Page 84 of Toward Immortal Ruin

“That’s not true. Zeke was right. You don’t owe me anything, my friend.” Nero shook his head, angry at himself. “I asked something of you that was unfair, put you on the spot, and when you told me you weren’t certain of the outcome, I didn’t listen. I was upset, and I let my feelings get the better of me.” He looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry. Truly.”

“I know, Nero. All is forgiven.”

“I owe you my mate’s life.”

“There has never been a score to settle between us,” she reminded him. “That doesn’t start today.”

Raw emotion thickened Nero’s throat as he bowed his head and forced the tears from his eyes. He followed her gaze to the piano that lingered in the front room.

“You’ve yet to play, Nina.”

“I’ve been rather preoccupied with my youngest fledgling.” The sound of her chuckle seemed far wearier than what he’d expected, even after the effort of siring a new vampire.

Nero felt it then, the thin thread of despair and anguish coursing beneath the weariness in Nina’s emotional psyche. With a start, he dug deeper, allowing free rein to the emotional barometer within him. His gift locked onto the thread, pulling on the string until it revealed the vast swell of darkness that seemed to constrict around her.

“Why are you despairing? Nina, what’s wrong?”

Connected as he was to her emotional signature, he experienced firsthand the flicker of fear that jolted through her. Though it was banished immediately by a smirk, Nina couldn’t hide from him. Not now that he’d already discovered the truth.

Her blatant attempt at covering her darkness was preposterous. She was putting on a front for him.

“Everything will come out with time, Nero. Don’t worry about it.”

What did that mean?“That’s a ridiculous answer and you know it. We’ve never lied to each other,” he reminded her of her earlier words, “please don’t start now. Tell me what’s wrong.”

When Nina met his gaze, he realized then how much something weighed on her. Before, he’d been focused solely on Eden, and hadn’t noticed when his oldest friend was struggling.

“I can’t, Nero,” she whispered. “It’s my burden, not yours.”

He stared at her, trying to decide whether to push her on the subject or not, when she launched into another discussion about keeping bagged blood on hand, and how best to keep Eden safe while she slept. Not even five minutes later, she teleported away.

He didn’t have a moment to contemplate the oddness of their conversation. As if she’d known the exact moment Nina would leave, Key appeared on the couch across from him.

“Key.”

“Sovereign.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Though Key had done nothing truly wrong, his animosity piqued as his panther prowled behind his eyes.

And she knew it. “Sovereign, I’m sorry. I had no way of knowing that Eden would be in danger when you found her, and those initial visions covered all the time she’d have left. It was never my intent to harm you, and if my gifts had cooperated, I would’ve told you.”

“You keep secrets, Key.Deliberately. How can I know if you’re willfully withholding information or are genuinely unaware?”

Her tears resurfaced. “Sovereign, there were only ever four visions, and I shared each of them with you. Please—please—you have to believe me.”

Though he wanted to trust her, he’d been burned in the past. Nero stilled, reading her emotional signature for the truth. Sharp despair, bitter unhappiness, and an overwhelming tide of guilt but no deceit or duplicity.

That assessment alone could’ve cleared her name, and the fact that she was sitting on his couch bawling was another good indicator of her innocence. Nero was still reluctant.

“Did you send Myko over?”

“Yes.” Sincerity rang true. “I couldn’t tell why he needed to go, just that he did.” The foreseer sucked in a breath, almost backpedaling. “But that’s all I’ve gotten for Eden; I’ve not seen anything else with relation to her future. The rest remains a mystery.”

Nero examined the Raeth before him. For the foreseer to be confused was a testament to just how twisted and convoluted the path here had been.

“Did you take all of my sheets, too?”

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