Page 133 of Obsidian and Frost
My life.Was that what it really was? Was I truly embarking on that? Or was I merely accustoming myself to this plane from the standpoint of survival and nothing more?
Hades,in truth, determining the answer to that was part of why I was here now.
At this place forthe feared, the hunted, and the deadly.
I made my way down the corridors, taking in the deep red paneling and the low light evoking a soothing atmosphere from the orbs above flickering with flames. Tapestries lined thewalls. I adjusted my charcoal shirt which had ridden up from me flying here, then I tugged at the edges of my black jacket. My boots clacked on the dark slate floors as I went, passing a few students on my way who looked me up and down, some showing curiosity, others seeming to indicate flirtatious interest. Perhaps. I wasn’t well-equipped to discern that. At least not yet. I was working on it, however, and a book that Lazriel had sent me as more of adigor an insult that anything else, had actually been very helpful of late—Emotional Intelligence in the Modern Age.
As I reached my designated classroom, I found myself rubbing my multicolored beaded bracelet. It had been a gift from a couple of the children at Haven Initiative who’d made it together. Ketheron had several, he was that popular with them.
Every now and then, when things caused me undue stress, I’d taken to fiddling with it. According to that book, it was some sort of sublimation, an anxious tic, and a way to ground myself.
It was all terribly complicated.
So much about this mortal realm was.
I stepped into the classroom, and the surroundings were quite pleasant. The décor wasn’t overwrought or ostentatious, but simple and comfortable, yet also possessing an air of refinement.
Dark wood desks were paired with blue velvet chairs with the interesting addition of curved feet. Quartz panes of the windows stretched across the left side of the room. And I rather liked the stone archways functioning as doorways. It elevated the space.
I walked to the magical circle at the front near a desk intended for professors, several volumes floating in midair that I’d been informed by Dean Orlan Bovin altered with a flick of magic to reflect those related to the subject being taught at the time.
Ritual Ethics & Celestial Lawfare.
That was the subject that I’d come here to teach the students of Wraeven Academy.
Cornelius Martel had originally been slated to take on the role of Guest Lecturer for this particular topic. He was largely considered the original Immortal, the first Fallen who’d taken to assimilating onto the mortal plane. He’d also founded and headed the Guardian Movement for a long while.
However, his current role as Inter-Realm Ambassador as well as his much more covert responsibility as founder of Arcanum Order already had him incredibly busy.
The Dean had nearly reassigned the lecture to a Guardian Movement representative, somebody who did not possess firsthand knowledge of the Celestial Plane and merely knew the facts but without the detailed and personallivedinsight that somebody like Cornelius and myself could provide.
I’d stepped in instead, meeting with the Dean to offer my services, and he’d been overjoyed that somebody of my esteem when it came to Celestial matters was actually interested in teaching the students here.
As much as I didn’t like to draw attention to myself—or highlight my experience as an agent of the Celestial Plane, given the despicable acts they’d come to commit—itwasa subject I held a wealth of knowledge on. And it was something that needed to be known and explored, especially among young supernatural beings who were just starting out in the world. It was an ultimate cautionary tale, in fact, and they could learn much from it.
Personally, however, taking this role put me right where I needed to be.
No longer standing at a distance to mylittle shadow, while also not invading her space in an unsettling way. Given the fact that she wouldn’t be taking this class, it further served toensure it wasn’t too invasive. And it also avoided any issues with professor-student power dynamics.
At least with her.
I would operate the same with her two loves whowereactually a part of my class.
It wasn’t my intent to complicate her life.
I was here to assist.
Just like the wolf hybrid had impressed upon me.
For all my efforts to prevent myself from making direct contact with Velra and impacting her life, here I was now doing this.
On the surface, it was at the insistence of Lazriel and Sylas, their concerns that she needed my assistance, and assistance that only I could provide given our Soul Brand.
Truthfully, though, it was more than that.
The other day had made that clear to me when I’d felt a great deal of pleasurable intensity from her through our tether. It had taken me a while to realize it had been her with them—engaging in sexual acts with them.
It had startled me and unnerved me at first.
