Page 108 of Mantle

Lucian was fighting to remove as many people as possible, as were some vampire Guardian members who weren’t already downed. But they wouldn’t be able to get them all.

And Vorzyr was one of them. Downed and unmoving now.

“Fuck,” Kai uttered.

With that, we moved in, using my shadow magic to get closer without Ketheron noticing.

We were just a couple of feet out, and I heard Kai begin his incantation to temporarily hold Ketheron in stasis, while Ariana stumbled beside me, her hand on my shoulder.

And then Cassius and Cornelius materialized.

Right in front of Ketheron’s arc of Hellfire, just as he aimed it toward Vorzyr, Jaxon, and the Guardians near them.

White light from Cassius and blazing silver from Cornelius shot up, forming a joint shimmering wall along the length of the battlefield, shielding every single person there.

Ketheron roared again, then employed his gold power with his free hand, that slamming into their wall as well.

“They won’t be able to hold it for long,” Ariana spoke.

It was more of a problem than even that.

We’d been waiting on Cornelius and Cassius to arrive so that Kai could channel one of them to fuel the ancient magic he was going to use to hold Ketheron temporarily at bay, which was crucial to our overall plan.

But now they were indisposed.

I heard a curse from Kai as he realized all too well what that meant.

“I’ll have to do it without them.”

“You could die! Either being unable to hold him long enough before he kills you, or draining yourself entirely to accomplish it!” I cried. “No!No!”

“Channel me,” Ariana offered. Actually, it was more like a command, making it clear that she wouldn’t allow it to happen without that assistance.

“In your current state, I’ll hurt you.” He looked absolutely sick about it.

“It’s all we have. And I’m literally telling you to do it. It’ll be on me, not you.” She reached out and stroked his hair. “Do you hear me, baby?”

Before he could answer, an eruption of vibrant-green magic tore through the area as Ryker Morgan teleported in just behind the wall, beside Cornelius.

They started talking, urgency and arguing rising within an instant, but we couldn’t hear from here.

In the next second, Kai employed anauditory enhancementspell, and then their voices were gravitating toward us.

“I can break the link to you with my defensive magic at the point of penetration with the Wrath of Hades,” Ryker was telling Cornelius. “Trust me.”

“You know that you have my utmost trust. I’m concerned aboutyou. If you can’t get that strike in… what he’ll do to you, Ryker.”

“Conjure the dagger,” Ryker insisted, as he conjured a Bastion Gauntlet himself. “This is one is tied to your blood marker. But, as I’ve said, I can sever that link. I’m the only one who can. Fuck, I’m the only one who can wield the Wrath of Hades without death befalling me. The Bastion Gauntlet creates the illusion that a Celestial is wielding the weapon—which is the only way it can be handled safely. Once I sever the link to you, the dagger won’t register any Celestial presence, and the ‘life for a life’ curse won’t trigger when it’s used to kill another Celestial.”

“Impressive solution,” Cassius told him.

Ryker lifted a shoulder, then put on the Bastion Gauntlet.

There was some more resistance from Cornelius before he produced the Wrath of Hades with a burst of his magic.

“It’s here… my grandfather was in possession of that nightmare weapon…” Ariana murmured.

Kai and I exchanged a look.

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