21. ~Xavier~

21

~Xavier~

“Wow, so there is some color in the Dark Fae Kingdom,” Talon commented, taking in the space in the depth of the forest, a garden growing flowers of all kinds, a beautiful colorful tapestry that really cut through the blackness otherwise surrounding us.

“Did you grow all of these?” I asked Ore.

“Yes,” he responded tightly. “Now, can we focus?” His patience was running thin because of the tight time constraints. The meeting between my father and Abigail Rose was about to get underway.

He was determined that we were not going to be left out of the loop again.

“Soon the time will belong to the heirs.” That’s what he’d said when he’d met up with us earlier, and he was determined to bring that reality into being. I was with him on that, because cutting us out of these sorts of matters had already cost us all too much.

“Wouldn’t it be easier for you to cast an auditory enhancement spell to overhear their meeting?” I asked him. “Rather than doing it this long-winded way of me listening with my vampiric hearing, then you casting a spell on that so you and Tal can hear what I am?”

“No, because my father would sense my magic. This way there’s a barrier in the form of you.”

“Unless they spelled the room supernaturally soundproof.”

“With the haste Abigail was in when she arrived and the state she seemed to be in, I highly doubt it.”

“Fine, all right,” I said, holding a hand out either side of me. “Come here. Let’s do this.”

Talon slipped his hand into my left one and Orpheus took my right as he called his purple flame.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, while I employed my vampiric hearing, searching out the library with my senses, which was where the two big wigs had retired to for their impromptu meeting.

It didn’t take long before I had them.

I picked up on Saryan’s booming voice first.

“Quite the considerate show to actually pass through the gates normally instead of just teleporting in here with a painful display of your power, Abigail. You must want something from me.”

I heard Abigail then. “We’re all looking to play nice, especially considering the circumstances.”

“To what end?”

“To Constantine’s, of course.”

“I meant, to what extent do you intend me to be involved in that?”

“You are deeply distrustful, Saryan.”

“You delivered a harsh lesson to me three years ago, Fallen. Why would you expect anything less?”

“Circumstances being what they are, I’m not here as a Fallen, nor as a leader of Exemplar . I’m here as a mother terrified for her daughter.”

There was a long pause, and the three of us exchanged a loaded look.

Talk about unexpected.

Abigail Rose was all about business, all about following the letter of the law.

“Well, then. That I can work with.”

“Good, because we’ll need to work together on this.”

“Give me a concrete reason to put my trust in you, Abi. You owe me that at the very least.”

“I know that Constantine has your son’s blood for the Orb of Vorlav.”

A growl sounded from Saryan, the threat in it clear.

“That’s the opposite of giving me a reason. In fact, it sounds like a clear threat.”

“You’re misconstruing my intent. I’ve known he’s had the blood since it happened and I haven’t reported it to Exemplar .”

“Why the omission?”

“Because I know what you’re doing for my daughter.”

“Xavier reported it to El, I assume?”

The guys stared at me, raising their eyebrows.

“You know how much I tell my dad. It was hard enough keeping the fact that your father knew about that Hellborn from him and was acting alone. I wasn’t gonna withhold again like that. Plus, the damage he sustained in the fallout of that was fucking brutal, I can’t stand—”

“It’s all right,” Ore told me.

“Yeah, chill, X,” Tal added.

I frowned, especially at Ore. “Just like that?”

“We’ve all had our secrets.”

Did that mean he still had his secrets, despite us all supposed to be in this together now?

“Get back to it then!” Tal pushed.

I blinked, then focused back on the meeting taking place.

“El is leading an Exemplar team to stop the final attack of Constantine’s acolytes, this one on Forrester Wolf Pack lands. Even though that frees up some resources, we are still taxed given the need for extreme defensive measures all the while the demon remains active.”

“It’s slowing you down with tracking him. And, by extension, bringing your daughter back to you.”

“Very much so. I can’t wait any longer. Knowing what he’s done to her—I saw some of the signs of it myself when I arrived on the scene the day he took the Orb.”

“She’s strong. She’ll survive him.”

“At what cost? The mental and emotional damage he’s caused and no doubt continues to—”

“I didn’t just mean physically strong, Abi. I was there with her. And now I can feel her fighting the infection every moment. It runs through my veins.”

“Why are you offering me comfort?”

“Because I know how it would feel if it were my child in that monster’s clutches. Moreover, Alena is extremely important to my son and his loves. That makes her wellbeing important to me.”

“And a man on his deathbed sees things differently.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I can feel it as I stand here before you. Quite a sacrifice you made for your son with him being in love with my daughter.”

“You have yet to comment on the latter.”

“I’ve never interfered in Alena’s personal affairs and this will be no exception.”

“Even though he’s my son?”

“He may be your son, but Orpheus isn’t you.”

“He still possesses a dark side and that’s something you abhor.”

“For me. Alena is a different story. She struggles with that part of herself because she lets it out every now and then, something that Orpheus and his loves can help her with. In my case, I avoid the dark altogether. At least, until now.”

“Until now? What exactly does that mean?”

“I know you have a traitor here in your dungeons—the part that wasn’t destroyed by Constantine’s attack anyway. He’s someone who has connections to Constantine’s acolytes. And I also know that he’s refusing to provide you with vital intel that will lead to Constantine and Alena’s location. I’m here to see to it that he’s given no further choice in the matter.”

“He’s already undergoing torture. What more can you do?”

“I will breach his mind.”

We heard Saryan choking at that. “The only way to achieve that, because his mind has been protected by Constantine, as all his assets are, is to breach black magic. And to do that, you’d be taking it into yourself. That would not only break many a supernatural law as upheld by you and Exemplar, but it would also infect you. A Fallen compromised by black magic is more dangerous than Constantine himself. Exemplar would never condone this.”

“Hence why I’ve come here alone.”

“I’m sure El won’t be far behind.”

“Then we’d better ensure we just keep the true reason for my visit between us.”

“As far as he’s aware, you’re following up after the invasion?”

“Precisely.”

“All right. How long will it take you to breach Taelorn’s mind?”

“My first time touching black magic… a couple of days. It will need to be done in pieces.”

“Begin as soon as you’re ready. I’ll have a room made up for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait, Saryan.”

“What is it?”

“I didn’t make myself available to you while you were recovering at my home, because I believed it would only aggravate you at a time when you needed to focus on healing. It’s not to say that I wasn’t concerned. And I am grateful for what you’re doing for my daughter.”

“As I am for what you’re doing for my son. Let’s enjoy this temporary truce of ours then.”

“Let’s.”

I stopped listening as I heard a door open and close and the clack of Abigail’s heels a moment later, the meeting coming to an end.

“Well, shit,” Talon exclaimed. “That was a hell of a thing. Abigail’s gonna get a solid lead on Alena! She’ll really be back with us!”

“At a steep fucking price,” I pointed out.

“It’s the only way,” Ore stated. “Alena should’ve been back by now. It likely means she breached most of Constantine’s hold over her, he realized, and he’s holding her captive, keeping her from returning to us.”

I shuddered at the thought.

As if there hadn’t already been enough shudder-inducing things that the devil incarnate had visited upon our love.

“He’ll pay,” I seethed, before I could reign it in. “He’ll pay for what he’s done to her.”

“He sure as shit will,” Tal growled, right there with me.

“You cannot warn your father about this,” Ore told me. “It will fuck with the chance of getting this lead if he stops Abigail from doing this.”

“What will Alena think if she knew? Worse, if she knew we were in a position to stop it and we didn’t?”

“She’s been in that madman’s clutches for too long already. Every day she remains risks there being permanent damage to her psyche. Besides, it’s her mom’s choice.”

“Also, X, do you really think we can stop a Fallen from doing something?” Tal spoke.

I looked at Ore pointedly. “I think Orpheus can.”

He scoffed. “As much as I hate to admit any failure on my part, I didn’t fare well against Alena. Abigail Rose is another story altogether.”

I gave him a withering look. “Nice try. Alena can extinguish dark magic. That’s different.” I laid my hand on his shoulder. “Do you realize that with your father compromised, outside of Constantine, you’re the most powerful wielder of dark magic in the entirety of the supernatural world now?”

He stared back at me and I saw that he hadn’t allowed himself to acknowledge it yet.

“I’m not going to stop Abigail from doing this, X. If it comes back on us when Alena is returned to us, I’ll take the heat.” He lifted a shoulder. “I handle her wrath better than the two of you anyway.”

Tal piped up, “What if this is one of those things, one of those moments that are steeped in regret, the moment that breaks us?”

“Better that than Constantine succeeding in breaking her,” Orpheus said, steadfast.

I cursed under my breath.

As we looked at one another, weighing it all up, one thing was clear.

All there’d been lately were hard choices.

Brutal choices.

Unfair choices.

Choices causing pain and loss.

And before this war was over, there would only be more.

How many could we stand before it truly broke us into pieces?