Page 154 of Rose and Shadows
“Ow!” he cried. “How is that going to help the situation?” He rubbed the site where I’d slapped him. “Do you know how hard you hit? That’s gonna leave a bruise.”
“Well, then, good thing you’re using your magic to hide everything, isn’t it?” I shot back.
He held up his hands as Velra moved to speak and back me up. “I just… finally being restored… aftereverything… I just wanted to revel in it with the three of you. No negativity. No constraints. Just for a little while.”
Dammit.“Shit, you don’t even need to pout.”
“To tug at your heartstrings?” he queried.
“Yes, you maddening bastard.”
He smiled.
And then a brief flare of his crimson glow radiated the length of him.
Him dropping the magic he’d had in place, a glamor.
Then I heard it—his irregular pulse, the strain with his breathing.
He saw us registering the shift in him—as if the sweat beading his brow and over his chest that was now visible wasn’t enough of a giveaway as it was.
“I had a time-release on it. Twenty minutes from now it was going to drop and I was going to clue you all in. I just didn’t want it ruined… just wanted some time for us that wasn’t marredby external factors, this war, other players, any of it. It wasn’t intended as one of my secrets.”
Velra, Cassius, and I exchanged a look, a lot being said without words.
And then Velra told Sylas, “Okay.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Okay? Just like that?”
“Yep,” she confirmed. “You’ve been doing well with that lately, drawing on us, pulling together instead of lone-wolfing it. I mean, there are some things that—”
“Requital.”
“What?”
“Requital is what me and Ry are calling the proposal that will bridge the gap between the Guardian Movement and The Shadowed.”
“Yeah?” she asked, excitedly, with him so easily sharing.
“Yeah,” he said, grinning. “Want to know the whole deal?”
“Of course. Just one thing first.” She crawled over me and Cassius to reach him, getting an ass rub from me along the way that had her giggling.
And then she settled cross-legged in front of Sylas and took his hand and stroked the Nexus Band ring still there on his finger.
It didn’t work anymore.
She’d given it to him to monitor his wellness, but with him having his magic bound for a while, then the interference of the transplant, it had broken the connection, rendering it as just a ring now.
She tipped her head up to look at him.
He nodded, getting it. “With the coming battle, you need peace of mind. Go for it.”
“And you won’t alter it, or redirect it to focus on somebody else this time?”
His eyes flicked to Cassius. “You told her?”
“That you had it focus on Vorzyr’s wellbeing, switching the frequencies of his Nexus Band and yours when you and Cassius went on thatPuritascell massacre mission?” Velra spoke. “No. He didn’t. I figured it out myself after the two of you revealed what you did and I realized I hadn’t felt you being in danger, but I did feel a flicker of Kai Hunter’s magic. Then knowing Vorzyr has a Nexus Band also, I put it together.”
