Page 120 of Fallen Heirs

I stared at her.

“Xavier?”

I wanted to lie to spare her, to put an end to this dangerous idea of hers right here and now.

But it would be another secret. It would be me protecting her without considering her agency.

“It is viable,” I admitted. “But we’re not doing it.”

“We’re not? Just like that?” she challenged, stepping right up to me in front of the bed.

“You’d have to use your white light to save her.”

“I realize that.”

“As a Nephilim, you only get one shot at it, yes? Not like your mom being a full celestial being?”

“That’s correct.”

“We’re on the verge of a massive battle. Against someone possessing celestial magic that’s stronger than yours. If she overpowers you, your white light would be the only way to save you.”

“I know, but it might not even come to that, especially with the plan I want to implement. If you’d let me finish, I would’ve told you that I discovered a way to take away her celestial magic.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“I can open a portal to the celestial plane and send the magic through there.”

“Won’t that risk yours being taken too? Like a vacuum effect?”

“No, because I’ll be the one performing the spell. But to do that, it will take a shitload of my power and I’ll need to be right there with her, making me vulnerable for the length of the spell.”

“We can offset that, protect you.”

“And the white light spell?”

“Off the table.”

“Xavier—”

I took her hands in mine. “She’s beyond saving, Alena. Even if she survived and was no longer wielding celestial magic, she’d find another way to take power, to come at us again, to try to rule and run roughshod over the supernatural world. Just like Constantine. They’re the same. Just because she’s Ore’s mother doesn’t alter that. She’s turned her back on him.” I gave her hands a squeeze. “I understand that this is a hard subject for you, talking about the loss of a mother, because of what happened to your own. But this isn’t the same. Ore doesn’t consider it the same either. He knows what she is, how far gone she is. He’ll be able to make peace with losing her.”

She hung her head and took a few moments, before looking me in the eyes again and agreeing, “Okay, yeah. You’re right.”

“Besides, there’s no way Saryan will let her live after what she did to Orpheus. Your new best friend?”

“Best friend?” A little smile played on her lips. “We’ve been getting along well.”

“Something Ore is over the moon about.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She threw her arms around me and held me to her. “I’ve missed you guys so much.”

“We’ve missed you too.” I gathered her into my arms. “Now get some rest so we can all show each other just how much once you and Ore are back to full strength.”

I eased her under the sheets and tucked her in.

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