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We pulled her into the middle between us and wrapped her up tightly.

It hit me just how badly I needed it to be like this all the fucking time now.

Things just didn’t work for me now, didn’t work at all, without the four of us as one.

When we did finally ease apart, Nyx told Ariana, “What you did up there was absolutely killer, Halo. You savedsomany lives tonight.”

“I just did what needed to be done.”

“It was a lot more than that,” Nyx insisted.

“It absolutely was,” Kai said, stroking her soft hair.

“Holding back Hellfire… you were a true goddess,” I told her.

She cocked her head to the side. “Can’t you also do that? Dragon kind can hold back Hellfire also, yes?”

“To an extent only. It depends on the concentration, how wild it has already flamed when it meets my dragon fire. One thing is for sure, though, in that closed in area where Kai described it erupting in the Compound,myresponse via my dragon fire wouldn’t have been able to spare anyone, nor even the structure itself. To beat it back, literally fighting fire with fire in my case, it would have utterly decimated the building and far beyond even that as well in all likelihood.”

“It goes even beyond the act of saving the Guardian Movement itself, Ari,” Kai spoke. “Do you see it for what else it also is? You wielding mammoth power today with a split-second reaction time, and you wielded it well, you maintained absolute control.” He beamed out at her. “You have proper command of that which you’d feared for so long. And after what you did today,theywill no longer fear you either. The outlook will shift and spread throughout the supernatural world. You are to become their savior, sweetheart. That’s what the events of today marked. And I just wanted you to recognize that and be able to savor it through all the noise surrounding you, the weight of all the rest. You deserve to, you deserve to experience that triumph, that spark of peace at long last.”

“Thank you, Kai.” She looked out at each of us in turn. “Thank you,my boys.”

Nyx frowned and I saw Kai flinch too, noting the underlining melancholia to her words.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked. “You must believe that now.”

“It’s not that… it’s… things are more complicated.”

“Is this about the debriefing? What happened?” Kai pressed.

“It’s more complicated than even my family and the Guardian Movement and the supernatural world as a whole actually realize.”

She took a couple of steps back and leaned against Kai’s stone worktable, releasing a weighty sigh. “Caiuswascoerced with Celestial power.”

“Remnants of Draco’s from the carnage he wrought when he walked this plane?” Kai asked.

“Hold up,” I cut in. “What would it matter if his power lingered? Celestial power can’t be used by others. It certainly can’t be repurposed.”

“The secrets of doing so must have been unlocked, given the fact that it happened today. Caius was influenced by Celestial coercion,” Kai pointed out.

“The way to do so has definitely been unlocked,” Ariana informed us. “It’s an absolute certainty.”

“So, you don’t think Cassius just used his coercion then?” I asked. “Part of some larger strategy to wreak havoc, divert your family’s attention, and the entire supernatural world’s attention elsewhere so he didn’t experience any further obstacles or interference in training you and forcing you to walk this path of despicable so-called duty?”

“I’m certain that’s not the case.”

A growl escaped me. “Because you trust him now? Bonded with him during the Compound attack? If that’s the case—”

“The magic wasmine.”

Kai started and folded his arms across his chest. “How?”

“It was my coercion magic. From when I coerced Sorin.”

“Sorin?” Kai asked. “How do you know it’s him? What about the other two who were there that night who V and I were also… dealing with when you walked in?”

“I didn’t coerce them. It wasn’t necessary. I only had to resort to that with Sorin because of his Dark Fae power. For the vampires I usedOblivisca.”