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Fuck.It was all I could do not to visibly tense or react.

“Knowing as a dragon you didn’t stand a chance of actually being able torip his head off, or do much of anything against him, even if you employed your fire?” Lucian pushed. “Even Kai, as accomplished as he is, couldn’t hope to withstand Immortal Descendant might.”

He was pushing this too intently, probing.

Had Mia picked up on something concerning the consecrated ground? Had she felt that Vorzyr had a connection to it somehow?

“Well, that’s the thing about being dragon,” V responded. “Even when I’m being rational while something is upsetting me greatly, it’s strained and a struggle.”

I smiled inwardly at his response.

“That’s a noteworthy point,” Lucian agreed. “And one I want you to pay heed to. As vampire, I experience a similar issue, but rather than animalistic reactions I need to tamper down, it’s my bloodlust. In times like this where emotions are running high, the struggle is indeed intense. For you, being a great deal younger, it will be even more so, to the point where you may not actually be able to hold on to your control, where you may very well snap. You saw Jaxon tonight and that was him restrained, with a great deal of experience controlling his wolf side,andwith his Immortal Descendant side able to help check it as well.”

Mia stepped forward. “If you attempt to take on Cassius, youwillsuffer greatly. You’ll sustain severe damage. Ariana has just taken back her full power, so she will be in a state of flux. She’s just been traumatized enough by watching all of you be harmed by a True Celestial being,andfrom being taken as well. All of that will be causing her a great struggle as it is in order to controlher power, especially at this stage of recent reunification. If you arrive on the scene and she sees you hurt yet again, it could very easily push her too far. She could go nuclear, for want of a better word. That’s what it is in essence when she loses control, to be honest. We can’t allow that for the sake of the supernatural world, but also because Cassius is here to monitor her, and to test her stability. The Celestial Plane is looking for any excuse to tear her from this plane. Believing she is a danger that cannot safely exist here is one they will jump at.”

She shifted her weight and took a moment, struggling with her own emotion over this entire situation. “And Ariana really cannot take another hit to her confidence where her ability to regulate her power is concerned. She can’t lose control. It will break her into pieces. She’ll lose all hope.”

“I strongly disagree,” I ground out. “She’s much more capable than you believe her to be.”

“There is a better way that you can help her,” Mia insisted. “Andthat’swhy we’re here.”

“Ariana will be found and extracted from Cassius, regardless. That is already in motion, so you really don’t need to concern yourselves with that,” Lucian told us.

Mia nodded, then went on, “We’re here, not just to convey that, but because we need your help.”

“Our help?” Vorzyr queried.

“Yes. With Ariana discovering that we’ve kept a secret from her lately, she’ll be understandably upset, so she won’t come to us now. But she needs support through this. And we’re aware that she’s formed a strong bond with the three of you.That’sthe best way you can help her.”

“She was already absorbing it well and we were helping her through it,” I told them.

Her and Lucian exchanged a heavy, disturbingly grave look that I didn’t like one bit.

“There’s more. That was just a part of a much bigger secret that we’ve kept for more than two decades. But now that Cassius is here, it will be revealed all too soon. Very likely, as we speak.”

A chill rolled down my spine. “What secret?”

“For us to be there for Ariana, we need to know,” Vorzyr insisted.

“And you will,” Lucian said with an edge, because Mia was growing more upset by the moment, wringing her hands, pinching the bridge of her nose, tears springing to her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her and tucked her into his side. “Would you like me to continue, beauty?” he asked her quietly.

“No,” she said, after a moment. “It’s okay, Lucian.” She looked out at the both of us. “Jaxon and my father had to strike a bargain with the Celestial Plane years ago before Ariana’s birth.”

“What kind of bargain?” V asked.

I remained silent, not liking where this was going at all.

An unsettling sensation of dread beset me.

Mia sucked in a steadying breath, then revealed, “A bargain to spare her life. However, it came at a cost.” She grimaced and looked absolutely wretched as she told us, “That cost was branding Ariana as a servant to the Celestial Plane.”

Vorzyr snarled.

I felt sick to my stomach.

“My life is not my own.”

Ari’s anguished words to us burned into me with a painful heat I could barely stand.