Page 6 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

Cassius was already moving in as he spoke. “Move back,” he told them, including Mia and Jaxon.

“You could overwhelm her system,” Mia warned.

“I’ll just suffuse her with enough to reignite her own.”

“It looks like Ketheron’s blood is compromising her ability to do so on her own,” my dad surmised.

“She’s freezing,” Vorzyr reported. “Her temperature is way too low.”

She was shivering, but I’d put it down to the toll of the vomiting.

As Cassius moved in, everyone did back away, Mia and Jaxon taking a couple of steps back, while the boys loomed near, still crouched on the ground, not willing to give more space than that while the woman they clearly loved was suffering.

As Cassius’ hand glowed with his white power and he pressed it to Ariana’s shoulder, we all watched as it had her vomiting ceasing.

She choked and raised her head, sitting back on her haunches and then panting from the ordeal.

She was still shivering, though.

“Thank you,” she told Cassius.

He smiled at her. “Of course.”

She took a beat, looking around dazedly at all of us for a few moments, her gaze resting predominantly on her boyfriends beaming out at her, seemingly instinctively seeking them out for support and reassurance.

Then she centered herself and rose above it all in a way she’d done a lot of lately. A way that made me and the rest of the family so fucking proud.

She went to call her power, but it only sparked briefly on each palm.

“That toxic shit is compromising her too much,” Vorzyr rumbled.

“Obliterate the magic in the blood he forced her to ingest,” Jaxon snapped at me in his panic.

I gritted my teeth at my impotence in this fucking vital moment.

Lucian, who had been unduly quiet, which meant he was analyzing the situation deeply, grasped my arm and reminded them, “He can’t.”

I’d told him what had happened via our mind-link while he’d been on his way, vamp-speeding here like a bat out of Hades from across the other side of the supernatural world, that my defensive magic had failed against Ketheron earlier.

“Fuck,” Jaxon growled. But then he sucked in a breath to force himself to calm, stroking Ari’s hair, focusing on reassuring her and not escalating what was already a panicked situation.

I looked out at my dad, the only being alive who was better at workarounds than me, and finding loopholes and solutions where there appeared to be none.

“A transfusion,” he mouthed to me.

He knew that was bad news. There was no other blood like Ari’s. It couldn’t be replicated. Unless—

“Cassius, you’re closest to her blood type and power makeup. We’re dealing with a supernatural medical problem here, so we can bridge the gap with careful spellwork.”

He warned us, “If I do that, it will cause her great agony. Celestials aren’t meant to mix blood. Therefore, there is a price should anyone violate that Law.”

“The only magical aspect of his blood that could harm her is the Celestial aspect,” Kai spoke. He eyed Vorzyr. “It has to be you.”

A look was exchanged between him, Kai, and Cornelius.

“Yes. That will work. However, we’ll need to isolate Ketheron’s blood from her before you do so, or it will significantly harm Ariana and her power.”

“It could kill her,” Vorzyr corrected him.

“No,” Cassius spoke. “But it will drain her to the point that she would be incapacitated for days on end.”

“What are you talking about?” my dad asked.

Vorzyr sighed, then revealed, “I have the ability to dominate Celestial magic, to bend it to my will, and to also annihilate it, if I so choose.”

We all fell silent.

To say it was a mammoth revelation didn’t begin to cover it.

Cassius didn’t look surprised, however. He’d already inferred it then.

Cornelius was clearly also well aware, but that didn’t surprise me. He was involved in a lot of clandestine and underhanded knowledge-seeking and research. For plausible deniability and the complications of my role as Head of the Guardian Movement, some things had to be kept off my radar.

This, though, it was bigger than that.

But the time for reprimands wasn’t now.

My daughter was sick and in fucking danger.

That was all that mattered in this instance.

I stepped forward. “Kai, Cornelius, and Gabriel, work with me to create a spell to isolate Ketheron’s infection from Ari’s blood.”

Lucian spoke up, “Instead of Vorzyr’s ability burning through her to neutralize the magic, given that I’m also seeing evidence of blood poisoning here, work to isolate Ketheron’s blood itself, then have Vorzyr feed from her in order to extract it.

It won’t harm him because of his ability to dominate and nullify it.

The longer it’s in her system, the more damage it’s doing, the longer she’ll be unable to heal herself. ”

Cassius nodded. “My power has only stopped the vomiting. Her body isn’t accepting it for anything beyond surface-level healing because of the obstacle that Ketheron’s blood is posing.”

I snapped my fingers. “Then we work immediately to create an isolation spell.”

“You’ll need Ketheron’s fresh blood independent of what he forced her to ingest,” Cassius spoke, and then he was rushing over to where Ketheron had attacked Ari earlier. He called over his shoulder to Lucian. “I need you to scent out the drops for me to gather.”

With a burst of speed, Lucian was over there working with him.

Before I could move to get working on the spell aspect, a burst of yellow light gave way to Calla Coretti’s arrival.

Sorceress extraordinaire and my dad’s wife.

She went to embrace my dad, but pulled up short at the sight of Ari shuddering and sweating and the black vomit near her.

It took her a moment to move beyond that, then pull out the elixir that she’d brought with her.

Mia stepped up to her. “Let’s use it on the blood Ariana has already rejected.” She called over to Lucian. “Is her blood present?”

“Yes. Certainly,” he confirmed with just the need of a brief scenting. As an Ancient Vampire, he was uniquely qualified to determined such a thing.

“All right, good,” Mia said, remaining in her task-driven state. I saw her concerned gaze flick to Ariana, but she quickly looked away, fighting to focus on what needed to be done.

“Go,” I told them, and then I drew Cornelius, my dad, and Kai away off to the side.

“I’ll use the ancient magic I’ve developed to combat Celestial power,” Kai told us right off the bat.

He was certainly bold, I’d give him that.

My dad gave me a knowing look, already familiar with that from teaching him at Maven Academy.

“Agreed,” Cornelius said. “However it will need to be mitigated, as those magics are too potent for Ariana to endure in her current state.”

“Let’s get to work,” I spoke.

We had Ketheron’s blood now from the efforts of Lucian and Cassius.

Mia and Calla had used the elixir to pull the interaction of Ketheron and Ariana’s blood and magic all in one shot and secure it in a vial for us to study.

Nyx and Vorzyr had managed to keep Ari in good spirits.

She hadn’t vomited since, and they were wrapped around her, giving her their warmth.

And the rest of us had just finished up the spell.

We approached Ari and gathered around.

I churned the incantation we’d developed over in my mind, then grasped the ball of magic—a blend of mine, Kai’s, Gabriel’s, and Cornelius’—as I crouched in front of Ari, ready to perform the spell.

“Don’t invoke your defensive magic at any point, given how it reacted to Ketheron’s power, and also with what harm it could do to Ariana,” Mia cautioned me.

“I’m aware,” I told her as gently as possible.

“Ready, sweetie?” I asked Ari as I took both her hands.

“Yes.”

Just like that.

So brave.

Especially lately.

“It’s going to feel unsettling, like a pins and needles sensation initially, which will keep intensifying as the spell gets a lock on Ketheron’s blood only.”

She smiled out at me. “I’ll handle it. It’s fine, Pops.”

I looked at Vorzyr who was right beside her, at the ready. “We’ll maintain contact through the spell, so you can feel the difference between hers and his to ensure you only draw out his infection for the most part.”

“So she doesn’t lose too much blood while we’re trying to rid her of the infection,” Lucian finished for me, as he joined us, settling down on the grass beside Vorzyr.

He told me, “I’ll guide the blood draw with him.

” He eyed everyone gathered around. “Ease back, give us some space. And quiet. I need to be able to hear clearly with no interference.”

Everyone began to move back and clear the immediate area. Jaxon did have to guide Mia away to ensure it.

But Kai and Nyx noticeably remained. They were kneeling down at her side, Kai stroking her hair, Nyx holding her hand.

“We remain,” Kai told us, looking out at us all, resolute and determined.

“As observers only, however,” Nyx added quickly, clearly used to softening things where Kai was concerned.

Lucian gave me a discreet chin lift, letting me know that it wouldn’t interfere with what he needed to do.

As for me, I could work a spell through hell on earth, even with a war waging around me.

“Ari?” I asked.

“I’d like that,” she told us. She added more forcefully, “A lot.”

I saw Kai smirk.

Little bastard.

I rolled my shoulders, then got into position, sitting cross-legged in front of Ari, while Lucian gave Vorzyr some pointers on how to carefully feed.

“Feed from her wrist. It’ll provide more control. Especially being dragon, it’s far less likely to trigger the animal within and its primality. You cannot let it take you because you’ll need absolute focus for every moment of it. It’s clinical, not for pleasure.”

A growl came from Jaxon.

Mia pressed her hands to his chest, running them over his shirt softly, working to quell his antagonism.