Page 114 of Fallen Heirs

I’d even stood there and watched as Alena and Saryan had erected a cell together specifically forged to counter Constantine’s abilities and anything he tried to throw at it. They’d attached it to the cell area that already existed, where those vampires had been for a while until Ore had inducted them intoObsidiana few days ago. They’d made Constantine’s section soundproof so he couldn’t interact with any other prisoners, namely the acolytes thatObsidianhad put down during theExemplarattack. He was far too skilled at getting others to do things for him to make it safe for him to be put in with anyone else. Talon’s phoenix flames had also been added as an extra measure, forming a circle of controlled fire around that periphery of the cell—a bit of overkill with Saryan and Alena’s magic already in play, but I got it. We all wanted to ensure thathe wouldn’t escape and that no one would be able to free him either.

Saryan had also set up an alert for any significant movement from him.

Namely, him waking up, which wasn’t going to be for hours after what Ore had done to him. He’d brought him to the brink of death.

The brink of fucking death and he’d had to pull back.

If he hadn’t done so, my dad’s magic would have been lost.

As it was, with Constantine now being held captive by us, Saryan had done what he had with Alena and taken some of his magic and his blood to help us track down my dad’s magic. That, combined with both him and my dad working on a specialized tracking spell to see to it should be enough to find it.

Shouldbe.

Until we were certain, that bastard had to remain alive.

The most powerful sorcerer in existence—a pillar of the supernatural world, as Ore had termed him—couldn’t be without his power for very long. So much would collapse if that became the case. So much was depending on him.

Even the task of tracking down his magic. He’d woken up briefly to come up with that plan of action with Saryan, but he’d then passed out short thereafter. We’d have to wait until he’d had some time to recover from the toll of what had happened today before we could move on that.

And then there was the matter of Lenora Hart.

She was in the wind again.

Quiet for now, but that wouldn’t last long.

Not with all the power she now had at her disposal.

Plus, there was a ticking clock on it, so time really wasn’t on her side there.

But for this moment now, there was nothing more to be done.

Constantine was unconscious, Lenora was off the grid, my dad was resting in a deep sleep, Orpheus was recovering, and the rest of us needed a fucking break.

Just for a little while.

I finally turned from staring at the prison where Constantine was contained, then made my way back toward the central quarters.

As I did I caught sight of some familiar flames.

Peering closer through the dark, I took in Talon surrounded by a unit ofObsidian, the ones working the nightshift and keeping watch. Even though we were in a pocket dimension of Ore’s making, the fact that Lenora had celestial magic and Constantine had told Ore that they’d been working on tracking our location down meant we still needed to be on alert.

I smiled as I watched Talon doing his flame art and entertaining them all, cheers and laughter sounding.

This was a really good thing for him. He rarely gravitated toward anyone else, just keeping strictly to our foursome. But here he was now engaging with others, hanging out, and having fun, keeping morale up.

I knew it had hit him hard to have Ore leave like that headed right into danger. Then to have him returned fucked up had been even worse. At least he was blowing off steam in a healthy way right now.

I guess we’d all come a long way where that was concerned. Working through our issues, becoming more emotionally healthy. It was a work-in-progress for each of us, sure, but theprogressaspect was what counted.

I left him to it, not wanting to interrupt when he was having fun and de-stressing.

Making my way into the building, I headed up to Saryan’s room where Alena had been with him and Marlowe discussing the whole Lenora situation, trying to gauge how much longershe had before she succumbed to the toxicity of a non-celestial being wielding celestial magic. I’d found out when I’d heard some of the start of their conversation that Marlowe had never liked Lenora and had always termed her apower whore. But back then Saryan had allowed himself to fall for her charms so that he could produce an heir. He’d really wanted a child above all else and it had driven his actions toward her. He’d wanted to be a father, not so much a husband. That had changed now that he would soon be married again. He wanted to be both through and through.

As I reached their room, I didn’t scent Alena like I had before, that sweet coconut smell of hers faded from the area now.

I was just about to pop in and ask Saryan where she was at so I didn’t have to track her all over the operational center when voices from within the room pulled me up short.

“Very good, you’re taking me so well.”

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