Page 29 of Amethyst and Iron
“Where are Nyx and Vorzyr?” I asked Ariana.
“Nyx is locked down atSolumira.Vorzyr is keeping him company and trying to take some of the weight off how awful this whole thing is.”
“I helped with an additional ward,” Ketheron said.
“Yeah, Nyx wasn’t exactly happy about it. He wanted to be here to check on Velra. But withPuritasnow known to be out there and activating again, we’re not taking any chances.”
“Fuck, no,” Kai agreed, before warning me, “You’ll need to do the same with Lazriel.”
“I’d wager that Grandfather already has a safehouse prepared for him. Wraeven Academy will need to be reinforced with protections before it can perform such a high-level of safeguarding. Lazriel is a chief target as stated by a high-rankingPuritasmember themselves. That’s in the process of being confirmed and validated, because the Guardian Movement can’t afford just to take the word of one being, even if it is Lazriel, especially given that he was deep in grief at the time with Velra dying. But as soon as it’s officially confirmed, it’s likely that Blackline Protocol will be activated. And in the meantime, they’ll protect Lazriel.”
“They do not need to. I will see to it.”
“Yes,” Ketheron said. “He will need to be with those he cares for. You now qualify. He needs connection and support, especially while Sylas and Velra remain incapacitated. Isolating and trapping a wolf, even for their own good, will not do well at all.”
He had a great deal of insight into that—being trapped and alone. The fact that he was calling on such horrific memories now in order to help and advocate for another was truly admirable.
I went to reach out to him, but then I was startled as Lazriel rounded the corner with Warlow, the latter growling in our direction, obviously having overheard us moments ago.
“Blackline Protocol and these protections will only be temporary,” Warlow told us. “Hybrids won’t be forced into hiding once again without an end in sight. We’ve come too far to allow that. It would only be givingPuritaswhat they want—allowing fear to define us and control our actions.” He walked to the windows, staring through at Velra, muttering to himself. “As if she hasn’t already endured enough of this.”
I clenched my fists down by my sides. “They believe this is their re-genesis, but it will mark the path toward their ultimate demise.”
My words hung there, falling heavily and profoundly over us all.
Then Lazriel came to me and patted my shoulder. “Nice speech. Just the kind of uplifting shit we need right now.”
His tone appeared sardonic, but I knew better at this point with him.
And even if I hadn’t, the way he clutched at my shoulder, before pulling away made it clear how much he’d needed to hear that, to have that conviction and positive call to fight injected into the despair and pain that was threatening to rule all.
As he was pulling away, something on the back of his hand caught my eye and I snagged his wrist. “What is this?” I asked, drawing it down between us and examining it.
Red veins crawled up his skin.
“Lazriel?” I urged, as I pushed up the sleeve of his crimson tee. Well, one of Sylas’ rare long sleeve ones that he’d changed into, along with a pair of black cargo pants, when Kai and him had gone to Sylas’ home to retrieve the serum. Lazriel had been covered in blood, but I doubted changing into those clothes was just about cleanliness—he wanted to smell like Sylas. I noted that he’d also cleaned the precious bracelet that Velra had made for him and it was near sparkling.
I’d also noticed that he hadn’t once looked back inside that room since he’d come in from his wolf run with Warlow. In fact, he had gone out of his way not to do so.
“It’s nothing.”
Ketheron leaned over to inspect the situation as well. “Blood poisoning.” His eyes flicked to Lazriel. “You ingested the blood of a being touched by death magic? Why? It is known the realm over for its extreme toxicity to vampires.”
“Why are the veins red? They shouldn’t be. Blood poisoning of this nature expresses itself as black veins, sometimes brown in rare cases.”
Instead of answering, he was focused on Ketheron’s question, telling him, “I didn’t… ingest it.”
“Whose is it?” I demanded, an urgency taking me over that I couldn’t contain for the life of me. “Sylas or Velra? If the blood belonged to Sylas, you are in grave danger, given the addition of his sickness on top of the natural toxicity of his blood.”
“When you were unconscious, I fed Velra my blood, before I then moved to do the same to you. I’d gouged open my wrist and it… her blood… it was everywhere. It must’ve gotten inside my system.”
“It absolutely did,” Warlow said, coming over. “Our wolf run was interrupted by him vomiting all over the grass. Have you ever seen a wolf vomit? It’s not a pretty sight.”
As he ruffled Lazriel’s hair, Lazriel grunted, “It wasn’tprettydoing it either.”
Warlow’s magic sparked briefly and then a two-inch glowing green vial sealed with a cork materialized. “Fortunately, it already occurred to both me and Cor that something like this would happen once we found out Lazriel had gotten so close to Velra, so we took precautions. Ryker contributed some of his defensive magic that has the ability to nullify most other magical properties, and we engineered it into this tonic with a mix of herbs that will soothe his system and hurry the remnants of Velra’s blood out of his system faster than would normally be possible. It also possesses repairing properties. I gave him one dose outside, but he’ll need another within the next couple of hours. This dose needs to be taken with a meal.”
That explained the veins not being what was expected—the tonic was already healing him.
