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I arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

He stepped up close to me. With a flick of his fingers, a white, shimmering dome encompassed us. “We are able to speak freely. No one will overhear now.”

I tensed. “No one will overhear what?”

In a blink, he had me gasping as he pulled up the right side of my white wrap top to reveal my Celestial Binding mark. I slammed my hand over his, but he didn’t relent. “Shh, I do not intend to hurt you,” he spoke, his eyes blazing with his power at me.

He held his gaze steady and I felt it—the truth to his words, the unbreakable promise.

It had me dropping my hand and he smiled, then traced his fingers over the mark I’d been afflicted with since birth. “This is not what your family believes. It is both more and less. It is a mark of the bargain that was struck, making you a servant of the Celestial Plane. However, it is not a binding mark in the sense that it would be to me, or Cornelius, Jaxon, and Mia. All ofusare directly connected to the Celestial Plane. Our power is rooted there. It can also be taken away at their will. Yours cannot. That is why I call youaberration. You stand above it. You have more agency than any of us. Yet, you’ve led your life believing otherwise. Your family didn’t know the truth. This bargain you are bound by can also be broken—but only by you.” He removed his hand and fixed my shirt, then stepped back. “However, you are far from being ready to accomplish that. There is much you must learn first.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you tell me this? You’re here to ensure I’m prepared to do my duty to fight whatever the hell kind of threat comes down the line, so that the True Celestials have a champion to do their dirty work. Yet, you’re also informing me that there’s a way out?”

What the fuck was his play here?

I wasn’t exactly uninitiated to the whole concept of mind games. I’d dealt with Kai Hunter for years, for fuck’s sakes.

But this… it didn’t seem along the lines of that.

“The answer to that I will only reveal after an exchange of trust.”

I folded my arms across my chest and regarded him. “And how do you suggest we do that, considering our opposing roles in this less than ideal situation?”

“I will allow you to see into me, but you must also allow me to see into you.”

I started. “And what would you see if I let that happen?”

“Everything.”

I swallowed hard and shifted my weight.

“Your reaction is slight, but speaks volumes. You are not ready. You wish to protect those you love, and you do not trust me with it. Not yet.” He held out his hand. “Summon the Echo Coin.”

With a flick of my magic, I did, and the moment it appeared on my palm, he pressed his hand to it, his magic emanating with a white glow.

It took mere moments before he finished, and stepped back out of my personal space again.

“Keep it on you at all times and should you unleash your power like you did tonight, the Celestial Plane will believe it was under my watch, that I was there beside you. With what is happening here, there could very well be instances like earlier where there isn’t time to call me in, where you may have to act alone, at least at first. This remedies that.”

“You’re manipulating the narrative to your own people?”

“My own people,” he muttered. “That’s an incredibly weighty statement.”

He disintegrated the dome, and before I could ask more, a familiar growl sounded, and I spun to see Dad half shifted and storming toward us with Mom just behind him, her palms raised and at the ready, but her magic not yet live. It was a precaution. Or more like a warning to Cassius.

Hearing about the attack tonight had clearly impacted them. Knowing I’d been here, and that Pops had, too, had terrified them, knowing we’d been in so much danger. And rational thought was now taking a backseat. Mom, who usually served to reel Dad in, was right there with him this time.

I moved quickly and stepped in front of Cassius.

Not protecting him, but shielding them.

“Dad, stop,” I spoke. “He’s not here to hurt. He’s here to help.”

“He’s manipulating you,” he bit back, still coming in hot.

“So you think I’m so weak-willed and painfully naïve to not be able to recognize or counter manipulation. Is that it?” I questioned, extremely pointedly. “After you and the family finally agreed to see me as capable, as not merely something to be protected and continue to be made inconsequential? After you claimed you’d finally embraced my own ability to rise above that, to wield my own power competently and responsibly?”

Thatpulled him up short.