Page 6 of Immortal Burden

He would never come out and admit it, but I knew it made him nervous that I knew of their familial connection.

Didn’t he get it by now?

I would never betray Mia like that, never put her in danger by revealing to anyone that she was really the daughter of an Immortal. I knew the awful ramifications that would come to pass if it got out. She would be hunted mercilessly for her God-given gifts.

God-given. It couldn’t get more literal than that. Immortals were fallen angels, shunned for committing a big-time violation of the holy laws. His being falling in love with a non-Celestial and, subsequently, procreating with her.

Despite being forsaken, he still held impressive abilities, far beyond those of any other supernatural being. Strength, magical prowess, incomparable healing, the list went on. And Mia had inherited a diluted form of those.

“It is clear that rejection does not do well with you,” Cornelius said, looking me over, in that shrewd, invasive manner of his. “I certainly hope you can remain mature and civil in its wake. It would be in everyone’s best interests, sorcerer.”

That was a threat if I’d ever heard one.

“Cornelius!” Mia hissed in reprimand.

For obvious reasons, she never called him father in public. To everyone on the outside, he was her mentor and nothing more. They had manufactured a cover that he had come to the Coven to assist with her training due to the immense power she wielded. Someone of his fortitude was required, as the magical ability was so great.

The latter part was actually true. He had come to the Coven to help with her training. But it was because of her half-Immortal heritage. Her power eclipsed all other magic-wielders, making it beyond the ability of the Coven to manage.

He held up his hand. “I am merely ensuring your wellbeing.”

Mia gave me a look that was so much worse than taking shit from her father.

Pity.

She fucking pitied me.

It set me off and I stepped forward, hissing vehemently, “It wasn’t about the ring then, huh? None of that bull you spouted. All just crap to push me away because you were too much of a coward to handle what’s clearly really going on. A fuckload of complicated big-picture shit.”

“Ryker, I—”

“No!” I yelled, knowing in my mind’s eye that I was losing it and drawing attention to us. But I couldn’t stop for the life of me. “We were together in every sense of the word! We shared everything! You should’ve come to me with this! You should’ve trusted me with this!”

“Enough!” Cornelius commanded, his overbearing seven-foot hulk of a body stepping right into my personal space. The guy was like a Viking warrior of old, a giant, muscle-bound force.

“Emotion clouds your judgment. You are focusing on the wrong thing, youngling.”

Youngling. I had one-hundred and seventy-five years under my belt. Fifty beyond Mia.

“Yeah?” I gritted out, meeting his fiery, uncompromising glare. “And, what’s that?”

Almighty ass!

He looked back at Mia for a moment, hesitating, which worried me. The guy never did that. He was always so incredibly forthright. Always heavy-handed, just like his daughter.

The grave expression on his face when he returned to addressing me had me tensing.

He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper, as he revealed, “Draco is coming.”

3

~Mia~

One Year Ago

Free will was an illusion.

Even for a being as powerful as me.

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