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“Kai, that’s—”

“Extreme? I should hope so, because the situation we find ourselves in most definitely is also.”

“Fuck,” I breathed. “Yeah, it is a lot.” I stepped up to him and laid my hand on his bare shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry I came down so hard on you, while you’re doing all of this, fighting to protect us all, and do what’s best for the situation. Iwasagitated by that asshole, Halloway, but I’m also worked up about learning my special abilities.”

“I understand. It feels like a war is coming and as dragon, your response is might. But with it being the Celestial Plane involved and all these mammoth power players, you feel like you can’t measure up or even be in a position to face them in battle, and your special abilities are key to altering that.”

I stared at him in awe. “That’s… yes… exactly that.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “I’m trying to be moreconsistentlyemotionally available. You’re all very good with that and me lacking in that area… I don’t want it to negatively impact what the four of us are building. It hit me really hard when Ari was in that state after she was taken. When we were on those porch steps before you and Nyx came out, she needed comfort badly. And I wasn’t sure how to give it to her. I didn’t relish that feeling in the least… being deficient for her in any way.”

Wow.“Kai, you’re doing impressively well. We’ve all noticed it. Ariana definitely has, I can guarantee you that.”

“Perhaps,” he murmured. “It’s obviously a work in progress. But there you have it.”

He went to pull from my shoulder hold, but I latched onto him with my other arm and pulled him against me.

He tensed from the unexpected embrace at first, because we were dealing with intimacy here and not something sexual in nature. It was affection rooted in vulnerability, which we all knew was difficult and uncomfortable ground for him.

But then he sank into it and I heard him breathe me in, his pulse calming.

“Share the load where this is concerned. I’m pretty good with the researching as well, believe it or not. This part of things isn’t all on you.” I lifted a hand and stroked his hair. “Not anymore, Kai.”

“All right,” he agreed, much more easily than I’d expected.

The burden of it was clearly getting to him. More than any of us had realized.

No more.

We stood as one now.

With what had come our way in the form of Cassius and what was likely also still to come given the weight of the Celestial bargain Ariana had been shouldered with, we had to ensure we all found a healthy way to endure through it.

Because there was no fucking way I’d allow it to break us.

Now that I’d found this home in them, I was never letting go.

11

~Nyx~

Combat Hall.

It was always a striking change from the norm of other classes whenever we stepped foot in here.

The space was intended for dueling and training exercises.

The sturdy black floor was reinforced to be able to withstand magical input and hardcore impacts from non-magical sparring of supernatural beings also. The walls were lined with spell-monitoring panels that could record the efficiency of a spell, as well as the proficiency of combat moves. Along the left wall over by the double entrance doors were several weaponry racks that ranged from traditional weapons to magical ones.

Excitement was radiating through the room.

Well, that was what it felt like.

As I walked into the space with Kai, that excitement was coming off him because he was really looking forward toApex Magic Theory and Practical Application. And with it being the legendary sorcerer, Gabriel Morgan, who was to be our instructor.

The guy had headed the Lotus Coven decades back, he’d had a major fall from grace when he’d been infected from blackmagic usage, but he’d risen above it all, gotten better, and rebuilt his life to become an absolute powerhouse and influential figure in the supernatural world. His wife, Calla Corretti, was also renowned, too, but for her nomad work as a free-moving agent of the Guardian Movement for decades on end, and these days for helping the wolf community alongside Jaxon Silver.

And while Kai was entertaining that excitement, I had my own rolling through me as well. I was actually enthusiastic about the class, especially when I had that whole new outlook of pushing my abilities more these days. But the chief root of my excitement was my work with Crossborn.