Chapter 15 Vaxan #4
He gave me a look. “That’s right. Number three is that I don’t just track my spells.
I track all Celestial magic. I was almost killed by it.
My Coven was almost wiped out by it and they had to rely on Ari’s mother and Ryker showing up to save them.
” He screwed up his face in distaste. “Rely on others? Powerless? I don’t think so.
Ari is my love, a renowned True Celestial.
Vorzyr, my other love, has Celestial-based powers also.
And Nyx… he couldn’t stand the thought of anything harming those he loves.
So, you can see why I would track that. It also means, I’m able to register when non-Celestial beings touch it—in any way. ”
I frowned.
“You touched my spell with Celestial magic residue in your system.”
Curses.
I had very briefly touched Ruxnoth’s power when I’d been tracking Winter with my vibrational tracking.
But it had been no more than a split second, and it hadn’t been anything that I could pull out to study, to take.
I hadn’t even felt it in my system. Unless…
I had also been channeling Ketheron at the time to boost my vibrational tracking ability.
It must have gotten lost in all of that.
With Ketheron not being solely Celestial either, with his Polygenus nature, that would have been even more… intricate.
“I was in contact with Ketheron recently. Cassius following that.”
“No. Not them.”
“Curious.”
He stared at me, then went on again, “You know what else I keep an eye on.” His magic sparked, but just slightly, and he played with it on his fingers, weaving rose-gold threads through his fingers. “Death magic. Specifically necromantic.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
Considering his psychology and trauma. Morien Morgrave had almost succeeded in carrying out a near extinction-level event twenty years ago.
“Yes, but it’s not just for the reasons you think.
” He turned and played with his magic as he spoke.
“Not sure if you’re aware of this, but a while back I was the heir to the Maven Coven.
Before Marlise. In fact, I was the one who tapped Marlise to take my place.
You see, I was forced into it, bound to it actually.
Magically bound as a powerless newborn by my parents.
There was no way out. Even I couldn’t determine a way.
” He snuffed out his magic. “But then Sylas found a way. He broke those binds on me. He liberated me. Not long after, he also saved my life when I was tapped out from battling True Celestials during the Severance wherein that motherfucking trickster, Corvin Morvain attacked me. Not to get too personal, but Sylas also saved me from myself, from something that would have stayed with me in the wrong way.”
“You’re explaining why you’re so close with him?”
“I’m explaining that he’s beyond just inner circle to me. He’s a brother to me.”
“My understanding is that you saved him also. During his invocation of Auctoritas Mortis. You pulled him from the Veil before he was swallowed by the Valley of the Dead and became death-permanent.”
“You see, he’d already died at that point.
I didn’t really save him from anything. And when he came out of that, I had to sit there at his bedside with him dying, and tell him that he had to have his magic bound—the thing that makes Sylas Morgrave is his magic.
” He sighed, then told me, “So, I keep an eye on necromantic stability because Sylas and his son—outside of my loves—are the only two beings on this earth whom I don’t monitor as threats. ”
“You’re monitoring any threat coming at them.”
“Yes. And as such, I was able to feel Winter’s death magic rubbing against the Celestial power you touched that day.”
“I see.” He was… another level indeed.
“That day there was also a massive surge of power that was written off to Ryker and his Guardian Movement as a training exercise for Winter. We had Sylas, Ambrose, Ketheron, and Winter himself. Then later, you using vibrational tracking where you touched Celestial power and death magic combined.”
He knew.
It was done.
“Yes.”
“All right,” he said, with a nod. “Winter was abducted that day? Yes?”
“Yes.”
“You were the only one who could locate him due to the nature of that ability? It was boosted by Ketheron? I would have said Cassius, but you mentioned Ketheron earlier… then with his relationship with Ambrose… Cassius was at Haven that day, which would have alerted Ariana… Sylas would have worried she would alert Ryker, then it would have set off alarms… Winter would have been endangered, measures enacted… yes, that’s it. ”
Damnation. “All correct.”
He nodded. “That Celestial power was not only unrecognizable to me, but also warped.”
Before I could respond to that one, his magic sparked, and then a golden book appeared in his hands, an ancient text.
He snapped his fingers and it flipped through the pages, getting halfway through, before the spell ceased, and he slapped a finger to a page.
He spun it and held it up to me. “Is this the target in question?”
Target? Choice of word noted.
I studied the page.
My breath hitched.
A whole passage all about the megalomaniac in question.
Ruxnoth: The Celestial Infidel.
“This was a gift from Cassius to Ariana. Mostly used as training years ago, but also to give her some insight into her heritage. It’s been used at Haven Initiative for the children too.
Now they’re grown, it’s with me. A lot is still shrouded in mystery, something Ketheron assists with because of his makeup connecting him to the knowledge base of several True Celestials on the Celestial Plane.
But this being is infamous, so there’s actually information on him in here.
He’s the only True Celestial to ever break the binds of theirs through perverting his magic to such a fucked-up degree that it essentially degraded the binds themselves, and he was able to operate freely.
” He eyed me. “Clearly, he escaped the Severance. The only one who could with the binds broken.”
“It was discovered the day you’re referencing. Of Winter’s abduction.”
“He wishes to use Winter’s unkillable nature to power whatever construct he’s created?” Off my look, he said, “The only way his presence hasn’t been detected in all this time would be through creating something along those lines. Where is it?”
“We don’t know. And it’s not just him.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “He’s the only one who could have escaped.”
“He’s enlisted the necromancers who disappeared during Morien’s culling.”
He jerked back, a choked curse slipping from his throat.
“Kai, if this gets out beyond you—”
“You’ll use that Celestial magic you’ve got there—and my own fucking spell—to stop me from leaving here?”
“I’ll do what I must. No matter how distasteful.
Despite what you’ve said about your connection and care for Sylas—and Winter by extension—you are also the love of Ariana Martel.
Her father being Ryker Morgan, and let us not forget also Jaxon Silver, Lucian Black, her mother even Mia Snow.
Her grandfather, Cornelius Martel. And it may have also come to my attention that you have an agreement about not keeping secrets with your loves. ”
He stepped up to me, just shy of breaching my personal space.
I hissed.
He glared.
And then he said, “We are both calculative motherfuckers. Knowledge is important to us. But there are times when knowledge in the wrong hands, or given at the wrong time, can push a tipping point into a disaster.”
My eyes narrowed. Trying to read him… I’d never encountered anything like it.
His lips quirked, clearly noticing that fact—and relishing it.
But then the grave nature of the situation returned in full force, as he told me, “For the record, there are secrets I do keep, that I have to keep. I have parameters, because of past… issues. This is obviously complex.” His gaze hardened.
“But like I said and explained in far too much detail to make you understand, I owe Sylas.” He added pointedly. “I owe my brother.”
“How does this work in concrete terms?”
“You intend to use my spell against Ruxnoth, yes?”
“It won’t be enough on its own.”
He smiled. “Very good. It won’t. The necromancers aspect also complicates matters. Especially considering what Sylas might do.”
“Try to siphon their power?”
“Yes. Brilliant deduction,” he said, now the subterfuge was done with, a whole lot of pride shining forth from him.
He dematerialized the book, hiding it away with a spark of his magic.
“As for the spell, the only way it will be strong enough to do more than make him bleed and briefly incapacitate him will be if I perform it, while it’s fused with the Celestial magic you have access to.
But Ruxnoth possesses warped Celestial power.
And that’s where you need my help more than any of the rest.”
“You’re offering to write a spell with me? Of this magnitude?”
“Yes.”
I smiled. “That’s really something.”
“And here you thought I was going to be a thorn in your side, take the Celestial magic from you and my spell.”
“Well, you would have tried to take it. The spell, I’d imagine you have the means to tear from anybody you wish. The magic, though, it’s mapped to me specifically, so that won’t be possible without my agreement.”
Instead of being insulted, his expression softened. “Winter’s fortunate to have you on the right side of things for him.”
“It works both ways. He deserves this depth of loyalty and devotion.”
“He does, yeah.”
A moment passed between us, one I certainly hadn’t seen coming.
And then an unexpected rumble of a voice cut into our interaction.
“Leave him alone, Kai.”
The both of us jolted, neither having felt the approach.
That familiar hooded leather coat emerged from seemingly nowhere, and then Sylas came into view striding toward us, hood up, crimson magic crackling from his fingers, most definitely putting forth a menacing edge.