Page 94 of Reign of the Beast

“Now who’s the reckless one?” a croak sounded, pulling the both of us up short.

All three of us looked to see Ryker’s eyes opening, a weak smile spreading over his face as he looked up at Lucian.

He reached out and slid his left hand into Lucian’s hair, his other cupping his cheek. “Mission accomplished,” he croaked. “The Guardian Movement survived.”

Pain bled from Lucian as he stroked Ryker’s hand against his cheek. “At too great a cost.”

Ryker grimaced. “I’m sorry.”

Lucian gathered him into his arms, holding him tightly, breathing him in.

“We don’t have much time,” Mia told them gently.

Giving a nod of acknowledgement, Lucian carefully released Ryker, then climbed off the bed, settling over on the opposite side to Mia, far enough away to avoid being touched by her magic.

I strode over, joining him.

Mia took a seat on the edge of the bed beside Ryker.

He turned his head and grinned at her. “Sweetness. Going to set my body on fire with that magic of yours, huh?”

Lucian and I exchanged a look. Even in his less than stellar state, he was still with the flirting and fooling around.

Mia’s brief grin at his words faded as she focused up and raised her palms and called her magic.

It erupted in the form of her vibrant-blue fire.

Good.She wasn’t using that dark power that worried the fuck out of me.

“This will be intense, Ry,” she warned. “To wipe out the infection, I’m going to need to basically attack you with mine to spur the full intensity of that defensive, next-levelmagic of yours. The Immortal blood I injected into you should be enough to bolster you to withstand it.”

“Should?” Lucian questioned.

“This is brand-new territory for all of us. It’s extremely rare for anyone to be wounded by an Immortal weapon. Not to mention, Ryker’s new form of magic has never existed before. That being said, it’s the only option. If I don’t do this, hewilldie. The blood won’t hold the infection at bay for much longer.”

“When he refused to drop the wards shielding us from Draco, that fucker found another way to make it happen. Ryker dies, his magic dies with him,” I pointed out.

“Yes,” Mia confirmed.

Ryker grasped her hand, jolting her gaze to his, urgency spilling out of him, as he said, “If this fails, find the dagger.”

“What?”

“It sounded like Draco is searching for it.”

“He’s going to kill my father.”

Ryker gave a nod. “Find the dagger before he can. Form the Covenant with Lucian and Jax. It might be just enough to conjure wards strong enough to hide from Draco until you can free Cornelius.”

“Stop,” Mia told him. “There’s no need for alternate plans. You’re going to be fine. Any second now. Do you hear me?”

He smiled. “Of course, sweetness. Guess I’m just being paranoid.”

The three of us exchanged a look, knowing how overly optimistic Mia was being, how completely unable she was to even consider things going a bad way here. She couldn’t imagine life without her best friend. She refused to.

“Ready?” she asked, stepping up close, her hands hovering over his heart.

He smirked. “You know me, sweetness. Born fucking ready.”

---