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Chapter Eighteen

The sensation of pressure lasted for seconds before the air-conditioned chill of Jade’s apartment brushed across her skin. Stepping away, she glanced around to ensure they were alone before turning back to face Niko.

She could almost feel his muted anxiety.

It was odd, that connection that linked them in the labyrinth.

It felt both foreign and like it was the most natural thing in the world.

A tie to Niko she’d been missing her entire life.

The intense urge to go to him, to soothe his anxiety, was almost impossible to resist. So she didn’t.

“Are you okay?” she asked, gently squeezing their interlocked hands.

A strangled sound was his response as he paced back and forth. Jade sat down on the ivory sofa, allowing him to work out his nerves.

“We can’t complete the bond.”

A look of hurt flashed over his features at her words. As the same sentiment hit her through their bond, Jade realized her mistake. He hadn’t considered her rejecting him.

As with any mating bond, either party could choose to reject it, but few had ever done so. She knew of only one fated couple where the female had rejected the male, and she didn’t blame Kinnick’s mate in the least. The man had been a monster far before his mating fell through.

“You—you would reject me?”

Pure innocence shone in those golden irises, the color he’d tried and failed to hide earlier. A glorious, true metallic shade of sunlight, they were utterly arresting. Right now, they drew her in with questions only she could answer.

“If it would spare both of us certain death, yes.”

He shook his head and opened his hands, palms up. “In what world does this system make sense, Jade?” He scoffed. “If you can’t see Julian’s error in this, then you truly are blind.”

Jade seethed. “Julian outlawed it because the collusion between legions is how our king and queen ended up dead. It was mutiny.”

“According to whom? Julian ?”

“Of course, according to him!” Jade couldn’t believe how stubborn Niko was—and why he wouldn’t see reason. “He’s the one who’s been fighting against those traitors from day one.”

“And I’m sure he spun the tale that he’s the hero in all of this.”

“He is the hero, Niko—you’re just too blind to see it.”

Niko bared his teeth in a frustrated snarl.

As he resumed pacing, Jade examined what she’d said.

Julian’s status as the hero of the race was something she’d thought of time and time again.

Her prime was singlehandedly saving the race from extinction .

The more she thought about it, the more it unnerved her.

The words didn’t sound right even as she spoke them.

If her words weren’t her own, did that mean that her thoughts were similarly compromised?

Niko stopped long enough to pin her with a questioning stare. “Do you have any idea who Julian truly is? Do you know what he does to people who oppose him?”

Jade straightened. “Julian’s violent opponents are occasionally placed in a detention facility.”

“Yes.” A pregnant pause. “Do you know for how long?”

“No, not for certain. Julian doesn’t typically keep me informed of the justice he doles out, nor do I seek out Kinnick to ask about the penitentiary he runs. If I had to guess, I’d say weeks, usually. Sometimes months. It varies according to the crime.”

“Centuries, Jade.” Niko’s features twisted into something akin to rage, and the anger funneled through their bond like a tidal wave. “He’s kept my prime’s mother detained for centuries . And she was not violent in the least.”

Truth.

All that meant was that Niko’s skewed version of events wasn’t entirely wrong. He may believe something he said was true. That didn’t mean that it was correct. A picture, looked at by a thousand different people, could be interpreted a thousand different ways.

“No, Niko, I’m sorry. It’s a holding facility, not a prison. You must’ve heard wrong.”

“Roman’s mother was arrested days after the queen was murdered—by Julian himself,” Niko growled. “Roman hasn’t seen or heard from her since.”

He took to pacing once more. “And she isn’t the only one, Jade. The other primes—the ones you claim shied away from responsibility? Julian holds something or someone under lock and key from all of them.”

Truth.

“That’s—that’s highly implausible, Niko. Exaggerations, nothing more. Julian doesn’t do favoritism. If someone close to another prime contravenes against the laws, it’s natural that they are punished just like the rest of us.”

Jade couldn’t think too deeply on it, waving it away with a dismissive hand when a familiar prick of pain pulsed in her temples. Her leopard prowled forward, a warning growl rising in response to the pain.

“It’s the truth, none of it exaggerated. Julian isn’t a hero.”

A dull throb started between her temples. The more she pondered the situation, the worse the pain grew. With her eyes closed, she felt when Niko sat beside her, tentatively reached out to link an arm around her back.

“Why are you in pain?”

Soft, his question only held concern for her, their quarrel forgotten. Leaning into him, she sputtered, “Headache.”

“Can I get you anything?”

A curt shake of her head. “I’ll be fine. Why are you telling me all this, Niko? What’s the point?”

He took a deep breath, and anxiety transferred through their connection. She could sense just how reluctant he was to offer up his next accusation.

“Four hundred years ago, Yelena Tserkov killed her mate, Ivan.” Deep, resounding pain accompanied his words, and Jade linked her fingers through his in silent support. “Ivan was the Second Legion’s prime.”

Jade nodded, urging him onward. “I’ve heard his name. Know a little of his story.”

“She murdered him in cold blood, and would’ve killed their son, Netarios, if Roman hadn’t phased in and stopped her from claiming the little boy’s life.

” Niko rolled his shoulders in agitation but ventured onward, nonetheless.

“What is less known is that Yelena had a visitor only moments before she attacked Ivan.”

“Who?”

“ Julian .” Intensity built behind his eyes, the molten gold almost glowing. “Jade, he’s the one who coerced Yelena to kill her mate.”

Truth.

Retreating from him so quickly his arm hit the back of the couch, Jade gaped. She grasped at the threads of truth in his words, at the sincerity coating his lines.

“What proof do you have?” Jade lobbed her accusatory tone his way without restraint. “And if you have any, why haven’t you brought it forward?”

“There is, of course, no physical proof. It was mental coercion, and both victims are dead. I have only what I’ve heard from a firsthand witness.” Even as he spoke the words, Jade could feel him almost imploring her to believe him.

But she couldn’t.

“I have to admit that I’m skeptical. What source has told you this?” When he failed to speak, it soon became clear. “The boy? How young was Netari when this happened?”

“He was four years old.”

Niko’s shoulders slumped, as if he had begun to realize she wouldn’t take the word of a child against her prime.

“A toddler’s accusation against the most powerful man in our society. Even if I wanted to believe you, what good would it do?”

“You have to leave his legion!” All of a sudden, Niko’s despair exploded into his words. “Julian will kill you if he senses that you’ve begun questioning him. Or worse, you’ll end up in that prison!”

“I won’t sit here and listen to this. I won’t commit mutiny against my prime.” Jade pinched the bridge of her nose, rising to her feet and moving away from him. “Even if he did coerce Yelena to kill her mate, it could’ve very well been because they had murdered the queen!”

Niko cursed. “You’re oblivious to Julian’s true nature.”

“And I suppose you truly know who he is then? All this time, I thought you had some smoking gun, but you’ve decided he’s a villain based on half-truths and hearsay. Spare me your lecture, Second Legion.”

Niko jerked as though she’d physically hit him. “We’re back to that are we?”

“We’ve never moved past it.”

She saw the moment his mask shattered, allowing raw vulnerability to shine beneath cracks. “This … thing between us. It means nothing to you?”

The softness in his tone broke her, but something within her didn’t allow her to answer. Instead of confirming the statement one way or the other, she held her tongue.

Confusion, fear, anger, but above all, hurt crossed Niko’s golden gaze. His mask descended once more, hardened in its resolve.

“Good to know, First Legion .” He spat the words. “I’ll bid you goodnight.”

“Niko—”

He was already gone.

Tears blistered behind her eyes. Niko’s pain, even muted, revealed the effect her choices had had on him. She’d hurt him, whether it’d been intentional or not.

She pondered the significance of their conversation, and the fact that Niko had truly believed everything he’d told her. He hadn’t tried to embroider or tug at the heartstrings for effect, hadn’t propped up his assertions with elaborate storytelling or flowery language.

The point remained: truth was still relative.

Jade’s head pounded. She braced a palm against the ache in her skull, regretting that the pain had returned now, when she needed to sort through everything she’d learned and done tonight.

If she began to toss around the idea that Julian was truly somehow involved in the heinous act involving the prime couple of the Second Legion, she’d never look at him the same way.

If Julian had coerced Yelena into killing her mate, they must have been part of the plot to kill the king and queen. It would make sense. He’d wanted to save the monarchs from mutiny.

But that didn’t totally add up. Why would he have told her to also kill her son?

Children were a blessing, meant to be protected by their society. It was one of the most steadfast laws of the Sagani that intentionally hurting a child was a death sentence regardless of intent.

The truth Niko believed in had come from a boy who’d likely been traumatized by what he’d witnessed. Even the most commendable of characters occasionally got memories confused.

She sprawled on the floor in her evening gown and let the tears spoil her makeup and spill onto the dress. It took considerable effort to rise and move to the bedroom. Tonight, she would sleep alone, and tomorrow morning, she’d ask her prime for the truth.