27. ~Xavier~

27

~Xavier~

I couldn’t believe it.

It had been two hours since Alena had returned with a barely mobile Orpheus and an unconscious Constantine Vale.

After all this time, after everything he’d done, they’d managed to capture him.

It was surreal.

I’d even stood there and watched as Alena and Saryan had erected a cell together specifically forged to counter Constantine’s abilities and anything he tried to throw at it. They’d attached it to the cell area that already existed, where those vampires had been for a while until Ore had inducted them into Obsidian a few days ago. They’d made Constantine’s section soundproof so he couldn’t interact with any other prisoners, namely the acolytes that Obsidian had put down during the Exemplar attack. He was far too skilled at getting others to do things for him to make it safe for him to be put in with anyone else. Talon’s phoenix flames had also been added as an extra measure, forming a circle of controlled fire around that periphery of the cell—a bit of overkill with Saryan and Alena’s magic already in play, but I got it. We all wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t escape and that no one would be able to free him either.

Saryan had also set up an alert for any significant movement from him.

Namely, him waking up, which wasn’t going to be for hours after what Ore had done to him. He’d brought him to the brink of death.

The brink of fucking death and he’d had to pull back.

If he hadn’t done so, my dad’s magic would have been lost.

As it was, with Constantine now being held captive by us, Saryan had done what he had with Alena and taken some of his magic and his blood to help us track down my dad’s magic. That, combined with both him and my dad working on a specialized tracking spell to see to it should be enough to find it.

Should be.

Until we were certain, that bastard had to remain alive.

The most powerful sorcerer in existence—a pillar of the supernatural world, as Ore had termed him—couldn’t be without his power for very long. So much would collapse if that became the case. So much was depending on him.

Even the task of tracking down his magic. He’d woken up briefly to come up with that plan of action with Saryan, but he’d then passed out short thereafter. We’d have to wait until he’d had some time to recover from the toll of what had happened today before we could move on that.

And then there was the matter of Lenora Hart.

She was in the wind again.

Quiet for now, but that wouldn’t last long.

Not with all the power she now had at her disposal.

Plus, there was a ticking clock on it, so time really wasn’t on her side there.

But for this moment now, there was nothing more to be done.

Constantine was unconscious, Lenora was off the grid, my dad was resting in a deep sleep, Orpheus was recovering, and the rest of us needed a fucking break.

Just for a little while.

I finally turned from staring at the prison where Constantine was contained, then made my way back toward the central quarters.

As I did I caught sight of some familiar flames.

Peering closer through the dark, I took in Talon surrounded by a unit of Obsidian , the ones working the nightshift and keeping watch. Even though we were in a pocket dimension of Ore’s making, the fact that Lenora had celestial magic and Constantine had told Ore that they’d been working on tracking our location down meant we still needed to be on alert.

I smiled as I watched Talon doing his flame art and entertaining them all, cheers and laughter sounding.

This was a really good thing for him. He rarely gravitated toward anyone else, just keeping strictly to our foursome. But here he was now engaging with others, hanging out, and having fun, keeping morale up.

I knew it had hit him hard to have Ore leave like that headed right into danger. Then to have him returned fucked up had been even worse. At least he was blowing off steam in a healthy way right now.

I guess we’d all come a long way where that was concerned. Working through our issues, becoming more emotionally healthy. It was a work-in-progress for each of us, sure, but the progress aspect was what counted.

I left him to it, not wanting to interrupt when he was having fun and de-stressing.

Making my way into the building, I headed up to Saryan’s room where Alena had been with him and Marlowe discussing the whole Lenora situation, trying to gauge how much longer she had before she succumbed to the toxicity of a non-celestial being wielding celestial magic. I’d found out when I’d heard some of the start of their conversation that Marlowe had never liked Lenora and had always termed her a power whore . But back then Saryan had allowed himself to fall for her charms so that he could produce an heir. He’d really wanted a child above all else and it had driven his actions toward her. He’d wanted to be a father, not so much a husband. That had changed now that he would soon be married again. He wanted to be both through and through.

As I reached their room, I didn’t scent Alena like I had before, that sweet coconut smell of hers faded from the area now.

I was just about to pop in and ask Saryan where she was at so I didn’t have to track her all over the operational center when voices from within the room pulled me up short.

“Very good, you’re taking me so well.”

“Feed me more, my king.”

A thud sounded and a guttural groan.

“Is that enough for you?”

“Fuck… yes… yes. Please.”

“I do love it when you beg me, Commander.”

I tuned out quickly and made my way down the corridor.

A few doors down I came to Ore’s room.

I listened, first only hearing his breathing, which had me frowning because he was supposed to be asleep, yet it wasn’t easy and calm, but rough and wild, more like panting, and his pulse was jumping. The rustling of sheets reached me after a few moments too.

I carefully opened the door, eyeing the bed to find him twisting in the sheets, sweating in his sleep, his breathing growing choppier.

“Stop! Don’t do this!” he started crying out. “ Mom!”

Damnation.

He started thrashing then as he continued shouting, then slamming his head against the headboard in his sleep.

I couldn’t allow it to continue.

He was supposed to be resting after the hit he’d taken earlier. Hurting himself physically in his sleep wasn’t going to accomplish that.

Alena had told us that the concentration magic in the blast Lenora had struck him with had been intended as a death blow. It would have killed most beings. Thank hell Orpheus Hart wasn’t most beings. Saryan had said that if Ore hadn’t recently come into his full power, he wouldn’t have survived it. His despicable mother had actually intended to kill him, to murder her own fucking son.

And as much as Ore could usually take things on the chin and keep moving forward, it was clear that this had hit him hard, that it was actually affecting him as very few things could.

I burst toward the bed, then reached out and stroked his face. “Orpheus,” I called carefully.

He flinched, but still didn’t rouse.

“Ore, wake up,” I called, shaking his shoulders.

He jolted and then suddenly bolted up, both his palms aflame with his purple fire.

I jerked back. “It’s all right. It’s just me, just Xavier.”

He blinked his wide eyes, that wild look in them receding gradually.

And then he sucked in a breath and pulled his magic back, dropping his hands onto the bed.

He looked around the room, then back at me, taking in the situation quickly. “Why did you wake me? What’s happened? Is this location compromised? Has she found it and—”

“We’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

He rested his head back against his pillows. “Fuck. Good. Good.”

“Do you want me to get your father?” I asked, perching on the edge of the bed beside him.

“He’s just been reunited with Marlowe after days apart. I’m sure they’re immersed in one another right now.”

“From what I accidentally overheard, they’d already gotten to the meat of it. Pun possibly intended. It should be winding down any moment now.”

“Dark Fae, remember? The King at that. It’s going to go all night, believe me.” He shifted his weight in the bed. “Besides, I’m fine.”

“You were crying out about your mother, Ore.”

He stared at me, clearly caught off guard. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“ Unfortunate isn’t exactly the word that I’d use.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Something, Ore. Something about her to get it off your chest. It’s clearly haunting you, troubling you enough that you’re having nightmares about it.”

“She cut off her wings.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“Alena told me when she flew her up into the atmosphere to get her away from me and to try to calm her down with the thinner air up there, my mom had the instinctual reaction to call her wings, but they weren’t there. And when she tried, Alena just felt jagged bone remaining.”

“That’s… gruesome.”

“It’s ridiculous that I care, that I’m focused on that after everything else she’s done. I mean, I knew she’d undergone a magical transfusion to infuse herself with Constantine’s magic, and his blood, to increase her power and to become more like him, rather than Dark Fae. But the wings… I guess it was the final thing that completely decimated her Dark Fae heritage, any part of her still being like me and my father. She’s done everything possible to put that life behind her, to move on, to—”

“To put you behind her. Her son.”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “That’s probably what it’s really about for me.”

“It’s not ridiculous. It’s how you feel.”

“She almost killed me, didn’t she? What she hit me with wasn’t like anything I’d ever felt before, not even from Alena when she attacked me while under Constantine’s control.”

“Even under Constantine’s control, a part of Alena was holding back when she came at you. Your mom wasn’t. She did intend to take your life, yes. I’m sorry, Ore. So sorry.”

He scrubbed his hand over his face. “By finding a way for her to wield celestial magic, Constantine has made her the most dangerous being across the supernatural world. He’s had her take his place now he’s without black magic, making her our chief target.”

From everything that had been reported, I didn’t believe that Lenora had been made to do that, or that she’d been led astray like he clearly believed. The responsibility was hers.

But it was also obvious that it was his way of dealing with it, reconciling it. At least for right now, while we were in the thick of it all.

“Alena hesitated when she had my mom in her sights. Hell, in her grip. For me. She didn’t want to kill my mom because of what she thought it would do to me.”

“Is that why she was able to get away? The hesitation?”

“Yes. In a way I’m glad. Not that she got away, but that Alena didn’t go in for the kill. I don’t want that for her. Not with all her struggle with her darkness. She’s come so far. Taking a life could jeopardize all of that.”

“You don’t really believe that. You believed in Alena before anyone else did. Your saw her potential, you had faith in her ability to walk that dangerous line between the light and the dark. After everything she’s endured, if anyone can handle it, it’s her.”

“Xavier—”

“This is about guilt. You don’t want her to feel responsible for taking your mom from you. Because, in spite of everything, you don’t want it to come to that.” I shifted my weight on the bed so I could reach out and grasp his shoulder. “The thing is, Ore, Alena may be the only one who can put Lenora down. Celestial magic is involved. That’s her purview.”

He stared out at me for several moments.

And when he finally spoke, all I could hear was pain as he uttered, “Constantine isn’t controlling my mom, is he?”

“I don’t think so, no. Her actions are her own. You know it too. You saw and heard what I did the night of her attack on Exemplar. When she struck you at the Academy, she didn’t have to follow Constantine’s orders. He was barely conscious. If she was under his control, with him that weak, it would have been the moment for her to overcome that. Moreover, any brainwashing that may have occurred at an earlier point in their relationship through him wielding black magic, would have dissipated the moment Abigail destroyed it.”

“Even if there’s a way to extract the celestial magic from her, she’s just as dangerous as Constantine. She can’t be left alive and merely imprisoned.”

“Not long ago, I would have said that’s off the table, but so much has changed since. We’ve seen so much damage from Constantine, we’ve been victims of it. And, yes, she’s clearly just like him. Too fucking dangerous to us all. Besides, there’s no way Saryan will let this stand. Somebody tried to murder the son of the Dark Fae King. It doesn’t matter who they are, that it’s Lenora, he won’t let that go. In fact, with how close they’ve become, I’d imagine he’ll be right by Alena’s side when the takedown happens.”

“How close they’ve become? I knew they’d been getting along in the DFR and he’d taken a liking to her, but that’s the extent of my knowledge on the subject. What do you know?”

“You’ve been out since you got back from the Academy battle. But she spent a lot of time with him and Marlowe in their room discussing you and then Lenora. But not just Lenora. They were conversing like a couple of old friends.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“That’s certainly something positive that has come out of all of this.” He laid his hand on mine. “Thank you for talking this out with me.”

“Of course.”

“Tomorrow, when I’m back to full strength, I’ll introduce you formerly to the troops. We’ll begin setting you on the track of becoming joint leader.”

“And Alena?”

“Alena too, yes. Talon’s insisted on avoiding any sort of leadership role.”

“He’s still discounting himself.”

“Not entirely. He’s been working hard on planning his supernatural orphanage. He even brought it up to Elliot.”

“That’s a good sign. It means it’s moving from fantasy to reality for him.”

“He just gets nervous about any sort of change, including planning his future. He’s all for envisioning it, but enacting the necessary steps is usually another story. But with the intensity lately, it’s pushed him over that hurdle, and he’s serious about it, even working on a business plan he’s excited about showing us.”

“It might also be his way of coping with you putting yourself in so much danger and him realizing that with the creation of Obsidian , it will become a regular thing.”

He grimaced. “Yeah, I know.”

“You did what you had to do. Talon will accept that. I actually think with what you’ve just reported to me that he already has begun to. He’s also out there right now hanging with the troops, entertaining them with his flame art.”

Ore raised an eyebrow. “That bodes well.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

He sank down into the bed, looking absolutely exhausted. “Check on Alena, will you? Make sure she’s resting. You should’ve seen the shield she erected to hold off my mom’s power. It would’ve taken a lot out of her. Plus, she saw Constantine for the first time since he abused her, it’s not exactly something to just shake off.”

“I was actually headed to her when I heard you in here. I’ll go right now, if you’re okay.”

“I am. I’ll be fine. It helped to get that off my chest.”

As I knew better than most, trauma wasn’t simply something you could cast off from a one-and-done situation of expelling some of its toxicity through conversation. It took time.

But at least he’d made a start and he wasn’t bottling it up and acting like he was okay.

That was a major step for him.

“You need anything, you let me know,” I said, pushing off the bed.

“I will,” he said, smiling tiredly out at me.

I smiled back, then crossed to the door.

I’d barely made it two steps outside when my senses screamed at me and I swung my head to see Saryan approaching, striding down the corridor clad in a sweeping silver bath robe, his thick black hair majorly disheveled, deep scratches all over his throat, some even bleeding.

My pulse picked up, my bloodlust sparking at the scent of royal Dark Fae blood in the air. I’d become used to Ore’s because I’d been around him so much and I’d fed from him. But that wasn’t the case with Saryan. The potent scent of sex all over him was only heightening the struggle for me.

I sucked in a breath and clenched my fists, pulling myself back.

Saryan noticed and swept a glowing silver hand over the marks, healing them instantly. “My apologies, I’m not accustomed to vampires being in my midst.”

“I’m fine, but thank you.”

“Yes, I can see that you are. Your control is impressive. Most vampires become ravenous in the presence of Dark Fae blood, much like angel blood. And you didn’t even call your magic to calm the vampire. You managed it without.”

Shit, I had, hadn’t I?

I really had made peace with it.

He gestured at the door to Ore’s room. “Is my son awake?”

“I woke him up, but he’s settling down again.”

“Nightmares?”

I nodded.

“I’ll see to him.”

He stepped up to the door, but pulled up short and turned back to me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He looked me up and down studiously. “Orpheus isn’t my heir just because of his magical prowess. He’s my son, my blood. Just like you are to Elliot.”

So that was where he was going with this. “It’s different. Because of being a hybrid, I can never match my dad’s power level, never even come close.”

“It may have escaped your notice, but it hasn’t been raw power that has enabled us to survive this war. It has been smarts, strategy, thinking outside the box. And also magical knowledge, something you possess a great deal of. You demonstrated your ability to put that into practice very recently when you temporarily bound your lifeforce to Elliot’s in order to spare him. You were able to apply that knowledge and perform a high-level spell at a moment’s notice. Not many magical beings can achieve that. It’s not something to merely be shrugged off. As for more potent magic required to power certain elements of the supernatural world, that duty could fall to Alena and Orpheus, rather than remain a duty of Exemplar. Things are in a state of transition, so this would the optimal time to realign things in a more conducive way. There would be no need as a result for you to possess the same level of power as your father in order to follow in his footsteps.”

He was good, I’d give him that.

I couldn’t help smiling. “Thank you.”

“Merely giving you your due, hybrid. Soon to be the only known hybrid. Again, not something to merely shrug off.”

He winked, then opened the door and headed into Orpheus’ room.

I turned away and stood there mulling over what he’d said, and actually really started to think about the possibility of following in my father’s footsteps after all.

Voices within reached me.

“Father, I thought you were engaged in a fucking marathon with Marlowe?”

“I was. Your upset called to me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I wished you’d come to me with this immediately after your encounter with your mother, but you retired to this room right away demanding space.”

“I was trying to process it, but then I fell asleep.”

“Because she almost killed you. Are you ready to address that now?”

“Thanks to X, yes, I am.”

“Good, then let me tell you a few things about the real Lenora Hart that will provide you with some solace.”

“Okay.”

I smiled at the good track their conversation was on, then I headed to the far end of the corridor to the room Alena was staying in.

I wanted all four of us together in the same space, but things had been all over the place. First with me partially desiccating after the spell I’d performed to save my father and being put in a room to recover, then Ore needing a recovery space too, then the same with Alena. At least Tal’s room was right opposite mine so we hadn’t been that far apart.

I reached Alena’s door and listened outside, not wanting to knock if she was asleep.

I heard the turning of pages, a pen scrawling across paper, her shifting and a chair creaking.

Definitely still awake.

I knocked on the door and her voice rang out, telling me to come on in.

I opened the door and stepped inside.

As I closed it behind me, I took in Alena looking as sexy as ever in her turquoise satin pajama shorts and tank with the gold trim, her hair all mussed indicating that she’d been running her fingers through it repeatedly. She sat in an armchair over on the other side of the room by the window and adjacent to the bed. Her knees were pulled up and an aged-old book rested upon them. She had a pen in her hand and I noted that it had been chewed.

“You should be resting,” I reminded her, as I crossed the room to her.

“I’m sitting down.”

“Sleeping, Alena. Certainly not doing heavy reading—in the literal sense too.”

“It’s another one of my mom’s grimoires. Well, it’s part journal, part grimoire, really. She recounted everything about her use of her own magic in it, not just spells, but her own concerns about it too. There was a whole period, according to this, where she started to go a little dark and she stopped practicing for months on end.”

I sat down on the corner of the bed just a couple of feet from the chair. “What are you searching for?”

“A way to stop Lenora. A limitation to the magic she possesses of my mom’s.”

“And?”

She closed the book and rested it on her lap as she looked out at me. “As we know, the more she uses it, the more damage she’s doing to her body, because she’s not a celestial being. The problem is, that could take weeks or even months to come to pass if she only uses it in bursts like she has been so far. So the damage she could do in that time is unimaginable, even via bursts because it’s celestial magic we’re talking about.” She pushed out of the chair and put the book down on it. “If we attacked en masse, she’d have to use more of it, more than mere bursts. But she could kill every member of Obsidian in the process.”

“I agree, it’s not a feasible option.”

“Right. Now, in this book, my mom, when she was going through her dark period, researched ways in which she could get rid of her magic entirely.”

“Seriously? Abigail Rose without her magic?”

“Yeah, it was a really bad time for her. Shortly after my dad’s death.” She grimaced. “I just had no idea, she never showed it to me, never even mentioned that was how she was feeling.” She sucked in a breath. “But her doing that, always keeping things locked up tight is part of what led to her taking her life that night.”

“It’s certainly not helpful. As I’ve come to recognize personally.”

“Something I’m relieved about, sweet thing.” She sat down beside me and laid her hand on my thigh, stroking softly and sending a lovely warmth through me. “So, I considered one possibility and that’s siphoning enough of the magic to reduce her power level so me, Elliot, and Saryan can take her down together. But as a Nephilim, I don’t think I can. It could overwhelm me, with my human side being a factor.”

“You don’t need to save her for Orpheus. He understands. He knows what needs to be done. I just spoke with him and he’s making his peace with it. She almost killed him, Alena. There’s no forgiveness for that, especially when she showed absolutely no remorse, when she never has for any of her vile actions alongside Constantine. Besides, she’ll die anyway from wielding magic not meant for her.”

“Actually, there’s a way I can save her.”

“You can?”

“In that volume, my mom detailed a time when she considered lending Elliot her magic to wield and she found a way to protect him from the damage of it. I mean, it never came to pass and he doesn’t know about it, but from all the research I’ve done, the spell seems viable.”

“Let me see it.”

She hopped off the bed, went to the book, then flipped through it, finding the right page, before handing it over to me.

I took it in, the intricate wording and complicated phrasing, the binding elements, every little detail. And then I saw the price.

“No,” I said, closing the book and putting it down beside me.

“It’s not viable?”

I stared at her.

“Xavier?”

I wanted to lie to spare her, to put an end to this dangerous idea of hers right here and now.

But it would be another secret. It would be me protecting her without considering her agency.

“It is viable,” I admitted. “But we’re not doing it.”

“We’re not? Just like that?” she challenged, stepping right up to me in front of the bed.

“You’d have to use your white light to save her.”

“I realize that.”

“As a Nephilim, you only get one shot at it, yes? Not like your mom being a full celestial being?”

“That’s correct.”

“We’re on the verge of a massive battle. Against someone possessing celestial magic that’s stronger than yours. If she overpowers you, your white light would be the only way to save you.”

“I know, but it might not even come to that, especially with the plan I want to implement. If you’d let me finish, I would’ve told you that I discovered a way to take away her celestial magic.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

“I can open a portal to the celestial plane and send the magic through there.”

“Won’t that risk yours being taken too? Like a vacuum effect?”

“No, because I’ll be the one performing the spell. But to do that, it will take a shitload of my power and I’ll need to be right there with her, making me vulnerable for the length of the spell.”

“We can offset that, protect you.”

“And the white light spell?”

“Off the table.”

“Xavier—”

I took her hands in mine. “She’s beyond saving, Alena. Even if she survived and was no longer wielding celestial magic, she’d find another way to take power, to come at us again, to try to rule and run roughshod over the supernatural world. Just like Constantine. They’re the same. Just because she’s Ore’s mother doesn’t alter that. She’s turned her back on him.” I gave her hands a squeeze. “I understand that this is a hard subject for you, talking about the loss of a mother, because of what happened to your own. But this isn’t the same. Ore doesn’t consider it the same either. He knows what she is, how far gone she is. He’ll be able to make peace with losing her.”

She hung her head and took a few moments, before looking me in the eyes again and agreeing, “Okay, yeah. You’re right.”

“Besides, there’s no way Saryan will let her live after what she did to Orpheus. Your new best friend?”

“Best friend?” A little smile played on her lips. “We’ve been getting along well.”

“Something Ore is over the moon about.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She threw her arms around me and held me to her. “I’ve missed you guys so much.”

“We’ve missed you too.” I gathered her into my arms. “Now get some rest so we can all show each other just how much once you and Ore are back to full strength.”

I eased her under the sheets and tucked her in.

“Not gonna sleep over, are you?”

I kissed her forehead, then eased back, pushing off the bed quickly. While I still could.

“If I climb into that bed with you, I’ll be ravaging that sexy little body of yours all night long and no rest will be had.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Count on it. Now close your eyes and don’t get out of bed again until morning. No more reading.”

She settled down into the bed, getting herself comfortable. “I love you,” she said, beaming out at me.

“I love you too.”

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“I’d do nothing less.” I walked to the door. “Sleep now, beautiful.”