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Despite her realization, Jade knew that Niko’s attention was fixed on Julian’s hand, still possessively clutched her to him. Her mate was a second away from phasing a blade into his grip, roaring a war cry, and lodging it in her prime’s heart.

“Niko, Julian, let’s sit before we take up any more of Kurt’s time.”

Jade gestured to the trio of chairs near them, and they took their seats. As Kurt began his speech again, she attempted to keep her breathing calm and regulated. This close, it was impossible to ignore the potency of the two men’s contempt for one another.

While she longed to reach out to Niko, Jade didn’t dare use her telepathic voice while her prime was nearby. Her own fearful anticipation—both at what Julian could do to Niko and what Niko would do to Julian given the chance—was spiraling out of control.

As an hour passed, Julian asked good questions and gained the ear of the room quickly, earning him brownie points with every one of her colleagues. That’s what her prime did: he was a politician, a diplomat.

If Jade let this go on any longer, all of them would be eating out of his hand.

She was surprised Julian had shown up. While she’d spoken with him about her final days in the office, he had shown no interest in attending. Despite the fact that he’d wanted to bring the ‘rumors’ to an end, Julian rarely did the dirty work himself.

Perhaps that was his play. He’d said that if he found her to be duplicitous, she wouldn’t like the consequences. His attendance here today may have been what he’d meant, or it might have been a consequence. If he believed she’d crossed him, today could be more disastrous than she’d anticipated.

For weeks, she had been in the company of a man Julian believed was dead. She’d already revealed Niko’s role in perpetuating the ‘rumor’ of his parents’ deaths—and Julian had said he’d take care of it. Jade had already seen how he tied up loose ends.

She had no way of knowing what Julian’s intention was.

The answer came quickly. With any luck, her prime wouldn’t see the innocuous act for what it was. She slid her hand across the table, reaching out and linking her fingers through Julian’s. He gave her an appreciative smile, then returned his attention to the speaker.

Discreetly, she crept through their legion bond in the labyrinth, searching for the truth that she needed so desperately.

Yelena fled from the scene of the queen’s murder, protecting her child. Baring his teeth at the waste of time, Julian phased just in front of their personal quarters in the palace. Better to surprise her here than to give chase.

The moment Yelena spotted him, she stumbled, jostling the boy in her arms. “Julian.”

Eyes wide in fear, she clung tighter to her son, shifting backwards and away from him. She must’ve recognized the intent behind his feral smile, truly seeing him for the first time. Killing the king and queen had only been one step in his plan—eliminating Yelena and Ivan was the next.

Lacing his voice with the most powerful threads of magic he possessed, he commanded, “Kill your mate first, then your son.”

The impact of the vision rioted through her, but mercifully, she remained still. She gave Julian an innocent smile, the picture of a dutiful Sagani, while inwardly loathing the man for all he was worth.

Jade had seen both sides of the coin: the man who was singlehandedly saving their race, and the one who’d damned it. The truth couldn’t be refuted.

She sat between a monster and a saint, surrounded by mortals who knew nothing of the immortal world. What would happen in the next few minutes would determine the course of Sagani society. If she and Niko didn’t escape, no one would know the truth of what Julian had done.

Mind clouded by the enormity of what came next, Jade didn’t notice when Kurt signaled the moment to sign. Niko’s hand, gentle and encouraging, rested on her shoulder. The weight of it sent a flare of heat through her, and when she looked up, his smile meant everything to her.

“Time to sign everything away, Ms. Lascaux.”

Chest constricting, she nodded and took a deep breath.

The expensive fountain pen Kurt gave her when she arrived was chilled to the touch. As she briefly scanned through the document she’d audited tens of times, her attention was focused on the two other immortals in the room.

Neither moved as she signed her name in one of twenty different places.

Largely ceremonial, the documents she signed this morning were more for appearances than anything. The bulk of the legal paperwork had already been done, filed away in folders, and scanned into the cloud.

Niko’s signing was leisurely, the man assuming control of the company his most bitter enemy had funded.

Congratulations and handshakes were exchanged as the tension between Julian and Niko rose to a crescendo. In large part, Jade’s role in these proceedings had now concluded.

A natural tapering off the celebration led to Kurt dismissing the entirety of the room, promising that the documents would be sent to the interested parties before the end of the week.

With very little pretense, the room began to disband, each member of the merger meetings glad to go back to their normal roles.

When Kurt and his team finally began to pack up, Julian addressed her warmly. “Jade, may I borrow you for a moment? I’d like to speak to you about something that’s bothering me.”

There was no way she could refuse. Purposefully not glancing at Niko, she gave her prime a polite smile. “Of course. Niko, I’ll be back shortly.”

As she stood to leave, Niko’s anxiety intensified, and he was on his feet. Before he could interject, Julian’s pedantic smile warned him off.

“We’ll be back, Nikolas. Nothing to worry about.” And then, laced with manipulative magic so potent it seemed to ripple in the air around them, he added, “ Stay put .”

Niko froze.

Her prime’s hand went to the small of her back, ushering her out of the conference room as she left her mate behind. Deep within the labyrinth, she felt the sudden surge of panic and anxiety from him. He’d become trapped by the same coercive magic that’d killed his parents.

The walk to her office was silent and fraught with tension—on her end. Julian was unaffected, a cool head in any situation.

If anyone saw her now, they’d believe she was the same Jade as always: poised and professional. Inwardly, Jade’s snow leopard had become something vicious, a moment away from shifting and ripping out Julian’s throat.

It was physically painful to restrain the urge. For the moment, she simply had to resist the compulsion. Julian was here, and while she still had access to him, she needed answers.

When they’d finally closed her office door and she stood at attention on the near side of her desk, Jade watched as Julian turned up the sound machine in the corner and pinned her with a blank look.

And then her world came crashing down around her.