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Neither was I. Telling Ariana all of this, it worried me something fierce that it would have her regressing back into her whole repression thing, then even pulling away from us and every other fucking thing. All over again.

I couldn’t stand the thought of it.

And I was having to strain more than I normally ever would to keep my focus and not let those emotions disrupt my spell or impact the control of my magic as a whole.

Before I could get another word out, Nyx teleported in, a fuckload of urgency coming off him. “I heard you guys, I was listening from a distance as I approached. This… interference… it’s the True Celestials.” He eyed me. “It explains why you had such trouble when you were experimenting with her magic. It had shifted in a way, like you’d thought, because the Celestial Plane has some greater hold on her now.”

“We don’t know that for certain, Nyx,” I cautioned him. “It could be the source of the interference that this test registered, but having ahold on heris an entirely different, and far more severe thing.”

“No… it’s more than that, and I…” He trailed off, clearly majorly distressed.

“What’s happened, babe?” Vorzyr asked him, going to him and stroking his nape.

Nyx didn’t even calm at his touch, though, and that was really saying something given how much he enjoyed that.

His gaze fixed on Ariana. “When I was up at the Guardian Compound, your mom, and two of your dads, Lucian and Ryker, were embroiled in a discussion that I overheard… accidentally.”

Accidentally?Sure.

Ariana frowned. “My mom is supposed to be at the Lotus Coven today doing an inspection.”

“Maybe she just popped in for a while for the talk that I heard. Either way, something fucked-up is going on.Cornelius and Jaxon haven’t been away on Guardian-related business. It’s about you. They’ve been communicating with the True Celestials on the Celestial Plane. I’m not sure how that’s possible, or whatever, but it’s been happening. They’re trying to stop some sort of threat from the True Celestials from reaching you. That’s why they really want you to take back your full power, to protect yourself if thisthreat, whatever it is exactly, I don’t know, comes to pass.”

“What?” Ariana rasped. “I don’t… no, this is… why wouldn’t they tell me any of this, something that directly impacts meandour family?”

“They were worried you’d become unstable and be unable to take back your power safely,” Nyx told her. He grimaced. “I’m so sorry.”

We all tensed as she turned away and shoved her hands through her hair, as she fought to absorb what Nyx had reported.

As if reading the results of this test wasn’t bad enough. The fact that it had been performed on her against her will and even without her knowledge was yet another example of her life not being her own, something that had absolutely devastated herandhad left her essentially frozen in place for so long, and repressing who and what she was. Now this warning that was coming through via the test, something she’d actually been drawing subconsciously… this was exactly what happened when knowledge was locked away—pain and being unprepared.

Being vulnerable.

I hated it at the best of times.

But it was far worse now.

Because it was about her, about the four of us as a whole. It impacted and risked so much concerning that—what we’d been building, for one. And, beyond that, what might come at us as a result.

As if that wasn’t concerning enough, and more than a fucking mountain of shit to deal with, there was also the fact that Ari’s family had essentially betrayed her.

Perhaps worse from her perspective, given how I knew her to be, was that they hadn’ttrustedher. So much so that they’d gone around her and hidden something huge from her, something that clearly had far-reaching consequences.

Vorzyr and Nyx both shot looks my way, willingmeto move to comfort Ari.

It made sense, given our longer history.

But it had me hesitating. Maybe I wasn’t the best person for this aspect of what she was going through. I wasn’t exactly known for myemotionalintelligence. Hell, Nyx was the most emotionally-available one, with Vorzyr a close second. Ari was down at the bottom with me, but I was most definitely always last.

I’dbe useful when action needed to be taken, a plan needed to be strategized, a spell required forging or casting, something alongthoselines.

However, I had pushed Ari to open up and let me in, so I had to at least try, even if I didn’t fare well.

I stepped forward and went to lay my hand carefully on her back, ready to attempt to comfort her, but she spun around just before I made contact, making me stagger back a couple of steps.

She was too focused to notice, announcing in an all-business tone, “We need to put that failsafe in place.Now,Kai.”

“Why? What are you thinking? Where’s your head at, sweetheart?”