Page 141 of Mantle

“More than that, he tried to undercut you in any way that he could,” I told her. “That was him flailing, Halo. He was fucking scared of what you’ve become—majorly. And those words to you, his actions, that’s just how he dressed it up to try to save face, and likely to even shove the reality down for himself.” I cupped her cheek gently, my thumb brushing beneath her eye. “And it was all wrapped up in your history with him. That’s what made it worse for you—and he knew it. He used what you gave him—your trust, your vulnerability—against you. That kind of manipulation cuts deeper than most people understand.”

“Yeah,” she murmured.

“That wasn’t just about power,” I went on. “It was about violating your agency. Making you doubt yourself, your safety in your own skin. And, Ariana, you weren’t wrong to want to connect back then. You weren’t broken. He was just the wrong person. And now? You’re not that girl anymore. You’re everything he’ll never be.”

“You’re a fucking goddess. In every sense of the word,” Vorzyr growled.

“He couldn’t stand that you didn’t need him,” Kai said. “That you got stronger. That you didn’t crumble when he pulled out every manipulation tactic in the book. He tried to rewrite your history together to shame you, then punish you for growing beyond it.”

Vorzyr growled, “Classic fragile ego bullshit from a man who thinks a powerful woman should be grateful for his attention.”

I brought it home, “And the second he couldn’t play puppet master, he threw a tantrum and turned violent. You were never the threat. He was. Always was. Power doesn’t unnerve men like that—women wielding it does.”

“Piece of fucking shit,” Kai rumbled dangerously.

“He hurt you, violated you, tried to undermine you and fuck with your head,” Vorzyr snarled. “He won’t just die, I’ll raze him with my dragon fire, piece by piece as he screams and begs for mercy.”

“And he’ll only be granted it in death,” Kai finished for him.

“Yes,” Vorzyr seethed.

I winced.Jeez.

“No,” Ariana spoke.

“What?” Vorzyr asked, failing to hold back the edge in his response entirely because he was so worked up.

“I broke free of the Hellfire he had encircling me from Valkrith. I actually destroyed it entirely, then struck him. Brutally.”

Kai blinked. “Hold on. You’re telling us that you extinguished pure Hellfire while not only confined by Celestial Suppression Manacles, but also while weakened with Ketheron’s toxic blood running through your veins?”

“Yeah,” she said, perking up now, as it obviously sank in for her just how amazing a feat that had been.

“You know what this means, yes? Beyond the Corvin of it? You have the means to destroy the Hellfire element within Valkrith. I kept it because it’s such a dangerous weapon that can even be used against you. But now, with this, you can nullify it, and it will be reduced only to a sword. With V’s Primal Celestial Resonance, he could also eliminate the Celestial element so that if anyone is struck with it, it won’t inflict a Celestial wound.”

“Once this is over, we’ll see to it,” she agreed. “For now, I have to conserve my power. The severance spell will requireeverything I have. But first, we need to get Ketheron out of Nyx’s dreamscape. And for that we need to find Corvin. I need mine and Cassius’s spell to fucking find the bastard at long last.”

“Now you’ve infused it with Sylas’ necromantic magic to pierce through the veil that Corvin had been using to hide so well, it won’t be much longer,” Kai assured her.

“And the reengineering of theInhibitorspell?”

“Almost there,” he said. “All that remains is binding it to Ketheron safely.”

“You did that, didn’t you?” she asked. “Made them apply thesafelyaspect?”

“I did. You and Nyx asked, so I made it happen.”

“Good,” I said. “Because Ketheron really deserves that care.”

“He certainly does,” Ariana uttered. “When we find Corvin, he’ll be apprehended by the Guardian Movement. I don’t want to be there. More than that, I don’t need to be.”

“You’re sure?” Vorzyr asked. “Because that would be the perfect opportunity to reclaim what he took from you.”

“Nah, I don’t need it. I already took it back when I broke free with him believing it should have been impossible. I don’t need closure or his reaction to achieve anything like that, because I already have it in myself.” She looked out at us each in turn. “But thank you, my boys. Thank you for being here, for talking this out with me, and even helping me to see the truth of it.”

A flash of silver light ripped through the immediate area right in front of us.

Ariana gasped and bolted to her feet on the porch steps between us as Cornelius Martel materialized.

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