Page 42 of Rose and Shadows
“You can handle this. There’s no need for—”
“You have the capability to scent-wipe and alter the evidence inside the house?”
“I do, however—”
“Then do that. I’ll alter my memory and it’ll be as though I just arrived home and found them… found them… dead.”
“Listen, youngling, it doesn’t—”
“You have twenty minutes beforeObliviscawill take permanent effect.”
My younger self rose to his feet shakily, fresh grief still clearing wracking his body and mind alike. And then he upturned his palms and performed the spell.
A flash of silver and crimson light obscured my vision and the memory fell away.
I drewin a harsh breath as I blinked back to the current time and reality.
I staggered, my hand slipping from Remnant’s on the Stone of Recollection.
Our gazes clashed.
Intensity flared from him.
And a whole lot of concern.
He was steeling himself for my reaction—and the damage that it might cause.
There would be none. No damage.
“All these years and I didn’t know it was him who’d murdered them. I even checked for his magical signature. It was one of the first things I did. Then Ryker arrived and introduced himself, took me to a Coven…”
“I am so very sorry.”
I scrubbed my hand over my face as he pocketed the Stone of Recollection.
“Magic-wielders don’t tend to performObliviscaon themselves.”
“Most can’t. Even then, though, you were an outlier.”
I sucked in a breath. “They died because of my mom’s fear. Fear Morien had instilled so deep in her.”
“She died because of her love and that is what Morien twists. Just like he also excels at corrupting the good intentions in others.”
“He failed in this case,” I ground out. “And you don’t need to worry, it’s clear The Shadowed were his victims that night. They weren’t responsible for their actions and they even suffered under his cruelty as well.”
I held out my hand. “Thank you. You saved my life.”
He took my offering and smiled sadly, a heaviness settling over us as we both obviously tried to reconcile what we’d just relived all too vividly.
When I pulled away, I told him, “You made a good call revealing this to me now, before we encountered him again. Hewouldhave tried to twist things to his liking. And even if he’dfailed to make me believe the blame fell on your agents, the shock of the revelation could have impacted me mid-battle.”
“His influence has been further lessened.”
“Yeah, it has.” I cocked my head to the side. “So, why concern yourself so much with this? With me turning on you as a result of his lies? You know I won’t waver from my goal of putting the motherfucker down. And even following through on breaking the tether between you and Victor—for Lazriel’s benefit, if not yours. Is it concerning this potential solution to fix the Valley of the Dead that you alluded to earlier? Whatever it is must possess insane power… were you concerned it wouldn’t be safe in my hands? Or is it illicit, so you were worried I’d report it to the supernatural authorities out of spite or something?”
“The solution is a living heart powered by True Celestial magic, the very thing that rejuvenated those necromantic cores we used in your transplant, bringing them back from death state.”
I choked.
