Chapter 12 Sylas
~Sylas~
He hadn’t left her side.
I wanted to believe it was the astonishing revelation he’d been made aware of when I’d teleported him and his parents to a secluded area just inside Wraeven Academy grounds.
On our way down to Victor’s hellhole, Cassius had suggested that we wait a couple of days to tell Lazriel about Velra’s pregnancy.
To give him some time to acclimate, to breathe.
But there was no way we could have kept it from his highly-astute senses, for one.
And secondly, it was Lazriel. It would be the greatest news ever to him.
And it had been.
He’d rushed to her when we’d arrived at Velra’s dorm room six hours ago, and he’d had his head resting on her belly ever since, listening to the baby’s heartbeat.
It had been interrupted a couple of times by Velra throwing up, something Cassius and I had determined wasn’t just a case of morning sickness, but a reaction to the baby requiring necromantic energy. As was Velra’s misfiring of her magic lately.
And that was why I was at my home in the middle of nowhere right now, working on the spellwork to fix that.
Rhyza and Remnant had lingered at the dorm for at least two hours, not wanting to leave Lazriel.
But they’d finally said their goodbyes when they’d seen how immersed and content Lazriel was with us. Cassius had taken off to investigate Ryker’s siphoning of the Celestial power and to check in on Ketheron.
Rhyza had headed off to speak with Jaxon about their pack business.
And now I had Remnant in my living room on the phone touching base with his people, while I had a holoscreen levitating for both of us to view that was watching over both Lazriel and Velra as they slept in Velra’s dorm room, giving us both the peace of mind we needed.
I watched the shadow and frost magic swirling around my beaker as my crimson flecks interacted with it, working to fuse with it. I’d had to extract those Wraith aspects from Velra’s mixed magical signature to ensure no Dark Fae aspects had remained. It was the Wraith only that was needed for this.
Working on this, it had become clear that the baby had interacted with the Dark Fae aspect and created an illusion using part of my necromantic power, which was what had kept its existence hidden.
While the fetus wasn’t yet capable of actual thought or decision-making, its magical energy was partially sentient and had reacted protectively to conceal itself.
The issue was that the way it’d happened had resulted in Velra’s powers being compromised and misfiring. It had also not been on our terms, meaning we hadn’t been able to monitor the baby at all. So I had to ensure we took back control—at least for now.
“What is your solution to stabilizing Velra and your child?”
I looked up from the beaker at the sound of Remnant’s voice. He scanned my equipment—mortar bowls full of crushed elements, numerous test tubes and beakers, copper funnels and piping, and many textbooks, including a couple of my own created grimoires.
“I need to create a barrier that prevents mine and Velra’s power from interacting all the while the baby is in utero. That will ensure the baby can’t randomly siphon me, preventing it from taking too much and inadvertently causing harm to itself, and also from causing desiccation in me.”
“I see. You create that barrier, then you feed the necromantic energy to the child yourself. At your will.”
I nodded. “And as I sense the baby needs. I’m also going to create a veil bolstered by Cassius’ power that will ensure no one, not even my father, can sense that necromantic energy, nor the baby itself.”
“Good. If Morien is made aware of the existence of this child—”
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
He folded his arms across his chest and regarded me. “Are you also aware that this child changes our plans?”
“How?”
“This child will need you. Above ground.”
Ah. “This isn’t the same as what happened with you and Lazriel.”
“It could very well tread a similar path if you become Commander of The Shadowed.”
“A title you want to retire from, so as to finally be free to be a father.” I eyed him.
“And from what I saw with your interactions with Rhyza, perhaps even a true partner to her. Very few people know your real name. You planned to pass Remnant on to me. All your enemies would follow would be that name—all they have to go on. And your Ancient Vampire energy, something I, as a necromancer, can falsify.”
“In essence.”
“I get it. But here’s the thing, I’m already marked now.
Word has spread about the horrors my father has committed.
And people aren’t thinking about him as a person.
They’re thinking about him as a necromancer.
I’m known the world over as the most powerful necromancer alive.
Morien has now turned that into a supremely negative and horrifying thing—a threat. ”
“That can be mitigated when you vanquish him. I can ensure word spreads to the right people and with the right narrative.”
Before I could respond, he told me, “Are you aware that the mother of your child wishes to build a safe and happy life free of darkness and danger in a frost castle?” His lips quirked. “Very much out of a fairytale dream, wouldn’t you say? Not a horror fantasy filled with strife and pain.”
I stepped back from the beaker as I waited for the mixture to cure, scrubbing my hand over my face.
“This child is born of death magic. An impossibility made possible. It will need to be shielded. Now that can happen in a frost castle or whatever Velra, Lazriel, or Cassius like. But it will be a heavily protected and magically fortified home. If they wish for it to happen above ground, for our child to live a life as though unaffected by being afflicted with this special nature that many will fear, then so be it. I’ll see to it. We’ll all see to it.”
“It will be only an illusion.”
“Sometimes that’s enough. External bullshit comes secondary to love and family.
Who gives a fuck about that? This child will have us, will have love from its four parents that Cassius and Velra never experienced, that I briefly had with my mother and sister before it was ripped away, that Lazriel had with his mom, and is now experiencing deeply with you.
This child won’t be deficient in any way with that.
That’s what matters. All the rest is gravy, as they say.
” I sighed. “There’s no perfect fairytale version of this. It’s down to what we make it.”
Remnant smiled—full-on smiled. “You are already thinking like a parent. I wasn’t sure how you’d take to the news of this child.”
“Because I’m a selfish shit?”
“Because you are damaged and deeply burdened already.”
“It’s not a burden, though. Far from it.”
“I wholeheartedly agree. It’s nice to see you going this way, instead of seeing the child as a vulnerability that could harm your seemingly untouchable facade. Then again, you’ve already experienced a change to that outlook through your interactions with my son, first and foremost.”
“He was the first to chip away at that loner disposition of mine, yeah.”
“I fully understand.”
I chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”
“Now you must see whether Velra views this pregnancy the same way that you do, that Lazriel clearly also does. Cassius is a more difficult read, but I believe him to be enamored with this news as well.”
With all that had happened since the pregnancy revelation, liberating Lazriel, working on this spell, Cassius sealing that motherfucker, Victor, in our own pocket dimension where we’d previously held Sorin, we’d been all action and no assessment.
Velra still hadn’t voiced where she was at concerning the news.
“I’m going to suggest that she returns to her normal routine at Wraeven Academy. There’s still time. I studied the baby earlier and from what I’ve gathered of the conception date, its growth is progressing like that of a standard human pregnancy, and we’re only a few weeks in at this point.”
“A sound strategy.”
“Just like that? You’re agreeing to wait?”
“We need everyone at their best. Fractured allies can prove both detrimental and dangerous.”
That was just the half of it. He was worried about Lazriel after his time in that psychopath’s captivity. And with Velra carrying our child, a child that Remnant had already witnessed being so very important to Lazriel, he was duly concerned for her as well.
His phone rang and he pulled it from his leather jacket. “One moment,” he said, as he headed out of the kitchen to take the call.
I sank back against the wall, finding I needed to take a moment.
A child.
Our child.
I hadn’t yet had proper breathing room to wrap my head around it either.
I dealt in death magic, so a baby… creating life… it had never been on the agenda.
Then again, neither had the relationship I’d formed with Velra, Lazriel, and Cassius—our family.
This, though, it was… beyond even that.
An impossibility.
A beautiful impossibility made our new reality.
A fucking miracle was what it was.