Page 15

~Ariana~

“So, he threatened you,” Vorzyr growled.

It wasn’t even a question. It was a definitive statement, how he’d interpreted and catalogued what I’d just told them all about my interaction with Cassius.

“No, he threatened the three of you.”

Vorzyr scrubbed his hand over his face at my response as he stood rigidly behind the couch while I sat there on the edge after finishing conveying everything to them.

Kai was leaning against the wall beside the fireplace, his arms folded across his chest in a quiet, contemplative state as he clearly worked to analyze everything I’d said in his carefully controlled and calculated way.

He was decked out in his leather trench coat with the collar turned up, a fitted black shirt beneath that gave way to his go-to black dress pants and his leather boots.

His brown crew cut with the waves on top was styled perfectly again.

And he was clutching his Aetherbound Scepter.

He was at the ready.

But Vorzyr had taken it several steps further than Kai had, making it clear he was on the offensive in every way. He’d used a mixture of his red magical flame and his shifting power to clad himself in actual armor.

He looked like an ancient war god. Matte-black plating clung to his broad, powerhouse form in sculpted panels that pulsed with a crimson undertone matching his magic. The suit moved like a second skin. A deep red cloak draped from his shoulders, the texture akin to dragon scales.

It was clear that, to him, we weren’t just talking about battling what had come our way, but that we were already actually at war in his mind.

He was all harsh energy and simmering wrath because of the threat that he saw Cassius as and the infringement that he believed him to be on me and the four of us as a whole.

He gestured at Nyx for an assist as Nyx sat cross-legged on the coffee table stress-eating from a bowl of berries that Kai had conjured for him.

He was fully dressed now as well, in his alluring black leather pants, a moto jacket thrown over the top of his tight vibrant-blue shirt that matched his hair.

Nyx got the message and explained to me in his usual understanding and incredibly patient way, “He’s trying to use us against you.

And our wellbeing under threat is a direct threat to you, Halo .

I know you’re concerned for us, but Cassius was reframing the fact that he was actually threatening you directly as well—via us. ”

“He wants us out of the way so he can isolate you,” Vorzyr warned. “Mold you into what he and the Celestial Plane intends you to be without any other influences around to counter that.” A snarl escaped him. “We won’t allow it.”

I shoved my hand through my hair and shifted my weight, my suede jacket pulling taut with my movements, but in a comforting way, like a security blanket, rather than in a restrictive fashion.

As I tried to determine the best way to respond that would assuage their concerns, but also not make light of the threat, Vorzyr eyed Kai across the room. “Back me up on this.”

“We’re obviously not going to allow it,” Nyx cut in, before Kai could utter a word. “But neither is Ariana.” He eyed me. “Right, Halo?”

“Of course not,” I confirmed. “ But I also won’t allow you to put yourselves in the line of fire. He made a vow to me that he wouldn’t harm the three of you again if you didn’t interfere.”

“Like I said, controlling you via threats to our lives. Threatening you and using us to do it,” Vorzyr gritted out, clenching his fists in barely-contained fury.

Kai pushed off the wall. “I don’t believe that’s his true intention.”

“What?” Vorzyr barked.

Nyx frowned and I saw him trying to read him, but that frown just deepened, indicating that Kai was being closed to him in that moment for some reason.

“Kai?” I queried carefully.

But as that devilish smirk tilted his lips, I was able to place where my concern was rooted. It was his calculated look, meaning his puppet mastery was coming to the forefront. And it was beyond worrying that he might try to employ that against Cassius, thereby putting himself in the line of fire.

That was the last thing that I wanted.

Seeing them hurt on that mountaintop had been hard enough to take as it was.

A booming call sounded from Vorzyr in dragon form.

A warning.

My head shot up, and I looked to see a blur of white light headed straight for our location, moving incredibly quickly.

I saw Nyx call a glowing blue shield, just a second before the white light slammed into him, breaching his shield completely, and sending him rolling across the mountaintop.

Vorzyr took a massive hit of white lightning that sent him spinning out into the distance.

“No!” I screamed, jumping to my feet.

Kai went to activate his scepter, but the light slammed into the snow right in front of him. Even though it missed hitting him directly, the power of the impact created a horrific shockwave that blasted at Kai and sent him tumbling off the mountainside.

I grimaced at the awful memory.

It had been one of the worst moments of my life.

Any more of that, of them being harmed… I couldn’t stomach it.

Especially not because of me and the complicated issues that surrounded me, and this duty I was now burdened with.

Kai explained, “Cassius came in hot, going on the offensive, violence and aggression leading the way. That approach makes sense when we take into account that Cornelius and Jaxon had spent the last while beseeching the True Celestials to break the bargain that had been struck that bound you to this duty, Ari. Resistance was expected when Cassius arrived on the mortal plane. And he arrived to see you surrounded by us, all of us in a protective and defensive stance as you took back your power.”

“Yeah, and he almost killed us,” Vorzyr cut in.

“Nyx would have died if Cornelius hadn’t been there.

Cassius didn’t just strike to stun us. He struck to murder us!

Nyx was afflicted with a fucking Celestial wound!

The same would have happened to me if it wasn’t for my Celestial connection and the Primal Celestial Resonance I’m capable of. ”

“What?” I demanded. I eyed Kai. “You didn’t tell me that when it came up with your bruises outside.”

“I didn’t want him to,” Nyx cut in. “It would have only hurt you. And for no reason. I’m fine now.”

Even with being given a way out by Nyx, shockingly, Kai didn’t take it, and actually told me sincerely and with a whole lot of regret all over him, “I’m sorry.

I didn’t want to upset you when you’re already dealing with so much.

But it wasn’t my call to make, to withhold that from you. I apologize, Ari.”

Wow. “Thank you.” I smiled. “It’s okay, Kai.”

“Just like that?”

He didn’t speak the words, but I could feel it in the air between us. Just like that, after what your parents kept from you? “I understand why you did it, and you’ve now just told me the truth, so we’re good.”

I could see the relief all over him, before he then squared his shoulders and eyed Vorzyr. “Yes, those were death blows. It was his intention to dispose of us and clear the path to Ari. Until she screamed.”

We all started at his observation.

“It wasn’t a misfire when he went for me. He missed intentionally. I would have survived if you hadn’t snatched me before I’d hit those rocks. It would have put me out for a while, yes, but it hadn’t been intended as a deathblow.”

“You’re saying he showed mercy?” Vorzyr asked, skeptically.

“More than that. He did it for Ari. For his role as her Guide. He realized in that moment how important we are to her. Him also telling her that she is to stay at Maven Academy strongly suggests her comfort is important to him—or perhaps just to his mission. And that signifies that he can’t do his job where she’s concerned if she is isolated, cut off from those she cares about, or in emotional distress, and destabilized in her life situation.

” He stared out at us in turn, a gleam of hope sparking. “There is power in that.”

“Power in our hands,” Nyx realized aloud, grinning.

But Vorzyr was shaking his head. “You’re giving that bastard too much credit.”

Kai frowned. “It’s not credit.”

“His analysis is sound,” I told Vorzyr.

“We can’t trust in it. Those manipulative fuckers can’t be humanized either.

They don’t have emotional depth. They come down to the mortal plane with a specific mission in mind and carry it out at the will of the Celestial Plane like sub-human automatons with no thought, emotion, or sentience of their own. ”

“What’s going on with you?” Kai asked.

Nyx frowned as he studied him. “This is personal. There’s actual hate for Cassius here, not just concern and distrust for Ariana.”

I shifted on the couch and reached out, grasping Vorzyr’s hand. “What is it, my dragon?”

“It’s not… we need to focus on this immediate issue.”

“We can’t do that if your head’s not in the game,” Kai told him.

“Fuck, Kai.” He pulled his hand from mine.

I grimaced as I saw the pain in his eyes and the distress as he started pacing.

“Well, am I wrong?”

“Of course not, because when could that ever be the fucking case? You’re all fucking knowing, aren’t you?” he bit back with an edge.

Fortunately, Kai let it roll off his back and didn’t escalate the situation.

His curiosity was leading the way as was his thing, sure.

But I also saw him looking over at me worriedly, his other intent in going that route with the animosity coming off Vorzyr clearly being not to upset me and make things worse than they already were.

His gaze fixed on my right hand, and I jolted as I looked down to see it trembling, little sparks of my silver power emanating from it.

Shit.

I closed my fist and managed to will them away, pulling it back.