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His blue eyes were narrowed fiercely and he was in a fighting stance, prepared to pounce and attack at any moment—the primality of his wolf side coming through clearly.

He shoved a hand through his short, dirty-blond hair in distress as he studied the scene, and I saw him using his animal senses to do so, unlike Cornelius who was going the magical and, likely, Celestial-connection route.

Ripped blue jeans clung to Jaxon’s muscular thighs, a leather jacket covering a white muscle tank beneath.

“He’s cloaking her and himself,” I heard Cornelius tell Jaxon. “I can’t follow the trail of Celestial magic. He’s stronger.”

“Being True Celestial, that makes sense.” Jaxon cursed. “He was supposed to allow us to make his introduction to her. Not fucking kidnap her.”

“This is him enforcing his dominance. Over us as much as her.”

Jaxon focused and scented the air again. “I can get around the cloaking, track Ari with my wolf senses.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter how great the power, nothing can override my natural connection to my daughter. I can find her. It’s just going to be a little slower than doing it via a tracking spell.” His focus landed on the three of us. “But first, her friends need your help.”

Cornelius frowned.

I saw the moment he realized what was going on with Nyx.

He strode over and crouched down at his side, and Kai moved back closer to Nyx, standing like a sentry as he looked on untrusting of the two of them, clearly on high-alert should they do anything he didn’t like.

“He was wounded by Celestial might,” Cornelius uttered.

“I heard you don’t give people your magic or power. Not under any circumstances,” Kai spoke.

“And that is what the supernatural populace will continue to believe, sorcerer.”

Interesting. So he wasn’t as much of a hardass as everyone thought, then?

Jaxon walked over and laid his hand on Cornelius’ shoulder.

“I’m scenting Ari all over each of them.

” His eyes narrowed in warning at each of us, and he flashed them with the threat of a shift.

But then I heard him whisper to Cornelius, “She’d want you to heal him.

In fact, given what I’m sensing, I’d go as far as to state that she wouldn’t forgive us if we didn’t. ”

“Relax,” Cornelius told Jaxon. “I wouldn’t let this boy die, regardless. Not to mention, this Celestial wound happened because of our family situation. He was merely unfortunate enough to be in the firing line when Cassius arrived for Ariana.”

Cassius.

He didn’t waste any more time, and he removed Nyx’s shirt entirely with a flick of his fingers to get down to work.

Kai and I exchanged a look of utter fucking shock as we took in the black veins all over Nyx’s skin.

It didn’t faze Cornelius, though, indicating he’d dealt with this before.

His silver magic, like Ariana’s, glowed vibrantly from his palms, and then he hovered them over Nyx’s wound. As he began uttering an incantation in a tongue even I hadn’t heard of, I saw Kai arch an eyebrow, perhaps recognizing it, or making a mental note to look into it.

Within seconds, the silver glow turned a blinding white.

The nasty bubbling ceased, and then the wound began to heal, bit by bit.

When he’d sealed it completely, a five-inch-long jagged scar remained in its wake.

He pulled his magic back, then told Nyx, “You’ll be fine now, gentle hybrid. Something the love of my life will be overjoyed to learn.” His eyes shone kindly at him. “He holds you in high regard. Just like my granddaughter does, apparently.” He smiled, then rose back to his feet.

And then Kai was there alongside me, helping Nyx up.

“He’ll need to take it easy for the next couple of hours,” Cornelius told us.

“Thank you,” Nyx said.

“Of course.” He turned to Jaxon then, becoming all business as he said, “I’ll contact Ryker and have him erect a ward of his defensive magic around the Guardian Compound as a precaution now that a True Celestial walks the earth.

You reach out to Mia and Lucian and tell them what’s happened, but that we have a plan of action to remedy the situation.

I don’t want my daughter panicking. She’s dreaded this coming to pass for so long, I fear she may not react rationally.

Fortunately, she is with Lucian currently, so he will be able to assist with that and mitigate it somewhat. ”

“And you think I’m able to react rationally knowing my baby girl has been kidnapped by a being more powerful than every single one of us?”

“Not every single one of us,” Kai told them, stepping up to them, as I supported Nyx in my arms. “Ariana’s power eclipses all of ours. And this Cassius will be no exception.”

“You can’t begin to understand the complications of this situation, so watch the arrogance,” Jaxon rebutted. Then he had me tensing as he breached Kai’s personal space and growled, “Just because you screwed around with my daughter, doesn’t give you insight into her beyond that.”

Kai hissed. “I’ve had insight into Ari for years.”

“And yet you were tormenting her like a psychopathic shit.”

How did he know that?

“Somebody had to give her the push that she’d been needing. Something every single one of you, her own family, were afraid to do. Because, the truth is, down at the bedrock of it, you’re all afraid of her . I never have been.”

Jaxon’s eyes flashed again.

I eased from Nyx and bolted forward right beside Kai, snarling, and flashing my eyes, too, letting him see the dragon right at the surface.

“Hmm… dragon,” Jaxon spoke, sizing me up.

“Wolf versus dragon. The outcome is clear. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“I’m also an Immortal Descendant, boy.”

“I’m aware. But I’m not standing here alone, am I?”

His eyes flicked back to Kai.

“Jaxon,” Cornelius spoke calmly, laying his hand on his shoulder firmly.

“You urged me to save the boy, you obviously feel the connection they have to her. Your emotions are in a dangerous flux because Ariana has been taken, and because we failed to prevent any of this. Keep your focus on what matters most at this juncture—finding her.”

“She’s taken back her full power,” Nyx piped up.

Jaxon and Cornelius jolted, and it had Jaxon taking several steps back from us in his utter surprise.

Nyx had obviously felt their distress so deeply, and the dangerous state it was putting Jaxon in, especially with what he’d scented from us. It had to be a lot to absorb when it came to his own daughter. And that was on top of the kidnapping.

But Nyx revealing this had been an attempt to get them to calm a bit, to know that she was not only far from helpless, but now more than a match for a True Celestial, with her full power back in her grasp.

Jaxon eyed Cornelius. “Ry was supposed to act as stabilization when she was ready to do that.”

“She didn’t need it,” Kai spoke. “She managed it all on her own. That’s what the four of us were doing up here before Cassius attacked, then spirited her away.”

“She may have taken it back, but she won’t be in full command of it. It requires time to settle,” Cornelius informed us. “Why did she do it tonight and without familial assistance?”

“Because she knows about the secret you’ve been keeping from her,” I responded.

Cornelius exchanged a heavy, loaded look with Jaxon.

“Send them back to Maven Academy so we can deal with this,” Jaxon spoke, after several tense moments.

“We’re not sitting this one out,” Kai told them.

Jaxon eyed him. “You need more recovery time after the hit you took. I can feel the weakness from you as a result. Nyx needs rest also.” He looked at me.

“And your emotions are barely in check, a major issue when you possess an animal side. Believe me, I know well. So, yes, you’re all standing down on this. ”

“The fuck we are,” I rumbled.

But that was all I got out, before Cornelius’ magic was suddenly swirling all around us.

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