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Chapter Thirty

Early morning saw a red sunrise, clouds spotting the horizon above a crimson dawn. Niko, left in turmoil from the previous night, stood beneath the soft morning rays and sipped hot chocolate.

The luxury mix was one he’d intended to give to Jade, but he’d kept it for fear of coming across as overbearing. Now, it taunted him with things he’d never have.

He’d been forced to admit to Jade what he considered his greatest sin. Now, she knew the full truth of it—that he was partly responsible for his parents’ deaths. Niko loathed that Jade would see it as a confirmation that her prime was without fault.

Snarling, he perked at the sound of footsteps. Roman was intentionally announcing his approach, giving Niko time to retreat if he felt the need.

He did not, and greeted his prime with a scowl. “Come to berate me?”

“Why ever would I do that?”

Roman’s irreverent tone fell like a plasma grenade in the roaring abyss of Niko’s soul.

He watched the prime come to sit beside him.

Even after all these centuries in the other man’s presence, he still was struck by the sheer magnitude of his magical charge.

He was a power in and of himself, the well of his psychic energy so deep and wide it’d never run dry.

Niko mentally leaned on his best friend’s steadiness, taking comfort in the labyrinth bond that existed between them.

“What happened last night?”

Niko straightened and cracked his neck. “A hunter almost abducted Jade.”

“And?”

He gave his prime an incredulous look. “And I took care of it.”

“Good.” Roman’s fingers drummed on the wood railing. “Have you determined how the hunters located you originally?”

Bitterly, Niko admitted, “No.”

Roman sighed, seemingly not wanting to ask the next question. He did anyway. “Do you believe Jade had a hand in your injury?”

“No.”

The word was little more than a growl. His patience was already wearing thin. Taking another sip of his beverage, he realized the hot chocolate had lost its flavor. Irritated, he set the mug down on the porch table.

“Did the hunters track your vehicle somehow? Follow you without your knowledge?”

“Dammit, Roman, I don’t know!” Niko threw his hands in the air, all at once worn raw. “What does it matter anyway? I’m fine and so is Jade.”

“It matters because this won’t be the last time you’re in Chicago. I don’t want you to suffer a silver gunshot wound to the head because we haven’t figured it out yet.”

“I’ve been busy, prime , if you haven’t noticed. Besides being your errand boy, I actually have a job to do.” Then, salty, he added, “I can’t go around asking how high whenever you say jump.”

He felt Roman’s distaste grow in equal measure. “When have I ever treated you like an errand boy, Niko? When have I ever asked you to ‘jump’ without your full consent? We’re brothers, and I’ve only ever tried to do you justice.”

Niko’s irrational mood pushed his mouth into the only comeback that would hurt the other man as much as Niko himself was hurting. Irritability bubbled up inside of him and struck at the one person who’d never do the same to him.

“Was justice why you killed my mother? Was justice why you stole the legion from her? Was justice how you’ve never managed to take vengeance on Julian when you know full well what he did to my family? I guess I must not be understanding your definition of justice, prime .”

Niko couldn’t stop the flow of venom from his lips. “Please, do explain.”

Cruel, bitter, and malicious, the words he spewed were like verbal whips. They sliced deeply, hemorrhaging guilt and turmoil on the ground at Roman’s feet.

“I’ve done everything I can to bring Julian down without waltzing into his capital, Roman— you banned me from doing that,” Niko charged.

“I’ve been cutting away at his bottom dollar for four hundred years, and you’ve sat in Council meetings with him for nearly as long.

I know I’m not powerful enough to kill him, but you are. ”

“It’s not that simple, Niko.”

“It is that simple,” he hissed. “All you had to do was take out a dagger and stab him in the heart. If I ever met him face to face—and I hope I do—he’ll be a dead man. I don’t care if he takes me with him.”

Scoffing, Niko allowed his own pain to bubble over. “You’re a coward.”

When Roman’s eyes fell away from his, the silence stretched between them. Raw and unvarnished, his sentiments had stung exactly where he’d meant them to. They ate away at the heart of a man who’d clung to guilt from that night for four centuries.

Far longer than he ought to have, given that he’d had no choice in the action against Niko’s mother. It had been both a kindness and a necessity.

Roman merely nodded, accepting the brutal criticism as law.

“Forgive me, Niko. I’ve failed you. In so many ways.”

Before Niko could retract his bitter words or apologize, Roman vanished, phasing away and out of his sight without warning.

Niko was once more alone with his thoughts.

Time and time again, Roman had explained why he couldn’t simply eliminate Julian.

If the other prime was killed, his anchor in the labyrinth would likely dissolve.

Though Roman could technically secure the First Legion’s network beneath his own, he simply couldn’t support another group.

That many minds connected to his would either burn him out or lead to magical corrosion. Roman would end up going rogue.

There was no fallback option. Julian couldn’t be killed.

As Niko’s anger began to cool, he accepted the impossibility of the situation and the magnitude of the sacrifice he’d asked from Roman. He closed his eyes in shame.

His crass words, unleashed to relieve the ache in his soul, had only wounded his best friend instead of alleviating his own pain. He’d met Roman’s concern with abuse and managed to fix nothing.

Niko needed to apologize. Sending a telepathic hail to his prime, he waited anxiously for Roman to reply. But as the sun climbed higher in the sky, he began to realize that the hail would go unheeded, and an hour later, he still hadn’t heard from his closest friend.

He checked his watch. In twenty minutes, the final acquisition meeting would commence. He’d sign along the dotted line, and take Jade’s company from her.

He would be in. His mate would be out.