Page 13 of Legacy

“I understand that it will take time for that to sink in. But try, all right? Start now. It will help a great deal.”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “Thank you.”

I slipped my hand into his.

He smiled, but didn’t speak to it, knowing it would be difficult for me to acknowledge the vulnerability of the action I’d just taken, but also obviously getting that I did need the comfort right now. Given how he squeezed my hand back and startedstroking my fingers with his, he clearly needed it just as much as I did.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

“I’ll be fine.”

“I was focused on the fall at the time, but thinking about it now, I saw you take a hit as well, like Nyx. Why didn’t you bleed like him?”

“It wasn’t a direct blow for me. It was the shockwave that blew me back. Also, at the time, I was in the process of calling my scepter, which requires magic. It provided a partial barrier. It’s likely why the hit wasn’t actually head-on.”

“Like a bulletproof vest sort of situation?”

“Essentially.”

Realization flashed in his eyes. “Lift up your shirt.”

“Let’s just focus,” I said, moving to pull my hand from his.

He tightened his hold, preventing me from doing so. “Kai,” he insisted.

I cursed, then jerked up my shirt with my free hand.

His eyes shot wide as he saw the severe bruising all over my torso.

“It didn’t penetrate, but it sure as fuck bruised the shit out of you. How are you even moving normally right now?”

“Sheer force of will? Because Ari needs us? Because you all need me?”

“Fuck, Kai. How do you know the damage isn’t internal? Internal bleeding, for instance?”

“A mark of a Celestial wound is bubbling or burning. That’s not present. As you saw, there are no black veins, which is another mark of such a thing. And my magic also hasn’t been impacted. I’m just sore, that’s all. With a little rest, I’ll be fine.”

Fortunately, we reached our target site, so our discussion was interrupted.

The peonies and the stone tablet.

More importantly in this case—consecrated Celestial ground brought about by Cornelius Martel’s fall from on high.

I conjured my Aetherbound Scepter and knelt down closer to the ground and the energy I could feel radiating forth.

I concentrated, feeling it deep down, a lot more power buried in the earth. It wasn’t something a non-Celestial being could normally access or pull out. But with the loophole of what we’d done with my scepter, it would be possible for me to do so.

“So, you’re gonna extract all of this, which is the power of Cornelius Martel, and use his familial link to his granddaughter to track her that way?” V asked, wanting to double-check he understood the complicated task ahead of us. A lot was at stake, there couldn’t be any mistakes.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “It will be able to bypass the cloaking that Cassius is employing.” It was something that had become immediately apparent to me when Cornelius had forced us back to the Academy, and I’d taken a shot at employing a tracking spell that had slammed right into a formidable barrier, that clearly being that accursed True Celestial. “And with Ari’s magic being imbued in the scepter, pulling it out will be possible, it won’t resist me.”

Before I could activate the scepter and get down to doing that, a rush of potent power had me choking.

Vorzyr and I both spun around to see two figures materializing just a few feet from us.

“Shit,” I uttered at the sight of Mia Snow and Lucian Black standing there eyeing us.

Mia’s ivory hair with the blue streaks at the front was down and flapping in the wind. She was dressed her usual sophisticated way in a black Burberry coat and a pair of tailored dress pants. Lucian’s black hair was also flapping wildly as he stood there holding her hand supportively while glaring out at us. His charcoal designer suit was a real contrast to oursurroundings. His expensive shoes were even sinking into the mud. But he didn’t seem to care one little bit. The fact that his daughter was missing and that Mia looked absolutely distraught was no doubt the reason for that.

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