Page 174 of Amethyst and Iron
I was about to ask Cassius to land there amongst them and the crowds of hybrids, but then a violent flare of rose-gold magic caught my eye over in a clearing amongst the trees, the area not visible to everyone outside the facility.
Cassius was already on it, and as we drew closer, I took in Kai Hunter standing before Ketheron, one palm blazing with his power and the other clutching his Aetherbound Scepter.
In warning, it seemed.
“Hurry,” Lazriel urged Cassius.
Employing more speed took force and a suddenness that together sent Cassius’ intended cautious stealth approach to hell.
Their eyes were on us as Cassius touched down hard, so much so that it cracked the ground beneath his feet.
But being as caring and truly loving as he was, he steeled Lazriel and me from it by holding us a few inches off the ground until he’d absorbed the bone-rattling impact.
As soon as he lowered us and released us, Lazriel burst toward Ketheron, standing in front of Kai and throwing his hand out. “He’ll be fine. He’ll calm down. Don’t fucking touch him with that Celestial magic inside that fucking scepter. It’s Ariana’s magic. It can hurt him.”
“I’m protecting him,” Kai retorted, still holding steady, not pulling his magic back, nor taking his direct focus off Ketheron even as he answered Lazriel.
Ketheron was snarling, his body basically vibrating with his upset and his colossal power that was clearly right on the edge of being released.
“Where is Ariana?” Cassius demanded of Kai, as he and I strode over to the three of them. The last defense when it came to containing Ketheron was definitely Ariana due to the fact that Ketheron had imprinted on her and that connection would serve to hold him together if things went a truly dangerous way.
“The Guardian Movement received intel pointing to consecutive attacks on each CRS facility. She’s at Facility 2 as a mammoth deterrent. Cornelius and Warlow just arrived atFacility 1 while you were on your way here so Cornelius could provide the same deterrent.”
I cursed under my breath. The scale of this… it was worse than I’d even thought. Nyx hadn’t even been able to finish giving me the details of the attack on this specific facility. I’d heard screaming and roaring and then the call had cut out.
Seconds later, me, Cassius, and Lazriel had torn down here.
“Then let Ketheron provide that same deterrent,” Lazriel told Kai.
“Once he calms down, I’ll be more than happy to. He needs to.”
“Needs to?” I questioned. We were missing something.
“Show them,” Ketheron told Kai. “Or I will. And you’ve made it clear you don’t want me employing my power until I have calmed. The same goes for Nyx because he saw it all too. It is why you called in Vorzyr, to soothe him while you dealt with this…cleanupas you crassly referred to it.”
Kai blew out a breath. “How else would you have had me refer to it?”
Kai seemed unusually irritated. I’d heard that he was super calm in the face of a crisis, or anything at all. But right now the strain from him was clear.
Ketheron had said Nyx had witnessed something. I’d just seen the state of Nyx who was clearly in great distress. That had to be why Kai was reacting this way. Because Nyx was hurting, that this nightmare tonight had cut into him so deeply.
“I want it given the weight that is warranted,” Ketheron spoke, answering Kai’s short-tempered question.
Kai grunted, then pulled his power back and strode up to Ketheron, dematerializing his scepter as he did. He reached out carefully and laid his hand on Ketheron’s arm. “If I give it the weight it absolutely does deserve, while we are still in the thick of things, if I allow emotion to lead the way, it will compromisemy judgment. It will poison rational thought. And that can’t be allowed.”
Ketheron’s eyes flickered.
“I’m sorry,” Kai told him. “I’m sorry you saw it. It’s absolutely fucking horrific.Butthat can’t be addressed more than on a surface level yet. All right, sweetheart?”
Ketheron took a moment, then heaved a weighty sigh, his dangerously reverberating power calming noticeably. “Yes. Of course.” He nodded. “I shall heed your words.”
“Very good,” Kai said with a smile, releasing him and stepping back.
I saw Cassius squeeze his eyes shut briefly in relief.
A sober expression spread over Kai’s face as he strode a few feet to the edge of the clearing, then called over his shoulder, “Brace yourselves.”
He swept his rose-gold magic over the area.
