Chapter 10 Cassius #2
Shifting his weight, he drew in an unsteady breath, then stared out at her in a mixture of awe and shock. “You’re pregnant.”
She hadn’t spoken a word.
Granted, a great deal of the hour since the revelation had been spent with Velra vomiting in the bathroom, then telling us to keep out as she then showered and saw to herself in the aftermath.
I had been pacing outside the bathroom door ever since, my only comfort in the fact that I could feel through the Soul Brand that she wasn’t actually pulling away, merely processing. And given the monumental revelation, that was to be expected.
When the four of us had embarked on our relationship, specifically the sexual aspect in this case, it hadn’t crossed our minds—not even the extremely learned ones of Sylas and I—that any form of protection was needed for Velra.
Due to her Wraith side, conceiving a baby should not have been possible.
However, the unique way in which her and Sylas’ power interacted had been overlooked in that respect. No, not overlooked. Neither he nor I were na?ve when it came to magical know-how. It hadn’t been studied. Velra was the first and only Dark Fae-Wraith hybrid in existence.
And now here we were, life created from death magic.
Hence it essentially siphoning Sylas’ necromantic energy—something that it clearly needed to sustain itself.
For any other child across the supernatural world, that would have proven the opposite—absolutely harmful.
But this child, our child, was a very special case.
“A little lighter on the raging footsteps, if you will.”
I slowed my pace at the sound of Sylas’ voice as he sat in the center of the room which he’d since cleared any trace of Velra’s awful—thankfully, failed—spell from, and was now undertaking a Ruminat, his palms upturned and radiating controlled crimson flame.
It was a form of meditation that magic-wielders practiced to restore clarity of mind during times of mental and emotional stress.
“My apologies,” I offered.
How he was able to interact while deep in magical meditation was another thing altogether. Sylas surpassed most, though. It was a hallmark of who he was, I supposed.
I managed to lighten my footsteps a little as I continued pacing, warring between my instinct to seal Velra away in an impenetrable fortress to protect her and our child, versus respecting her agency and her ferocious capability to safeguard herself and her new precious cargo.
The former response was what had been my go-to with her months back after I’d first tethered her and the Soul Brand had formed. I would not fall back into the trap of bad habits, of toxic traits bestowed on me from too many years spent on the Celestial Plane.
I felt Sylas’ magic snuff out, and then I stopped pacing as he rose to his feet, blinking out of his deep meditative state.
“There is a way for me to sustain the baby without constant desiccation being a factor, something we can’t afford with me needing to be at optimal strength and power in order to vanquish Morien.”
“And that solution is?”
He moved to speak, but pulled up short as the corridor outside reverberated.
A moment later, the door flew open, then closed in the very next split-second.
And then a masked and hooded figure stood before us.
He removed his metal mask and flipped his hood down.
Remnant.
He wasn’t alone.
Rhyza Thaine stood with him. Actually right beside him, their hands clasped, the intimacy of it clear.
She wasn’t in her casual yet elegant attire of a blazer and neatly pressed jeans this time.
Her dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, her amber eyes blazing with harsh emotion and urgency as she stood there in a brown worn aviator jacket and a pair of ripped jeans shoved into motorcycle boots.
Before either Sylas or I could express a single word, Remnant informed us, “The concoction has cured. The stake is prepared.”
“And its target is in our sights,” Rhyza added.
I started.
Sylas stepped forward. “Lazriel has been located?”
“Between the efforts of us all, we were drawing really fucking close,” Rhyza told us. “We’d narrowed it down to two locations on our end.”
“Two on mine and those assisting from our vantage point,” I informed her.
“The Shadowed and the Shifter Stabilization Unit also compiled a pattern alongside Velra’s Thryne intel using Sorin’s movements, much of which coincided with Victor’s.” She screwed up her face. “Victor’s sadistic, highly misguided puppet.”
Remnant slid his hand from hers and stroked her back, the action managing to soothe a feral growl starting to escape her, her eyes flaming with the sign of a shift.
I wasn’t surprised. Her son was missing and in the hands of a madman.
Remnant spoke, “We need not continue down any of those paths now. Lazriel was able to mind-link with me.” He grimaced, which said a great deal for the normally stoic Commander of The Shadowed. “His panic and pain… he weaponized it in order to form the link, despite being severely compromised.”
Sylas started forward. “Severely compromised?”
“He is being weakened and incapacitated by holy water and having been denied a single feed in all the time that he has been gone.” Another grimace sent a chill down my spine.
“Given what Victor is subjecting him to… the extreme physicality of it…” He stopped himself.
“Suffice to say, I now know where he is. But I’ll need assistance breaching the ward that protects Victor’s newly created pocket dimension. ”
“Newly created,” I mused. “No wonder it has been such an arduous task attempting to locate them—the place has never existed before.”
“Yes, indeed,” Remnant said. He eyed Sylas then. “The ward is necromantic.”
Sylas’ eyes narrowed. “Morien is there.”
“He was there. Lazriel communicated that he left to meet with Puritas.”
Sylas gritted his teeth, but focused on the situation at hand. “Let’s move.”
As he brushed past, Remnant snatched his arm.
“What?” Sylas barked in his urgency, turning back to him.
“You were weakened recently? Very recently.”
“I’m fine now.”
Remnant frowned, and I saw Rhyza doing the same, scanning the area.
They needn’t have bothered searching because Velra burst out of the bathroom in the very next moment—thankfully fully-clothed and in what we’d termed her battle gear, her leather corset and pants.
She’d obviously heard enough of the conversation.
She was bone-dry, meaning she’d dried herself with her magic in her haste.
She pulled up short, however, at the look on Remnant’s face.
He knew.
He’d sensed it—heard it, perhaps?
Rhyza, albeit an Alpha wolf, didn’t possess senses as incredibly intuitive as that of an Ancient Vampire, so she didn’t determine it as quickly.
Remnant’s hand slipped from her and he walked to Velra.
“You are with child.” His lips curved into a genuine and heartfelt smile.
“Congratulations. A child is a great blessing. And they will be so very fortunate to be born into so much love. My son will cherish this turn of events so very deeply. Thank you—for all that you have provided him.” He looked out at Sylas and me. “All three of you.”
Velra stared at him, unmoving.
I felt her uncomfortableness through the Soul Brand.
She had yet to accept the new state of things, yet here she was now being revered for it in a way, it being stated as reality, not only a fresh revelation.
Sylas caught my eye, then intervened just before I was about to, telling Remnant, “It’s still being absorbed.”
“Ah, understood.” He smiled at Velra and stepped back. Then he was all business again as he asked Sylas, “You’re certain you are well?”
“I am.”
“Then let us move.”
Velra stepped forward and I grimaced. No. Don’t, please.
Rhyza blocked her path.
I tensed, remembering their last meeting where Velra had been very worked up. I knew she wanted to be on good terms with Lazriel’s mother, but circumstances really hadn’t facilitated that.
But then she reached out and took Velra’s hand.
“You are a warrior. You wish to fight. For my son right now and always for those you love. Your family that you have taken great pains to build. It’s especially precious to you because your blood family failed you.
And you will fight, pregnant or not.” She glared out at us pointedly, before returning her focus to Velra. “I did.”
“And you did very well, might I add,” Remnant spoke.
Rhyza smiled, then told Velra. “But you need to sit this particular mission out. The location is protected by Morien Morgrave’s ward. Your child is no longer hidden. You pass through into that place and Morien will sense a baby fueled by necromantic energy. He won’t stop coming for you.”
Sylas steeled himself. “That will become his new obsession. His obsession needs to stay focused on me. I can fight back, this baby cannot.”
“Between us, we can re-erect the veil that was previously shielding it,” Velra pointed out.
“Not with the baby having ingested my necromantic energy,” Sylas explained.
“He’ll be able to feel that through it. I need to create another one, something I’ll imbue into the solution I’ve determined to feed it my energy without the desiccation occurring.
I just need some time to develop the spellwork. ”
“Yeah, okay,” Velra uttered, sucking in a breath. “All right.” She eased her hand from Rhyza’s, then looked out at us. “Just bring him back to us.” Her eyes narrowed. “And end Victor’s reign of terror upon Lazriel.”
Remnant stiffened at her words. We were about to go into battle, so he needed his wits about him, to remain levelheaded. Yet this was what Lazriel himself would likely term an emotional gut punch for him. His sireling had kidnapped and tormented his son.
“We’ll see to it,” I assured her.
Then, in the very next moment, Sylas teleported us out.
We’re coming for you, wild one.