Page 63 of Immortal Burden

I gave a slow nod of my head. “Agreed.”

He smiled and planted a chaste kiss on the top of my head. “Don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t.”

He startled me in the next moment as he pulled away, spun on his heel, and strode for the door.

“Where are you going?” I called out.

“Damage control.” He reached the door and sighed with regret. “I owe someone an apology.” He blew me a kiss and then his green fire erupted, stealing him away.

“His time experienced without magic has humbled him,” my father said.

“What you did was pure torture.”

“Indeed. It was regrettable, but necessary.”

“Why?” I demanded. “Why did you put him through that?”

“We are preparing for war, Mia. Sentiment must take a backseat. We all must do things we would rather not for the greater good. Despite your claims, he was not learning. In fact, his displays of recklessness were worsening. He believed his own press, so much so, that he had come to see himself as invulnerable. An extremely dangerous notion with what awaits us. That continued attitude would have led to his certain death.”

“You’ve seen it?” As a celestial being, he had the ability to view fragments of people’s futures. In most cases, those futures could be altered, if something was done about it in time.

“Perhaps,” he answered, evasively.

“You saved him from himself?”

“At this moment in time, he has returned to the correct path. The being he seeks out now will only serve to assist further with that.” He brushed past me. “It appears the chasm between the two of you has finally begun to narrow.”

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

“The Covenant is well on its way.”

I sucked in a breath. He’d bound Ryker’s magic knowing I would go to him, needing to ease his pain. “Your manipulations know no bounds,” I uttered, appalled.

He started for the door. No. No way. We were not done. “Tell me about Jaxon Silver!”

“What occurred was an aberration. Nothing more.”

“I don’t believe you. I know what I felt. The wolf is supposed to be a part of this, isn’t he?”

“Let it go, Mia.”

“No.”

He blew out a heavy breath. Turning his back to me, he said over his shoulder, “Trust me, my child.”

“That would be a lot easier to do if you didn’t keep so much a secret.”

“I will do what is necessary to protect us all.”

With that, he followed in Ryker’s stead and teleported away, leaving me staring after him, and fighting to absorb everything that had happened in such a short period of time.

16

~Lucian~

Intoxicating. Endearing. Beloved.

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