Page 112 of Imprisoned with the Vampire King

"Angelic magic is a lot more complicated than demon or fae magic. It's like what the spellcasters do, but with different rules," Jazz explained. "There are a lot of things to consider."

"Ophelia was channeling all of her power and energy into the plates while she was planning," Dante added. "Missing something like that is fairly natural while under that much stress."

It wasn't just River trying to defend me.

It was River, Jazz, and Dante.

What the hell was I supposed to think about that?

No one had defended me before. Not once.

Being defended made me feel things.

Strong things.

I took over the explanation again. "It took longer than I thought, because I didn't have enough magic immediately. I had to build a wall to separate us from the rest of the prisoners when the cells unlocked. It was close, but we managed to get all of the innocent prisoners out before Reaper shattered my wall."

"Reaper?" Callum asked.

"He's fae. His real name is Arthur Fremont," Dante said.

The blood drained from Callum's face. "Tell me he didn't get out."

"He didn't. Yet," I said. "I left enough magic protecting the elevator that it'll take him at least a few weeks to tear it down."

"Why are you terrified of Arthur Fremont?" Kat asked aloud.

His gaze flicked toward her. "I'm not terrified."

She lifted an eyebrow at him.

With the mate bond between them, she knew exactly what he was feeling.

"Arthur is dangerous, to put it lightly. We can't risk him getting out." Callum looked at me. "My family will need to take him out, if he's at risk of escaping. Do you have a plan to rework the magic and get the prisoners back under control?"

"I'm working on it." My grip on Dante's hand tightened.

He squeezed lightly in response.

"I have a few ideas." River met my gaze. "We can talk after we eat?"

Realistically, any ideas he had to offer would be helpful. I was starting from ground zero, and he had been incredible at weaving magic since before I was born.

I forced myself to nod, even though it didn't feel completely natural.

He relaxed a little.

"You'll need to go back to the bottom floor of the prison, regardless. Right?" Callum checked.

"Yeah."

Dante, Callum, and Jazz launched into a discussion about how exactly they were going to tackle the situation, and whether it should happen on the main floor or inside the prison.

I focused on my plate, after the server brought the food in, and ate slowly.

I was extremely relieved when Callum announced that he and Kat had somewhere to be. He said he'd be in touch, but honestly, I wasn't going to answer the phone when he called.

My mate was the only one who could force me to do that.