Page 95 of Fallen Heirs

Within moments, his magic stopped sputtering and regained stability, the glow of his indigo flames becoming vibrant and fierce.

I watched as the shimmering indigo film he’d been struggling to erect at the edge of the property line around the compound spread wider and also gained height, rising twenty feet.

Thirty.

Fifty.

Seventy.

Almost there.

Weakness permeated my whole body as he kept channeling, and he looked out at me worriedly, obviously feeling it.

“Keep going,” I reassured him.

With obvious reluctance, he did, knowing it needed to be done.

Desperately.

Relief rolled through me as I saw the ward coming close to sealing. So long asExemplarcould thin out the attacking army, it would then be able to hold. Just not against a massive onslaught like it had taken earlier. And then we needed to find a way to stabilize my dad. He could bring in the help of the kings across the realms to reinforce it in the meantime.

The focus right now was holding off this attack and getting the ward up to mitigate some of the damage and protect the dangerous and volatile things that were housed inside the compound.

Fortunately, as he continued channeling me, I saw severalExemplarmembers heading into the building, having managed to break from the battle long enough to do so and go after the acolytes who’d already gained access inside.

It looked like the tide of the battle was actually turning, despite the setback of losing my dad’s mammoth power and the ward falling.

The ward itself was moments from sealing when a massive surge of energy had us and the magic-wielders still forming protection around me and my dad jolting at the unexpected and unsettling force of it.

In my sluggish state, I was delayed seeking out the source.

By the time I managed to, it was too late.

White fire filled my vision, hurtling toward us, a moment before it hit like the force of tens of blasts at once, ripping into the six of us and sending us flying in several different directions.

I choked, landing on my back, and it took me longer than I wanted, especially in the middle of a fucking battlefield, to roll onto my side and figure out what had happened.

A roar sounded and a chill shot down my spine when I recognized it as my dad’s.

I followed the sound and looked to see him being held off the ground, a shimmering white noose encircling his neck, the magical rope being held by none other than Lenora Hart.

And she was wielding fucking angel magic, just like we’d deduced earlier.

As if that wasn’t enough of an insult to Abigail Rose’s memory, the ultimate defector was also wearing an exact copy of Abigail’s bejeweled floor-length robe. Her shoulder-length spiky white hair flew around her wildly as the furor of the power she was wielding emanated from her, creating powerful high winds that cleared a path all around her.

That had already partially been accomplished from the shock of celestial magic suddenly erupting on the battlefield.

The fight had literally come to a sudden standstill as ally and enemy alike turned toward her, looking on with a mixture of shock and awe.

Her eyes were glowing purple just like Ore’s.

But instead of shining with his classic determination and surety, they shone with unadulterated malice.

“You’re not a celestial being,” my dad was telling her, rasping at the constricting grip her magic had around his throat. “The more you use Abi’s magic, the more it’s destroying you.”

“I know the price I’m paying and I’m fine with it.”

“Because you’re brainwashed into believing in a cause that’s not worthy of any sacrifice. Constantine is a dementedmegalomaniac. Nothing more. He’s no god, Lenora. See sense. See the reality. If you stop now, I can find a way to save you from the damage that wielding celestial magic has already caused you.”

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