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Within seconds, the three of us were forcibly swept away in a thick cloud of teleportation.

2

~Cornelius~

The day I’d dreaded for so long was upon us.

Despite my efforts.

Despite all the might I possessed.

Knowledge.

Experience.

Manipulations.

None of it had been enough to prevent this from transpiring.

None of it had been enough to protect her.

I’d failed.

We’d all failed her.

All because of the brutal choice Jaxon and I had made twenty-one years ago during a dark time.

A time when we’d lost my daughter, Mia.

A time when Jaxon had lost control and become infected with the darkness of Draco.

That night he’d attacked the Guardian Compound with the dangerous intention to take control not only of that, but the entire supernatural world, lived in my memory vividly.

Only one thing had managed to stop him—the revelation that I’d shown him that night.

Jaxon followedme into the depths of my vault hidden within the Guardian Compound.

I stopped before the special enchanted cylinder that rested on a brass stand. Within it floated that stunning vibrant gold energy.

“Angel magic,” Jaxon breathed. “This is where you’ve been hiding it.”

“Look closer.”

“I’m a foot from it with Immortal Descendant vision.”

“Use your wolf abilities, those that you’ve closed yourself to for the most part.”

Grunting, he struggled to call them forth.

“You are fighting it. Drop that barrier you’ve erected to spare yourself the connection to my daughter. It will take but a few moments. I am sure you can endure it for that short period of time. You are the almighty Last Descendant of Draco after all.”

He glared out at me. “Just so you know, I’m not him. My agenda couldn’t be more different from his.”

“Jaxon, I’m afraid it is the same. Those who wield incredible power and give in to the corrupting dark nature of it use different justifications for bending the world to their will. Draco’s was punishment for what was done to him. Yours is to create a better world order. At the heart of it, however, stripping away all those justifications, it is nothing more than abusing others with your power and enforcing your will upon those weaker.”

“That’s not—”

“You don’t think I could have used my power to force the Guardian Movement and the supernatural world to fall in line again? Of course I could have. I possess the power, the knowledge, and the means. And to be absolutely honest, I’m angry and pained that none of them have recognized whatI sacrificed, the absolute agony and trauma I endured for months at that Beast’s hands, and the awful fact that I lost my daughter. It is easy to place blame. It gives people solace, I suppose. And I am that target at present. For them all.”