Page 173 of Rose and Shadows
And he was taking it personally.
Because these beings were just like his son, being persecuted like I had been, like Velra and Nyx had been, like too many of us had been.
My claws dropped, another hiss escaping me.
And then my talons even came along for the ride as well.
My dad’s hand landed on my shoulder and he spoke at my ear. “Just for now. We must wait for the opportune moment.” He gestured with his eyes and I looked to see Sylas signaling behind his back, making achatterboxhand gesture.
Of course.
He was gonna use that glorious mouth of his.
Jeez.I caught myself. All this intensity… it called to the other sort of physicality that soothed me. Even in these circumstances it rose to the surface. At least I had the control to check it really damn fast.
Sylas was gonna use his sharp tongue, mouth off to Morien, mentally and emotionally destabilize him like he’d done before at the CRS facility.
We needed a distraction against the Celestial and black magic that the too many Dark Fae were wielding, or we’d be cut down before we even snatched away a single hostage, let alone all five hundred of them.
And Sylas Morgrave… well, he definitely had the whole distraction thing in the bag.
“Show yourself, washed up one!” he called out then, stalking up and down along the bank in front of us.
He was doing more than that—he was shielding us in case Morien burst from his hiding place where he was no doubt reveling in the turmoil and torment he’d created here, and invoked something like Risen Reckoning in a shit, underhanded move.
My dad flinched.
He’d picked up on movement—ahead of everyone as usual being the absolute badass that he was.
I concentrated, not feeling anything.
I didn’t see any signs of the fifteen vampire agents registering movement either as they stood flanking us, along with the five magic-wielders, hoods hanging low, masks on.
Then Morien’s voice rang out, but it echoed all around, bouncing off the trees and hell knew what else, so it was impossible to track it to a location.
“Impressive, boy,” his snide tone sounded. “I allotted it a 70-30 chance that you’d see through my deception.”
His gray power erupted in front of the bound hostages and he teleported into the fray, that straggly long, dark hair coming into view, the sight of warped death and toxicity all over him, his hooded red robe sweeping behind him. He took note of my dad, staring at him for several tense moments before turning his attention to Sylas. “I hoped you would.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, my know-it-all son, it’s not my desire to take the lives of these hybrids here tonight. My attention is directed toward the two thousand currently battling Gregor. He’s saving them for me, merely intending to incapacitate, to save the kills for me. He’s looking forward to it as much as I am—an immense invocation of Risen Reckoning that will not only award Gregor what he desires and further his support and deference to me, but will also strike fear and reverence into the higher echelons of the supernatural world.” His lip curled. “It willmakeme.”
“It will be your downfall,” my dad rumbled. “That is the extent of it, the only way it can possibly play out.”
Morien sneered at him, then told Sylas, “The spell you saw through, the illusion not only warped the reality around you, it impacted perception to such an extent that it was not able to be registered magically either, certainly not sensed by vampires or shifters. I suppose your experience at Glasswake Settlement served you well in the end.”
Sylas’ eyes narrowed.
That piece of shit, bringing up Glasswake like this after all the trauma, grief, and guilt Sylas had endured over it when Corvin Morvain had caused that massacre that Sylas had carried ashisweight for far too long.
He was dealing with it now, he’d processed it, and he was no longer burying it beneath extreme-level compartmentalization. But still… having it shoved in his face now… it was disgusting.
“That spell used at Glasswake to fool you was actually my design. I taught it to Corvin Morvain. A friend to us all. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“For me? For Ketheron? For Ambrose? For Ariana? For Kai? For every fucking one who was abused by that fool, I like to think of him as the despicable little bitch who died in horrific pain and torment in a desperate attempt to escape my wrath.” His eyes darkened. “In fact, recalling him being torn apart by that warped portal gives me immense satisfaction and still thrills me to this day. And for you, father dearest, I like to think of him as your benefactor who you knelt to and likely opened wide for too, in order to have him engineer your resurrection. Because as powerful as you believe yourself to be, all you really are is beholden to others, offering dark favors to inflict pain and misery, chaos and destruction, all so these misguided beings will hold you up.”
I smiled to myself.
