Page 19

It hadn’t been easy for me when Jaxon and I had first found one another, and there had been a steep learning curve.

With Lucian, too, where the vampire aspect was concerned.

With Ryker it had been easy. We’d known each other for so long and we’d had our magic-wielder backgrounds that had fit so well together.

Although, I had been very closed off to him for a long time before the four of us had come together. To all of them for a while.

I just hoped that Ariana hadn’t been damaged in that way because of me, because of all the rest, and how we’d approached things with her.

I’d hoped that the healthy relationship between Jaxon, Ryker, Lucian, and I had at least been something we’d done right where she was concerned, something positive that we’d shown her.

From what I’d seen of her relationship with her boyfriends, that seemed to be the case.

But I didn’t know the ins and outs of it. Nor could I. And I couldn’t push it too much or probe too deeply. It wasn’t my place.

I couldn’t mess this up also where she was concerned.

“She does understand that part of me, yeah. More than I imagined possible, actually. In an effortless way, really. It just… fits. She just fits with me.”

Before I could react to his beautiful confession, a towel came at him, and he caught it with his dragon reflexes, snatching it out of the air just before it smacked him in the face.

A second later, Kai Hunter came into view, strolling into the living room and smirking at Vorzyr.

“Wow, V. That was incredibly touching. You should write it in a card and put it on a tray along with some waffles doused in maple syrup and sprinkled with bacon, then take it in to her tomorrow morning when she wakes up. It would be one hell of a romantic gesture that I’m certain she would revel in. ”

Vorzyr rolled his eyes at him.

Although Kai’s tone was sarcastic, those touches he’d added were very true to Ariana. He was actually revealing just how much he adored her, too. Just not in a direct or vulnerable way. He was trying to shield it.

Well, he’d already displayed that emotional vulnerability with her openly outside during her struggle with her power. In a profound way. Perhaps now he was feeling a little raw after the fact.

He couldn’t take it all the way, though, because then he was stroking Vorzyr’s wet hair and telling him, “If you insist on not drying yourself off, either magically or physically, at least use this towel to wipe off the excess. You’re drenched.”

“I can’t get sick.”

“You can feel mighty uncomfortable, though.”

Vorzyr smiled out at him. “I love when you care about me.” He eyed me. “He’s not just the psychopathic shit that Jaxon took him for, huh?”

I couldn’t help chuckling at their antics.

“Jaxon will settle. Once he sees your relationship is a positive thing for Ariana, he’ll be fine.”

Kai frowned at me, seeming more than a little stumped, something I was aware was rather rare for him.

“You know who I am, and yet you’re saying that? You’re… supporting this? No reprimand, no threat, no disgust, no concern?”

“I know that there are three versions of you that all contradict one another, except when it comes to the thread of the need to control running through each. There’s the perfect son version that you save for your parents and the Maven Coven members, where you demonstrate only what you know they want to believe you to be.

There’s the stoic and unaffected sorcerer with the dark and dangerous edge , which you show to most everyone else.

And then there’s the caring and thoughtful version, the one you show Vorzyr, Nyx, and my daughter. ”

“Whoa,” Vorzyr spoke, eyeing him. “Lucian was watching you much more closely than we even realized.”

Kai eyed me. “And you interpreted what he saw, didn’t you? Based off what you know about Ari?”

“Yes, something along those lines.”

“That’s how Lucian saw the truth to what Kai was doing initially?” Vorzyr asked me.

“It certainly helped matters.”

“You safeguarded our building relationship from interference,” Kai realized aloud.

I simply nodded.

There wasn’t much else to do. They’d put it together impressively well.

“Why?” Vorzyr asked.

“Because it became apparent to me that she was looking to make a connection with the three of you. Or re-connection on a deeper level where Kai was concerned. Ariana has never done that. Not without erecting walls in the process and severely holding back. With connection comes a sense of belonging. And, again, outside of our family, she’s never had that, certainly not at the level that I see between the four of you now.

She believed it was off the table for her because of what she is, and how most of the supernatural world views her as a result.

” I smiled. “But this … this disproved that for her.”

The two of them stared at one another incredulously.

And there was no immediate response or comeback.

Not only were they caught off guard, it seemed they were, perhaps, touched , also?

Something that seemed to be difficult for both of them to process.

The antithesis to that difficulty in emotional processing slinked into the room with a quiet confidence in the next moment. Nyx Laryn. Part sorcerer, part Incubus, and a being who was very highly regarded by my father’s love, Warlow Boyd.

I saw his eyes flame with his power briefly, which I knew to be him reading the situation through both observation and direct emotional resonance.

“Interesting,” he spoke, humor in his gaze as he looked from them to me. “Quieting the both of them down at once is a goddamn feat and a half.”

I chuckled and then he joined me, Kai and Vorzyr smiling with amusement, too.

“Ariana is just finishing up changing out of her soaked clothes. She… uh… after what happened outside, she didn’t want to use her magic again this soon. Not out of fear this time, because that’s shifted for her now, but out of needing to take a beat with it all.”

“To recharge,” I added.

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“Understood.” I sank down onto the couch. “While she’s doing that and I have all three of you here, tell me, does Ariana know that you’re stockpiling her magic?”

All three of them tensed.

“Excuse me?” Kai asked, trying for stoic, but not quite managing it, because of the direct nature of my question, and it clearly being so unexpected.

“I don’t doubt that you believe it’s for her benefit, to aid her, likely against Cassius, yes?

But what worries me is the action itself.

” I looked at Kai. “While Vorzyr was here talking with me, I felt you retrieving traces of her magic from the implosion earlier. You weren’t changing and drying yourself from the torrential downpour like Ariana is…

and like Nyx just did. You used your magic to accomplish that just like I did. ”

Kai studied me. “You would have needed to be on the lookout for that in order to notice it, especially with your main focus being on your daughter right now.”

“Correct.” He was more learned in the magical arts than his parents were even aware of.

And what he knew, especially this sort of thing, went beyond the scope of both Coven and Academy teachings.

He was therefore clearly seeking knowledge on his own.

It was both impressive and concerning. It actually reminded me of Ryker.

But with Ryker, that had come at a price.

He’d put himself in danger too many times to count.

He’d risked his life and nearly lost it too many times also.

I certainly didn’t want that for Kai. Not only was he young and only just starting out, but he was so important to Ariana. Just like Vorzyr and Nyx were.

I went on to explain, “I was on the lookout for it. Ever since I felt Ariana’s magic in your Aetherbound Scepter. Not just her magic, but the fact that it had somehow been stabilized and you’d been able to create an actual failsafe to her power.”

“After what happened outside, I thought you weren’t about controlling her anymore, that you recognized the mistake in it,” Kai said.

“This isn’t about her power. It’s about the fact that the failsafe is for Celestial power. Something that Cassius wields.”

Realization set in for them.

“You want to use the Aetherbound Scepter to put Cassius down?” Kai asked.

“No. It’s too risky. You’d get, maybe, two shots only when you wield it against him. One miss, and another dodge by him and the one weapon against him is rendered inoperable. And we’re left with an enraged True Celestial gunning for you.”

“Then you want to replicate it,” Kai surmised.

“We spent a very long time trying to find a way to create a failsafe for Ariana, for her peace of mind and that of the supernatural world. But all our attempts failed despite the collective knowledge of the greatest minds in the supernatural world that exists within our family. The simple reason why it wasn’t possible? We couldn’t find a stabilizing agent.”

“A magic-wielder’s power has been known to change, to evolve. You were searching for said failsafe and stabilizing agent when she was young. She’s changed since then. Much like Ryker Morgan’s magic evolving in such a profound way as to produce his unique defensive magic ability,” Kai responded.

“Much like your evolved ability to counter magical interference, even the profound power of Ariana’s energy?”

They all started at my knowledge of that.

“That won’t be shared. It’s only me who’s noticed. No one else in the family. And should your parents ever become aware of it, it won’t be from me,” I assured Kai.

“I appreciate it. But it’s not enough of an act of trust to delve into the failsafe issue.”

“What do you want then?”

“Not to replicate the failsafe. If something is to be created, it has to be specific to Cassius only.”

“We’d require his blood or his magic at the very least.”