Page 88 of Immortal Burden

It had functioned as some sort of conduit, reigniting the passions of the phantasmal plane, where our baser, animal desires were at the forefront in a very powerful and unyielding way.

Where our free will had been challenged in the most unforgiveable way.

This ends now.

In a series of bursts, I pulled Mia off Ryker, tied her robe, settled Ryker back on his feet, then deposited them at opposite ends of the salon. I then took position a good distance away too, the three of us forming a triangle of sorts. How apt.

“Lucian!” Mia cried.

“What the hell?” Ryker exclaimed, looking around disorientated.

“If you’re having second thoughts out of jealousy or possessiveness, you could’ve just voiced it, instead of reacting like this,” Mia told me.

“It’s not that. I’m not petty or insecure.”

“Lucian?” Ryker asked, concern marring his handsome face.

He started toward me, but I held up my hand to deter him. “Stay where you are.” I eyed Mia. “Both of you.”

“What’s going on?” Ryker pressed, his worry growing, his pulse pounding with it.

Focusing on that, his blood pumping furiously through his veins, was the last thing I needed right now. I was struggling to rise above it all just like they were.

The difference was that my mind was stronger against mental manipulation and manufactured falsities like this. I had both my vampiric nature and my age to thank for that. It bolstered me against that sort of influence much more so than the likes of Ryker and Mia.

“I believe we may still be under the influence of the pleasure haze that engulfed us in the phantasmal plane.”

Ryker stilled and frowned in thought, his hands shaking with the struggle to do so.

Mia’s voice pulled my attention to her as she ground out, “You both wanted me to be open and now that I’m bringing that, its validity is being questioned.”

She was resisting more than I would’ve imagined, especially given her known take-charge nature. While Ryker was demonstrating the ability to achieve rational thought through this… spell enveloping us and also mustering the wherewithal to question and challenge it, she wasn’t. It suggested that she wanted it to be reality, that a big part of her wished to remain in this false state, experiencing this mirage.

I grimaced. She was in a lot of pain.

And it had gone unnoticed until this very moment. Not only had my concern been Ryker, but she also held herself at a distance and put on an impervious and near-infallible front to all those whom she encountered.

I spoke in a softer tone, “I’m sorry, beauty, but it’s a falsity. The moment we three connected physically, in that brief moment, it ensnared us again. The suddenness with which we just abandoned the vital discussion we needed to have, inhibitions shattering in an instant, and the rapid escalation, are all indications of a charade.”

“Lucian’s intuition is basically unrivaled,” Ryker said. “If he’s picking up on something, believe me, it’s there.”

I smiled. Even through the powerful haze and the promise of some intense sexual satisfaction, he was still allowing himself to see beyond it. Not from a spark of realization cutting through it, because he still appeared to be spelled by it, but because of his faith in me, the sheer trust he had for me.

As Mia continued to deny it, pained and lost as she was in such a heartbreaking fashion, Ryker summoned his power.

He swept his green fire back and forth on either palm, executing his flashy and complex hand gestures as was his unique way when performing magic. They were much bolder and theatrical than those of other magic-wielders I’d encountered over the centuries. It was an art form to him and his passion for it shone through in every spell and everything that he conjured.

His fire morphed to shimmering ropes and he thread it through his fingers, drawing it out until it spanned arms’ length in front of him. And then he thrust it out toward Mia and I.

The moment it hit, it encircled us, picking up speed within seconds until it became a blur.

And then it exploded, raining down sparks that Ryker thrust out his hands to call back to himself. They gravitated to his palms until his hands were glowing vibrantly. He slammed his palms to his chest, choking at the impact, and then it disappeared from view.

His eyes were no longer hooded, he blinked back to reality.

I saw Mia doing the same.

And I no longer felt that struggle against the will of the spell that had infected us either.

---