20. ~Alena~

20

~Alena~

“You’re being remarkably gracious about this.”

I looked at Saryan as we walked side by side through the dark stone corridors of the palace.

His words had definitely been loaded and I could tell that he was stopping himself from making a comment about being pleasantly surprised that my mom’s stubbornness and holier than thou attitude weren’t hereditary traits, that our interactions weren’t fueled with the same difficulties that theirs had been for the most part. Right up until the end when they’d finally made peace between them. That was clearly why he wasn’t speaking to it outright, out of respect to her, and to me and my memory of her.

“Well, it’s the least I can do after assaulting you when you were trying to help me.”

His lip curled. “Ah, yes, I recall a biting slap. The blame there lies solely with Constantine Vale. I don’t hold you responsible for what you were made to do while under his control.” He turned his head. “This cooperation is about more than that regret, however. Or about your wish to perfect this special ability as your loves refer to it.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“You did not wish to create a divide between my son and I.”

“I didn’t, no. Your relationship is important to him. Those three years you were regrettably estranged hurt him and I know he doesn’t want to repeat that.”

“Neither do I, so I appreciate what you’re doing to prevent that. He was willing to stand against me over your wellbeing. He’s never done anything like that before. Certainly not for another. That’s how much you mean to him. At one point, I was concerned such powerful feelings for you would be detrimental to him. I was wrong. Witnessing his display of power a few days ago, seeing him stepping up and taking on a leadership role without it being merely about duty and birthright, it’s clear knowing you and loving you has brought out the best in him, a strength he’d been holding at bay before. Moreover, in spite of external circumstances, he’s happier than I’ve ever known him to be. The three of you bring that to him and I’m grateful he has that.”

“Wow, that’s… thank you.”

I didn’t really know what to say.

He was putting it all out there, so openly too. Making it clear that he didn’t just approve of my relationship with his son, but that he valued it too, and he supported it.

With everything I’d heard about the King of the Dark Fae, I really hadn’t expected this.

I mean, it had been a big enough deal that he’d compromised with this situation, then even agreed to train me too.

This, though? This was another level.

He chuckled at my reaction, telling me, “You’re modest and willing to learn. It’s a rare trait in one so powerful.”

“Especially one with celestial blood, yes?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

“I ran from this world for a long time, from my own heritage. The nature of it has always overwhelmed me, but your son taught me that fear is a useless emotion, only serving to hold back greatness. I was able to move past that, but there has been a steep learning curve and I know to become who I’m expected to be requires constant learning and being open to admitting that there is a lot I don’t know, that I could improve upon.”

“Who you’re expected to be? You’re referring to your mother’s legacy?”

“Her power level. Not so much her legacy, as I can’t see myself becoming a member, let alone, a leader of Exemplar . I thought right after her death that it was where I was supposed to be, to be her heir in that sense. But the way things are, and with self-reflection, it’s become clear that her path doesn’t suit me. It doesn’t fit.”

A knowing smile played on his lips. “You don’t wish to rule, you wish to protect.”

I started in surprise at him putting that together from me not even actually touching on it in any concrete terms. “Yeah. How did you—”

“The way in which you’ve responded to the situation of your special ability coming to light. If it were Abigail, she would have transcended the worry and worked to cement her power, to make the supernatural world accept it, come hell or highwater. She wouldn’t have considered more power a detriment or something to be feared and she wouldn’t have accepted it as such either, despite cries from the supernatural world. Others possessing greater power, yes, but not her own. Because it was celestial borne. She believed she was above it, an exception, if you will.”

“She and I have had different experiences. I recently had Constantine wield me like a weapon and use my magic for his own ends through mind-controlling me. Not to mention, I like a little darkness and I don’t want to shy away from it or fear it, while all she did was fear it, and it hurt her. Don’t let fear and grief guide your life, like it has mine far too much. That’s what she said to me before she died that night.”

“We won’t allow it to come to that for you. Besides, you have a fantastic example in my son. He can walk the line between the dark and the light exceptionally well without allowing it to control his actions or weigh him down.”

“I know. He’s really remarkable. It’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with him.”

He smiled out at me.

As we made it outside to the gardens, I said, “I know my mom made mistakes, but she did try her best. She dedicated her life to her work.”

“I know she did and I’m truly sorry that she had to perish. Especially for the loss that it is to you.”

“Thank you.”

We continued walking, making our way through the gardens, headed to some heavy foliage—or what passed for foliage in the Dark Fae Realm. Black flowerless and leafless trees whose branches were winding and twisted and possessing a ton of spikes .

“You know, there is another reason why I went along with this so easily.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“What you did for me… siphoning the black magic out of me and taking it into yourself to spare me… you saved me. I don’t take that lightly. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome it and break Constantine’s mind control.”

“In time, you would have. You’re stronger than you realize. Alas, time was not on our side. And as I understand it, you spared me too when you refused to allow me to take it all.”

“I couldn’t exactly let you die for me, could I?”

“You can’t let anyone, can you?”

“No. No, I can’t.”

“Don’t lose that. Certainly don’t allow what Constantine has put you through to make it so.”

That was something I’d been struggling with since I’d gone through all of that, my need for vengeance and the grief I’d felt over my mom’s death threatening to lead the way and twist things irreparably, to push me to take a dangerous hardline approach and doing whatever it took to find that fucker and put him down. I’d neared the point of crossing a line I couldn’t come back from, that I would never forgive myself for.

But with help from my men and also seeing how close I’d come, it had managed to pull me back from heading further down that path.

It had brought me back to myself before I’d turned into somebody I couldn’t recognize.

“I won’t,” I assured him.

“Very good.”

We passed through the last of the forest consisting of the twisted black trees, and we came out to an area of desolate space, cracked black ground all over like a desert of ash really. There, a few feet away, were three poles positioned about thirty feet apart, each with silver light emanated from them, licking high into the air. They looked like a cross between candelabras and torches.

Watching me studying them, Saryan told me, “The last few days we’ve been able to discern how to switch from your angelic power to dark magic annihilation seamlessly, however, you’ve been hesitant when it comes to the actual annihilation part. You haven’t wanted to hurt me, so you’ve held back. This is a solution to that.” He gestured at the flames. “My magic. The strongest dark magic in existence. It’s been extracted from my being so you targeting it cannot harm me.”

“Hasn’t that left you weakened?”

“I’m going to trust you with a secret that very few are aware of. All the while I’m within the Dark Fae Realm, my power and strength can regenerate.”

“That’s incredible.”

“There is a limit, however. My magic cannot regenerate from nothing, so if it was all extinguished, there would be nothing to be done.”

“Hence why my ability is still such a threat to you.”

“Not just to me. My magic powers the Realm. Although Orpheus could technically take my place, at his young age, he’s not yet beyond it draining him. As I have done here, extracting my magic from my being, I can do that to prevent it from being lost upon my untimely death, and it was always my intention to leave it behind for Orpheus to keep it running through the kingdom until he could manage it himself. Obviously, I cannot do that if it’s annihilated by your special ability.”

I’d definitely understood the fear that others had of me and of what I could do since word had spread, but I hadn’t realized this aspect of it. I’d seen it more from an individual basis, of people worrying they’d lose their magic because of me, if I was wielded against my will to stand against this faction or that. But now hearing that an entire kingdom could fall because of it, that it would destroy an entire population and thereby even disturb the balance of the supernatural world as a result… it was a heady thing.

Seeing my distress, Saryan told me, “We must focus on your training here and now. The failsafe experiments are progressing as we speak.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding fervently and trying to relegate my focus to the immediate.

He gestured at the silver magic on the far left. “I want you to attempt to merely infect this one with your ability, rather than using a continuous stream. When we stream our magic, it takes a great deal of sustained effort. It risks tiring us too quickly. Moreover, it’s also time-consuming to eliminate a target that way. Given that our target is Constantine Vale, it’s a problem. His vampiric speed enables him to escape a streaming standoff like this once he realizes he is outmatched or in danger of losing the standoff. It’s only his arrogance that has led to him engaging in such a thing at all, but after his recent failings and defeats, it’s doubtful he will put himself in that position again. He knows now what you are capable of and he’ll be mindful of that and use that knowledge to his advantage and your disadvantage.”

“Understood,” I said, taking his words in.

I stepped forward and took position a few feet from the target.

“Be clear and decisive in your intent,” he instructed me.

I sucked in a centering breath and mustered my focus.

Then I turned my left palm up and called my power. With my right, I manipulated the golden fire into a sphere, twisting my hand and growing it larger, embedding my will into it, sparks forming all around the circumference, then beginning to spread to the rest of it too until the flames were gone and replaced entirely with floating sparks making up the sphere.

And then I sent it sailing toward my target in the distance.

The moment it hit, the sphere exploded, its sparks raining down all over the silver fire, infiltrating it in the process and infecting the heart of it too.

It began to flicker unstably.

The vibrancy of the flames muted.

And then they began to snuff out as the infection set in.

In moments, all that remained were tiny sparks.

“Impressive,” Saryan commended. “All you’ll need with this plan of attack is access to a portion of his magic for the infection to latch onto.”

“Exactly. Then I can put him out of commission. At least, magically speaking. We still have the vampire side to contend with.”

“While the infection is ravaging his power, he’ll be compromised.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Of course, there is one issue, an issue you seem to be trying to ignore and work around instead.”

“What’s that?”

“You didn’t annihilate the magic entirely.” He gestured back over there and I watched as the silver flames started to grow again.

“It’s not like he can regenerate his magic like you can.”

“We don’t know that. Constantine was able to infuse his magic into other beings and have them wield it as theirs. That’s a formidable achievement. He also gave my ex-wife a magical transfusion, something exceptionally rare and difficult to achieve. Even without the use of black magic, he is extremely powerful. After me and my son, he is the most powerful wielder of dark magic across the realms. He’s also an elder vampire, well-learned and possessing a wealth of experience. Not to mention, he is a gifted strategist. Nothing is off the table when it comes to him. Nothing can be discounted.”

I shoved a hand through my hair. “It’s a violation of the natural order to destroy magic entirely. An upset to the balance. My mom did that when she rid the world of black magic and she had to pay the ultimate price for it. For me to do what you’re asking, I’ll have to tap into darkness, the act isn’t that of a Light magic being.”

“You already straddle the line between both the dark and the light by having this ability in the first place.”

“I know, but—”

“You were born to walk that line. Just like my son. All that you’ve experienced has prepared you for such a thing.”

“You’re saying Constantine inadvertently created a monster?”

“In essence. A monster specifically geared toward his destruction. His hubris in believing he could control a celestial being led to the greatest mistake of his existence—making an enemy out of you.”

“You know, you pushing me to do this, to actually wipe out someone’s dark magic entirely, is majorly detrimental to you. If I break through this barrier and manage it, the threat I am is unimaginable.”

“That’s the thing, Alena. From observing this ability of yours over the last few days, studying the way it works, the nature of it, there is no doubt in my mind that you can do more than extinguish a stream and what is being thrown at you, but that you can wipe it from a magic-wielder entirely. To create the failsafe, I need to capture the essence of that, the moment that occurs.”

I shifted my weight and sucked in a breath. “All right. I can do this.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you can.”

“It might take some time.”

“Then we best continue.” He gestured at our targets in the distance. “Now try again.”