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Chapter Twenty-Three

Twice more, Jade had attempted to inspire a response through instant messaging. Both times, Niko had ignored her. When she’d asked for his opinion, he gave her nothing but curt, one-word answers.

Lunch had never been a more welcome distraction. Niko craved the time alone—and away from her .

Despite their connection, she’d refused him. He was simply responding in kind. Her attempts at bridging the gap between them would be fruitless. It didn’t matter that his arms itched to hold her, and that every time she spoke, he longed to listen.

Every second they sat in the same room was torture. Still caught beneath the mating bubble in the labyrinth, he could sense her energy as if it were his own. It was like being trapped in a room with a sleeping lion. He had no idea when it would wake and devour him.

This farce of appearing as casual business acquaintances with her was draining.

Regardless of the sense Roman had attempted to beat into him the previous week, Niko still couldn’t find it in himself to continue pursuing Jade after her rejection.

Her stubborn failure to see her prime as anything other than a saint, even when fate itself sent her a mate to reveal the truth, clawed at him.

Niko wouldn’t mate a woman who rejected reality.

In his melancholy, he’d missed the fact that they’d dismissed for lunch. Everyone had begun gathering their things, and he was well behind. Niko quickly packed up, unwilling to be stuck in the same room with Jade without the buffer of their colleagues.

It was already too late for that.

“I’d like to speak with you for a moment, Niko,” came an angelic voice that was sandpaper to his ears.

He strongly considered telling her to get lost. He couldn’t do so while maintaining the farce of professional courtesy in front of an audience, but as they were now alone, he had no such gag.

Niko crossed his arms, purposefully being standoffish. His suit, black today, stretched across his biceps uncomfortably, but nothing was as uncomfortable as the intense look Jade gave him.

“What is it you want, Ms. Lascaux?”

Even at his brusqueness, she didn’t back down. “Thank you for the cardinal, Niko. It’s breathtaking.”

He didn’t respond.

Still holding his blank stare, she said, “I’m taking you to lunch.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I’m not asking.”

The defiant fire in her eyes drew him in as she closed the distance between them further. The sweet smell of lilac teased his nose, an intoxicating scent that seemed to tie him in knots.

“Besides, I’m buying.”

He scoffed. “I don’t need your charity.”

She flinched at his foul mood, and he immediately felt guilty. “Please?”

“Is it someplace where I’ll have to keep my elbows off the table?” he accused, bitter. “Because if it is, I’ll take a rain check.”

“Not at all.” She tipped her head toward the door. “Come on, you’ll enjoy the food. I promise.”

To his surprise, she actually didn’t take him to a fine dining establishment.

The quaint mom-and-pop shop was exceptionally busy even though it was well off the beaten path.

All the sandwiches were homemade, contained between thick wheat bread and wrapped in cling: a sure sign they were going to be delicious.

Without asking him, Jade ordered two bags of chips and then gestured to the dessert section. “All of them are good, but I recommend the lemon bar, personally. It’s fantastic.”

“Sure, why not.”

After securing their orders on a brown tray, they slowly made their way through the line and toward the register. Jade grinned at the cashier woman.

“Hey Elly.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t see you last week.” Elly’s toothy smile seemed warm and held a familiarity towards Jade.

“It’s this one’s fault.” Jade playfully jerked a thumb at Niko.

Elly instantly adopted a lecturing tone. “Now look here, punk, you don’t be keeping my favorite customer from me. She keeps me afloat with all that catering she asks for.” The stern-looking old woman poked a finger into his chest. “Bring her back now, ya hear?”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else, sweet Elly,” came Niko’s oath, hand over his heart.

Still smiling at the exchange, the pair of them sat down near the windows and Jade handed over his sandwich, drink, and lemon bar.

For a few minutes, they ate in silence, both of them enjoying their meal.

Thousands of thoughts rioted behind Jade’s features, but she refrained from speaking until she’d eaten half of her sandwich.

Niko, far less poised than his mate, had finished his in a third of that time.

When he eyed the lemon bar, she finally breached the silence between them.

In a low voice, she asked, “Can you put a barrier around our conversation?”

Losing what remained of his smile, he nodded, and erected a sound barrier against their unwitting audience.

“Over the weekend, I took your advice.”

“Oh?”

“I went to the mountains and shifted. Let the cat out. It was really enjoyable, actually, and I’m glad I did it.”

A burst of happiness for her quickly swallowed his residual anger. Jade had needed to shift—it was vital—and he was overwhelmed with joy for her that she’d been able to do so alone.

Niko’s nod was small, barely discernible. “Good.”

“It gave me time to think about what you’d said, and about what I found out on Friday.”

Jade still wouldn’t look him in the eye, playing with the cling wrap of her half-finished sandwich. When she remained silent for the better half of a minute, Niko’s curiosity got the better of him.

“And what did you find on Friday?”

She stared at him with such intensity that he had little hope of looking away. “I found out that the Tserkov’s son, Netari, had golden eyes.”

Niko’s throat constricted. The urge to flee became suffocating. With the last remaining scrap of sanity he had, he blinked to ensure his contacts were in place.

They were.

Straightening his back, Niko sucked in a breath but managed to remain outwardly calm, his expression mirroring the one of thoughtfulness on Jade’s features.

Despite his admirable effort, he couldn’t hide his turbulent emotions from the bond. She had experienced the tidal wave of his despair as soon as he had; she would’ve been privy to the darkest parts of his damaged psyche. The emotion that twisted her expression was compassion.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

There was no sense in denying it. The keen woman had already connected the dots. He couldn’t lie to his mate, no matter how much his instincts were telling him to.

He gave her a patronizing look. “Why didn’t I disclose my parentage to the kinsman of the man who killed them? Do I look like a fool to you?”

“No, I just—” A quick shake of her head. “No. But Niko, we could’ve figured it out together.”

“What is there to figure out?”

“What happened that night!” Jade shoulders and hands raised as if to probe him into action. “I know that Yelena killed your father and then tried to murder you, but why?”

Niko’s rapidly draining patience funneled into the gutter. “I already know why! Your beloved saint of a prime is the reason.”

“I don’t believe that. My prime believes it was a tragic—”

“Wait, you told Julian about me? He knows who I am?” All sense of anger fled him, swallowed swiftly by dread.

“No, he has no idea that you’re Netarios, but Niko, he’s brokenhearted about what happened that night, and he wanted to know who was spreading the rumors.”

“They’re not rumors ,” he hissed. “I saw him coerce my mother with my own eyes. I heard him speak those words.”

“Yes, on a night when you were already traumatized after watching your mother murder your father. And who knows what else.”

Niko stared at her until she finished her accusation, incredulous and embittered. How dare she sit there and point fingers at him when she was defending the monster who’d killed his parents? What kind of person would call on his trauma as an excuse to doubt him?

His hands slapped flush against the table.

“Are you saying that I’m either a liar or my memory has twisted? That I’m too traumatized to remember it correctly?” Disengaging the sound shield, Niko scoffed and stood up. “We’re done here.”

Flowing through the tables like water, he fled. Jade trotted in his shadow, offering both patronizing comments and apologies that fell on deaf ears. As soon as he was out of sight, he’d phase to his home—a place where she couldn’t follow.

“Niko, please .”

Jade’s distraught voice barreled into him, echoing off the wet pavement and the buildings that hemmed them into the alleyway beside the shop. His features pinched as their mating bubble tightened and compelled him back toward her. Devastation, fear, sadness: all of her emotions mirrored in his own.

“No.”

Halting several strides into the alleyway, he pivoted around to face her. His fists were clenched tightly together to keep from reaching out to her.

He spoke the words that’d harm them both. "Reject the bond.”

Her jaw dropped, and the potency of her despair swarmed against him in the labyrinth. When she tried to speak, a familiar sound behind them caught his attention.

Instincts roaring to the surface, Niko spun on his heel toward the source and covered Jade with his body, needing her to be safe with every cell of his being. It was only a second later that the sound of a gunshot rang out again—and again—over the music of the city.

Adrenaline kicked as Niko’s pulse pounded in his ears, every predatorial reflex raging beneath his skin. The need to fight and eliminate the threat to his mate waged war against the need to flee and protect her.

He glanced back at her to make sure that she’d been unharmed and get her to safety when suddenly his world spun. Pushing the dizziness away, he feverishly searched her for signs of injury.

“Are you okay?”

Frantic with his need to confirm she was unharmed, his shaking hands roamed over her to search for injury, even as he battled with the instinct the phase them both away.

If she was injured, they couldn’t phase.

Mind working to identify the source of the shot, he almost didn’t hear it when she gasped.

“Niko!”

The second wave of dizziness overcame him.

He took a step backward to secure his balance, and his legs shook.

Niko absently noted that Jade had caught the lapels of his suit coat, attempting to steady him.

Oddly, the urge to cough forced him to push away from her. His blood splattered on the ground.

Niko’s knees gave out, and he collapsed on the pavement.