Page 80 of Reign of the Beast

“Then I won’t have enough power to defeat Draco. My father intended meandhim to face off against Draco. If that were the case then our combined efforts would have been enough. Alone, though, with him captured and waning in strength, that’s no longer an option.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Fucking winged bastard was playing one hell of a dangerous game. What if I’d already claimed you, huh?”

“Then we’d be in trouble.”

“The fates ensured that you didn’t,” Lucian said.

Mia’s gaze snapped to his. “Of course! My father was trusting in that, using it as a failsafe.”

“I’ll do you one better,” I spoke up. “He made you find the journal. He’s weakened with his magic depleting, but he’d still be able to pull off drawing you toward a freaking book. There’s a blood link between you because you’re family, which would have made it much easier for him.”

“Makes sense, princess,” Jaxon said. “You found it at just the right time too.”

“The puppet master never fails to make us dance in his ruthless masterpiece theatre,” Lucian growled.

Mia’s distress at the sheer invasive manipulation at her father’s hands was obvious and painful to witness.

Whenever we figured we’d finally discovered the extent of it, something else came to light. There was no line he wasn’t prepared to cross to enforce his will. All his bullshit talk about free will to Mia and here he was directing every move we made. The ends justified the means for him, the end being putting Draco down permanently. None of us were safe from his twisted influence. Not even his own daughter.

I saw Jaxon register the raw emotion all over Mia as everything sank in with an awful brutality for her. He took a beat, scrubbed his hand over his face, then reached out and stroked her shoulder, drawing her gaze to his. “It doesn’t matter how we do it, just that we do it, all right? I’m good with it happening during the ritual, princess.”

Color all of us shocked.

“Jaxon, you don’t have to pretend that—”

“There’s no pretending.”

“You’re sure?” she pressed.

“Yeah, I mean, the whole idea of having everything just right and perfect and all that… it’s not what really matters. The actual act of the claiming does, bonding withyoudoes.”

A smile ghosted her lips. She leaned against him and nuzzled his shoulder. “Thank you, baby.”

He wrapped his arm around her, holding her tightly.

Then the two of them returned to eating.

I couldn’t though.

There was a heavy weight hanging over us, the proverbial elephant in the room.

As much as I wanted to wait on it, given how upset Mia was, I just couldn’t.

So, I shifted my weight on my chair and put it out there, asking her, “Are you ready to perform the ritual and seal the Covenant?”

I felt Lucian tense beside me.

Jaxon tossed me a look, a low growl rumbling in this throat.

I wasn’t having it and I gave him the brutal truth, “We’ve already stalled as long as we can so that Mia could regain her equilibrium, so the rest of us could prepare ourselves, so we could all bond. That’s been achieved. Now, with every second we wait, Draco remains out there unchecked wreaking havoc. Cornelius’ strength is draining away, all the pillars of the supernatural world that he’s erected are crumbling. The longer we wait now, the more of those that will fall.”

“All right, Ryker, we get it,” Mia cut in, pulling away from Jaxon and sitting up straight.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Well? What’s the verdict, sweetness?”

Her eyes bored into mine, determination and conviction flashing brightly, as she uttered the words I’d been waiting on for too long.

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