Praetorian Rising, стр. 96

"That Camille's father was a Dai'Cian native? That LeMarc has something to do with it? It's not hard to believe; the facts are all there. It's just hard to hear."

"Camille isn't like them!" Vesyon practically roared. "Jesabelle would've told us if that were the case!"

Langhorn glanced away in somber silence, pinching his lower lip between his thumb and pointer finger before allowing his fingers to slip down the expanse of his short, grey beard. "I don't know that she would have."

Vesyon inhaled through his nose, tamping his anger down. "If Camille is indeed a Night Rave, then why is she so different from the ones I saw last night?"

"I have a theory," Langhorn started, green eyes bright with intensity.

Vesyon rubbed at his jawline. "Another theory!?"

"All theories exist on the road to truth. Come on, my boy—did I teach you nothing in your younger years?" Langhorn scolded. "Praetorians are created, yes? The strength you've acquired is incredibly powerful and requires control from an outside source. Dai'Cian natives are powerful from birth; they grow up learning about their power and how to control it. Now, think of any muscle in your body, and how it grows stronger if you use it every day. Imagine that the muscle continues to get stronger, but you suddenly have a cap on how much strength you're allowed to use. If that cap ever gets removed, you'll have a surge of power you're no longer used to handling.

"I believe that Camille was unknowingly forced to cap her power the day she became a Praetorian. The Ephidra Lily in her body maintained a steady level of power, strength, and ability—"

"But Charlie Town—"

"Was the result of removing that cap of power, yes," Langhorn finished.

Vesyon's head began to swim with the information. "But her medallion," he said, clinging to his last crumb of hope. "You said you can't remove the power of a Blood Bond without obliterating the bond. The bond is still around her neck; it hasn't been removed."

"I don't think it ever was removed Vesyon, I think it was destroyed. And I believe the Chimera virus has something to do with it."

"No, that can't be possible," Vesyon said, shaking his head back and forth. "The bonds are unbreakable."

Langhorn took a moment to sip his tea, allowing the steam to drift about his head as he breathed in the earthy tang of it. "Charlie Town wasn't a coincidence; it was a purposeful attack by LeMarc. He knows what she is, and he found a way to push her past the restraint of the bond. It goes without question that he's been trying to create an army of Night Raves like her to follow his command. And the bond is not unbreakable, Vesyon; you know very well that it can, indeed, be broken."

Vesyon ignored the last comment and focused instead on information he was willing to listen to. "Then why the Ephidra Lily? Why wait until this moment to search for it?"

"Your Blood Bond is infused with Ephidra Lily. It's your wall of protection against yourself, yes, but can also be used as a weapon against you. A collar, so to speak, created to force submission if the owner is so inclined to do so. If done correctly your strength wouldn't be hindered, but your ability to move without his command would be."

"I see where you're going with this," Vesyon said, remembering in retrospect the thin metal collars secured tightly around the Night Raves' necks.

"When you have an army of powerful and well-trained soldiers, you need a way to control them, to bend them to your will without stripping away their power. Ephidra Lily, when handled properly, isn't just a bonding agent; it's a carrier of information. If I tell it to carry a virus to specific areas within the body, it will. If I tell the Ephidra Lily to attack the body, it will. He must've discovered a way to use this against his army to maintain control over them."

Vesyon eyed the remnants of food in front of him, and his stomach roiled. He pulled out his old worn pipe and the small leather bag of tobacco, craving the familiar, calming ritual and the fragrant taste of the leaves on his lips. "You're absolutely sure about this?"

"I am more than I'm not. Camille wasn't created to be a soldier—she was born," Langhorn said with exuberance. "She was already healing from the Chimera bites by the time I saw her. Such a heavy dose of their venom would kill off any normal Praetorian. All clues point to it, and there's no denying the truth when faced with the fact."

Vesyon's head fell forward so that his long black hair covered his eyes. She was still Camille, still a woman he loved and cared deeply for—but if he were honest with himself, he was also a bit afraid of her now. With such incredible power at her beck and call, there was no telling what she was capable of. He'd been a fool to believe she'd reigned in her emotions when at any moment she could flip a switch and be consumed by her own strength and power. His reasoning for keeping her in the dark about her past would no longer be temporary. There was no telling what she'd do once she learned the full truth of what happened in Charlie Town or why he'd waited seven years to rescue her from the LeMarc's dungeon.

"What can we do to prevent another Charlie Town incident from happening? If she has no sense of control, how can we be sure she's safe?"

Langhorn shrugged. "You know very well we can't. To protect each other against her is to remove her ability to live a free life. The Dai'Cian live free and without any restraints on their power. We have to trust that she'll learn control and take precautions against the possibility of it happening again."

"I've observed her the past few days, and she has been in control." Vesyon's tone