Page 109 of Mantle

This was not a good time for her to be finding that out for the first time.

“Ryker!” Lucian called out, rushing over to him. “What are you doing here? What about Chimera Circle?”

A wave of his emotion rolled over me.

He wasn’t just asking out of concern for that operation.

He didn’t want Ryker here.

Given what Ariana had told us, I knew it was because last time Valkrith had been in play, Draco wielding it, Ryker had been burned to almost nothing by it, a horrific trauma that still haunted him to this day.

“My father has stepped in with Calla.”

Ariana cried out to Ryker.

I saw Lucian move to try to reason with him.

Even Cornelius looked unsure.

Cassius noticed us standing here.

He saw Ariana crying out.

But it was too late.

In a blink, Ryker spun the blade in his hand and teleported out.

Then he teleported back inrightin front of Ketheron.

Before he could even raise his sword of Hellfire at him, Ryker drove the Wrath of Hades straight through his heart. Being a Celestial-forged weapon, and a special one at that, it actually pierced his skin, and Ryker plunged deep.

His green lighting sparked all around the blade, traveling all over it and the Bastion Gauntlet, breaking the link to Cornelius.

I looked to see that Cornelius wasn’t impacted even a little bit.

He’d done it.

But at a cost.

He’d killed Ketheron.

He’d taken down a threat, yeah. But Ketheron was an innocent.

Worse—he was a brutal victim. Of so much pain and abuse.

Sofucking much.

There wasn’t relief as there should have been that a battle had been won, that the decimation and danger had ceased.

It was much more complicated than that.

It was close to grief.

I felt sick.

And looking at Ariana… she was absolutely stricken.

She stumbled forward, and Kai and I rushed after her, helping her along in her along, until we were just a couple of feet from Ketheron and Ryker.

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