have sex with her.
They sense Kolis awakening. Nyktos carries her to the lake and Sera thanks him for giving her everything she wants.
Nyktos decides to Ascend her anyways, risking the embers and the fates of everyone. Despite Sera’s protests he drains Sera of her blood and feeds her his own instead.
Sera dies. Nyktos’s voice follows her last moments, with him confessing he’s in love with her.
Sera Ascends as the True Primal of Life
Sera dreams through death. She hears her nursemaid, Odetta call her. She dreams of the Ancients, born of the fallen stars. She sees them create the primals and mortals. She learns that if the Ancients ever awakened, it would destroy their realms.
Pain consumes her, her ascension changing her bones and essence.
She drifts between dreams, life and death. Nyktos guards her in her wolf form as she hears him talkl to her. Nyktos tells her he knows his kardia healed because they’re heartmates.
Sera sees two cave cats and awakens in their bedroom. Nyktos asks her to feed from him and they have sex. She regains her sense of self.
Nyktos, relieved that Sera’s alive, well and his loses control. They have sex again this time in Nyktos’s primal form. Nyktos tells her he loves her.
Nektas comes to check on them and calls her his Queen. Sera realizes she’s the Queen of Gods as she is ascended as the True Primal of Life.
When she feels Nyktos’s fangs on her neck, Sera feels flashbacks of Kolis biting her and flinches. Nyktos reassures her and Sera questions what happened to Kolis. Nyktos tells her he is hiding in Dalos to recover.
Nyktos admits that he had a vision of Sera dying in her lake and got his kardia removed right before he came and took her to the shadowlands for the first time. Somehow, he could still love her, proving they are heartmates.
Sera looks out the window, sees life growing in the courtyard, realizing she finally stopped the Rot.
When Nyktos return to their chambers, they profess their love for one another, reassuring their commitment to each other. Nyktos tells her he can share anything with him, including what happened with Kolis.
Sera, traumatized from what happened with Kolis and looking forward to stepping into his new rule, cherishes her husband who finally admitted he’s in love with her.
That’s everything from A Fire in the Flesh! In this penultimate chapter of the Flesh and Fire series we finally get close to the true threat to the realms while we uncover Kolis’s erratic nature. We also finally see Sera ascend and Nyktos confess his love.
What did you think of the A Fire in the Flesh? Do you prefer the prequel series or current timeline series? Let us know in the comments!
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