Page 15 of Moonlight Bonds (The Nexus #4)

“Because the Nexus mate ceremony is so skewed and they do not tap into the raw magic of our creatures. The Vian ceremony does, it has no restrictions across races. The Nexus leaders want only Nexus mates for their people... but the world does not. We are not meant to be this far apart; we are destined to be together. It isn’t just us; there are hundreds of thousands of Vian who have Nexus mates.

Why do you think so many of your kind never find their mates?

They’re looking at the wrong race. Our kind has been linked by the stars for millennia and denying it is what’s causing misery for so many.

I know you don’t know me. I just told you I’m the prince of the race that you hate.

I kidnapped you and brought you here. I haunted you like a shadow.

I get the many reasons why this is a shock, and you won’t accept it yet.

I want there to be no lies between us. Just this truth, this lingering promise that I am on your side and here to help you, Annie.

” He takes a step closer, which feels like a leap.

I need the space between us. I can’t cope with what he is saying right now.

It’s too much, and I do not trust him. I need Gwen, I need the academy, I need my home.

He takes another step forward around the bed towards me.

I don’t dare move. Not yet. “But all of this, believe it or not, has been to protect you. I knew who Georgina was when she came to the academy. I was watching her, not just you—her. Continuously. To make sure she was never a threat to your life because of how close you are to Gwenieve. I was there in the shadows when my father contacted her and told her to use you, to make sure you were dealt with and out of the way to make Gwenieve look like she killed you. He told Georgina to hurt you; make it look like a murder scene and then make you disappear. She was going to lock you in the Vian city, hurt and near death, to be used to blackmail Gwenieve. You’re very protective of your friend, and I knew if I told you this, you’d go to her to protect her. ”

He isn’t wrong. Issan comes closer, and I realise I need to ask him to let me go now.

I can warn Gwenieve. “She’s more than a friend to me.

Gwen is like a sister. She is my family.

She’s come for me in situations where she knew she could have died.

Gwen came to save me, anyway. I owe her my life and, more than that, she was the first person that ever accepted me for just who I am.

She didn’t care who my parents were. She didn’t care anything about my past. She never asked anything other than to get to know me.

She never judged me, even when the whole world was judging her.

That’s what made her my best friend. She’ll rip through this place, I know she will, including you.

If any part of you is my mate, you need to let me go.

I am useless to anyone locked in here. Issan, your father could hurt Gwenieve. I need to get back to Starlight City?—"

“Your place is here, at my side. I’m sorry if you don’t agree with it.” He shakes his head. “There is no returning to Starlight City or what is left.”

I didn’t realise how close we are. Not until his breath mingles with mine as he leans down.

He smells like mint, maybe peppermint, to be exact.

It’s far deeper and huskier; that’s just him.

My heart’s racing so hard that my chest moves up and down as we both stare at each other.

My Nexus pushes against my mind, the bear rubbing her head against my mind like she did with Kosma, how she did when we had a mate last time.

Even when Kosma betrayed us, betrayed our entire race, she loved him until his last breath.

So, did I. It’s painful to take a few steps back, stepping out of the trance.

“My Nexus just...” I shake my head. “Wait, what do you mean there is no returning to Starlight?”

Issan looks like he’d rather not tell me, and I tap my foot on the floor, crossing my arms and waiting.

Issan takes a deep breath in. “Georgina is Gwenieve’s twin.

The both of them together... they are destructive on a level the world hasn’t seen before.

I have been told Gwenieve was not in control and Georgina allowed the Vian King into the city.

Together, the twins killed half the city within moments with their dark power.

Starlight City has fallen, and the survivors. ”

My knees give in, and I collapse to the floor, my heart pounding.

No. The city is gone? Hot tears fall from my eyes, and I don’t even move as Issan kneels in front of me, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

His hands feel so much colder than any male who has touched me before.

I try not to imagine it—the death of my home—but it’s all I can see.

Oh gods. All the people I grew up knowing and being friends with.

.. dead. “Tell me Gwenieve is alive. Please.”

“She is alive from our reports. She is on the run to make sure the Vian king and her twin sister cannot find her.” He gently explains. “The world is looking for her.”

I knew from the moment I met Gwenieve that she was something more than just a Nexus.

.. something so much more. She never once scared me, and even now, knowing she destroyed a city, I know she was forced into it.

Gwen would never hurt people like that, but Georgina?

I believe that bitch would do anything and cross any line.

Georgina must have been working for the Vian king the entire time, and the academy fell for her innocent act.

So did I, for a part. I straighten my back. “You want me to trust you?”

Issan nods once. “Yes.”

I look right into his eyes. “Then tell me every little detail you know about the fall of Starlight City, about what is left in the world to fight the Vian King and, most importantly—where is Gwenieve?”