Page 126 of Amethyst and Iron
“Yes. It’s an arcane metaphor for a hidden store of power.”
“You’ve got a shit-ton of them.”
“Well, you can never be too careful in our world.”
“You mean in your former line of work—your vigilantism.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Either way.”
“Or, could it be that it’s about more than that side of things? That it’s about this other threat now rising alongsidePuritas?”
“Not rising alongside. They’re entwined.”
He jolted. “What?”
“It was all orchestrated. Sorin’s escape fromThe Voidbeing facilitated. The way it happened, it had to be a necromancer.They were watching us. They knew the four of us had drawn close, knew about the exact state of my sickness and what would push me over the edge. Knew I’d performAuctoritas Mortiswhen Sorin killed Velra. They also knew with how sick I was that I wouldn’t be able to hold it, which led to me killing myself and entering the Valley of the Dead that way. Combined then with Kai backpacking off my power to pull Velra and I out… it destabilized the Valley. It was exactly what they wanted. They knew you’d pull something reckless and that was you leaving the protection of Cassius and Ketheron’s place, where Halrow was then able to attack you. They knew I’d need to have my magic bound—or die.”
“Shit.”
“These necromancers being murdered… it’s all part of it. To prevent me from being cured, but also to take out any rivals, anyone who had the specialized magical knowledge and ability to stopScion.The only things that they couldn’t predict correctly were Remnant’s reactions, this transplant situation, and the fact that Velra didn’t spiral after what was done to her, that she’s actually grown a great deal stronger with her power.”
“You’re saying thisScionisn’t an organization? It’s a person? Not only that… they’re a necromancer?”
“Yes.”
“And you know who it is, don’t you?”
“Absolutely,” I ground out.
“Who, Sylas? Who’s pulling all these fucking strings alongsidePuritas?”
I sucked in a breath and steeled myself. “Morien Morgrave.” I shifted my weight. “My father.”
A gasp left him and he looked shocked to his core.
Join the party.
“I thought he was dead.”
I walked to a hook on my wall and snatched up my hooded leather coat, then shrugged it on with a heavy sigh.
“That was the consensus. Across the entire supernatural world, actually. Especially given the fact that Ryker killed him over a decade ago.”
“Ryker Morgan? The Head of the Guardian Movement?”
“The very one.”
“So, that’s why he let five arrests slide? Why he—”
“Took it easy on me and even gave me a way out by sending me to Wraeven Academy, instead of shoving me intoThe Void?I’d say that has a lot to do with it. It was misplaced guilt toward me, though. My father needed putting down. He didn’t leave Ryker a choice with how it played out either. It’s just… with my mother and sister already dead… it left me an orphan, so it hit harder for him.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, shoving a hand through his hair. “What do you think your father wants? Why is he allying withPuritas?Is he all about pure bloodlines too?”
“No. He isn’t. He wants what every megalomaniac wants: unlimited and unchallenged power. I’ve been trying to figure out what that means precisely for him more than just that abstract concept.Andhow he’s… back. How he survived. Both I need to know and understand in order to send him screaming back to hell.”
“This transplant… my dad saying you’re needed back at top form… it’s absolutely true, fucking vital now knowing this. But are you… I mean… are you even in the right frame of mind to be put through an ordeal like that, that sort of procedure? What I walked in on earlier was really concerning.”
“I was using my magic to hold it at bay, to reinforce my compartmentalization of certain… tragedies and… trauma. Discovering the dead bodies of my mom and little sister when I was a teenager, and some things I’ve done—one in particular.”
