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He actually stilled, albeit still growling and glaring hard at Cassius.

Mom walked to him and stroked his chest, his face, his hair. “She’s right, Jaxon.”

He groaned down at Mom. “Princess, I can’t just—”

“Your daughter has a role to play,” Cassius’ voice boomed. “That cannot be undone. This conflict and aggression borne from resistance will not serve you well.” He stepped out from around me, facing my irate father head-on. But instead of laying down the law or enforcing his dominance, he spoke calmly instead. “It will not serveher.The bargain you struck in her name has already given her a weighty battle to fight. Do not give her more, especially not from the familial unit that should be a source of support. It is not my intent to harm her. I am here merely to empower her and to teach.”

I saw Dad begin to calm a little, his partial shift retracting, his dangerously glowing eyes dimming. And Mom also dropped her palms.

A burst of silver light erupted just behind them, and then Grandfather was there, laying his hand on Dad’s shoulder and stroking Mom’s hair in a sweet way with the other.

“The debriefing has begun. Ryker requires your presence,” he spoke calmly, but his eyes were drilling into Cassius.

It took a couple of moments, but Dad did ease back.

And then him and Mom were throwing their arms around me and holding me tightly.

“We’re proud of you,” Mom told me.

“I trust you, okay, Ari?” Dad spoke. “Just… be careful. I know you don’tneedto be protected in the way we had been employing before, but it’s going to take some time to—”

“I get it, Dad. It’s okay.” As we eased back, I smiled out at them both. “It will all be fine, I promise.”

I could see the worry all over them, but they smiled back at me, then with some additional urging from Grandfather, they headed back inside the Compound.

Before I could take a breath after all of that, Grandfather was standing toe-to-toe with Cassius.

“Fallen,” Cassius uttered.

Usually that sort of thing expressed distaste, but this time as Cassius uttered the word, it was different. Like, the judgment was missing, or something. I wasn’t exactly sure, but it definitely wasn’t confrontational this time.

“Hellfire still exists on this plane as we discovered tonight. Include the proper spell to counter it with Celestial Light during your training sessions with my granddaughter. The method I had to employ was too time-consuming and caused her unnecessary exertion.”

Color me surprised.

Grandfather wasn’t coming at him, not reprimanding him, or challenging him.

He was actually offering helpful advice.

“That has been factored in and I will see to it,” Cassius responded.

Grandfather nodded. Then he scanned the immediate area and shifted his weight, looking between Cassius and I, as he said, “The attacker has been bound and contained. The coercion he was subjected to has dissipated now that he fulfilled what he was commanded to. However, I was able to extract a magical signature from it.” With a sweep of his hand, a ball of shimmering white, silver, and gold sparks levitated in the air between us. “It is Celestial power. Unfortunately, I was not able to discern the signature to identify who it belonged to. The power is beyond mine, meaning it belongs to a True Celestial.”

Oh no.

Cassius narrowed his eyes. “It would serve no purpose to my mission to have done this.”

“I’m not accusing you. I’m asking for your assistance. You have a direct connection to the Celestial Plane that I no longer possess. You are the only one who can identify this. There could be a rogue Celestial being on this plane. There could be interference that we’re not aware of. Or it could be stolen power that no one is aware of from a brief visit by a True Celestial. Either way, Celestial power has been used byPuritas.Those fanatics have found a way tousethat power to their liking.”

The weight of what he was saying bore down on all three of us.

Cassius stepped up to the sphere, hovering both hands over it.

His white power sparked and then I watched in awe as threads spread out from it, delving into the sphere and melding with the magic there.

Cassius jolted.

His eyes flicked to mine briefly.