Page 137 of Rose and Shadows
And then the door flew open and his eyes darted behind me, while I spun around, just as Lazriel burst on in.
“Holy hell,” I choked as I took in the sight of blood dousing him, all over his dirtied tactical gear, staining his hands, dripping down his face, and even in his hair, obscuring the green highlights.
“It’s not mine,” he told us. “Once you got word to me, Jaxon, and V that Sylas had been rescued and where from, we hit that subterranean nightmare. SomePuritasassholes were still there trying to rebuild it under Gregor’s orders—orders from a distance because that shithead is apparently in hiding now. So we put that contingent down. Jaxon’s taken their badly beaten unconscious bodies to the Guardian Compound for processing.” He turned his nose up as he sniffed his arm. “Most of this is the rancid blood shit that was all over that place. Fucking thing was destroyed once by the Guardian Movement, but those assholes rebuilt it. Well, no more. It’s gone again, and Jaxon’s gonna cleanse the grounds with Mia Snow’s help so it can’t be brought back again or anything.”
Wow,that was a lot of information to process.
Lazriel didn’t wait, and made a beeline for the bed, then was all over Sylas, stroking his hair, nuzzling against him.
Cassius grimaced at the blood from Lazriel getting all over him and the white and blue-gray colored sheets. “You’re very fortunate those aren’t open wounds.”
Lazriel eyed him as he stroked Sylas’ hair. “I knew they weren’t. Highly-attuned wolf and vamp senses, Cas.”
“When you’re riled up, those don’t always win out over your urgency.”
“Well, we’re good now.” His brow creased then as he ran his hand carefully over Sylas’ ribs. “There’s internal damage here.” He listened carefully. “Internal bleeding. Straining.”
“We are aware,” Cassius assured him. “Velra has just extracted the Light Fae poison that was slowing his healing, so now I can effectively heal him with my magic.”
“Good. Good. Do it. Do it now,” he said, kissing Sylas’ forehead, then jumping back from the bed with a burst of speed.
He moved right beside me, and I swept my hand over him, cleansing him of the blood and dirt.
He jolted and grinned down at himself now wearing just a pair of forest-green boxers. “Really, love? Stripping me? Right now?”
I wrapped my arm around him and glued him to my side, wherein he snaked his hand along the small of my back. When he was in a heightened state, it was well known that Lazriel was soothed by physicality. So that’s what this was from him. But my go-to wasn’t usually that, yet that flare of desire I’d had with Cassius out of the blue moments ago and then feeling the same now as I’d cleaned and dressed Lazriel made it clear I was gravitating toward the same sense of solace. Maybe it was the pregnancy altering that for me. Maybe it was the fact when Sylas had been taken, me, Lazriel, and Cassius had been in different places, not around one another, so now it was hitting harder that we were again.
We watched as Cassius swept his magic carefully over Sylas’ prone body, back and forth measuredly, healing him.
A rush of relief rolled through me as I watched the bruising and grazing fade bit by bit, that gaunt look dissipating and life and energy breathing back into him, because as Cassius healed him, it enabled Sylas’ power to flow again without compromise.
After a few moments, Cassius snuffed out his power and smiled out at us with a definitive nod.
He went to step back, but then we all jolted as Sylas’ hand shot out and grabbed Cassius’ throat.
Cassius choked.
Sylas’ crimson magic sparked.
“Sylas…” Cassius rasped.
I saw him move to call his power, but stop, not wanting to hurt him.
As I started forward, Cassius moved to exert his Celestial strength to peel the fingers from around his throat. But he grunted as Sylas’ magic shocked him, sparking dangerously.
Lazriel burst forward to intervene.
“Stop!” I cried out.
Lazriel’s insane reflexes had him pulling up short just a fraction of a second before making contact. He swung his head toward me.
“Necromantic power flaming wildly,” I told him. “You’re part vampire.”
“Shit,” he uttered, taking a reluctant step back.
Sylas’ eyes snapped open, flaming with his power too.
His gaze flickered unstably, his confusion clear, disorientation leading the way.
