Chapter 5 Cassius
~Cassius~
It was there.
It was still there.
I ran my fingers back and forth over the two intersecting lines on my chest.
The Soul Brand had been mended.
I found myself constantly checking it ever since it had re-formed shortly after Lazriel had heard her heart beating again with Sylas beside her at that point.
Velra was alive.
Sylas had died to ensure it.
He’d been casting the dangerous and worryingly dark spell, Auctoritas Mortis, and I had witnessed it working.
Even in spite of Kai Hunter drawing on both his and Cornelius Martel’s magic to override it, wherein we’d then been planning to place Velra in stasis until we’d found another way to return her to life.
However, Sylas had then abruptly altered tactics and abandoned the spell.
As he’d shredded his wrists, I’d stood beside a screaming and howling Lazriel whom I’d needed to restrain from smashing himself into the dome and thereby worsening the situation and endangering both Kai and Cornelius.
Because I’d been so depleted at the time, I’d required the assistance of Warlow Boyd in order to successfully hold Lazriel at bay.
Sylas had bled out horrifically quickly and ended his life in order to access the Valley of the Dead to extract Velra personally.
Fortunately, through the tear in the fabric of the Veil that Sylas had previously created when Auctoritas Mortis had been in motion, Kai had been able to reach in through it without causing any additional damage than Sylas already had to the sanctity of the plane, and subsequently pull Sylas out alongside Velra.
We now knew exactly why Sylas had shifted tactics so abruptly.
He had been deteriorating significantly as he’d been casting the spell—desiccating terrifyingly. He’d run out of time, unable to hold the spell, and if he’d let go without following through with another action immediately, we would have lost our hold on Velra.
Although they’d both been extracted and even Sylas was now breathing again thanks to blood from Lazriel and magical shocks from Cornelius, damage had been done during the entire process.
And now, there they were, within Aetheric Wing, a specialized infirmary inside the Guardian Compound, both of them unconscious in Restoration Chambers.
The vaulted area was surrounded by white stone walls, the ceiling shimmering with intersecting magical streams belonging to both the power imbued in the Compound itself and the energy radiating from the Healers who worked within the Wing.
It created a kaleidoscope of colors and the effect of the ceiling shifting perpetually.
The Restoration Chambers to the right of the facility were horizontal cylindrical vessels of carved stone and reinforced glass that hovered off the ground, each one humming. Holographic charts levitated above each, detailing the patients’ medical state and the treatment being delivered.
Velra was situated within the one closest to the door.
Her whole body was visible through the glass, which had been giving me a great sense of relief over the last two hours that I had been standing here trying to calm myself after what had transpired earlier.
She was covered in a silky white sheet from her chest down to her thighs and a fluffy pillow cradled her head and beautiful ombre hair.
Sylas was beside her in the next vessel. He didn’t have a sheet over him, only a pair of white boxers because a close and constant eye needed to be kept on the desiccation still ravaging his body.
It had become clear all too quickly after he’d been brought back to life, that even with an injection of his serum which Lazriel had found in his coat pocket, the desiccation was now returning moments later, instead of a day later without another dose.
So Lazriel had gone with Kai to Sylas’ home to bring all the serum he had on hand—three hundred vials—and it was being administered constantly, seeping into his veins from tubing all over him.
This ordeal had significantly worsened his sickness.
And according to the tests that he and Kai had been running secretly at Arcanum Order without the knowledge of Cornelius or the other members in Gabriel Morgan, Calla Coretti, and Maelira Draxen, he’d only had months left as it was.
That had factored in some usage of high-level necromantic magic.
But not what he’d performed earlier—that had gone so far beyond.
I sucked in a centering breath as I forced myself to look away for the time being, just for a little while.
I had only even shifted position twice in the last hour from where I stood just outside the facility looking in as various Healers glided around the central treatment platform made of sleek white marble to the far left of the space between glowing monitoring stations.
I twisted my black jacket in my hand, alternating between that and fiddling with my beaded bracelet.
“How are you feeling?”
I had been so deeply entrenched in my thoughts that I hadn’t even felt his approach.
I turned as calmly as possible, not desiring to show that I had been caught off guard. Especially not to one so attuned to power dynamics.
“I am well, Kai.”
“Physically now at least.”
“Yes.”
He was rolling up the long sleeves of a black muscle tee as he closed the distance between us.
He’d been covered in blood like Lazriel and I had been by the end of that ordeal.
Usually he’d employ magic to remedy a situation like that, but I suspected—although he’d certainly never admit it—that he was currently depleted from the impressive display of power he’d performed earlier.
It hadn’t just been a case of magical prowess, it had been the precision, the concentration, the endurance it had required to both work to counter such a dark and heavy spell and to then even pass through the Veil with his magic while being a living being.
I peered closer, noting the metallic nature and some sparkling aspects to the piece of clothing and the fact that he was wearing very tight leather pants. “Are those Ryker’s?” The Head of the Guardian Movement was somewhat of a flashy dresser.
“Yeah. He has a whole closet of spare clothes in his office.”
“Highly convenient in cases like these.”
He scanned the area efficiently and swiftly, then cocked an eyebrow, “Where’s Lazriel? I didn’t think he’d leave the immediate vicinity. He was pushed up against the glass for over an hour. His fingerprints are still marking the entire surface.”
“He required some relief in the form of a wolf run with Warlow.”
He gave a nod, then folded his arms across his chest as his gaze darted by me to the Restoration Chambers. “What he did, invoking Auctoritas Mortis, won’t go unnoticed by the Guardian Movement. It’s a severe and undeniable violation of his conditional freedom—as he likes to refer to it.”
I was aware that Sylas had committed several infractions through his vigilante activities that had resulted in numerous arrests by the Guardian Movement and that during the last one Ryker had benevolently given him the choice between serving time in the supernatural prison, The Void, or attending Wraeven Academy and ceasing his vigilantism.
I was also aware that, outside of our foursome and Kai, no one was privy to the fact that he had violated one of those terms by continuing said illicit activities.
But they certainly would be aware of what had transpired tonight.
Something of that magnitude did not go unnoticed. Not to mention, the spell he’d invoked had threatened the very balance and damaged the Valley of the Dead in ways that we did not yet fully realize, but would no doubt reveal themselves in due time.
“I will not allow him to be incarcerated,” I told Kai.
“Then we are on the same page. Oddly enough.” His magic sparked briefly. “Auditory reduction spell,” he told me, a moment before he stumbled just from the effort of that, confirming my suspicions about him depleting himself.
I caught his arm, holding him steady. “You must rest. Immediately.”
“I’m not going to have much choice in a moment. Ariana is on her way. She just mind-linked me as we were talking.” He winced. “Until she realized how tapped out I currently am.”
“She is not happy?”
“Well, she knows me. But the reason for the spell is that I overheard Ryker and Cornelius discussing the overarching situation that led to these near tragedies tonight. Their priority is to tend to the Puritas situation.” He glared at me.
“Something I know you and Sylas were already aware of. Something that directly impacts two people I love in Nyx and even Vorzyr.”
Overheard? Knowing him as well as I’d come to, there had been nothing accidental about that.
Not in the least. “I understand your frustrations. Our goal, however, was to obtain actionable intelligence before we fanned the flames of panic.” It was my turn to glare at him.
“Or fueled the flames of wrath and vengeance unchecked.”
“And the actionable intelligence? Where does that stand?”
“There are leads that we can discuss and now share, especially with Sylas compromised, likely for the foreseeable future.”
“All right. Partial apology accepted—on the grounds that you follow through with this intel-sharing promise. You don’t and I will go it alone.
You can be sure there will be a whole lot wrath and vengeance involved if I hunt those twisted fuckers solo.
” He looked around, then told me, “Back to my initial point… they are focused on this situation, meaning there is a window for Sylas. Do you understand me?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. He’d do the same for any of us. He has done the same for me.”
“I am aware, yes. As I am also aware just how little time Sylas had left before this even transpired earlier.”
“I see.”