Page 25 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

“I am actually through all of them, most of the lore and Laws, and I’ve reviewed the first couple of Tier One Practicalities so I’m prepared when we move to perform them.”

He frowned. “Yet you don’t seem prepared to do that this day. You are in your pajamas. In your bedroom.” He looked at my bed and the rumpled sheets. “And having just finished up a romp with your lovers?”

“That was hours ago,” was all I managed, caught off guard with him bringing that up.

He gestured at Nyx, his horns pulsing. “It would seem he is prepared for more.”

“Nah, just seeing her standing there in her sexy pajamas and facing off with you is turning me on. Can’t be helped,” Nyx told him.

“I’m not going to be summoned here then made to wait while you service one another,” Cassius retorted.

“You’re worked up,” I accused. “You wouldn’t normally comment on something like this.”

“It’s Velra,” Nyx stated.

Cassius eyed him. “You can’t read me, Incubus.”

“I’m using logic.”

“I see.” He thought for a moment. “Well, I suppose I am having trouble reconciling the impact of the Soul Brand. I am only able to entertain it and try to determine what it all means in the moments I am away from the intense magical research with Mia and Jaxon into breaking the Celestial link, so it appears that that concern flared as you called me away from said heavy task.” He shifted his weight. “My apologies.”

“That’s an honest slipup and just a normal emotional reaction.

In fact, I actually like it because it further proves that you’re not a soulless automaton like the rest of your kind.

” Off his look, I added, “Fine. Our kind.” I folded my arms across my chest. “What isn’t an honest slipup is you teaching me that Celestial magic that was supposed to merely have the intent of creating a power cyclone to both shield myself and repel any incoming threats. ”

“Yes. Corsecus.”

“I employed it during a training exercise here and it did a lot more than that.”

“It would, yes, especially if you employed it against a known threat.”

“I know. I discovered that it had a dual purpose. Not just to defend, but to torment and destroy lesser supernatural beings by essentially unraveling them—flesh, bone, life force. That’s what happened during the training exercise.

But through me researching deeper into Celestial lore, Laws, and limitations, it became clear why you wanted me to learn it, the true purpose behind it.

It wasn’t protection. Because that spell can unravel Celestial life. ”

“Yes. It most definitely can. It is ancient and a rarity, the knowledge sacrosanct also.” He slid his hands into the front pockets of his pants.

“Our goal is to break the link between the mortal world and the Celestial Plane. The True Celestials will not go quietly. They will fight with everything at their disposal to prevent this from happening. And as soon as we get further along in the process and actually start making headway, they will sense it—such a formidable threat. And they will come for us. I can’t take them all.

You will be needed. To defeat a True Celestial, blows from your magic will not be enough.

It takes a great deal— Corsecus is one such viable method of annihilation. ”

“You’re talking about a massacre.” I shuddered as I uttered the words.

“Nothing they won’t do to us if we don’t respond in due time, if we are not ready, Ariana. Breaking the link… it means war. We must act accordingly.”

“Damn,” Nyx choked, scrubbing his hand over his face, mirroring my own distress.

A heavy silence fell for several moments.

And then Cassius returned to business, asking me, “Why did you summon me, Ariana?”

I leaned against my desk and settled in, telling him, “Ketheron reached out to me for help via a dream I just woke up from.”

He tensed. “He invaded your mind… through your forced ingestion of his blood. It left some resonance, despite Vorzyr extracting it from your system. It must have bound right away with you.” He screwed up his face.

“That was a violation. It is also insulting to have a manufactured Celestial being accessing a pure Celestial being’s mind.

” He looked distraught and pissed for me all at the same time.

“I am sorry this has befallen you. There may be a way for me to dispel it so that it can never occur again.”

“No. That’s not what I want.”

“I don’t understand. You called me here to assist with this, yes?”

“He was calling out for help.”

“The being forged to destroy you,” he retorted, bluntly.

“He’s an instrument of others, a victim.”

“The poor bastard was experimented on, cut into, and messed with, just like I was,” Nyx added in. “None of this is his fault. What he is isn’t his fault.”

“So you want me—one of the two people he’s come to eradicate—to assist you with locating him, in a bid to save him—a being created to be a killer, our killer, Ariana—because you believe him to have been unjustly forced into that role?”

“For one, we need to. He’s still here on the mortal plane.

He didn’t leave like we were made to believe, like everyone thinks.

So there’s that urgency now. And if you can’t accept my rationale, then consider this: if we can reach him—past his programming—and help him, we turn a massive threat into a formidable ally…

against the very beings on the Celestial Plane who yearn for our demise. ”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “You have come a long way. I am duly impressed.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Very well. Ask of me what you will in regard to this… victimized creature.”

“Nyx interpreted one of the symbols in my dream as signifying that Ketheron is being held by ancient, twisted magic. That’s a broad term. What, specifically, could hold a Celestial being, especially to the extent where it’s hurting them and also preventing them from communicating clearly?”

I conveyed the rest of the dream details as well, so he had the full picture.

“Not very many things could accomplish that. From the purely Celestial aspect, there is binding used on the Celestial Plane for those who have been condemned. But it would need to be wielded by another True Celestial being. And I can’t see it being possible to even wield that level of power on this plane.

It would have to be rooted on the Celestial Plane itself.

There is also Hellfire, which would have to be a profound concentration to accomplish actually trapping a Celestial completely.

Blood magic is out, given what he is… impure and manufactured.

There would be nobody to match blood with in order to create the spell.

” He frowned, thinking on it. “Perhaps we are too focused on the Celestial aspect of his makeup. Ancient… twisted magic… necromancy would bind him from his vampire side. Dark Fae magic has the means to bind the other aspects of his form as well. Binding isn’t just about power in his special case, because of the way in which he was created.

He is many things, but theoretically if one of those parts was bound, he should still be able to override it with his Celestial Light as that power is greater than the mortal plane.

He could have been temporarily bound and then…

leashed, before he had the chance to override that which was used to bind him. ”

“Leashed? How? He’s not being held by the Celestial Plane—the proof being this sort of magic in play, and the fact that it was believed he’d returned there, but we now know it just to be a falsity.”

“By those who created him.”

“The magical scientists?” Nyx choked.

“Yes. Ketheron was created as a replacement and improvement upon Draco—a being who could do their bidding on the mortal plane. A means of controlling it and those down here to a greater degree. In order to make that improvement, he wasn’t just borne from Celestial power and Hellfire.

He was made up of many lesser supernatural beings also.

Somebody who had all those abilities and powers, but could eclipse them all with the Celestial Light also infused within him, and that which also bound all those components together as one.

But in order to achieve this, the Celestial Plane required the expertise and collaboration of Chimera Circle scientists.

During the process of creating him, it’s quite possible that they could have implanted a means to control Ketheron.

Perhaps they wanted to take such a formidable weapon for themselves.

Proximity to great power has been known to corrupt many. ”

“Who are these particular scientists?” I asked.

“I do not know. All I am aware of is that there were three chosen. Ryker has also checked with Aegis Watch and they haven’t been able to determine who was involved either. It has clearly been covered up well, likely with Celestial Plane involvement and eradication of any viable proof.”

“I can find out,” Nyx said.

Oh no. “Nyx—”

“How so?” Cassius asked, very intrigued.

“I bound my memories of my time trapped in a Chimera Circle lab, but Ketheron proved to be a visceral trigger and I remembered part of it. Because he was there with me. If I can remember more, I could get the identities of these scientists—likely the ones who are leashing him now.”

“Binding your memories to that extent suggests you were escaping severe trauma. To undo that would be highly dangerous.”

“I can still figure out a way. It doesn’t have to be by magic.”

“Remembering at all could be—”

“Halo, I know. It will be horrific. But I’m willing to try. And I need to with what’s at stake here.”

“You can’t force it, Nyx,” I warned him. “Remember what Kai said.”

“I know, but I could at least help it along. Maybe spend some time meditating in a Ruminat hut for the next little while, see if I can access the memories that way.”

I saw Cassius notice how uncomfortable and worried I was about Nyx putting himself through that.

He then told Nyx, “I believe the more efficient option is to search these burial grounds . We can craft a spell attuned to the type of ancient and twisted magic likely being used. That way, we’ll narrow the field and avoid having to sift through thousands of burial sites.”

“Yeah, okay,” Nyx murmured, not happy about it, but thankfully also seeming to recognize that it was the safer way to go about things. A way in which would spare him.

The door opened, startling us, and I looked over to see Kai and Vorzyr walking side by side, deep in conversation.

“…and then he leapt in wolf form, ran up my back while I was in dragon form, jumped on my snout, and used that— my actual face —as a bridge to somersault off and reach the finish line before me. That’s cheating, right?”

“I’d need more specific context to determine that. But it seems to me the lesson was to teach you how to temper your pissed-off reaction to being challenged—to the animal being challenged.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what happened. I was able to control it.”

“There you—” Kai’s voice caught in his throat as he took in the scene inside my dorm room, notably, Cassius being here.

“What’s going on?”

A growl came from Vorzyr. It was because of the intimacy of what he was seeing. Me dressed down with Cassius standing right there. Nyx barely dressed too.

“It’s fine, Vorzyr,” Nyx said, walking to him quickly and pressing his hands to his chest.

“It is,” Kai reinforced, although a whole lot of suspicion was lighting his eyes, just in another sense. “He’s all about Velra Nox. I witnessed it myself.”

“Mind your tongue,” Cassius told him.

“I’ve hit a nerve? Wow, it’s really deep between the two of you then, hmm?”

Shit. “Stop, Kai. We’re in the middle of something.”

“Then, by all means, continue. I’m extremely intrigued as to what he’s doing here. It must be something major for him to have come right here to your bedroom.”

Urgh. “It is. Ketheron needs our help.”

“We already agreed that attacking him wouldn’t be our first move.”

“It’s more than that now and—”

“Nyx will fill you both in,” Cassius cut in.

“What?” Vorzyr demanded.

Kai’s eyes narrowed.

“According to Ariana’s class schedule, she has almost two hours before her next class. We will take that time to resume our training. In light of what you have told me, we cannot afford for you to miss any further sessions. We will also work on the spell that we discussed regarding Ketheron.”

“Ari?” Kai queried.

“He’s right,” I told him, wincing. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay, we get it,” Nyx interjected. He explained to Kai and Vorzyr, “Ketheron was in her mind. She needs to do something empowering and clear her head. The training will help.”

“He was in your mind?” Kai cried.

Nyx wrapped his arm around him. “I’ll explain everything. I promise. And she’s fine. Look at her.”

He did. So did Vorzyr.

“Fine,” Vorzyr grumbled. “Take care of her, Cassius. She doesn’t need it, but it would be fucking nice for her, all right?”

“I shall,” Cassius said, smiling at me kindly. “She is not only my charge now. We are… friends.”

I snapped my fingers and dressed myself in my go-to jeans and brown suede jacket combo. “That we are. Good thing with what’s coming.”

“Yes,” he said. “The battle of our lives.”

Somehow even that was an understatement.

It had been bad enough when we’d believed Ketheron had been ordered here by the Celestial Plane. But now with others involved and those others currently being unknown, it opened things up to a dangerous degree.

Not knowing who our enemies were, especially ones who had control over such mammoth power, was a really terrifying thing.

It was why I couldn’t stay here right now and eat breakfast, why I couldn’t hash it out with my men when we already had something we could work on immediately.

It was why I had to take some sort of action right the hell now.

I couldn’t stomach doing anything less.

It was my last thought before I then teleported out with Cassius.