Page 39 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

He leaned in and kissed the top of my head.

“Of course. And… something else—for when you’re ready to talk about it, or even just start facing it.

Since Nyx started remembering those horrific memories from the Chimera Circle experiments, I’ve been searching.

I found a Healer—one who specializes in trauma and mental healing.

Someone you could consider, too. She helped Ryker.

He’s actually seen her recently—after Draco’s sword returned to this plane. It brought a lot back for him.”

“Thank you. It’s a really thoughtful idea. One that all four of us could do with after what we’ve endured.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Undeniable.”

There he was moving toward making light of his own trauma. But then I saw him grit his teeth, stop himself, then tell me, “I can’t forgive this… this violence masquerading as control… through their fear.”

“Forgiving them for this when there’s no remorse on their end would be like accepting it.

No. What they’re doing to you is demented, Kai.

And through it all, they made you feel guilty for not accepting the role they’ve forced you into.

It’s layers of emotional manipulation and extreme toxicity.

And they know you can’t respond with outright refusal or denial because they’ve tied your ability to continue doing magic to you performing your duty, something that this magical burning is aiming to remind you of in the most brutal way.

” I gestured at his chest. “I can heal that for you and force it back against them, while also creating a block to prevent it from happening again.”

“It heals a little while after I use my magic anyway. And forcing it back, blocking it, it’ll cause a political incident. Celestial involvement, let alone outsider involvement in Coven matters is a sensitive issue, as you know.”

“I have no problem facing the consequences. Or, even better, exposing the whole deal as to why this interference is necessary. But I get why you don’t want it done this way.

There’s not just your parents to worry about.

There are innocents who are members of the Maven Coven and have no idea this is going on, along with students who are there to learn to use their magical abilities and grow into themselves and their power.

But, Kai, something needs to be done. Not down the road, not just before graduation and your official deadline.

Now. I can’t stand this happening to you and Nyx and Vorzyr would lose their minds if they knew about this latest act from your parents. ”

“They will know. We’re working on sharing even things that we’d mistakenly viewed as burdens upon those we love. So I’ll tell them. However, it will be coming along with good news as well. A shitload of hope, actually.”

“How so?”

“Sylas found a way out for me.”

“What? Is that why you were there at his place?”

“There’s a little bit more to it than that.

” He sighed, then gestured toward the porch steps.

We settled on the top one, our knees brushing as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into his side.

I let my fingers drift over his chest—just below where the brand was.

He took a breath, then told me quietly, “He’s sick.

He’s… changing. Essentially, Sylas is being turned into a vampire—but in a way we’ve never seen before.

With what we know now, I’m certain Corvin caused it. ”

I shuddered. “Corvin? But how could he hurt a necromancer that badly?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” he admitted. “Sylas wasn’t exactly forthcoming.

But Corvin attacked him recently—and it accelerated the condition.

He was using a serum he developed himself to slow the desiccation.

But after the attack, it wasn’t enough. He used to take it once a day—now he needs it multiple times.

I was helping him make more, but the kind of magic required to keep producing it… It’s not sustainable.”

“It will be if I infuse my power into it. It will be able to be replicated as much as needed, for eternity.”

“I know. I told him that I’d run it by you. But it’s a big ask and I didn’t want you to feel pressured to do—”

“I don’t. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s also your friend. I’ll do it whenever he’s ready.”

“Thank you.”

I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Of course. Now, you said he’s found a way to help you?”

“He gained access to the spell through… illicit means. And being what he is, he spotted something I couldn’t—because I’m not a necromancer.

He found necromantic magic buried at the core of the spell my parents cast. He can break it.

But the solution’s complicated. The enchantment has to be transferred to someone else, or the entire Maven Coven collapses the moment it’s removed from me.

” He swallowed hard. “And… I’d have to die.

Temporarily. Sylas has a way to bring me back—with a necromantic tether. ”

“Kai, I—”

“I know it’s dangerous. But I need to—”

“You need to go through with it or you’ll never be free.”

He stared at me in wonder. “Exactly.”

“I’ll be there when it happens. Just in case.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” he said, stroking my hair.

“Who will take your place?”

“The person who’s coveted the role of Head of the Maven Coven for years on end.”

“Marlise.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, we’ll set it up.” I smiled up at him. “You realize what this actually means, right? You’ll be free, Kai. After all this time, you’ll be free.”

His eyes brightened. “I haven’t even begun to reconcile that yet. It’s surreal.”

“We’ll celebrate majorly so it sinks in amazingly.”

He chuckled and brushed his lips over mine.

“I love you, Kai.”

He jolted, then eased back, so he could look deeply into my eyes with those soulful hazel orbs of his.

“Ari—”

“I’ve loved you for a very long time, in truth.

Deeply and overwhelmingly sometimes. Beautifully and so intensely.

Us coming together beyond friendship started in one hell of a fucked-up way, but we’ve evolved so much, grown together, loved deeper together.

And I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t change anything that led to me feeling this way about you, to what you bring to my life now, to what all three of you do. ”

He stared at me starry-eyed, and breathed, clearly overcome. “I love you, too. So deeply, so obsessively one might even say. I’ve loved you always for who you are, sweet Ari.”

“Not what I am. I know. I know it, Kai. I always have. Not matter what.”

The corner of his mouth turned up and there was a twinkle in his eye just before he said, “Fuck, those words will be the beginning and the end of me.”

I slapped his arm. “Seriously? Cutting through our beautiful moment like that?”

He chuckled. “You know me, sweetheart.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “And we both know how much you like that about me. I’m sorry, love that about me, right?”

I burst out laughing. “You little…”

In the next second, I was lunging at him with my angelic strength.

And then my giggles and his hearty laughter filled the area as we wrestled playfully on the porch.

When it came to how Kai was and how we were together, it was actually the perfect way to round off an intimate and heartfelt moment like that.

It was what we desperately needed right now too.