Page 25 of Mantle

He planted a chaste kiss on Ryker’s cheek, then gave each of us a chin lift.

“I have it,” he told Ryker, reaching into his inside suit pocket, then pulling out a folded piece of cream paper. “TheInhibitorspell used atPolaris.”

“Thank you, my love,” Ryker said, taking it from him, lighting up for a moment as their fingers brushed. I felt a mass amount of stress leave him, just from having Lucian present.

I smiled to myself and Kai caught my eye, clearly recognizing the similarity for us where that was concerned with our foursome bond.

I frowned at the paper. “You’re gonna use that against Ketheron? How? Your defensive magic couldn’t breach his. Isn’t theInhibitorreally similar to that?”

“Not exactly,” Lucian responded. “Ryker’s magic can cut through stable, anchored magical signatures, which encompasses every supernatural magic-wielder on the planetandTrue Celestials. Except for this odd creation calling himself Ketheron. Said creation is a magical anomaly, not a wielder with a fixed signature. His instability makes his energy far beyond merely hybrid—something Rykercanwork with—but chaotic and nonlinear. Ryker’s defensive magic is designed to sever streams of power that are anchored to stable magical cores.”

Wow,for somebody who didn’t wield magic himself, Lucian sure knew a lot about it. Then again, he was surrounded by magical beings, so I could totally see why he needed to ensure he had that level of understanding.

Gabriel nodded, then took over, telling us, “From the observations reported by all who were present and engaging against his power, we’ve determined that Ketheron’s magic is like a patchwork—unstable, volatile, and ever-shifting.”

“There’s no central anchor to sever,” Ryker finished.

Kai shifted his weight and figured it out aloud, “TheInhibitorisn’t suppressing a fixed magical system. It’s creating a containment field that can be tuned to chaos patterns.”

“Yes,” Ryker confirmed. “The current state of theInhibitorhas it bound to a location, not a signature. As you know, we obtained Ketheron’s blood from the attack site when he fed it to Ari. We can use it to anchor the spell to his unique, albeit unstable, magical frequency, leaving others’ magic untouched, and suppressing only his. The field won’t seek stability or need itto lock his magic. With the addition of his blood, it will recognize his specific chaos patterns and then suppress anything that matches its signature fluctuation rate.”

Ryker held the spell out to Gabriel. “Take this to your people. But don’t allow the actual precise spell to be replicated. It’s too dangerous to magic-wielders should word of the intricate spellwork spread.”

“Of course,” Gabriel assured him.

Your people?Who was he talking about?

I looked at Kai and he didn’t seem intrigued in the least.

The only way that could ever be possible with him was if he already knew the answer.

I’d get the lowdown later on when we were alone with our foursome.

“I need to head back to the Compound to meet with the Unity Council and other supernatural Heads about this threat.”

“Go,” Lucian told him. “We’ll be fine here. I’ll see to Ariana and her loves.” He looked at Kai and me in turn. “Ensure you employ anauditory reductionspell before you all retire to Ariana’s room tonight, or you’ll experience Jaxon’s wrath.”

“Lucian,” Ryker spoke.

“I will contain him, my beloved, I assure you.”

“What aboutPolaris?”

“It remains open. Warlow will be arriving there shortly in my stead.”

“Cornelius won’t like that.”

“I believe Warlow is insisting.”

“Getting suffocated with his intense protectiveness since the Compound attack, is he?” Gabriel chimed in.

“No, he actually relishes it when Cornelius issuffocating him.In various ways I won’t fill your head with.”

“Yes, please don’t. Imagining the Almighty Immortal engaging in anything of the sort is beyond off-putting.”

“You’re one to talk with what you’ve had me walk in on over the years,” Ryker said.

“What you barged on into, you mean?” Gabriel countered. “I believe Calla and I had even warded our room when we resided here.”

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