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But it was clear now that it had to.

The stronger she grew, though, the more impossible it would become for me to be able to manage it.

She’d transcend my abilities all too soon.

She’d transcend us all.

The devastation would be unimaginable.

We couldn’t allow it.

We had to find a way to prevent that from ever coming to pass.

I blinked backto the immediate moment, a heavy sigh escaping me as I stood in the living room of Ariana’s secret place, taking everything in.

The place was stripped of any adornments, belongings, or creature comforts.

It had me grimacing. It hadn’t been intended as a home in which to live her life after she graduated Maven Academy. It was a place where she could essentially cease to exist. To give up. To disappear.

From the supernatural world, yes.

But also from us. From her family.

The fact that it had come tothis…it pained me beyond words.

In trying to protect her, we’d almost broken her.

“How did you find this place?”

I turned toward the living room archway to see the dragon striding on in, a great deal of power rolling off him. His eyes narrowed on me with what seemed to be a mixture of animosity and distrust.

I wasn’t surprised, given what Lucian and I had imparted to him and Kai in Meforian Forest.

“You needn’t worry, this place isn’t trackable by any magical means. However, the Celestial object—the Echo Coin—that Cassius gave to Ariana is.”

“You mean, the leash he gave her?”

That was a very animal way of looking at it. But it was to be expected from him, as a dragon. So was the brashness coming off him. I was very familiar with animal instincts like that from Jaxon, with him being part Alpha wolf. There were definite similarities that they shared.

“It’s a shame that both times we’ve interacted have been under less than stellar circumstances.”

He flinched at that, likely expecting me to escalate or at least reprimand the lack of respect he was putting out there.

I wasn’t here to condemn anything like that, nor to interfere in my daughter’s relationship with the three of them.

Although Jaxon hadn’t taken well to it, because his animal instincts had been leading the way—and dialed to the extreme when he’d learned of their relationship because Ariana had been kidnapped at the time—I wasn’t looking at it through the same lens. And Jaxon would come around for the good of our daughter. Just like Lucian had after seeing a lot of good qualities in the two of them during our talk in the forest that night. A lot of good for Ariana, too, how much they cared about her, how much they were fighting for her. And Ryker? Well, he was very laid back when it came to this sort of thing.

“She’s a force of nature,” he stated suddenly. Although this time it was less brash and also tinged with noticeable upset. “She—therealher—can’t be tamed by anyone or anything. Nor should she ever be. She’s a fuckinggoddess.Not a despicable servant to those robotic automatons.”

“I’m delighted that you see Ariana that way. Those words from one with very strong animal instincts are even more profound. There is a certain in-built need to own and conquer. The fact that you don’t view your relationship with her that way says a great deal.” I smiled. “It truly demonstrates how deeply you care for her, respect her, and value her agency.”

He actually offered me something then, telling me, “She taught me that.”

“Is that so?”

He nodded. “She showed me how to be that for her, she made me want to be that for her.”

It was clear to me in that moment just how deep this ran for him.