Page 82 of Reign of the Beast

Straightening and rolling his shoulders, he drew in a calming breath then told me, “With Cornelius and Mia gone,Ibecame the next most powerful magic-wielder in existence.ButI wasn’t strong enough. My power still couldn’t compare to theirs. I wasn’t anywhere near the same ballpark as them.”

“Of course not. Immortal blood does not run through your veins.”

“Immortal blood is not the be all and end all.”

I reached out and softly caressed his cheek, telling him gently, “They will always be stronger, Ryker.” If he could not except that, it would continue to cause him a great deal of grief. I feared he would keep pushing until he pushed too far.

“There is what we’re gifted, then what we work for. Our will, basically. And I’m one hell of a strong-willed son of a bitch.”

“Some might call it stubbornness,” I jested, in an attempt to cut through the mounting tension.

“An argument could be made for it, yeah,” he said, meeting my humor briefly, before a gravely serious expression blanketed his face. “I busted my ass to access this higher level of power, Lucian. It’s not something done overnight, not even for the Immortals. It took me months and I know you saw the toll it took on me while I was doing it. Do you think I’d go through something like that just for vanity’s sake?”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

“It sounded like it. But the reason I did it was so Icouldstand against Draco when the time came again. We were without Immortal allies when I made that decision and we still are now, until Mia gets her shit together. So, here we are, with Draco on his way to decimate the supernatural world’s chief defenders with no Immortal might to speak of. But,I’mhere. I can stop him. I can save them. Sitting out a fight when I know I can help because of selfish reasons like my own safety is despicable. I couldn’t live with myself.”

“You conscience and your caring heart are two of the things I love most about you, Ryker and I understand your reasoning. However, it is a great risk.”

“I could’ve stopped Cornelius,” he announced.

I started in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“That night he pulled us into thatphantasmal plane, I had the means to stop him.”

I recalled seeing that spark of green lightning that night, the magic that had now become part of his normal. “I saw the lightning. That was the first night it emerged and you realized your true potential?”

“Yeah.”

“I could almost rationalize it happening with Mia, but not Cornelius. He is afullImmortal. You couldn’t have overpowered his magic and the same stands for Draco, as a result, my beloved.”

He grasped my arms and leaned into me, whispering, “It’s not aboutoverpoweringthem. This new level of power… this new, next-level magic… it’s different. It works in several different ways. One way that is particularly viable when going up against Immortal power is that it can corrupt an opponent’s magic, effectively destabilizing the stream of their energy.”

I couldn’t conceal my utter shock at his revelation. “There is no known magic-wielder in the world who can do that. This is a brand-new form of magic.”

He grinned smugly. “Damn right it is.” He briefly invoked a spark of his green lightning, eyeing it reverently. “It’s a game changer.”

I took his hand. “It’s still something very new to you. You should practice more, spar with Mia and determine the precise limitations of your magic against Immortal energy.”

He squeezed my hand gently, his expression grave, as he said, “We’re out of time.”

I felt his hand slipping from mine and then his magic flamed into being.

Not expecting it so quickly, I failed to react in time, before he teleported away faster than he had been able to do in the past.

Panic gripped me.

And something I had not felt since I was human.

Fear.

Fear for his wellbeing.

Fear of losing him.

“He'll be all right.”

I started at the sound of the gruff voice.

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