Page 157 of Rose and Shadows
“Huh,” he uttered, as he took my words in. “Well, that’s… good points.” He gave me a withering look. “You bastard.”
I grinned. “I know.” I leaned back. “Also, Velra’s carrying on through to the end of the year. She likes what Wraeven gave her… stability and a path to emerging back into the world from too long spent in hiding. And it’s also her not wanting all thisPuritasmadness to interfere in her life again and what she can and cannot do. It’s already pulled her away several times, so she’s determined to push on through.”
“Not allow it to win?” He smiled. “Yeah, that’s her.”
“Cassius will also be maintaining his teaching position there,” a voice boomed through the room as the man himself strode on in.
I chuckled as I saw stone debris all over him. And he was carrying a little teddy bear that had lost one of his button eyes.
“You will?” Lazriel asked, the hope in his voice resonating through me.
“Yes. I enjoy my role as professor. It is a nice bridge with my work with the children at Haven Initiative.” His lips quirked. “Also, as you said yourself, my students thoroughly enjoy myRitual Ethics & Celestial Lawfareclass—specifically my teaching style.”
“Wow, who would have thought that teaching that class would ever become about more than stalking our lovely Velra Nox?”
“Stalking? You were the one who begged me to see to her.”
“Well… you were being a standoffish dick to her.”
Cassius stared at him for a moment, tension rising.
But then he gave a nod. “Yes, I truly was. My intention had been to protect her from myself, but it was foolish. And unnecessary. Velra could never—”
“Be such a weak and incapable thing requiring savior complex intervention?” her voice suddenly came, a moment before she teleported in with a burst of her purple power.
She materialized beside the couch, winking at Lazriel, giving me a smile, then turning to address Cassius to her right. “Hmm?”
“Velra, that is not—”
“I’m screwing around. I know it was complicated for you. For all of us. All dealt with. In the past. Done and done.” She grasped his hand. “But I’m really happy that you’ve come to love your job as professor there so much.”
“And you? Your plans are to graduate, then move into a fulltime role with the Crossborn Refuge System alongside Nyx Laryn?”
“That will be part of it, but… I just met with Graceyn fromThryneto hand over the elixir I finalized that will cure King Darethor, and there’s something else I’m going to get involved in as well.”
“WithThryneitself?” I queried.
“No. WithThryneevolving and becoming part of a new Royal Fae Court set up now that the king has seen the error of his ways, my involvement isn’t needed. Besides, Graceyn has it. And Kelsana is already making waves too—in a good way.”
She eased her hand from Cassius as she started talking animatedly, the chains on her leather corset and pants making a pleasant jingling sound as she moved. Lazriel, Cassius, and I smiled out at each other, loving this excitement from her. Especially as she unconsciously patted her pregnant belly through it, like she was including our unborn baby in the conversation as well.
“I’m going to work with Darethor on hybrid integration and also moving away from the dangerous and outdated notion ofpure bloodlinesthat’s still running rampant in the Dark FaeRealm. There was a reason that so many Dark Fae beings were recruited intoPuritasand so easily led by my parents. To stop that from happening in other ways even whenPuritasis gone, change needs to begin at the roots. And that’s what I’ll be working toward with the king.”
“Wondrous,” Cassius said, wrapping her up in his arms. “Truly wondrous.”
The teddy bear bumped against her back as they embraced, and she eased away, staring at it, noticing the eye. “This is Ketheron’s favorite stuffed animal. What happened?”
“He got a little excited and that can sometimes result in him unleashing his strength without meaning to. The bear took the brunt of him reassembling his bed without wishing to use magic, and a pole tore out its eye. He’s searching for it now because he doesn’t want it fixed with magic either.”
“Of course not. This bear is a grounding influence to him, away from the complications of magic and power,” Velra stated.
Cassius beamed down at her. “Yes. It very much is.”
“When he finds the eye, I’ll sew it back into place,” Lazriel offered.
“You know how to sew?” Cassius asked.
“Yeah. I mean, not all of us grew up being able to fix things with a flick of our magical fingers. Until everything went to hell, I did grow up in a wolf pack environment where there was a lot of hands-on needed—fixing things with tools and a sewing kit.”
