Harbinger (Immortal Flame #1)

1. ~Vorzyr~

~Vorzyr~

She walked among them.

A god surrounded by lesser beings.

The power radiating off her was staggering.

All-consuming.

Intoxicating.

A couple of weeks ago, it had sent a shockwave through the realms as she’d reached what those on this mortal plane termed magical maturity.

It was why they were all gathered here tonight.

To celebrate the greatest milestone in a magic-wielder’s life.

But it was a sham.

The truth of the celebration was being hidden behind a birthday party. Her twenty-first.

The two events had come about at the same time, yet she was choosing not to celebrate what mattered a great deal more—the fact that she’d come into her true power.

It was because of them.

Those who surrounded her now.

Those who were either just here to be seen, for political reasons, or to view what they were afraid of with twisted curiosity in a safe environment, like observing a wild animal trapped behind the bars of a cage.

So much fear.

And it had clearly infected her.

It controlled her.

They controlled her.

It was weakness on their part.

People feared what they couldn’t understand, what couldn’t be put easily into a box, what defied convention. And what was greater than all of them combined.

Ariana Martel.

The only angel to ever be birthed outside the Celestial Plane.

She was an anomaly.

A miracle.

Yet, they treated her like an outcast.

And she allowed them to do it.

Because she believed it, too.

That much had been made obvious to me as I’d watched her over the last few days.

She shrank back from what she was. She downplayed it. But more than that, it seemed as though she couldn’t bear to embrace it.

It made me sick.

Being forced to come to this plane, essentially cast out, and ordered to attend Maven Academy within the next few days for the foreseeable future, had twisted me up badly enough. Because it had all been in the name of controlling me.

But the one bright spark had been her.

It was why I hadn’t fought the decree that my father, Zepharion Titanus, the almighty leader of House Titanus, the ruling power of the Dracoryn Realm, had laid down.

I’d only heard stories and rumors about the angel beforehand.

But when her magic had surged a couple of weeks ago, I’d felt it.

Felt her —and the full force of her power.

And it had fucking called to me in a way I’d never experienced before.

There had been a time when power had reigned supreme, where it had been the be-all and end-all, when it had been revered. As had those possessing it and wielding it so beautifully.

My father had told me magnificent tales of those days.

But they had all come to an end and things had shifted after the Beast—Draco—who’d risen and attempted to ravage this realm and beyond, had been defeated.

And since then the fear that those days had incited in supernatural beings far and wide had led to this age now of control and subjugation, of falling in line.

Worse—of having to be less than we were.

It revolted me to my core.

It warred against my very nature.

Especially as heir to House Titanus.

But her might was such that no one could cage her.

If she would only stand tall and recognize her truth.

I wanted to taste that power.

I wanted to drink it down.

I wanted to feel it blazing through my veins, a heat and intensity that I just knew would be beyond even the intoxicating sensation of unleashing my dragon fire.

The craving was real.

And the longer I spent observing her, even from a distance, it threatened to consume me.

Walking away wasn’t an option, though.

Turning from what had clearly become some sort of sick fixation with the golden-haired beauty was impossible.

She was already under my skin.

And soon she’d know it, too.

Soon she’d beg me to consume her.

I couldn’t fucking wait.

It wouldn’t be long now.

See you soon, goddess.