Page 5 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

~Ryker Morgan~

A new beast walked the earth.

A monster unlike any who’d come before.

Even Draco.

He defied the laws of nature.

He defied the laws of magic.

For the first time in decades, there now existed a being on this plane who I couldn’t make a goddamn dent against, who my next-level, defensive magic couldn’t impact.

The very magic that put faith in the supernatural world that I’d always be able to safeguard them against whatever came our way.

“We need to get them to your family home,” Cornelius was saying to the group as we still stood in Meforian Forest. “The boys, too. They put themselves on Ketheron’s radar.”

“We’ll use the spell that Nyx implemented to ward your mountain estate,” my dad spoke, eyeing Mia. “That creation couldn’t penetrate it.”

My dad, the almighty Gabriel Morgan, sorcerer supreme with unmatched magical knowledge, had teleported in just moments after Ketheron had taken off. He’d been delayed teaching a class, and not wanting to abruptly take off and cause a whole lot of panic.

As they continued talking in a group together, I looked to see Lucian with Jaxon doing what he did very well and helping him to see reason in the immediate aftermath of his wolf instinct being aggravated tremendously from battle, which was all exacerbated by it being our daughter who’d been in danger.

Or who it had seemed had been in danger.

It was more complicated than that.

Ketheron hadn’t intentionally harmed her.

He’d even frantically healed her with his own blood.

But Ketheron did have a worrying attachment to Ari. I’d seen that clear as day.

It was a childlike wonder toward her mixed with a whole lot of intensity and a desperation that invited dangerous obsession.

“They made me to erase you.”

He’d told her outright that he’d been created to kill her. Although, it truly seemed that the intent wasn’t there for him, intent didn’t always possess enough power. It couldn’t be relied on. Not with the Celestial Plane pulling his strings.

I looked over at Ariana.

She was surrounded by her boyfriends.

Cassius was there too, and I heard Vorzyr rumble dangerously, as he touched Ariana’s arm in a comforting gesture.

Cornelius was already keeping his eye on him, so he observed it instantly, and then he was calling him over to have a word. Situation diffused.

The dragon settled right away with him no longer within physical reach of Ari.

I studied the boys’ interaction with her.

“They worship her,” a lovely voice came from beside me, and I turned to see Mia had teleported right beside me.

She sank her hands into the pockets of her wool coat and nuzzled against me.

“They do, yes. And they’re deferring to her needs.”

“Will Calla be here soon?”

“A few minutes. She had to mix the elixir that we need to give Ari before we can draw out the blood that Ketheron fed her.”

She nodded. “Otherwise we won’t be able to extract the fusion of his blood against hers.”

“Right. We need to know how it works against hers.”

“She didn’t want it out at all. She was willing to risk it remaining in her system so she could study its effects and gain a better understanding of Ketheron. But not just from a strategic standpoint. She made a connection to him as well. It wasn’t one-sided. Did you see?”

“I did.”

“I’m worried. With the Celestial Plane’s known penchant for multi-level manipulation, they could have created him with that intent… to have her bond with him in some way so that she lets her guard down.”

“Until we have the results of the test, we can’t know for certain. But I don’t think they infused any sort of connection into his creation. They aren’t emotional beings, for one. I highly doubt connection in that sense would have even crossed their minds.”

“Cassius has displayed emotions. And even care for Ariana.”

“And Cornelius informed us that he discovered that Cassius is out of favor with them as a result of that sort of caring approach. He’s an outlier, not the standard by any means.

” I wrapped my arm around her, feeling her panic for Ari and her own trauma driving her thought process on this.

“Also, keep in mind that the connection we saw between them was rooted in them both being used by the Celestial Plane. It’s not like a mating bond. It’s in something very grounded.”

“It’s not the same,” she murmured. “Not the same as what happened to me.”

“No, sweetness, it really isn’t.”

“And Ariana isn’t me.”

“She has her own separate journey. And look at her… she’s shaken, sure, but she’s standing strong.

She’s ready. You know it as well. You were there when she controlled her power, there with her boyfriends, seeing all of that.

This Celestial-created threat emerging today is just triggering your own trauma with Draco and it’s clouding the reality. ”

“Yeah,” she murmured. “I know. She’s strong. So very strong.”

“It’s your time now.”

That was what I’d told Ari when I’d invited her up to the Guardian Compound.

And I’d meant it. I’d wanted that for her, for her finally to be empowered, to come into herself.

But on her own terms.

Not because of the duty that the Celestial Plane had forced on her.

Not because of this threat now.

More than anything, I’d wanted her to be free to make her own choices, to carve out her own path in life.

Something that had been denied her mom.

We all wanted better for Ariana.

But what we wanted and what was ideal, wasn’t our true reality.

And it wasn’t our place any longer to drive that forward.

It was hers.

Mia and I pulled apart as Cornelius strode up to us with Cassius.

“I’ve confirmed with Cassius’ intel that Ketheron was a joint project created by Chimera Circle and the Celestial Plane.”

“It was believed the project was destroyed,” Cassius informed us.

“What a surprise, they lied,” Mia ground out.

“Yes. Indeed,” Cassius murmured, his upset and distress clear. “He is programmed to target me as well, which became clear with his immediate arrival on this plane.”

“So, they sent you down here as some sort of penance to teach Ari, while the real agenda was to put you both in the path of Ketheron?” I put to him.

“I believe so, yes. She and I are marked for death.”

Mia shoved her hand through her hair and turned away.

“It doesn’t matter what they wish for, it won’t become reality,” Cornelius growled.

“Fucking right, it won’t,” Jaxon snarled, joining us with Lucian.

Lucian came to me and slipped his hand into mine, his discreet way of really doing a great deal to steady me. “Beauty,” he called to Mia, then wrapped his free arm around her, tucking her into his side.

Jaxon paced in front of all of us, cursing back and forth to himself.

“I had calmed him, but then he overheard what was just spoken between you,” Lucian told me.

“Jax, like Cornelius said, it doesn’t matter what they wish, it won’t come to pass,” I called over.

“They created that thing to murder our daughter, Ry! I can’t brush that under the carpet with logic.”

“I know. None of us are doing that. But we do need to see the forest through the trees.”

“Ariana is far from helpless,” Cassius spoke, cutting through it all.

“It’s not about that,” Jaxon bit back. “It’s what she’s up against.”

Mia pulled from Lucian. “It will never stop. It won’t end with this. It’s just another battle in an eternal war they are waging.”

Cassius’ eyes shot wide. “You wish to sever the link to the Celestial Plane.”

“Yes,” Mia ground out. She looked between Cassius, Cornelius, and Jaxon, the three beings who had the most understanding of how Celestial-level power worked. “Is there a way?”

“Yes. She is the way,” Cassius said, gesturing over at Ariana who was still surrounded by her boyfriends, but with my dad now there with them, too, engaging them in some morale-lifting banter, it seemed.

“Ariana is the only Celestial being alive not technically tethered to the Celestial Plane. The intricacies of how to go about actually severing the link will take time to discern.” He bypassed Cornelius and stared at Jaxon.

“And your cooperation. You were infused with all of Draco’s knowledge.

Combined with mine, we can determine a solution.

” He eyed Cornelius. “You’re already working on other vital things, so I don’t want you pulled from that.

Besides, Kai requires your mentorship and supervision.

He is at a critical juncture, which I felt when I allowed him to channel my power. ”

“Stay with him. I’ll have my dad monitor him also,” I told Cornelius.

He gave a nod.

And then everything was halted as a cry came from my dad, and we all looked to see Ari collapsing to her knees and vomiting. I couldn’t see what she was vomiting because her boyfriends were blocking my view, but the sound was unmistakable.

All of us were over there with bursts of speeds or teleportation in the very next instant.

Her boyfriends were crouched down with her. Kai was holding her hair out of her face, while Nyx rubbed her back gently, and Vorzyr pressed his hand to her forehead, clearly checking her temperature as dragons could very easily do without the need for any instruments.

My dad was resting on one knee as he studied what I took in as black goo tinged with actual blood.

A shudder betook me as it called forth unpleasant memories of Draco and infections so similar in nature that had befallen many of us.

“It’s not the same,” Lucian spoke, reading me well. He joined my dad, while Mia and Jaxon were all over Ari, panicking, something I could feel intensely through our bond, but something that they were trying hard not to show for concern of exacerbating the situation.

“Can you call your power?” Kai asked Ari softly.

I saw Jaxon’s surprise at witnessing that from him. He was even gently caressing her hair as he held it out of her face.

She shook her head.

“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay,” Nyx told her. “We’re all here. We’ll help you.”

Vorzyr growled at Cassius, “Give her a boost. Help her.”