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Chapter Twenty-Five

His consciousness returned slowly. Battling through the exhaustion, he roused himself with what little reserves he had left. His alertness awakened as quickly as pain did.

The agony he felt was tempered by the pulse of healing waves. Its warmth, a slow and steady burn that itched as much as it soothed, was a familiar sensation.

Even before he opened his eyes, his psychic senses swarmed outward to check his surroundings, unsure if he was waking up to enemy territory or beneath friendly skies.

Above him, a familiar magical signature had him all but sighing in relief. The second one definitely belonged to his prime.

Niko’s eyes blinked open, finding himself in Roman’s home where both mender and prime preferred to heal their wounded. Amadeo’s amused gaze hovered over him.

The senior mender of the Second Legion wore his long, ebony colored hair in two braids that reached nearly down to his waist, and a single feather bobbed behind his left ear. Amadeo’s copper color skin was unblemished and smooth.

He was the cousin of the crown’s executioner, Azrael—a man that Jade had claimed was a ‘good’ man. Azrael and Amadeo had been as close as brothers before that mutinous night which saw the Sagani queen go to her death, yet had such vastly different gifts. One was born to heal and the other to kill.

Swallowing against a dry throat, Niko croaked, “What happened?”

“What happened is you decided to eat silver to impress your girlfriend, Nikolas Church. And you didn’t even have the decency to do it in my territory,” his prime interjected.

“Is Jade okay?”

Fueled by his need to assure himself of her safety, Niko grunted in pain as he tried to sit up. Sighing heavily, Amadeo’s hands plastered against his chest, forcing him back to a flat position on the couch.

Amadeo, accustomed to the traits of the dominant males in the legion, kept his tone neutral. “Please don’t ruin all my hard work by tearing open your still-healing wound.”

As he lay back, Niko repeated, “Is she okay?”

“She was unharmed,” Roman said, and Niko breathed a sigh of relief. “You, on the other hand, have lost a lot of blood, and you’ll most likely scar from the silver bullet.”

He shrugged off the news; he didn’t care about scars. He’d never been a vain man. He wore the scars of his four centuries of life as a badge of pride, whether they were visible or not. The news of a silver bullet, however, made him frown.

“Hunters?”

“That’s what Jade said.”

The casual shrug that accompanied Roman’s statement made Niko believe that his prime had spoken to Jade more than what had been required to simply retrieve him.

“You didn’t hurt her, did you?”

Niko almost didn’t want the answer. Given his friend’s odd expression, confidence in his prime’s fair methodology wavered, if only slightly.

“No, she remains unharmed.” The amused look that pulled on Roman’s features had a distinctively feline twist, as the tiger under his prime’s skin looked out through his eyes. “But Jade submits so prettily, Niko. I do believe I’d enjoy her company should you decide to throw her away.”

It was as though a bomb went off.

Jealousy, black and bitter, unhinged Niko’s jaw, baring his teeth. The territorial hiss echoed in the room in warning, one predator to another. A claim fielded and staked on hallowed ground between friends, and an alert to Roman that he was treading on thin ice.

A fire lit in Roman’s eyes at the dominance challenge, and he readily accepted. Niko was under no pretenses: he’d never win in a fair fight against his prime. Roman was an exceptional warrior.

Amadeo, however, was immune to their standoff. The mender gave Roman another blank look, entirely unamused. “Must you?”

Roman’s throaty laugh signified the challenge was forgotten. “Just making sure Niko doesn’t give up on what is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jade saved your life with her quick thinking. If she hadn’t brought her mender in to help you, you could’ve died.”

“What mender?”

“Quinn. First Legion. He was there tending your wounds when I arrived.” A pleasantly surprised expression made Roman’s features soften. “Doing a rather fine job of it, too, even when I threatened to take off his head for touching you.”

“She brought someone else in to tend me?”

Confused, he could only stare at his prime for answers while Amadeo continued to work on the pain in his chest. Roman gave him a look.

“What did you expect of her? To phase you directly into a local E.R.? I’m sure that’d have gone over swimmingly.

‘Look, here’s my bullet-ridden immortal boyfriend, we zapped directly into your waiting room, and demand a bed with your most skilled surgeon before he bleeds out.

’” Roman sent him a patronizing look. “Not suspicious in the least.”

“I’m not her boyfriend.”

Niko’s conviction had all the fire of a ten-year-old angry at having cooties. Even he grimaced once the words left his mouth.

Roman had lost any trace of amusement in his expression, his voice full of finality.

“No, Niko, you’re not her boyfriend. You’re her mate, the man that fate dealt her.

You need to start acting like it.” Roman had lost any trace of amusement in his expression, his voice full of finality.

“Look, I get it. You’re as torn about this as anyone would be in your position, but think about it from her perspective. ”

His gaze grew wiser. “Jade has been under Julian’s thumb her entire life, being fed his lies. If you reject the bond, or have her do so, you’ll be abandoning her to that murderer instead of cherishing her as you’re meant to.”

“I’m not a knight in shining armor, Roman.” Already, Niko’s resolve was wavering. “She thinks I’m a traumatized child with no hope of remembering the truth of what happened that night. She believes with all her heart that her prime is a saint, and nothing I can say will make her see reason.”

“You were a traumatized child, Niko,” Roman said gently, “but that doesn’t mean you aren’t right. It doesn’t mean you misremember Julian’s words or actions. What you heard was accurate; I sensed as much the moment I touched Yelena’s mind after she fell.”

The tragic truth was that Yelena hadn’t died the moment Roman broke her neck.

The Sagani, immortal and resistant to disease and aging, could survive such an injury. A broken spinal column could prove fatal if the victim went without attention. Only months of therapy and intensive healing could have reconnected the severed nerves, but it would have been possible.

His mother had met her death by Roman’s sword only after he’d gotten his charge to safety, and Niko could no longer see the inevitable end.

The boy had learned, years later, that Roman had perceived Yelena’s psyche blackened by evil intent. That mental injury could not be healed, and her sanity would never have returned.

Steadying himself, Niko looked at his best friend.

“Why do you even care what happens between me and Jade, Roman? Wouldn’t it be easier on you if we rejected the bond?”

“Maybe. Probably. But I don’t care about what’s easy.

I’m interested in what’s best.” Roman squeezed Niko’s uninjured shoulder.

“I may be your prime, but I’m your brother first and foremost. It doesn’t matter to me that she’s from a different legion—the laws Julian put in place are insane.

What I do care about is seeing to the good of my people.

That includes you, Niko— and your mate.”

He straightened. “That being said, I don’t want Jade here in the legion’s capital until we’ve uncovered how the hunters were able to track you. I can’t put our vulnerable at risk.”

Niko gave a dutiful nod. “Of course.”

“When Jade calls on you—and I’m certain she will—see if Julian has said anything to her. We need to know if he’s working through her in any way.”

“What I don’t understand is why Julian would put her in the line of fire. She belongs to his legion.”

“Maybe he didn’t,” Roman replied. “You yourself said hunters have been active in Chicago. Maybe they were tracking you somehow.”

Niko shrugged and instantly regretted it. His chest tightened with a dull ache that throbbed malevolently, and he immediately froze to keep himself from further pain. Amadeo grimaced in sympathy.

“I can’t give you anything for the pain, but it’ll fade soon. You’re nearly healed.”

Pain medication rarely worked on Sagani. Immortal metabolism was both a blessing and a curse. Niko gingerly sat up and reached out to grip Amadeo’s shoulder in appreciation.

“Thank you, Deo. Your gift has saved my life again.”