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Chapter Thirty-One

Everything Niko had said about his parents was true.

Jade’s abilities had activated when he told her the story the night before. The horrific way he’d come to blame himself was his deeply-held reality. She had seen the blade glint as it plunged into his father’s chest, claiming his life while his son watched.

Her Hindsight ability had shown her the traumatic way his mother had hunted him afterward—and the moment when Roman had broken her neck. Niko had seen it all. As a four-year-old .

It made Jade physically sick.

The revelation had made it imperative to discover the truth of the night.

It was impossible for one mate to harm the other.

Last night, after Niko and her friends had left, she’d visited the archives once more.

In her research, she found that at that time, there had been only two known Sagani with a strong enough ability to magically manipulate Yelena into harming her mate.

Roman’s mother had been thrown in prison for the crime, but Julian still walked free.

There had been no sentencing. No hearing. Julian had imprisoned her with no further investigation. Though it was written that it’d simply been a byproduct of the time’s volatility, it hadn’t been righted in the centuries since.

While Jade was there, she searched the death roster for Sadie, Kinnick’s mate. It was impossible to forget the vision she’d seen of the blonde woman being beaten to death by Julian. When Jade checked the logs, she found Sadie’s death recorded as suicide. In Julian’s personal penmanship.

Jade no longer believed that Julian was singlehandedly saving their society from extinction.

Meeting Niko had opened her eyes to crimes she’d been blind to before. This was no longer about a business acquisition or a single mating bond. If Julian was responsible for coercing Yelena into murdering her mate, there was no telling what else he’d done.

Her hot chocolate tasted like ash.

Niko had asked her to break their bond—cut through their mating bubble in the labyrinth and end what chance they had at a future together.

If she didn’t follow through, it would keep them tied together in a union that could go no further unless one of them changed legions.

Essentially, Jade would be holding him hostage.

Niko had made it clear that he was unwilling to bond with her without her trust. He ignored that trust could take varying forms. Admitting her prime could potentially be at fault was one thing. Taking Niko’s every word as law was another.

Jade stole another sip of her usual-favorite mix, but it hadn’t changed back to being comforting. Abandoning the mug on her coffee table, she grabbed her suit coat and slung it over her arm.

By the time she entered the office, she’d once more donned a professional mask. The echoes of Niko’s emotions had been flooding through their bond this morning, ranging from bitterness to guilt to misery.

She might just have to keep them both afloat today.

When she finally closed her office door behind her, it was to frown at the object on her desk. The cardinal, perfect and breathtaking as before, had a note under its base.

‘In anger, I took what wasn’t mine. Forgive me.’

Jade felt herself tear up. Niko was a good man, and always had been. The trauma from his youth hadn’t beaten him down. Somehow, it’d made him strive for greater things—and he’d succeeded.

Desperate to take her mind off it, she scanned the messages waiting for her on her laptop. Trina had confirmed she was already in the conference room, and relief poured through her.

Today, she’d sign over the company she built from the ground up. Though she pasted on an Oscar-worthy smile to everyone she passed, she was filled with dread.

It marked both the end of a business era and also the end of her contact with Niko, perhaps forever. From this day onward, as members of different legions without any business dealings, any interaction with him would be outlawed.

“Morning, Jade,” came Trina’s gentle greeting.

Her protégée had already noticed Jade’s melancholy, and offered her a tight smile that spoke volumes.

She didn’t continue speaking, knowing Jade would rather settle in the quiet.

Of all her team, Jade would miss Trina the most. Since the day they’d met, she and human had hit it off.

The younger woman had a way of putting her at ease without even trying.

Very few people had that ability. Trina was one. Niko was another.

Chairs filled as the meeting time drew near. The instant Niko stepped into the sphere of her awareness, her stomach dropped. This might be the last time she’d ever see him, and she couldn’t quite prepare herself for that finality.

Today, he’d taken the stairs, and she psychically tracked every movement he made as he drew closer. Below her skin, her snow leopard panted, coveting the touch of her mate and yearning for every second she could spend in his presence.

Niko entered the room and rounded the table to stand by Jade’s chair, instead of taking his usual seat across the table from her.

“Trina, do you mind if I steal this spot?”

A shot of anticipation streaked through Jade, but none of her eagerness showed on her face. Trina excitedly conceded. “Of course. All yours, sir.”

Sir.

That’s right. The queen is dead. Long live the king , Jade thought.

When Niko settled into the chair beside her, his good-natured greeting surprised her. “Good morning, Jade.”

“Morning, Niko.”

Niko kept his attention on the laptop he’d placed on the conference table before him, greeting Caleb as he walked in before asking Jade: “Have you thought over the proposal I shared yesterday?”

“I’ve yet to come to a conclusion.”

Blithely ignoring the way his hands stopped moving for half a second, Jade couldn’t ignore the way a flare of anger and frustration translated through the labyrinth.

Niko rolled his shoulders in agitation. “I fail to see what you could still be drawing conclusions about, Ms. Lascaux. Our business will be concluded today, and I’ve no intention of drawing it out.”

Though the formality stung, Jade didn’t relish his position. He knew their predicament as well as she did, was worried about the same thing. If they didn’t resolve this today, there would never be any resolution.

“I’ve come into new evidence,” she replied. “We should speak before the day is over, and we can come to a conclusion on both items in contention.”

He caught her eye. “There’s only one question I’m concerned about, Jade.”

“I’m happy to have this conversation, but not here.” Jade eyed the room. “I’d prefer to discuss this subject without an audience.”

“Granted.”

And that was the end of that.

A glance at Kurt signaled they were ready, and their acquisitions officer began his dialogue about the final signing. Around the table, people listened, enraptured.

Jade’s attention stayed fixed on the speaker, yet it was everything she could do to remain apart from Niko. After hearing his heartbreaking confession last night, resisting the urge to comfort him was almost impossible.

Then, the other shoe dropped.

Jade’s supernatural senses suddenly spiked, her stomach clenching at the immortal who’d just phased into her office.

Julian.

Her prime was here, without warning, with Nikolas Church sitting right beside her. The man Niko thoroughly believed had murdered his parents. The one Sagani her mate had admitted to despising.

She wasn’t the only one who noticed.

Suddenly, the immortal lounging in the chair next to her was tension personified. While he hadn’t moved a muscle, every inch of his body was rigid with anxiety. In the labyrinth, she could sense the malevolent anticipation and loathing so thick it almost made her gag.

Breathe, Niko, Jade attempted to soothe her mate with a quick telepathic message, grasping at straws. I didn’t know. I didn’t know he was coming.

It didn’t matter. When Julian opened the door to the conference room with a debonair grin, it was all Jade could do to keep her composure. Assured of an impending blood bath, she rose from her seat, effectively silencing Kurt from his monologue.

“Julian, what a pleasure to see you today.”

Taking her comment in stride, her prime purposefully didn’t look at Niko when he came over to kiss her cheek. “Thought I’d join you for the final meeting. Which one of these fine men is Nikolas?”

Any immortal could sense the magical signature of another, and Niko hadn’t used his ‘human’ shielding today. It meant that Julian already knew who Niko was. For the time being, her prime was keeping up appearances—but she had no idea when that pretense would fall.

Jade gestured to Niko. “Julian, may I introduce Nikolas Church.” She turned back to her mate as he stood and made every attempt to conceal the hatred in his eyes. “Niko, meet Julian Aizen, one of our founding members.”

Tension beamed down the mating bond as the two Sagani males shook hands.

“Congratulations on a successful takeover.” Julian’s smile held an edge that was razor sharp. “Hostile or otherwise.”

“Thank you. Forgive me, I’ve not heard anything about you, Julian.” Niko adopted an innocent look. “I’m sure we’ll get better acquainted later.”

“I’m sure we will.”

Then, taunting the other male, Julian stole an arm around Jade’s waist, the gesture both foreign and unwanted given the circumstances.

“Jade and I go way back,” the prime said, smug. “Truthfully, you’ll be doing me a favor. It’s difficult to have her so far away from me.”

Jade’s chest tightened. It was a lie. Julian didn’t see it as a favor, and it hadn’t been difficult for them to be apart.

The urge to pull the entire truth out of Julian became imperative.

Not only for what he’d just unwittingly revealed, but for what it could mean for Niko’s parents.

Though all she had to do was to activate her ability, it’d take a moment too long to process it—which meant it couldn’t be done here, surrounded by mortals and two Sagani.