Chapter 10 Cassius #2
“Of course you do.” She stretched onto her tiptoes in that adorable way she usually did when she wished to kiss me.
But then my senses screamed at me.
Magical and intuition alike.
I pushed from Velra, and spun around—
Just in time to snatch an arrow out of the air.
A cloaked arrow.
Velra choked.
I noted the trajectory as I’d snatched it. It had been headed for her shoulder. A flesh wound.
This was not an assassination attempt, not even an attack.
It was a warning.
“We mean you no harm!” I called out.
Another arrow whizzed by and I thrust out my hand as it was directed at Velra once again.
I felt another and spun, snatching it before it plunged into my thigh—or tried to.
I crushed all three to kindling in my hands, then thrust up a wall of my shimmering white power, just before a dozen others assaulted it, bending and shattering as they hit.
Despite my call of assurance, they had kept coming. As though I had not spoken.
I frowned. Perhaps I had not—from their perspective.
“Your shadows,” I spoke to Velra over my shoulder. “They can see through the illusion you are creating, but they cannot feel or hear.”
She pulled them back in the next moment, but then in my peripheral vision I saw her hastily shrugging off Lazriel’s hoodie.
“Drop the wall for a moment,” she told me.
I wouldn’t risk that.
Not after almost losing her.
Instead, I thrust the hoodie through the wall without compromising it, and tossed it into the distance, deep into the forest a hundred feet away at the very least.
Moments passed, and then the arrows ceased.
The forest fell still once more.
And then I saw movement.
Somebody emerged from the heavy concealment of the trees clad in an overhanging brown and deep green hooded cloak that blended in exceptionally well with our surroundings.
Lazriel’s hoodie hung from one hand.
In the other was a glowing white bow, a quiver full of more arrows hanging off their shoulder.
“You are with him,” a forthright female voice rumbled, projecting all the way to us rather impressively, using not just voice, but the growl of a wolf to carry it. “You are with my boy.”
She held up the hoodie. “Now you have dropped your concealment fully, there’s not just this—which he wouldn’t give just to anyone—I can scent him all over both of you. Beyond skin deep.”
In the next moment, she pulled back her hood, revealing rich, dark hair that fell in waves around her shoulders, framing a face marked by both strength and pain, lines etched into her skin that signified the hard years she’d lived. Her amber eyes were alert and calculating, as she regarded us.
Rhyza Thaine.
Former Alpha wolf.
One exceedingly difficult being to find.
And, most importantly per our mission, Lazriel’s mother.
A smile graced her lips. “Come on then. It seems we have a lot to talk about.”
I could already see the similarities between Rhyza and her son.
Instead of offering tea or some sort of light beverage for refreshment as I’d come to learn was customary and polite on this plane, she’d offered whiskey.
Given that I didn’t care for it and Velra didn’t drink, she’d gotten refusals on both counts.
That hadn’t stopped her, however. She’d merely stepped inside the house to discard her camouflage robe, and to retrieve a full bottle of whiskey, and then she’d led us back outside.
We hadn’t even gotten a glimpse of the interior of the home from the entranceway where she’d had us wait.
It hadn’t been visible from that vantage point.
Although, while we’d briefly been standing there, I had seen a pair of motorcycle boots and muddied rain boots that were Lazriel’s size, along with a hefty winter coat. When she’d seen me looking, she’d explained that he wore it when suffering from one of his freezing cold phases.
She took several sips from the bottle as she led us to the rear of the sturdy, timber-framed lodge.
“He doesn’t experience that anymore,” Velra spoke.
“What’s that?” Rhyza asked over her shoulder.
“Those blistering hot and then freezing cold episodes. Sylas found a solution that gives Lazriel equilibrium.”
She turned gracefully, yet also with force and command, in her dark blazer and navy jeans. Her eyes softened. “We were told there was nothing that could be done.”
“Well, our friend has a talent for making the impossible possible,” Velra told her.
“And this is Sylas Morgrave? The necromancer?”
“Yes,” Velra confirmed.
Rhyza smiled. “He has been taking care of my son.” She scented me.
“As have you.” Her gaze darted to Velra.
“And I already know about you. Laz has barely stopped talking about you ever since he first encountered you in the first Crossborn team meeting many months ago. I’m glad you were finally able to let him in the way you both needed. ”
“He’s part of us. All four of us are a unit,” she told Rhyza.
“Yes, that’s my understanding.”
I frowned as I watched the interaction carefully.
“You already knew?” Velra asked. “Even though you’ve been out of contact with Lazriel for a while?”
“I knew of you, not what you looked like. I had eyes on Lazriel. Eyes that weren’t my own.”
“That protection.”
“That was part of it.”
“Using his father’s resources,” I stated.
“That’s right.” She turned, rather than speaking more to it, and we followed her around a corner to the rear of the property.
It was a patio area complete with a four-seater carved oak table and chairs surrounding it that were upholstered with forest-green cushions.
I noted the expansive garden just beyond that was meticulously tended. Rows of herbs, fruits and vegetables, and climbing flowers wove through stone pathways that were flanked by rose bushes.
My gaze fell to the two torches of multicolored light at either end of the patio area, which were secured into ornate golden holders. Heavy magic gravitated from them.
“These alert me to the presence of magic. It’s how I detected you.
” She held up her right hand, gesturing at a thick black skull ring with flaming amber eyes.
“This enabled me to seek out the illusion you were casting with your shadows. However, all I could see was the outline of two forms within it, not your identity. I couldn’t scent or hear you either.
Borrowed magic has its limitations. I can only use it as it is, not command it to my liking. ”
“Being that prepared and possessing these magical resources leads me to deduce that you allowed yourself to be found by us this day,” I spoke.
“Lazriel and I have always been very close. Me being out of contact recently was regrettable, but necessary. And it continues to be.” Her gaze hardened.
“I allowed you here today so I can make it clear that the same must apply to you. Laz needs to remain where he is for the time being. It’s actually vital.
And I won’t allow anybody to interfere in that. ”
She tapped her fingers on her bottle, the ring connecting making a sharp clinking sound.
“I know why you’re here. Lazriel sought his father out to obtain information on Puritas.
Rest assured, he will be given more than just information.
But not immediately. The Shadowed thrives because information is closely guarded, not given away without great forethought, nor even under extreme duress.
All agents of The Shadowed are trained to withstand even the most sadistic and invasive interrogation techniques.
” Her eyes flamed. “And, myself, being an agent-adjacent, I am no different. In fact, despite Remnant’s initial objections to subjecting somebody he loved to that torturous training, I insisted.
To protect our son.” She sighed and perched on the edge of the patio table, swishing the amber liquid around in her bottle.
“Only when Remnant determines it safe and Lazriel ready will he convey the information that Lazriel seeks.” She casually called her claws on her free hand forth and swiped them across her finger.
“Also, I’m afraid you can’t use my blood to track my son through me either.
I’ve made sure of it, should our enemies ever attempt to use me against him. ”
I swept a wave of my magic over the trickle of blood seeping from her skin. As soon as it made even brief contact, a shock assaulted me. A mild one, much like a static shock, but definitive nonetheless. “Your blood has been protected to repel magical influence and interference.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Velra, who scrubbed her hand over her face, distressed that our one viable path to finding Lazriel had been cut off.
Rhyza told us, “If it makes you feel better, know that The Shadowed has already laid waste to five Puritas cells in the last few weeks. The threat is being dealt with, but it’s vast and widespread, more than the Guardian Movement or those beyond the shadows are privy to.
It’s also a delicate balance. The danger is when an organization like Puritas begins to see their enemies coming, to identify their patterns.
The Shadowed operates in a way that circumvents that, that allows them to continue to surprise these cells and get to them before they disappear.
The Guardian Movement is too infamous a force, requiring protocols to be met that don’t allow for this approach. ”
Velra stepped forward. “I understand the need for all this secrecy, but we can’t just leave Lazriel out there.” Her voice hardened and I watched her eyes flame amethyst. “Like I said, Lazriel is one of us. Ours.”
Pain lanced through me, making me wince.
It was hers. Through the Soul Brand.
I instinctively went to reach for her, but she evaded my touch, focused on staring down Rhyza Thaine instead.
For her part, the Alpha wolf met her glare steadily.
I tensed, prepared for this to escalate.
This seemed like odd behavior for Velra.
Of late, it would be considered as such.
But not from before—not when it came to her trauma and how that impacted her actions and thoughts alike.