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Chapter Thirty-Three

Niko was panicking. He was trapped by Julian’s coercion—unable to move his own body from where he’d been commanded to ‘stay put.’ The manipulative magic had sunk into him before he’d even anticipated creating a barrier against it.

It was a mistake that could very well be his last.

Everyone had filtered out of the room without noticing his predicament, leaving him alone to fight a battle against his childhood trauma.

It felt as though the walls had begun to close in, that the space around him was getting tighter and tighter.

His chest hurt as he dragged in breath after breath, desperately trying to free himself from the order. One thought made him still.

Jade was alone with that monster.

Roaring at the injustice of it all, he pushed at the magic that held him in thrall. It’d bled through him like poison, coating him in Julian’s command. In the moment it mattered most, he was held captive by the very man who’d murdered his parents.

Without Jade, life had no meaning. If he lost her, it wouldn’t matter if he killed Julian. The bond he’d begged her to reject told him that she was in pain, fearful, and anxious.

Jade needed him.

It was that single thought that spurred him on, giving him reason to coil his blinding rage around him like an explosive and light the fuse. Magic exploded outward, shattering the chains that held him captive.

The skyscraper’s windows fragmented beneath the strain, raining down on the streets below. Niko sprinted through the building, barreling down the hallways toward his mate. Somewhere, a fire alarm was pulled.

Doors banged open and people started running to the fire escapes, some blocking his way. His shoulders hit those in his path, but none of them noticed. They were all too intent on escaping what they believed to be a burning building.

All the better. If this were to end the way he thought it would, there could be no witnesses.

The door to Jade’s office flung open as he barged into it, slamming into the drywall with a bang. Niko caught sight of the two people inside and froze. Julian was advancing on Jade with ill intent, snarling as his inner beast raged.

Protective instincts arose in Niko with such fury that his body moved on autopilot.

He barely registered the impact as he leapt into action and slammed into Julian. The force of the hit sent them both careening into the desk in a tangle of limbs. Wood cracked and groaned beneath their impact, but Julian’s snarl was even louder.

A familiar shape registered in Niko’s peripheral vision, but as he and Julian jostled for position and traded punches, it disappeared from sight. While Niko had been trained to kill the most savage of their kind, Julian was older, and his abilities were formidable.

Through their bond, Niko felt Jade weaken. She was being drained—most likely through her legion bond to Julian. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw when she fell to her knees, panting. The strain on his mate split his attention.

It cost him.

Julian grappled for a chokehold, his hands cinching around Niko’s neck, blocking off his air supply and shocking him into temporary submission.

The weight of the prime on top of him, coupled with the constricting position of the wooden boards, made his claustrophobia and trauma response activate in an instant.

When Niko’s fight suddenly abandoned him in place of panic, Jade staggered to her feet. Driven forward by the compulsive need to protect her mate, she scrambled for the gun behind Julian’s field of vision.

The sound of gunfire ricocheted off the four walls of Jade’s office, and Julian stiffened in pain before collapsing on top of Niko. His only thought—after getting out from beneath the monster—was for her.

Jade.

His fated mate.

Shoving the collapsed prime off him, Niko crawled over to Jade’s collapsed form on the floor. Grabbing her shoulders, he pleaded, “Are you okay?”

The vulnerable look in her lilac blue eyes shook him to the core. An imprint of a hand outlined on the side of her face, reiterating the evil Julian personified. Her entire world had shifted beneath her feet, and it’d rocked everything she’d believed.

“I’m sorry.” A mere whisper, her words drudged up from the very core of her being. “I’m so sorry I doubted you. You were right—about everything .”

“What did he do to you?”

From where he held her in his arms, her head dipped to press against his chest. “He tried to manipulate me. He ordered me to kill you, Niko. He said … he said I shouldn’t stop until you died.”

Gently sifting a hand through her hair, he closed his eyes for half a moment before he jumped at the sound of Julian’s groan.

Both Jade and Niko shifted to stare at the still-unconscious prime, both poised to attack at the smallest stirring. But one look at the blooming stain of crimson that was spreading across his dress shirt had Jade frowning.

“Silver bullets?”

Another presence entered the room on the heels of Jade’s words. While Niko stiffened in preparation for another attack, he recognized the magical signature moments later: Quinn.

The mender shot them a questioning look as he moved toward his prime.

“Julian attacked me, Quinn.” The words sounded bitter, full of disappointment and barely restrained rage. “He tried to coerce me against Niko. He tried to make me kill my mate and then forget about him.”

Quinn did a better job of containing his shock. Perhaps it was for Jade’s benefit, or just his composed nature. But when the other man looked between them, and his gaze finally settled on Niko, he felt the weight of Quinn’s devastation.

“Go, Jade, and take Niko with you,” he implored. “Sever your legion ties to Julian and go. It’s the only way he’ll let you—when he’s unconscious.”

Jade reached out to grasp Quinn’s outstretched hand. “What will you do?”

“I have to save his life, Jade.” Distraught, Quinn looked over his shoulder at Julian with resignation. “I’m a mender— his legion’s mender—and I’m honor bound to see that he survives. If he dies, the entire system will collapse.”

The weight of the moment hung in the air before Jade turned back to Niko. “Will Roman allow me entry into your legion? Can he forgive me for what I’ve cost you? I won’t let you mate an exile.”

‘Yes,’ poised on the tip of Niko’s tongue, but guilt and the unknown came barreling into his mind.

Roman’s last command on the topic had been to keep Jade from entering legion territory.

Just this morning, Niko had torn into Roman with four centuries worth of guilt.

His prime would be in his right to decline.

“I’ll ask.”

Swallowing his fear, Niko sent a telepathic hail, and instead of waiting for Roman’s response, he simply spoke.

Roman, Julian attacked Jade. She’s hurt. He attempted — and failed — to coerce her into killing me. Niko hesitated but chose to barrel on. She has requested entry into your legion.

A pause, long enough that Niko couldn’t tell if Roman was digesting the information or merely wasn’t going to reply, still enraged after their previous conversation.

Bring her to my home, Niko.

“Roman is amenable.”

After a curt nod toward Jade, Niko turned to Quinn, all at once eager to be done with the man dying before them.

Part of him wanted to exact revenge, to do what he’d promised himself only nights ago, but Quinn and Roman were right.

If Julian died, all of First Legion would be thrown into chaos.

Innocents would be put at risk, and the entire Sagani society might fall.

Quinn must’ve seen the loathing in his eyes.

“He’s the only thing holding together our society, Niko.

” Even now, the bear shifter’s hands moved above Julian’s wound with the skill of a learned mender.

“No matter how evil his actions today were, he’s the only thing stopping us from spiraling into oblivion.

I can’t allow him to die—even if I want to avenge what he’s doing to you. ”

“What about you, Quinn?” Jade tearfully asked. “If he finds out you aided us, he’ll kill you.”

Quinn’s expression softened, a symptom of his brotherly regard for her. “I have to take that chance. I’m a mender; I mend. To leave him to die would be a stain against my honor.”

“You’re a good man, Quinn.”

“Live well, sister,” the mender said with heartbreaking gentleness. “Niko, take care of her.”

“I will.” A solemn vow as Niko clasped hands with Jade.

“I love you, Quinn,” came Jade’s tearful voice. “Take care of Lark.”

At his solemn nod, Jade prepared herself for what she was about to do, grasping Niko’s hand tighter.

In a flare of magical energy, her legion bonds to Julian disintegrated with a staggering burst of power, the effect resounding through the room and jolting through all three of the immortals in the office.

Jade dragged in a breath, her spine straightening as her eyes widened.

Niko felt the effects of it as intensely as she did. The dissolution of the legion bonds had taken a weight off her shoulders, allowing her a breath of fresh air that seemed sweeter than the last.

That was the moment Niko understood the truth. Julian didn’t drain power from Jade just during the fight. He’d been taking from her the entire time she’d been linked to him.

Her entire life.

With nothing left tying her to Julian, Niko phased them away, leaving Quinn alone with the monster they’d barely begun to understand.