Page 36 of Rose and Shadows
“That’s been made clear now.”
“You agreeing to any sort of tether was a major risk. You must have really cared for Victor back then to tie your life to his.”
“The dynamic between a sire and his sireling can be incredibly complicated.”
“He was both your creation and your lover? Is that it?”
“Something along those lines.” He shifted his weight, the first time I’d ever seen him uncomfortable. “I was young. It was centuries ago. He was also the first being I ever turned.”
“And now he threatens what you truly love—Lazriel.”
“Yes.”
“I heard his threats to him, his deranged comments. The fixation is disturbing and incredibly dangerous. It’s more than jealousy or even punishment intended toward you and to be exacted through your son. He wants to make Lazriel his.”
Remnant nodded. “It’s evolved from him wishing to take my son from me and to deliver him toPuritasfor eradication at their extermination facility,Genexis.Now he wants Lazriel for himself.”
“As some kind of consolation prize, because he can no longer have you? You’re committed to The Shadowed and to RhyzaThaine. So he gets to take your son from you but also keep him as a stand-in for you?”
“With Lazriel’s personality, all that primality and loving passion, unlike my stoicism I’m known for, Lazriel would suit him better. Victor has recognized that all too well.”
I screwed up my face.
I had to take a moment to temper my reaction.
The emotional one right at the surface couldn’t be allowed, not with the power I held, nor the threat that somebody of my abilities had now been recognized to pose to the supernatural world if they lost their grip on rational thought—thanks to Morien’s massacre at that CRS facility. I had to be careful. And the supernatural world deserved that from me.
I had to be better.
But that didn’t mean I had to be soft or mute what I was capable of when it came to our enemies specifically. Just how I went about it so it didn’t impact others.
I sucked in a breath and told Remnant, “Like I said before, this isn’t an equal-weight tether that Corvin created between you and Victor in order to spare that psychopathic Ancient’s life. And given that Corvin wasn’t a necromancer, there is even more that can be exploited here to our advantage.”
“Your spell indicates overriding sorcerer-based magic with necromantic. One aspect of the spell. It’s multifaceted, several layers involved.”
“More layers, less chance of loopholes being used against the spellwork down the road.”
“Very impressive.”
“Well, that’s why you wanted me here, hmm?”
“More than you realize at this juncture.”
Instead of pushing him to explain and cut through the majorly cryptic aspect of his response, I focused on the immediate issue at hand, telling him, “As to the tether notbeing equal-weight, I’ve discovered that Victor was spared from death by Corvin attaching a portion of your lifeforce to Victor’s. That’s what holds him to this plane. So, if he was killed, he would absolutely die in the permanent sense. If you were killed, it would pull you into the Veil, not the Valley itself. You would be trapped on the periphery. In a similar way to which Velra was, albeit without the Valley fighting to draw you in, because you’re Vampire not Wraith. You could remain there. A necromancer could technically then reach into the Veil and pull you back into the land of living. However, with the damage caused to the Valley by my actions and those by Morien and Corvin piggybacking off that incident, it could result in that tear becoming permanent.” I gestured at my papers over the bed. “Tears will already begin opening up shortly as it is, because of this damage.”
“I’ve had my people researching that damage also, but they couldn’t make an accurate determination.”
“Because they’re sorcerers and sorceresses, not necromancers. Their understanding is limited. To garner that requires not just research but the ability to feel necromantic power rolling through your veins and the connection to deathscapes and the like.” I handed him the spell. “You see my solution instead?”
“Yes. It involves a serious risk.”
“In giving me the stake that can kill Ancients.” I regarded him intently. “You were willing to simply murder Victor before and sacrifice yourself to achieve it. It’s why you asked Cornelius for the stake. But then you made contact with Lazriel and brought him into your life, started building a father-son relationship with him, and it changed things for you.”
“It did. It has. Lazriel’s wellbeing isn’t just physical protection, it’s emotional. He cannot lose me. It would undo him.”
“I agree.” I folded my arms across my chest. “So, this is what I can do, as per that spell I’ve crafted… I’ll imbue death magic into the stake which will also create a sort of magnetized force that will draw back the aspect of your lifeforce within Victor at the point of connection with his heart—when you drive the stake into his chest. As the holy water and sunlight within the stake tear through his heart and work to end his life, your lifeforce will be returned, my death magic imbued within the instrument will severNexus Letale, thus separating you from Victor and restoring you, so his death won’t serve to drain you either.”
He lifted his eyes from the paper and beamed out at me. “Excellent work. I will provide you with the stake. Thank you.”
