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Remmus jerked back like he’d been thrown into an icy lake. “She doesn’t want to finalize the mating bond? Why the hell not? What’s her justification?”
“Blair has never coveted attachment. I can’t force her into something she doesn’t want.”
“But … you’re mates. You’re two halves of a whole. Created for each other and bound by fate.”
In a rare show of vulnerability, Remmus’ jovial façade dropped, and seriousness reigned in his face. Mouth twisting in incomprehension, the other man displayed the depth of the innate compassion that defined him.
Remaining silent, Kaien studied the ash wood floor, unable to hold eye contact. Remmus spoke the truth. Without Blair, he’d fade into a shadow of himself, endlessly searching for the other piece of his soul without purchase. If he lost her, Kaien would continually fend off the notion that he was incomplete, separated from the very thing he desired most: Blair. Without her, he would be nothing.
When Remmus didn’t replace his usual mask of joie de vivre, Kaien knew he’d dragged his best friend into the mire with him.
“I’ll be fine, Remmus,” he lied, the sentiment ringing with untruth. He couldn’t let Remmus carry his burden, not when the other man already had so many of his own.
“Does she know what it’ll do to you? To have her reject you as her mate?”
“I won’t burden her with that, Remmus.” Kaien shook his head, entirely against twisting Blair’s arm in any form that’d leave her bound to him. “I won’t color her decision.”
Remmus’ quipped laughter held no humor. “You’re a better man than I.”
Both men quieted in the seconds that followed, neither sure how to proceed with the conversation. Remmus, only a few hundred years younger, had been as close as a brother to Kaien for the last eight centuries.
After a rocky start to life, Remmus had battled his way into the Blaede clan, proven his merit, and joined the ranks without looking back to the clanless beginning of his existence. Now, both had settled into their roles as lieutenants to Nina, ranking second and third among them.
Kaien.
Kaien straightened as Nina’s mental voice sounded in his mind, a gentle probe.Yes?
Blair needs to return to New York to speak with the council. Nina replied.Figured you’d want to tag along?
Kaien ground his teeth together.Yes, thank you.Is she in your home?
A mental nod.We’ll be waiting.
Resisting the urge to bit out a curse, Kaien stood and turned to regard the unusually sedate Raeth opposite him. “Blair wants to return to New York.”
“Good luck, my friend.” Remmus offered him a reluctant smile. “Perhaps you’ll get through to her yet, Kaien. Have faith.”
Grasping forearms with the other male in solidarity, Kaien took a step back as Remmus gave him a mock salute. With a grunt, he teleported into Nina’s living room. When his vision cleared, he saw that before him stood a trio of women, deep in conversation.
The only one Kaien had eyes for was Blair.
She’d borrowed clothing from Nina, and her customary riot of bracelets and necklaces had returned. Once more, she donned the mask she wore in society, the carefree, whimsical woman who ran from everything—including him.
Celeste grinned at Kaien. “Hello gorgeous. Word has it you’re in a murderous mood, and I could use a good spar. Care to tango before you go?”
“Hard pass, bubble gum,” Kaien responded evenly, glancing up to catch the tail end of a sour expression on Blair’s face.
When she locked eyes with him, she nodded amicably, but her expression belied the tenseness underneath. It was a sign of her utter denial that they hadn’t just spent the previous night tangled in intimacy below the sheets.
“You sure, handsome?” Celeste’s sultry voice purred from the couch before him, throwing him an oddly seductive pout. “You’ve never disappointed me on the mats, and Nina is constantly pulling her punches.”
“If you asked him, Remmus might go toe to toe with you right now,” he grunted. “He shares my ‘murderous mood.’”
Blair was searching his gaze for the secrets he’d been keen to keep. If she asked, he’d tell her the truth: Remmus was just as surprised about the mating as he’d been, and neither of them could fathom the possibility of her rejecting it.
Celeste beat her to the punch. “Remmus is no better than Nina.”
“Celeste, he’s not going to spar with you.”
