Page 96 of Mantle

As Cassius finished the healing and Sylas slowly sat up with a groan and thanked him, I held the syringe out to Cassius. “Take this to Cornelius. Break the link. I need to stay here and create more of his serum.”

He nodded. “All right.”

As he went to take the syringe, I grasped his hand. “Keep me posted. Promise me, Cassius.”

“You have my solemn vow, sorcerer.”

With that, he teleported out.

I spun back to Sylas.

I need to check in with V about how the scent tracking’s going—then we’ll get to work.”

As I turned to go do that, I felt his eyes on me. Stunned.

As if I’d actually leave him here to die.

Asshole.

18

~Ariana~

I came to with an adrenaline-fueled jolt, my eyes snapping open.

A chill permeated my body as I took in my unfamiliar surroundings.

White walls stretched endlessly. Steel tables lined the space in clinical rows, outfitted with leather restraints that glowed with magic. Some were marred with dried stains that weren’t merely rust, but something far more horrifying.

A series of reinforced glass containment pods loomed near the back, tall and cylindrical. Most were dark and empty, but a couple were etched with claw marks and blood splatter. Against the wall were rusting cages, metal bent in places that spoke of beings fighting to break free over and over again. Rows of cracked monitors flickered on one side of the space, some displaying corrupted data streams—biological readouts, genetic overlays, pulsing hybrid blood markers.

Fluorescent lights buzzed with an incessant hum, casting shadows that seemed to crawl along the floor.

Even abandoned, the space felt alive in the worst way, pulsing with the imprint of what had once been done here.

Those manacles were still binding me, my hands in front of me while I was lying on the stone-cold floor in a circle marked with salt as raging Hellfire encircled me.

“Rise and shine.”

A shudder rolled through me.

That fucking voice.

The one responsible for this madness.

This fucking insult.

This disturbing power play.

With some effort, I pushed myself up from the floor—awkward with my hands bound in front of me—and sat up to find Corvin standing there, a twisted smile on his face and triumph lighting his eyes.

He was holding Valkrith in his right hand—Draco’s sword.

That was where he’d accessed the Hellfire from.

“It was you,” I breathed. “Hellfire was extracted from Valkrith—in your possession all this time—and used in that device that Puritas attempted to level the Guardian Compound with.”

He merely sneered.

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