Page 3

~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 followed me 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 what I 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. ”

“Until I saw what I did between you and Warlow, I didn’t know you could entertain emotions.”

“Well, you’ve learned something new again.

My point is, I don’t use my power in such a way.

The closest I came was trying to force Ryker into the Covenant.

I’d been misled by Draco’s corruption of my Foresight.

I’d allowed the desperation of the situation to impact me.

And, as you recall, it had a dangerous butterfly effect that ultimately led to us both losing Mia. ”

As he struggled to absorb my words, I gestured at the cylinder again, urging him to reach out with his senses.

He took a step forward and focused on the golden energy flaming wildly.

It was then that I saw him notice other sparks of energy dancing around it, fused to it.

Blue and red.

Blue and red magic.

His gaze flicked to mine. “Is this—”

“Yours and Mia’s magic, yes.”

“I don’t… why… how could this be? She’s dead. Her magic can’t exist. The angel magic is obviously an exception, but not her original power.”

I nodded and swept my hand over it, dissolving a glamor that had been completely imperceptible, even to him.

“This is its true form.”

He choked as he took in the sight of a developing baby within the field of gold.

He eyed me incredulously.

“This is your child. Yours and Mia’s. A daughter, to be more precise.”

He staggered back, shaking his head vehemently. “No. This can’t be… it’s not possible. It’s a trick. Another glamor… layers and layers of them, maybe. This is manipulation, you’re trying to talk me down.”

“You know it’s the truth. Your senses will confirm as much.”

“Is this why you refused to allow Ryker to put her in suspended animation and then why you thwarted all his attempts to bring her back?”

“Yes. She would’ve not only come back wrong, but it would’ve likely impacted the child also.”

“You can do that? You’re saying there’s actually a way to bring her back to us?”

“Well, I wanted to wait until I’d already accomplished the task, but your actions today and the fact that you stole the other portion of the angel magic has forced my hand.”

“Why not tell me this sooner?”

“You were not of sound mind. Aside from the attacks themselves, there’s also the fact that you just threatened Ryker—somebody I unfortunately caused pain to from the brief loss of his magic before, somebody who is his magic more than any other magic-wielder in my employ—with taking his magic away forevermore through the orb.

I understand that you also wounded him, both physically and mentally, one whom you have expressed love for.

I couldn’t be certain, even with showing you this, that you wouldn’t disregard it in your cold and dark state. ”

He sank against the wall, scrubbing his hand over his face.

“That shield you’ve erected around yourself is cracking, yes?”

“Yeah,” he murmured.

I stepped up to him and pressed a glowing silver hand over his heart.

“This will ease the pain as you allow it back in, enable you to also think clearly and continue to access the extensive knowledge you’ve acquired in your dark state.

Do not turn away from it, though. Do not stop the process.

To do what needs to be done now, you cannot possess a concentrated amount of darkness. ”

He grasped my hand on his. “You saved my child.”

“My grandchild.”

“How?”

“When Mia was fading, there was a brief window where I could see beyond the mask of the angel magic. Our familial blood link facilitated it, the reason why no one else could see it. The True Celestials who were working their will through her, prevented her from even knowing it herself. She had no idea she was with child.”

“If she had, she never would’ve unearthed that accursed dagger. It would’ve changed things.”

“I have no doubt. She wouldn’t have sacrificed another in her stead, especially not her own child.” I winced. “She’s not her father.”

“You’re different now and I know from the rush of knowledge that Draco imparted to me after his death that he corrupted a lot more than just that gift of Foresight you used to possess.”

“Well, now is our chance to rectify those mistakes, to treat Mia with the veneration and adoration that she’s long deserved, to make it up to her at long last.”

He eyed the golden energy and asked, “You used the angelic properties to try to pull her from the Valley of the Dead?”

“And the offering of my Immortal blood to acquire permission from the Celestial Plane.”

“They have a hold on her still then?”

“Yes, they have to release her before I can find her within the Valley of the Dead. I failed. Thrice.”

“Hold on, you’re telling me you tried to kill yourself to make this happen? Three fucking times?”

“A child is supposed to outlive their parent, not the other way around.”

“Cornelius.”

“No matter, it didn’t work.”

“But you wish to try again, this time, with the remainder of the angel magic that I’ve hidden from you?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t allow that.”

“This is my daughter! My granddaughter! No sacrifice is too great!”

He held up his hand. “One moment.” Then he mind-linked his army, speaking aloud so I was aware that I no longer needed to concern myself with that anymore, and that we could concentrate on the situation before us instead.

“Stand down. Plans have altered irreparably. The Immortal and I have formed a truce. Take your leave of the Guardian Compound immediately.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded, then focused on the problem again, commenting, “We need to approach this from another angle. Angel magic was flooding through Mia’s veins when she perished on that battlefield. True immortality. She shouldn’t have died.”

“You’re saying you don’t believe she’s actually in the Valley of the Dead?”

“Her death was forced because of the inbuilt, automatic price of using the Wrath of Hades. It’s something the True Celestials instituted. Logically, it means they have the ability to override it, especially given that she was their champion.”

“They’re keeping her there.”

“Holding her hostage might be more accurate. I know from Mia and even more in depth from the knowledge bestowed upon me by Draco, that the birth of a child of Immortal blood and that of a lesser supernatural being is an affront to the Celestial Plane.” He gestured at their child.

“This would be beyond that. Our baby is beyond Immortal, according to her magical signature, yes?”

“When this child was conceived, Mia had angel magic coursing through her veins and a door open to the Celestial Plane.”

“Half angel,” he breathed.

“Because she wasn’t technically birthed unto this plane, she doesn’t hold Fallen—or Immortal—status. When Mia gave herself over to the will of the True Celestials, her Fallen status due to my crimes was effectively expunged.”

“What about me? My link to the dark, to fucking Draco himself?”

“The moment of conception, the baby was enveloped in angel magic, shielded. Mostly because the Celestial Plane didn’t want Mia to know, for her pregnancy to impact what they wanted her to do with regard to Draco.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, for the first time ever, there exists the potential for a true angel to be birthed outside the Celestial Plane. If we can release her from the field.”

“And we can only do that with Mia back on this plane.”