Page 39

~Cassius~

Her power surged.

I grunted at its sheer potency.

An angel unleashing on the mortal plane would draw their attention.

Something that I absolutely could not afford.

Not again.

I had already felt her unleash once, but I had allowed it in that case, as I’d expected it at that point, once my soothing spell had worn off.

The Celestial Plane had also anticipated as much.

I’d also felt her regain control on her own, something that was imperative for her to achieve before our work together began.

But this latest expulsion would not be tolerated by them if they knew it to be a rogue action on her part. So I had to ensure I reframed the narrative to it being my command of her, a part of my teachings.

And so, I’d immediately tracked her when I’d felt the surge.

I gritted my teeth as I arrived on the scene at the Guardian Compound.

If she was going to experiment before our sessions began, why hadn’t she possessed the foresight to at least have cloaked herself?

That first time, I’d felt cloaking in place, but not enough to have it completely escape the notice of them .

I touched down at the rear of the Compound, my intention to keep my arrival off the radar of as many supernatural beings here as possible.

The moment I did, I started at the acrid taste of Hellfire in the air.

No.

Draco had been eradicated. Hellfire was no longer supposed to exist on this plane.

His sword had even been returned to the Celestial Plane by Cornelius Martel following his demise .

So that was why Ariana had unleashed such power. There had been an eruption of that devil’s flame that only she had the ability to contain.

An accidental outburst, or her unleashing to practice before coming to me had been bad enough when I’d believed that had been the case, that it had been an act of lack of forethought. But this… her unleashing in response to a threat of this magnitude… it complicated things to an enormous degree.

I located a hole through the Compound and I was able to lay eyes on Ariana herself.

There she was, holding up a containment field with impressive control as an eruption of Hellfire swirled within it.

“You are not needed,” a voice sounded, just as I felt a lick of power similar to my own.

I tilted my head up to see the Fallen, Cornelius Martel, sweeping down, his wings that he’d somehow been allowed to keep, carrying him rapidly toward Ariana. He held up three feathers in his grip. I grunted at him possessing what I read as True Celestial feathers.

He reached Ariana and then they were working together to fuse the feathers into a spell to extinguish the Hellfire entirely.

He guided her through it, and I watched her take his instructions well. She was conscientious about it, her eyes sparking with the will to learn and improve.

That most definitely boded well.

He looked out at a time while she was distracted focusing on the task at hand, not aware of my presence, his eyes narrowing, willing me to take my leave.

I stepped back and turned away.

Let them believe I was intending to leave.

She needed to focus on the task ahead of her, a task which would be more beneficial for her to complete, rather than I.

I was nearby should complications occur, or should she fail.

But I would not leave.

Nor could I after this eruption of her power.

I had to control the narrative, after all.

As I moved away out of sight, I took in the areas of devastation around me.

A scream caught my attention and I turned to see the glint of a jeweled dagger being plunged into the abdomen of a young woman, her ombre hair plastered to her face, as blood and sweat slicked her skin.

As she fell to her knees, the being who had their back to me grasped her throat viciously. “Sorin sends his regards, tainted one . He wanted you to suffer as you perish. ”

He twisted the blade, and she shrieked, collapsing onto her back.

“Long live Puritas.”

I found myself experiencing the urge to intervene, even though it was written that I should not, that it wasn’t my place.

An explosion of vibrant-green light tore through the area, blasting the assailant hundreds of feet into the distance.

I watched as the sorcerer whom I knew to be Ryker Morgan came into view a moment before he teleported out, following the path of the assailant.

As I tracked his teleportation path, another caught my eye in the form of blue magic joining his deep in the forest in the distance.

My attention went to the young woman not far from me, over by a willow tree.

Her fingers shook, emanating with her purple power, as she raised her hand to the wound.

But she did not follow through.

I frowned as I watched her drop her hand in defeat instead.

She stared up at the sky and I heard her raspy voice, “Deliver me from this anguish. The world has no place for me. There’s just… fight. Darkness surrounds me and I… I can’t… become that.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “I’m ready. I’m done.”

I felt a pull in my chest.

I didn’t care for it.

But simply willing it to leave me didn’t have it abating.

In fact, it grew ever stronger as I continued staring out at her.

Her anguish.

The tears of defeat rolling down her cheeks.

Her desperation to be delivered from this life.

In the next moment, I let my wings carry me the distance between us.

And then I was there, crouching down beside her.

She was a slight thing at a cursory glance—barely five feet tall, with a petite frame.

But looking closer I saw her toned muscle, the kind that spoke to her engaging in regular combat, or training, perhaps.

Black leather pants clung to her legs, now soiled with dirt, crushed stone, and blood.

Her breasts heaved as she panted, pushing against her corset-style top that was decorated pleasantly with silver chains and baubles.

Black shadows covered her grayish-tinted skin, and she was wearing smoky makeup and lipstick that only added to that effect.

Her hair was a contrast in itself, a stark white near the top, yet ending with black tips.

And her eyes… her eyes were enchanting, a shimmering amethyst.

I started as I registered that reaction to her, that I found even her eyes captivating.

I shouldn’t be having a reaction.

It was absolutely outlawed.

I’d just laid eyes on one who had been torn from the Celestial Plane for committing the act of falling for a being of the mortal world. It should have served to reinforce my commitment to stand at a distance to anything like that while I remained here to complete my mission.

Not to mention, I was already out of favor with them as it was for my beliefs not aligning with theirs.

It was why I’d been sent here to undertake such a lowly task as functioning as trainer .

It was more than that, actually. They didn’t believe I would succeed in readying my charge for her duty.

They believed she would either defy me and their will, or that it would escalate and she would target them in order to free herself from the bargain that had been made in her name.

I suspected that they wanted the latter to occur.

Right now, as the bargain was in effect, it would be a violation of their own Laws if they broke it on their end by coming for her.

So they wanted her to do so. And then they would do what they’d really intended—wipe her from existence.

Of course, they would wait until she’d done what they needed her to do—vanquish the threat they had made it her destiny to.

A threat I didn’t know the identity of.

They’d kept it from me.

No matter, that could be rectified while I was here.

“You… heard me?”

I was pulled back to the immediate moment by the sound of that weakening voice, one that I registered as more than raspy or strained, but also decidedly sultry.

I blinked to see her stunning eyes on me, staring at me with incomprehension.

“You’re an… angel. A… real one? You… heard my… plea?”

“I heard you.”

She sucked in a stilted breath. “I’m not… going to… Hell when… I die this… night?” She frowned up at me. “I thought…” Tears fell unrestrained then, and she choked as the upset put a strain on her body with that wound, the knife even still embedded in her flesh.

She thought I was here to take her up to salvation.

And she’d believed it couldn’t come to pass for her, believed she was damned and slated to be sentenced to an afterlife of torment.

All because of what she was?

Something she had no control over.

I brushed my fingers against hers and pulled on my power a little.

And then I felt it.

It was worse than that.

She’d been made into this hybrid form. It had been forced upon her.

I pulled a little harder.

Memories flooded into me. Just surface memories, because I couldn’t delve any deeper while she was in this state, or it could undo her.

Crossborn.

Loneliness.

Hopelessness.

Grief.

Devastation.

And through all of that, the urge to do good, to make the lives of others better than hers had been thus far, rose above the rest.

And she’d still believed she was damned?

I gritted my teeth.

No.

It wasn’t how it should be.

There was no righteousness in that.

It was all… wrong.

I’d also registered that she’d been propelled out here due to the Hellfire I’d seen Ariana battling. Hellfire from a manufactured weapon that shouldn’t exist.

This wasn’t her fate.

That weapon wasn’t supposed to be.

As such, she shouldn’t have been thrown out here and made vulnerable enough for that fiend to stab her.

This wasn’t order.

“You are far from being damned, little shadow .”

“I’m… darkness.”

“That is what you were made into, not who you are. I can see it… so much light blazing around you.” I smiled as her eyes widened in disbelief, a spark of hope breaking through.

“You are much more than this.” I pressed my hand to her forehead.

She was feverish, her skin on fire with it.

“You will show them. You will show them all.”

“I’m… tired.”

“You are not done.”