Page 138 of Rose and Shadows
And then he registered Cassius fully, his flaming eyes quieting.
I saw his grip loosen.
Cassius sucked in a breath.
But Sylas didn’t release him, and his magic was still sparking around Cassius’ throat.
“Something is wrong,” he rasped. “My magic… it’s destabilized.”
“It’s all right,” Cassius told him. “You cannot kill me like this. You know that.”
“Hurting you isn’t acceptable either. Rip my hand off.”
“Sylas—”
“Do it.”
Cassius grimaced, but then snatched Sylas’ wrist. With a burst of his white power, he used a combination of his strength and his magic to break his grip.
I winced as I heard a series of resounding cracks, followed by a pained cry from Sylas.
He panted and cradled his now broken fingers.
And they were still sparking with his power.
“What’s happening?” I asked, moving toward the bed.
“No!” he cried. “Stay back.” His gaze dropped to my belly. “Keep away. Keep him safe from me.”
Him?
What the—
“Come, love,” Lazriel spoke, urging me back with him.
Cassius stood just out of physical reach of Sylas, studying him. Then a deep frown marred his brow. “The necromantic cores have been destabilized through something you endured during captivity. They’re separating… breaking from being a part of you.”
“Yeah,” Sylas spoke. “Hence me not being able to control my magic properly.”
“Endured what?” Lazriel barked. “What the fuck did they do to you?”
Sylas’ gaze darted to Lazriel’s briefly, and then he looked away, focusing on his sparking hands as he murmured, “It wasthe torture chair… I warped it when I broke free and fed Gregor’s pain to it instead.”
“Hold up—torturechair?” Lazriel pushed.
I rubbed Lazriel’s arm as I told him, “It’s a device used byPuritasatGenexisto try to undo the duality of hybrid abilities and powers. It punishes that specific thing… balancing and drawing on both sides.”
Knowing of that despicable thing harkened back to my days of living in survival mode, making sure I knew my enemies and how they operated.
Cassius looked sick with it, but in true Cassius fashion, pushed through and focused on the immediate issue, posing, “Given what it can do, it would seem it was identifying those three necromantic cores as hybridized physiology, when in fact that’s not what they are. You wield your own magic only. They are merely… the batteries at current.”
“Partial batteries, but, yeah.” He shifted on the bed as he managed to stop his power from sparking. At least for now. “Where is… what… is this the interior ofGlacialis Arx?”
“It is,” I confirmed. When Ketheron and Cassius had shown it to us before, the interior hadn’t been fully completed. But now there was this. “The main bedroom. Our bedroom.”
“Looks fucking amazing,” Lazriel murmured as he started taking it in properly now. It was his first time seeing it too. Even Cassius when he’d teleported in earlier after I’d called him to report that Sylas had been returned. During the short times when Nyx and I had needed to give our magical research space and time to blend, cure, and whatever else, we’d been in here putting this together.
The frosted arches shimmered faintly, the mystical effect enhanced by the crystal sconces all around casting soft light upon the space. The bed was an enormous four-poster creation with an intricately carved headboard. The seating area to theright of where Lazriel and me currently stood, and straight ahead for Sylas, was a decadent lounge space with an oversized ivory chair with pewter legs, low tables with frosted glass tops and a wraparound shimmery light gray couch. There was a magically-floating chandelier above, along with a fireplace wherein the fire shifted color when it was roaring and in full flame.
