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“And I told you it’s a risk to trust him,” Vorzyr cut in with a discontented rumble.

“It’s not about trust, though. It’s about using resources—him—to our own ends.”

“You’d have to ensure you frame it within the scope of him guiding you,” Kai told her.

“I know, and I will,” she said, smiling out at him.

“It’s a lot to withstand from an emotional standpoint,” Nyx warned. “A lot to contain, Halo.”

“He gave me a week. I’ll get my head on straight by then. Great strides have already been made.”

“We still need something more,” Vorzyr spoke. He exchanged a loaded look with Kai.

Kai gave a nod. “Not thefailsafe,but I agree, there does need to be more. Something Cassius-specific for now. If we can have him at our mercy, we could use it as leverage against the Celestial Plane to undercut the bargain struck and, hopefully even break it altogether.” I could see the resistance all over him, before he looked out at me and admitted, “But we’d need to work together. That would require a gesture of faithandkeeping the circle extremely small. For instance, it couldn’t occur at the Guardian Compound, the Covens, or anything like that.”

“Grandfather’s lab,” Ariana suggested.

“And Cornelius stands at a distance to the Guardian Movement now, operating more like a contract worker as Ambassador. He doesn’t even interact with Guardian Movement members anymore, aside from those in your actual family,” Kai said.

“That’s the only way I would be okay with this,” Ariana stated, firmly. “It significantly lowers the risk. Keeping the circle small. Just Grandfather involved.”

“Just Cornelius,” Vorzyr mused.

I saw the four of them exchange an uncomfortable look.

“Don’t be shy,” I encouraged. “What is it? Do you need something from my father beyond this?”

Ariana pushed off the archway and told me, “Vorzyr is seeking intel about Malrik Titanus.”

I knewofhim, but nothing of much substance beyond that. “In what respect?”

“Rumors are that he was murdered by a True Celestial,” Kai informed me.

“You believe my father could have been involved?”

“And Cassius,” Vorzyr growled.

Well, that was certainly a profound complication.

An emotionally-weighted one to add to what already amounted to a great deal of heaviness.

It was something they were all handling admirably, especially for ones so young.

The least I could do was to facilitate Vorzyr’s access to this information.

“Of course. I’ll arrange a meeting for you.”

He looked surprised that it was happening so easily. “I… thank you.”

I smiled and looked out at them all, before resting my gaze on Ariana. “No more secrets, yes?”

“Thank you, Mom,” she said, beaming out at me.

Not only that, but she came to me, and sat down beside me on the couch. “We all need to head back to Maven Academy soon, but I’d like it if you’d stay a little while longer.”

I reached out and stroked her hair. “I’d like that a lot as well.” Emotion welled after all the heaviness, and before I could getcommand of it, I was throwing my arms around her and holding her to me. “I love you, my darling. So very much.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”