And then he pulled his power back and disintegrated the sphere, destroying it.
“What on earth?” Grandfather cried. “That was evidence.”
“Evidence that was no longer needed now I have a read on it. I don’t recognize the magical signature off hand, but I can certainly investigate.”
“You must,” Grandfather told him.
“Yes, I understand the implications better than you,Cornelius.”
It was a biting response, but he’d also softened it by actually addressing my grandfather by his name this time, instead of the usual“Fallen”.
My grandfather accepted that, then he turned to me. “Give me five minutes to ensure everyone is calm and prepared for Cassius to join us for the debriefing, then follow after me.”
“I’m on it.”
With that, he teleported out.
Cassius was there in my space in the next moment. “Iwasable to identify the magical signature.”
“What? Why didn’t you—”
“It wasyours.”
I started. “Excuse me?”
“Yours and fused with something… artificial Celestial. That last part is why Cornelius was not able to make the connection to you. His power is limited in that respect and with this interference running through it, it masked your signature in the process to him.”
“What does that even mean? How could that be possible?”
“I don’t know. But I will. In the meantime, we must keep this between us.”
“I can’t do that. My family—”
“Your family sits at the head of the table of the supernatural world. If this is revealed to them, word will spread like wildfire. They have many to answer to, they can’t afford to knowingly keep this quiet, for fear of what would happen if it got out, The populace would lose faith in the Guardian Movement likeit did shortly before your birth.” He grasped my wrist, urgency that was astounding to witness from him radiating off him. “Consider this also. How would the world react to knowing that a being intent on eradicating the Crossborn team created to help hybrids, an attack that almost murdered a good portion of the Guardians that they trust their safety and wellbeing to, was perpetrated by somebody coerced byyourmagic?”
I choked at his words. “They’ve already feared me for so long. I made strides today, coming up here, then erecting that ward… I can’t….”
“Exactly. You see how this must remain between us. I’ll investigate the other aspect.”
“Yeah, I understand.”
He released me. “It would assist me with my investigation if you gave me a list of those you have used Celestial coercion upon.”
“I don’t like doing it, nor do I condone it. It’s a violation of free will.”
His eyes lit up. “It is indeed. With that being your stance, why employ it?”
“It was once. The being was dangerous and only becoming more so. I had to diffuse him and the situation that transpired because of his actions.”
He took my words in and gave a nod of understanding.
I shifted my weight and revealed, “His name is Sorin Tenebris. He was a Dark Fae fourth year at Maven Academy. He’s since been removed.”
He jolted, eyes widening. “Sorin? A Dark Fae?”
“Yes. Is that name familiar to you?”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I’ll investigate. Leave it with me.” That same disturbing urgency came over him again as he told me, “Stay far away from this.”