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Chapter One

Today, her worst fear was becoming reality.

The friendly offer from five months ago had morphed into a hostile takeover, and within minutes, she would officially lose her position as CEO.

Twenty years ago, Jade Lascaux had begun the investment firm with a meager starting fund but enough inspiration to fill in the gaps.

The company was now listed among the giants of the corporate world, and it’d made an attractive acquisition for a competing firm.

When she refused the initial proposal, they had switched gears and went after her board of directors one by one.

Now, her company was owned by a man she’d exchanged emails with but never met in person. Nikolas Church held sixty-seven percent of the corporation’s shares, granting him the power to do whatever he wanted. His first task had been to give her a pink slip.

The fact that he called the takeover a ‘merger’ was problematic, but she had refrained from drilling her point home.

Like any upstanding businesswoman, she’d offered to remain onboard until the process was complete.

Nikolas had accepted— the only benevolent gesture she’d witnessed in all the time they’d been corresponding.

From the moment he filed his Schedule 13D form, every single one of his emails and phone calls had dripped with disdain and antagonism. Face to face time with him would put the cherry on top of an already rotten experience.

She smoothed her hands over her freshly pressed pantsuit, the dove grey material a tasteful color that conveyed her conservative business attitude.

She always aimed for classy. On women, a black suit tended to overemphasize the authority they held and villainize their accomplishments.

Jade needed allies in this engagement, not enemies.

No more than she would already have in that boardroom.

Her prime’s telepathic voice interrupted her inner monologue, smooth and darkly seductive. Good luck today, Jade.

Julian’s voice was like rushing water in her mind, familiar and comforting, but powerful.

He’d been the backbone of her legion for the four centuries she’d been alive.

When he’d commanded her to build a profit center to support them, she had gratefully accepted it—and now she was seeing it fail spectacularly.

Thank you, Jade replied. I’ll keep you updated on our developments.

And just like that, Julian’s powerful presence receded from her mind, leaving her alone in the Labyrinth.

The web of supernatural energy that bound them together had been spun by her prime.

It was a tangle of connections, interlinked and woven into an intricate mesh that spread across the psyches of the First Legion.

Jade was one mind among hundreds, her energy was tied into the fabric of Julian’s central net, a bond she’d been born into.

Inhaling to steel her nerves, Jade glanced at the stunning sculpture sitting on her credenza.

Cast in deep red, white, and black, the art piece was a reminder of where she’d been and where she’d come from: an abstract rendition of her journey.

Her other collections, especially her beloved coffee mugs, would’ve clashed with the décor she’d paid a designer through the nose for.

If there was one thing she needed to convey, it was professionalism.

Yet another reason why she shouldn’t stab Nikolas Church during their first meeting. People might talk. Even the white noise machine in the corner, hidden beside the potted fern, wouldn’t be able to successfully drown out that outcry.

Jade’s hearing was far more sensitive than any mortal’s.

Her breed—the Sagani—had walked the Earth long before humanity began, immune to aging, resistant to illness, and physically stronger.

They could technically be killed, but had few weaknesses.

The Sagani maintained optimal health, always appearing youthful.

To a human, Jade looked to be in her mid- to late-twenties. She couldn’t fault them for believing that she’d had plastic surgery, but she also couldn’t tell them the truth. No human could ever be allowed to know what she was. It was the only way the Sagani remained safe.

A polite knock on her closed office door brought her out of her reverie and back to the present.

Jade beckoned Trina in and smiled genially. Dressed in a smart pink top and black pencil skirt, her brilliant protégée accessorized her outfit with a smirk and an expensive pair of trendy eyeglasses.

If anyone could give Jade a run for her money in the preparation department, it would be Trina. Jade’s CMO was sharper than a tack. She had catalogued everything about their new counterparts, and her flamboyant personality would camouflage her cunning intellect.

Jade was counting on Trina to function as her right-hand woman during the transition, someone to trade ideas with behind the functional shield of their instant messaging system.

“All set, boss.”

“Good.” Jade straightened her spine, tapping a manicured fingernail on the polished marble of the desk. “We can’t afford to get off on the wrong foot. Any sign of DNB?”

“Not yet, but our packets indicate the start time is nine a.m. sharp.” She gave a casual shrug. “If they’re late to their own party, then we’ll already have the upper hand.”

If Mr. Church was going to hand them the advantage, then she was going to take it. Jade had run through the packets front to back several times since they’d been printed, confirming and reconfirming everything was in order.

“Is it in poor taste to admit that I’m going to love seeing you put Church in his place?” Trina asked innocently.

Jade snorted. “Absolutely not. Though I’m counting on you for backup.”

“Lady, I’ve got a sword and shield in my back pocket.” Trina grimaced, then called over her shoulder and out the door, “If Human Resources is listening, that was a joke. I don’t condone violence in the workplace.”

Rolling her eyes, Jade studied the other woman. “Nervous?”

“Definitely. Considering how much is riding on this, I can admit to some anxiety. Not the best thing to say to your boss five minutes before curtain call, but I’ve never not been honest with you.”

“We’re only human.” A white lie never hurt anyone. “You’ve done your homework as well as anybody here, and we’re all a little on edge.”

“Just another day at the office, where two investment giants merge into one, and your boss is being forcibly evicted by some upstart CEO no one had ever heard of until five years ago.”

“I appreciate the support,” Jade replied, grinning wildly.

As Trina looked down to reply to a text, Jade’s smile faded.

Hiding behind the facade was a woman whose stomach churned, and confidence faltered.

After years of dedicated service and innumerable nights spent hunched over a keyboard, she was being ejected.

She would go from having the success of her company weighing solely on her shoulders to an exit interview filed in a manila folder.

It didn’t seem real. Any moment now, she would hopefully wake up from the nightmare that’d taken her life’s work and turned it into a circus plastered across the front page of the Financial Times.

Nikolas Church was the reason behind her downfall. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her flounder. When she walked out of this building on her last day in the office, it would be with her head held high.

While he may lack a moral compass, hers was firmly intact.

Jade picked a speck of invisible dust off her shoulder. “Let’s head in there before they arrive. I’m not keen on giving them any semblance of an upper hand.”

Though she had no real ground to stand on anymore, Jade couldn’t allow her people to bear the brunt of her failure. If playing nice with Nikolas Church meant more of them would keep their jobs, she had to give it her best attempt.

Behind her, more colleagues fell in line, the source of nervous chatter. She’d gathered a half dozen people for the merger conversations; now she had to trust they’d be prepared when called to question. Everything she’d built was to be offered up on a platter and scrutinized for its worth.

“What do you say, good cop, bad cop?”

Trina grunted a laugh. “As if you’d ever be anything but the bad cop, Jade.”

“Always,” came her honest answer. “I’d rather be the one asking tough questions and solving problems—but I’m going to try to play nicely today.”

Jade took her usual seat at the head of the table and went to work as members of her company filtered in. Half of the gargantuan conference table was reserved for DNB Investments and their infuriating CEO, with several more spaces set aside for the merger advisories.

Notifications kept blinking on her computer, but Jade allowed her eyes to drift over to the stunning view.

Light streamed through the tinted panes of glass on her left, spreading outward over Chicago’s downtown district.

Sun glinted off skyscrapers and Lake Michigan, the waters barely distinguished in the distance.

It was a view she’d always loved, and one she’d desperately miss.

In a few weeks, she would sell her apartment and go home. After several decades away, returning to her legion’s capital inspired both a trace of anxiety and a sense of relief. The feelings warred within her, but she knew it was necessary.

Four centuries ago, the Sagani queen’s death had set in motion a chain of events that destabilized the magic of their species. Now, the more power a Sagani used, the greater the chance of magical corrosion. Once corrupted, they lost any trace of higher reasoning.