Page 71 of Toward Immortal Ruin

On his knees before her now, Nero gripped her hand. “Please. I’m begging you, Nina. Just try.”

She squeezed his hand. “Have you asked Eden what she wants? What risks are acceptable to her? If she’s willing to undergo experimental and desperate interventions, and if she trusts us with whatever we try?”

“I didn’t want to give her false hope,” he whispered. “If it was your mate—if it was Zeke—would you hold out an offer you hadn’t confirmed was a possibility?”

Giving Eden hope, and then taking it away, would have been cruel. Before he went to his mate, he wanted to know every avenue that was available to her. He’d put all of his resources to use if she wanted to pursue this. This wasEden’slife, and her choice. It didn’t matter what his priorities were. He would follow her down any path she chose—even death.

When Nina’s fingers gently curled around his shoulder, slowly bringing him back, she gave him a soft smile. “Ask her. Let me know what she says. If she agrees to it, I’m happy to attempt. But she must understand the stakes. If we try and succeed, it’ll change a death sentence to immortality, cancer to eternal health.

“If we fail, it could mean agony, and a very brutal death in a matter of hours.”

***

Shadow. Light. Shadow. Light.

The brilliant yellow beacon slowly rotated behind him, while across the waves, darkness called, the deep midnight of the ocean both comforting and disconcerting.

The lighthouse had stood the test of time, bearing the burden of both fair weather and hurricanes, invasions and peace. Everything had changed since they’d erected it a hundred years ago. Except Nero.

He’d remained the same, always waiting. Since the day he’d seen Eden’s face eleven centuries ago, Nero had become stagnant, yearning for their relationship before starting his life.

Now everything he’d craved was on the edge of the abyss.

Eden was the only thing that mattered. The happy portrait of a matehood Nero had envisioned for centuries was no longer the pinnacle of his future goals. His sole remaining purpose was to ensure her survival—ifshe wanted it.

If she didn’t …

The thought of her death stabbed through Nero’s chest, burning his soul from the inside out. Everything would be meaningless without her by his side.

If Eden refused to take Nina up on her offer, he’d do everything in his power to help her shift. If she decided to end her life before the pain could steal her sanity, he’d jump into the fires alongside her.

It was Zia’s psychic signature, tinged with potent veins of trepidation, which gave away her approach. Her steps had been completely silent.

“Sovereign?”

He didn’t turn to look at her. “Zia. Did you volunteer for babysitting duty, or did you draw the short straw?”

“Who wouldn’t want to comfort our sovereign during his time of need?”

“Any of my lieutenants.”

“That’s hardly fair, Nero.” There was a slight admonishment in her tone.

“And what questions are you here to ask, healer?” Nero braced himself for the inevitable. “Will you inquire as to my health, or the health of my mate? Or will you bypass the topic entirely and ask who will lead my clan when I meet the Light?”

“Your mate will soon lose what mortal life she has left, sovereign—whether to immortality or to the grave.” Zia gracefully strode forward, trailing her fingertips along the fogged glass. “The lifespan of a human may be seconds compared to ours, but their lives are dazzling, when compared to those who live forever.”

She continued, as if lost in thought. “While many immortalkind pity them, I cannot help but admire humans. Their existence blooms so magnificently, precisely because they are aware of its limits. We will never know the like.”

Her wisdom drove him to explain his decisions. “I won’t force her to accept immortality, whether wolf or vampire. I couldn’t. IfEdenwants to try to overcome this challenge, I’ll do everything in my power to help her. And if she chooses that this is the time to let go, I’ll support her. But I won’t live another day without her. Eden is everything I’ve been missing, and now that I’ve met her, nothing will ever be the same again. If she goes, I’ll go with her.”

“Nero, you’ve lived your entire life without her,” Zia urged. “Why would a week with her so drastically change your point of view, mate or not?”

A flare of anger made his panther hiss. “Because she’s shown me that there’s so much more to life than how I’ve been living!If I’ve only been given a week with my mate, then when it’s over, so am I.”

Zia’s despair followed him as he descended the circular staircase that led out of the lighthouse. The brittle creaking of the aged metal was the only punctuation to her sadness.

Nero ignored it all.

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