Chapter 14 Cassius #2
“It’s not just that. It is not my information to convey. But with this that you’ve just told me, it does now need to be revealed.”
“Our investigation? You and Velra, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
I hesitated.
“It’s okay, Cassius.”
My gaze flicked to the ensuite, Sylas’ head swinging in that direction too, as Velra emerged wrapped in one of my white towels.
“Velra?” Sylas spoke. “What’s going on?”
She looked at me, then sighed, and eased onto the edge of the bed beside him.
“With everything that’s happened, your involvement that was all because of you risking everything to save me, I asked Cassius not to say anything.
I wanted us to figure it out on our own before we came to you with incomplete information, and just a whole lot of worry.
And also guilt to burden you with when it wasn’t even your fault that—”
“Relax,” he told her, laying his hand gently on her shoulder.
“I am notorious for keeping secrets, remember? Something Lazriel really doesn’t do well with when it comes to me.
I know a wealth of reasons for keeping this secret and that, so believe me when I say, I wouldn’t judge or condemn anyone for doing the same. ”
“Except me?” I cut in.
He wagged his finger. “Nuh-uh. Not so. I didn’t condemn you. I wanted you to explain why you kept it. And your answer revealed the potential for you keeping a whole lot more.”
“Hmm, how Machiavellian of you.”
He smirked. “Thought you’d like that.”
I did. Of course I did.
Curses.
His smirk slipped away as he fingered Velra’s stunning ombre hair, asking, “So, what is it that you wished to reveal to me, Dark Beauty?”
She tensed.
Not only that.
I felt a pang through the Soul Brand. It hurt her to talk about this, to relive that trauma. And also to give breath to something that could bring Sylas guilt and distress, especially when he was in no state to respond in the way he much preferred—magically.
I walked to the bed and settled on her other side, telling her, “I will convey it if you so wish. I’ve made breakfast—Cloud Muffins await. I can see to this.”
Sylas didn’t say anything. He looked between us curiously. And I saw it then from his expression and the way in which he didn’t push… his concern and care for Velra’s wellbeing outweighed his intense need to know, to receive this important revelation.
Velra turned her head, a smile gracing her lips, then nuzzled against my cheek, the sensation more than even warmth, it was all I could do to suppress a groan and not allow my focus to waver. I saw Sylas’ lips quirk, his gaze soften all the more.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured me. “It’s all right, I promise.”
“Okay.” I eased off the bed and stood a few feet back, Sylas sitting up against the headboard playing with her hair, while she sat before him starting to fist her hands in the sheets between them.
“When I was in the Valley of the Dead—well, the periphery area—”
“The Veil,” Sylas provided.
“Yes. When I was there, I was almost pulled in, my Wraith magic tapping out. But in my panic and anger, I managed to create a tear in the fabric of the place.”
Sylas jolted, his hand dropping from her hair.
He didn’t speak to it, though, gesturing instead for her to go on.
“It must have been at the same time that you’d been performing that spell that challenged death itself. It weakened the integrity of the place, I guess, and with me possessing Wraith abilities, I was able to create that tear.”
“I didn’t see a breach when I arrived.”
“It was hijacked by something inside with me.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t know. I just heard his voice. And saw his magic. A blue magical orb, which he passed to somebody on the outside—somebody who was touched by black magic.”
Sylas started shaking his head. “What? No. That’s…
” He pushed off the bed and started pacing in his boxers.
“Somebody entering the Veil, for one thing… then being able to actually wield magic as well? Also knowing when to approach, where and when to meet this black magic user on the other side, in the living plane… it’s…
it’s violations, blasphemy, and a whole lot of other fucking insanity all rolled into one. ”
And the one thing he wasn’t speaking to was the fact that if Velra had been able to pass through the breach she’d made, Sylas wouldn’t have had to sacrifice his life.
But he didn’t mention it, didn’t speak one word of it to Velra.
Instead, he sucked in a breath, stopped pacing, shifted his weight, then offered her a smile. “Thank you for telling me. I can’t imagine it was easy. Ending up in that place and also thinking you’d remain there is no small thing. Especially with the way you ended up there.”
“Sylas, you don’t need to—”
“Wielding magic,” he cut in through his focus on the problem instantly.
“Wielding it inside the Valley… outside of a Celestial being, we’re talking necromantic in nature.
Either a necromancer themselves, or a magic-wielder possessing a necromantic object, perhaps.
But being able to cross into the Veil, step out of the Valley…
that’s something else altogether. Then actually passing that object through.
No… even with black magic being in use from that outsider, there’d have to be more to it…
a connection already established. A deep connection.
” His gaze flicked between Velra and me.
“Something along the lines of a Soul Brand. Or destined mates. That deep.”
“With the necromantic aspect, we’re back to how Sorin’s escape transpired,” I spoke. “And your theory that it was all engineered.”
Velra’s breath caught, her fingers curling tighter in the sheets as she stared at Sylas.
“All engineered to get you to force your way into the Valley of the Dead. First, through that spell, where it temporarily weakened the structural integrity of the place, but secondly when you took your life and forced your way in. They wanted that. They wanted you in there. Fed off you somehow as well, maybe?”
“To what end?” I spoke aloud what we were all trying to determine.
Sylas shoved his hand through his hair. “Was there anything else?” he asked her. “Any other detail, no matter how small?”
“The one who passed that orb through referred to the guy on the other side as Scion.”
Sylas jolted.
I frowned. “You recognize the name? Velra and I have been searching, but we’ve found nothing at all.”
“No,” he said. “But it sounds creepy as fuck considering the situation described, and it comes with eerie implications from the word alone.”
Hmm.
“If it was engineered, it means we were being watched all this time. The relationship between the four of us was known to our enemies. How deep it ran for each of us. The precise state of my sickness and what would tip it over the edge as well and leave me no choice but to take my life in order to gain entry into the Valley,” Sylas mused aloud, his gaze flicking back and forth between us.
“When Victor Halrow attacked Lazriel and me, he mentioned that he facilitated access to you, right? For Sorin, I mean?”
“That’s right,” Velra confirmed.
“He has the means as an Ancient to have been observing us without any of us, including even Lazriel, realizing it.” He strode to me. “I need a ride, or teleporting, back to my house.”
“What? No!” Velra cried, pushing off the bed and storming up to him.
“Sylas, are you insane? You’re safe here.
It’s warded by Ariana Martel. Cassius and Ketheron live here.
No one can get at you. Necromancers are out there being murdered.
We just determined that we’ve been under surveillance for weeks, that—”
“I know,” he said, taking her hand, then kissing her knuckles.
“I know. All too well. So I’ll have Cassius, or even Ketheron, erect a ward around my place.
All right? But I need to return there for a while.
Because I need to reach out to my contact, and he won’t even approach me if he feels another presence and if it’s in a place foreign to him. ”
“Charles?” I questioned.
He nodded.
Although it was just a nod on the surface, it was actually a leap for him, to open up to that much. And once again at that, like when he’d first told me about his vampire-sorcerer underground contact.
“With my associations with you—people connected to the Guardian Movement too closely—he’ll also be extra cautious, so we’re talking days only once I return there before he’ll risk an approach.”
“I really don’t think it’s the best or healthiest idea for you to be alone at your log cabin in the middle of nowhere right now,” Velra told him.
“She has an extremely valid point,” I spoke.
“Like I said, he won’t approach me if others are there.
Contacts like him are invaluable with the situation we find ourselves in.
Something Lazriel realized and is acting on himself.
But with how closely-guarded The Shadowed is with itself and its secrets, there’s a timing issue where his quest is concerned.
I don’t have the same constraints with mine.
They might not be able to go as deep as The Shadowed, but they can still go deeper than those on the level of the higher echelons of the supernatural world like the Guardian Movement and Unity Council can ever hope to.
” He muttered under his breath. “Until they put my idea into effect once it’s ready. ”
“What idea?” I queried.
“Something for another time. The point is, I need to go. And I need to go alone.” He eyed Velra. “Just for a few days. You have my word.”
“What will you do while you’re waiting for him to show?” she asked.
“Figure out this Dark Fae mind-meddling spell clusterfuck and the damage that was done to the Valley of the Dead, now that I have all the information. It’s possible for me to determine that without magic, using formulas, precedents, facts, and theories.”
“Wow, the sort of work that would take years under normal circumstances,” Velra breathed.
“Well, I’ve never been normal,” he said, smirking.
“What about Arcanum Order?”
“I’m currently on leave.” He rolled his eyes. “They’re worried being around so much high-level magic won’t be good for me.”
“Kai’s doing?” I asked.
“He had a hand in that decision being made, yeah. It’s his way of trying to protect me.”
“Okay,” Velra agreed. “Just make sure you stay in contact. A lot.”
“I will,” he promised. “And while we’re at it, having all of this out, the two of you can actually wash up and get dressed with your magic, all right?
It’s not going to break me to see it in front of me.
” He gestured at me with my hair still wet and Velra in a towel.
“Saves all this time-consuming shit where you’re supposed to be headed out to deal with those remaining enemies of Lazriel’s, those fuckers loyal to Strickland still wanting to avenge him. ”
With that he winked at us, then disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Velra frowned at me. “He took that well.”
“Too well.”
“Yeah. Just like he’s taking his de-powered state in his stride. At least on the surface.”
“All we can do is keep an eye on the situation.” Which, clearly, would be difficult to do with him headed back to his log cabin. We’d just have to ensure it was only a brief return.
“If Lazriel was here, it would really help. Their dynamic… with the way Lazriel is… he’d be able to cut through all this from Sylas in his very special way.”
“Indeed,” I agreed. “Would you prefer me to erect the ward around Sylas’ home, or have Ketheron do it when he returns from Haven Initiative within the next couple of hours?”
“I’d say you’d be better doing it. Ketheron doesn’t like anyone being in danger, so I can imagine him locking Sylas down where Charles won’t even be able to get up close to the door.”
“Yes,” I said, with a smile. “I could definitely see that happening.”
I went to reach out to her, but a sudden whirring hum pulled me up short, startling us both.
It reverberated through me and I saw her shudder as she felt it as well.
Blackline Protocol.
An emergency warning system that could be heard and felt by all supernatural beings, that served to alert everyone to a high-level threat in their midst, urging them to safeguard themselves and take protective precautions and measures immediately.
Ryker Morgan had activated it via the Guardian Movement.
The Puritas threat had been fully investigated now then, and he’d clearly determined it so severe that he’d initiated this protocol.
The bathroom door burst open and Sylas rushed out.
Naked.
Wet and naked.
I swallowed hard and I saw Velra struggle with it too.
The severity of the alert transcended even that, all three of us exchanging a grave look.
Sylas sighed heavily. “And so it begins.”