Page 102 of Fallen Heirs

His words caught in his throat as Elliot suddenly started convulsing on the bed, seizing right there.

“Dad!” X cried, rushing right up to the bed.

I followed Ore over, who reached out with a glowing purple palm and pressed it to Elliot’s forehead, closing his eyes briefly and concentrating.

They snapped open a moment later and deep concern flared in his eyes. “He’s not just weakening him now, he’s draining him.”

“Of all his magic?” I asked. “How? Where could he be storing it, that much power? He can’t wield Light magic, he’s a dark magic-wielder.”

“He must be using my mother’s borrowed celestial magic. She has the ability, like Abigail did, to store it in something much like the Vitalium. But it’s not just his magic being drawn on now, they’re draining his lifeforce.”

“No!” X cried. “They can’t… they can’t do this.”

In the next second, he called his power and swept his palms over the length of his dad, forming a cobalt-blue film around him.

The seizing stopped and Elliot looked out at us wearily.

X stumbled and I was there holding him up in the next moment.

“You didn’t,” Ore uttered.

“Didn’t what?” I asked. “What’s happened?”

“I had to,” X said, eyeing him gravely as he further weakened against me. I eased him into a chair adjacent to the bed and he sank into it. I watched in horror as his skin started turning gray in places, his fingers, his throat, part of his face.

“What? What’s happening?” I demanded, urgency taking me over. “It looks like he’s desiccating.”

“He is,” Ore confirmed. He scrubbed his hand over his face. “He just fed his dad some of his lifeforce and he’s continuing to do so.”

“Xavier,” Elliot called weakly. “Stop… the spell.”

“No.”

Ore stepped forward.

“Don’t,” X ordered him. “You do and I’ll never forgive you.”

“Motherfuck, Xavier,” Ore muttered. He looked between them, trying to figure out the best strategy here to fix this fucked-up situation. He started pacing, then told us, “Marlowe will head to the DFR immediately to retrieve the dust we need for the spell. My father will be needed in order to write and perform the spell in my stead. We can’t wait for him to regain his strength now, we’ll have to take the risk performing it as is.”

“In your stead? Where are you going?” I asked, really fucking worried as I saw that dark, determined look flaring in his eyes. The one that always meant some bad shit was about to go down.

“I need to go to that meet with Constantine. It will buy us the time needed to break the magical connection he has to Elliot.” He glared at X. “And keep these two alive long enough to perform the spell.”

I pushed away from X and stormed up to him. “No. There’s no fucking way you’re doing this.”

“There’s no choice now.”

“Ore—"

He smiled out at me, bittersweet. “Trust me.”

“I do, but—”

“I won’t be long.”

“Orpheus, this is a bad idea,” X rasped.

“Your dad will die if I don’t. Your only remaining blood family, the strongest sorcerer in the world, the head of Sabre Tech whose tech is greatly needed by us all, the leader ofExemplar.He’s a pillar of the supernatural world. He cannotfall. Ever. And now you’ve just tied your lifeforce to his, you’re on borrowed time too.”

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