Page 13 of Mantle
“You claim my Kindred?” Ketheron asked.
“Without a motherfucking doubt.” He grasped Kai’s hand. “We do.”
Ketheron’s eyes flared dangerously.
And then he opened his mouth and shocked the shit out of us all as he breathed dragon fire.
It passed through the barrier without impacting its structural integrity at all and shot toward Vorzyr.
A scream tore from my throat.
Thankfully, Kai and Grandfather reacted fast and threw up a barrier just before it hit him.
Then Vorzyr intervened, shifting right there into full mammoth dragon form, sweeping above the barrier, then raining down dragon fire upon Ketheron.
It didn’t even impact the dome at all.
Not one iota of damage.
Holy. Shit.
Kai met my gaze through it all, and I saw actual terror from him.
Something like this was his worst nightmare, and withmecaught up in it, that made it beyond unbearable.
I saw the moment he lost his cool and strategic approach.
And then he was raising his palms live with his magic flaming violently, storming toward the barrier and uttering the ancient incantation he’d used on Cassius before.
The dome was impacted then, shuddering under the weight of what he was invoking.
A flash of white light caught my eye, and then Cassius teleported right beside Kai.
He grabbed his hand, said hand glowing vibrantly as he gave Kai his power, boosting the spell.
Ketheron roared as the dome shook violently.
“Stop!” I cried at the needless escalation. I burst forward and grasped Ketheron’s arm and he swung back to me, snarling.
The moment his gaze connected with mine, he stilled.
“This is what they want.Them.The Celestial Plane.”
“What do you mean?”
“War.” He cupped my face, and I heard cries and snarling from my men and my family. Ketheron ignored it as he told me, “Destruction upon us all… it’s their will.” He hung his head. “It’s already started.”
“They’re just afraid for me.”
“You are strong. You didn’t want to leave.”
“I wanted to know what you are, who you are.”
“You know now what I am. But who I am… nothing. I’m nothing beyond my physiology.”
My gut twisted at his awful words.
“I was finally free. But just for a moment.” He stared in that invasive way again, full of so much searching. “They won’t allow me more. Now this plane will hunt me, too. Because it’s the truth, Ariana Martel… they made me to erase you.”
