Page 144 of Amethyst and Iron
“Fine,” Sylas grunted. “Fine. I will.Tomorrow. Things have been… a lot. Especially tonight. Let’s just take a beat.”
“Good point,” I said, getting nods all around. “Tonight we enjoy being reunited, the four of us finally in the same fucking room together after way too long apart.”
“Perfect,” Lazriel said, winking at me as he used my word. Then he walked to Cassius and said, “Listen, while we’re clearing the air and before we all take thisreprieve, I just… about metaking off like that, the way I left your bed after we… I mean, I hope you know that it was real… what happened between us… that it meant—”
“It meant a great deal to me also,” Cassius said, laying his hand on Lazriel’s shoulder. “I did not doubt what it meant to you. Although, I was greatly concerned for your safety.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I just had to… I had to go… I had to do something.”
“I understand.”
Sylas wrapped his arm around Lazriel and tucked him into his side. “And you achieved what you set out to do. You just gave us information aboutPuritas.You found a viable temporary cure for me and, believe me, that’s no small thing.”
“What are your intentions with that?” Cassius asked.
Sylas had told us about it just before they’d left to secure Sorin.
A necromantic core transplant.
“Make the arrangements,” Sylas told Lazriel. “I’ll provide my blood for the test run. We’ll take it from there.”
Relief sung through me.
Cassius smiled.
And Lazriel kissed his cheek. “Good. Really fucking good.”
Lazriel jolted all of a sudden.
“What is it?” Sylas asked, feeling it against him.
Lazriel winced at Cassius. “I left Ketheron with two entire bags of marshmallows. I’d figured I’d just come out here to get you guys back inside, but then we really got into it. And now I heard him wolfing down the second bag, the first already gone.”
“You’re hearing that while Cassius has anauditory reductionspell up?” I questioned.
He lifted a shoulder. “Apparently.”
“Hmm, it seems you have learned a great deal from the Commander of The Shadowed. It is rumored that he can repelmagic to a significant extent through drawing on the full weight of his Ancient blood. Said blood that also runs through your veins,” Cassius told him.
“Huh,” Lazriel uttered. “Cool perk.”
We all chuckled.
It was a lot more than that.
But Lazriel taking things in his stride really took the edge off.
And I’d missed it.
I’d missedthis.
Missedus.
“Hey,”Lazriel said as he emerged from Ketheron’s room and saw me approaching.
I peered inside where Ketheron was tucked up in bed and sound asleep.
“Sorry. It took longer than I thought. You came to get me?”
