Page 19 of Amethyst and Iron
When he opened them, he announced, “He’s coming.”
“Who are you—”
My words caught in my throat as Kai Hunter materialized in a flare of rose-gold magic right beside Cornelius.
His leather trench coat swept behind him as he spun to face him. “I’ll spare you the details given that you’re her grandfather, but suffice to say, I was engaged in a deliciously dirty liaison with Ari and my loves when you ripped into my fucking mind.”
Cornelius grimaced. “I am fully aware. I entered your mind in haste and saw more than would normally be possible with a mere mind-link.” He held up his hand. “My apologies, but the situation is urgent. I trust that you have dissuaded Ariana from following?”
“I threw up a couple of blocks on my way, but with her power, they won’t hold for long. We need to make haste. So what is—” His voice caught, a visible chill rolling over him as he caught sight of Sylas performing the spell.
His gaze flicked rapidly from Sylas to Velra.
Then to me.
It lingered for a while and I saw his pain for me, before that was then focused on Cassius as well.
Sylas had obviously kept him in the know concerning our burgeoning group dynamic.
He sucked in a breath, then addressed Cassius. “How was she killed?”
“An iron blade to the heart.”
I could see the strain it took for him to utter the words, to try to treat them as facts and not loaded with so much fucking devastation.
“Iron blade… like last time.” He swung his head toward Sylas who hadn’t even noticed his arrival or that of Cornelius and Warlow. Some sort of realization flamed in his eyes as he turned back to face us. “Puritaswas here? At least Sorin?”
“Sorin did this to her,” I answered. “Sylas and me also had a run-in with another agent—Victor Halrow.”
I could see his urge to ask more, but with the urgent nature of what he’d been called here to deal with, he didn’t speak to it.
Instead, he focused on Sylas as that same incantation continued. It was clear to me then that Sylas could no longer hear or sense us—he was far too deep in the spell.
Kai eyed Cornelius. “You brought me here to bolster him, to use me as a conduit to allow protective interference intoAuctoritas Mortis.”
Cornelius told him, “To counter what he’s doing without disturbing the spell—which is too far along now and would cause irreparable damage to him and certain death for Velra—you’llneed surgical precision. Specifically, your precision in melding your magic with his, since you’re already familiar with it. I will supply additional power.”
“You’re going to need to. We’re talking a colossal amount to pull this offwithoutcausing further damage.”
“If we don’t, there’s only one way out of it now he’s invoked this particular spell.”
“Black magic,” Warlow uttered with clear distaste.
“He won’t do that,” Kai assured them. “He’ll let himself die instead.”
“What? How do you know that?” I demanded.
“Because of his father.”
I frowned. “His father?”
“I see he hasn’t told you.” His gaze flicked to Cassius. “But you know… a little, yes?”
“Yes,” Cassius admitted, avoiding my eyeline.
Kai cut through the intensity and stepped up to the shimmering red wall, upturning his palms and calling his power. He held the left out to Cornelius. “Let’s reel in this madness.”
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