Page 116 of Fallen Heirs

“You were crying out about your mother, Ore.”

He stared at me, clearly caught off guard. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Unfortunateisn’t exactly the word that I’d use.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Something, Ore. Something about her to get it off your chest. It’s clearly haunting you, troubling you enough that you’re having nightmares about it.”

“She cut off her wings.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“Alena told me when she flew her up into the atmosphere to get her away from me and to try to calm her down with the thinner air up there, my mom had the instinctual reaction to call her wings, but they weren’t there. And when she tried, Alena just felt jagged bone remaining.”

“That’s… gruesome.”

“It’s ridiculous that I care, that I’m focused on that after everything else she’s done. I mean, I knew she’d undergone a magical transfusion to infuse herself with Constantine’s magic, and his blood, to increase her power and to become more like him, rather than Dark Fae. But the wings… I guess it was the final thing that completely decimated her Dark Fae heritage,any part of her still being like me and my father. She’s done everything possible to put that life behind her, to move on, to—”

“To putyoubehind her. Her son.”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “That’s probably what it’s really about for me.”

“It’s not ridiculous. It’s how you feel.”

“She almost killed me, didn’t she? What she hit me with wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt before, not even from Alena when she attacked me while under Constantine’s control.”

“Even under Constantine’s control, a part of Alena was holding back when she came at you. Your mom wasn’t. Shedidintend to take your life, yes. I’m sorry, Ore. So sorry.”

He scrubbed his hand over his face. “By finding a way for her to wield celestial magic, Constantine has made her the most dangerous being across the supernatural world. He’s had her take his place now he’s without black magic, making her our chief target.”

From everything that had been reported, I didn’t believe that Lenora had beenmadeto do that, or that she’d been led astray like he clearly believed. The responsibility was hers.

But it was also obvious that it was his way of dealing with it, reconciling it. At least for right now, while we were in the thick of it all.

“Alena hesitated when she had my mom in her sights. Hell, in her grip. Forme.She didn’t want to kill my mom because of what she thought it would do to me.”

“Is that why she was able to get away? The hesitation?”

“Yes. In a way I’m glad. Not that she got away, but that Alena didn’t go in for the kill. I don’t want that for her. Not with all her struggle with her darkness. She’s come so far. Taking a life could jeopardize all of that.”

“You don’t really believe that. You believed in Alena before anyone else did. Your saw her potential, you had faith in herability to walk that dangerous line between the light and the dark. After everything she’s endured, if anyone can handle it, it’s her.”

“Xavier—”

“This is about guilt. You don’t want her to feel responsible for taking your mom from you. Because, in spite of everything,youdon’t want it to come to that.” I shifted my weight on the bed so I could reach out and grasp his shoulder. “The thing is, Ore, Alena may be the only one whocanput Lenora down. Celestial magic is involved. That’s her purview.”

He stared out at me for several moments.

And when he finally spoke, all I could hear was pain as he uttered, “Constantine isn’t controlling my mom, is he?”

“I don’t think so, no. Her actions are her own. You know it too. You saw and heard what I did the night of her attack onExemplar.When she struck you at the Academy, she didn’t have to follow Constantine’s orders. He was barely conscious. If she was under his control, with him that weak, it would have been the moment for her to overcome that. Moreover, any brainwashing that may have occurred at an earlier point in their relationship through him wielding black magic, would have dissipated the moment Abigail destroyed it.”

“Even if there’s a way to extract the celestial magic from her, she’s just as dangerous as Constantine. She can’t be left alive and merely imprisoned.”

“Not long ago, I would have said that’s off the table, but so much has changed since. We’ve seen so much damage from Constantine, we’ve been victims of it. And, yes, she’s clearly just like him. Too fucking dangerous to us all. Besides, there’s no way Saryan will let this stand. Somebody tried to murder the son of the Dark Fae King. It doesn’t matter who they are, that it’s Lenora, he won’t let that go. In fact, with how close they’vebecome, I’d imagine he’ll be right by Alena’s side when the takedown happens.”

“How close they’ve become? I knew they’d been getting along in the DFR and he’d taken a liking to her, but that’s the extent of my knowledge on the subject. What doyouknow?”

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