Page 42 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

~Nyx~

I steadied myself as I entered the Guardian Movement black site.

I’d just had a session with renowned Healer and trauma specialist, Brandise Parker, and I was feeling centered, and mentally refreshed from her treatment. While it would be an ongoing process, for this very moment in time, I was steady. Not untouched, but grounded. Clear. Ready.

And it was the exact right time for it because Ketheron had just woken up inside my dreamscape.

I’d felt it not ten minutes ago and he hadn’t been pushing at my mind, which meant he wasn’t trying to escape and that he was comfortable there.

It was a very good starting point for what was coming.

It meant he was not only receptive, but calm and feeling safe.

When people weren’t, they raged and slammed against the confines of the dreamwalking. And something like that would resonate through my bones and psyche alike, causing a huge strain.

His positive reaction could have something to do with the fact that it was me, someone he had a connection to, one rooted in a trauma we both understood.

Given the facets of his hybrid nature—ones the Guardian Movement and Warlow had been actively studying—it was likely he could sense who was holding him within the dreamscape.

He was ready.

And so was I.

Kai was meeting with Marlise Leroux to discuss her taking on the mantle of Maven Coven head in his place.

Vorzyr was there with him as support and also in case Kai’s parents tried to force summon him with another one of those brutal magical brands, something that Vorzyr’s draconic healing could soothe.

Ariana had been called back home to see Mia, Jaxon, and Cassius because they believed they’d found a way to sever the connection between the Celestial Plane and the mortal world, but her power was a special ingredient , or a binding agent.

I couldn’t remember which. I’d been trying to muster all my focus for what lay ahead of me.

And as much as I would have liked the three of them with me, it would actually prove detrimental. I couldn’t be sensing or feeling them while I was doing this with Ketheron. My focus and concentration had to be absolute.

I took in the space.

Cold stone walls framed the room neutrally. Not really harsh, but devoid of comfort.

The overhead lighting cast a soft glow across the floor, but created shadows in the corners.

There were no windows.

No time telling means.

It was a holding center devoid of time or space.

There was a cube of light in the center of the room.

The Underveil Shield.

It rose from the floor and sealed into the ceiling above, enclosing Ketheron’s unconscious body within like a crystal vault of magic.

He was no longer exposed like that demented psychopathic egomaniac, Corvin Morvain, had been keeping him. As if he hadn’t already done enough to Ketheron without damn well degrading him.

Ariana had conjured clothing for him. A black high-collared long-sleeve tunic that was tailored to his mammoth body but also loose enough to offer comfort and freedom. His black pants were of a drawstring style with silver at the hems, and she’d even conjured him some soft black slippers.

She’d erected her own ward around the Underveil Shield to keep him safe from everyone. It was compassion and mercy all at once.

I lowered myself into a cross-legged position just a foot from it, upturned my palms, my magic sparking. And then I rested them on my knees, cracked my neck, and closed my eyes, initiating my dreamwalking ability.

A rush of power rolled through me, a blinding blue light lighting up the blackness.

And then I passed through from reality into the dreamscape.

White-sand beaches filled my vision.

Bright blue skies radiating shimmering sunlight bathed the surroundings in warmth.

I turned to my left where the waves from the ocean gently lapped at the shore.

To my right was a little bungalow at the top of a lush hill with wooden steps leading up to it.

It was the same dreamscape I’d created for Vorzyr months ago.

It had been easier to secure a being as mighty as Ketheron in a creation that already existed because the tether had been stronger, the stability more entrenched.

I didn’t see him in the immediate area, but there was a cove around the corner, just off to the left, a quiet little area that somebody craving peace—in more ways than one—would likely gravitate to.

I made my way around there.

Sure enough, there he was.

He was sitting on the sand in a white linen shirt and pants, his legs outstretched and tossing sand on his legs. They were already significantly covered with a lot of it.

He looked up at my approach and beamed out at me so happily.

The scene tugged at my heart something fierce.

He looked so… different.

So content.

So happy.

So giddy.

“It’s so warm,” he uttered with childlike wonder.

Holy… damn. It was amazing.

“I’m glad,” I said, coming to stand before him.

That brightness in his eyes flickered unstably.

It didn’t take much for me to realize why.

It was me standing over him, the accidental dominance of the position.

He tensed, like he was expecting hurt to quickly follow.

I quickly lowered myself to a crouch in front of him. “It’s me,” I reminded him, hoping he’d recognize the distinction.

It took him a moment, indicating how deeply entrenched Corvin’s abuse was, that he’d moved to a trauma response immediately from just a stance.

But then he brightened again and nodded. “Nyx.”

“That’s right.”

“I know you. Do you… are you still asleep?”

“Several of my memories of that time have been awakened.”

His brows knit. “Do you hurt now?”

“It ebbs and flows.”

He stared down at his hands still clutching sand. “I don’t like hurt.”

“Me neither.”

“I hurt… those Guardians… that building… an important building.”

“You didn’t do anything. Corvin confiscated your free will. You weren’t in control.”

“A leash… that’s what he called it?”

“Exactly.”

“I did those things but I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to. I didn’t like it.”

“I know. You don’t like hurt. I not only believe you, I understand that about you, and I can sense it very strongly. Ariana can as well.”

His head jerked up. “Is she hurt?”

“No. She’s well.”

“But she’s not here.” He thought for a moment, then eyed me. “You can’t hold us both here.”

“It would be strenuous. I could maybe manage it for a few minutes, but nothing more.”

“Then she sent you?”

“I also came on my own.” I settled on the sand opposite him. “Because you don’t deserve any of this. And because of what you did for me when I was in that lab.”

“I didn’t save you. You were still trapped.”

“Because you were as well.” I smiled. “But you did save me. You lit hope in me when I was without it, when I wanted to give up and fade away to the Valley of the Dead. That’s no small thing.

With what you were also going through at the time, to try to help another and make them feel better…

it’s beyond courageous. It’s incredible, Ketheron. ”

His eyes shone at me as he recognized it.

But that glimmer faded all too quickly. He let a handful of sand slip through his fingers, watching it fall.

“They won’t let me be that. They want death and destruction.

It’s not safe. I’m not safe for you. Especially not my Kindred.

” He sighed heavily. “We’re the same—Ariana and me.

Both not supposed to exist. Both too different for their liking.

They want to use it, to use us, but they don’t like it. ”

“I’m here to ensure that they can’t use you ever again.”

“How?”

“Your subconscious isn’t leashed or controlled by Corvin.

It’s just us here. He’s nowhere. That’s a phenomenal thing.

He doesn’t have control at this level.” I reached out and gathered some sand and held it out to him.

He cupped his hands and I poured it into them.

“The reason that’s the case is because of you.

How much you’re fighting it. How much you actually aren’t the monster he wants you to be.

With the control he’s tried to exert over you and the means he’s used, which Ariana has detailed for me, he should be here right now.

But he’s not.” I passed him some more sand.

“That means we can break his hold completely.”

He looked at me again, something flickering in his eyes that I couldn’t quite read.

A secret? Information he was privy to but didn’t understand how to convey?

“What is it?” I asked gently.

“What he did to leash me in that lab, when he used Ariana to do it… it’s gone. I felt it when I woke up on this beach. The way I imprinted on her… it’s too strong. Even for him. It’s back… my connection to my Kindred.”

I started. “Then why haven’t you been pushing at the walls of my dreamscape? You could wake up now. Any time. With this being the case, you’d be back in control in reality.”

“Because,” he murmured, pouring the rest of the sand from his palms, then drawing slow circles. “He could do it again.”

“He’ll be stopped.”

He shook his head. “You can’t. The Celestial Plane is with him. They want this. They want more… not just a foothold… all power over the mortal plane.”

“Ariana has received word that a way has been found to sever the connection to the Celestial Plane. Cassius, Mia, and Jaxon have been working on it for a while and coming closer and closer. Ariana is with them now because they need her power as a binding agent… a special ingredient… something along those lines. High-level spellwork isn’t my forte, but you see what I’m conveying, yes? ”

“This is wrong.”

“What?”

He abruptly pushed back to his feet, worry and agency taking him over. “She’ll fail and they’ll hurt her. They’ll cage her there forever. No. No. No.”

I shot back to my feet also. “What’s wrong about it?”

He shoved his hand through his hair, starting to pace erratically.