Page 85 of Toward Immortal Ruin

It served to snap her out of her despair. “Yes, I did. Are you complaining?”

Nero shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

“Good.” Then, she muttered mournfully, “At least I did one thing right.”

Regret hit him square in the face. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Key.”

“My visions almost cost both of your lives,” she countered.

His heart twisted, and his shoulders sagged at her increasingly fractured psyche. “Key, Ihavemy mate because of you. While I may have been blinded to the truth for a moment and took it out on you, I’ve never stopped trusting you. I know you’d never intentionally cause my mate’s death, nor mine.”

He looped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss into the silver-blonde braid. “We saved her, Key. Tomorrow night is the full moon, and we’d have certainly lost her if she’dturned wolf. But she’s here. She’s alive and that’s how she’ll stay.”

“I don’t like that it’s shaken your trust in me, sovereign.”

Hurt rammed through his gifts. “Key, my wrath shames me. And I pressed you—impossibly—into seeking visions you were blind to. Forgive me. It was never your burden to bear.”

The power of her foresight pressed abrasively against his skin in that moment, gravity shifting as the force of it slammed into him. “Soon, we’ll all bear one another’s burdens, sovereign. And it will be our allies who determine whether we live or die.”

At the whispered words of prophecy, Nero bristled. “Our allies? Who are you referring to?”

Her eyes were frosted white, the color indicating the phenomenal use of psychic strength. “Our world is threatened, and soon, you and every other immortal must prepare for the end.”

“Key, what does that mean?”

Before she could answer, the foreseer was collapsing against him, the energy drought following the expenditure too much for her to bear. Shifting to take her weight and gently lay her down on the couch, he manifested a blanket and covered her shivering form.

Key’s foresight was both a gift and a curse, as Nero knew firsthand.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Eden woke promptly atsunset the following evening. Even without Nero’s harried look, the anxiety that coursed through their unfinalized mating bond told her it wouldn’t be the night of bliss they’d promised themselves.

“What’s wrong?”

“TheCitizensreleased rabid wolves on Oahu. My clansmen have gathered in the shelter for the time being, but I have to go help the others.”

Only then did Eden realize she was in an unusual bedroom, smaller, and completely windowless. White wood walls, shiplap perhaps, rose from floor to ceiling, and the small twin bed she’d been laid on was covered in a motherly blue and white quilt.

She vaulted off the bed. “What can I do to help?”

Pride colored his expression as he led her down the hallway and into a larger gathering area in the dome that already held twenty or so Raeths. All of them turned to look at the couple. Or Nero, more precisely. Seamlessly shifting to the authority figure they all expected him to be, he addressed them.

“Nolan, Key, and Geoffrey, take your teams to the north streets and see if you can coax the wolves toward Zeke and Riaz. Key and Zayn, your teams are on the south side with Aidan and Ava. Luna, you’ll stay here and cover the shelter downstairs. Jeremiah and Zia are already containing the disturbances with the humans. Go now—and be careful!”

As the clansmen around them dispersed on his order, Eden eyed him warily. “Are you playing defense?”

“No, I’m going to try to find the ones responsible for this mess. TheCitizens’Raeth is close by; I can sense him.” He looked at her. “If you want to stay and protect the shelter with Luna, she’d be appreciative, but if you want to come with me, I could use the backup.”

Ready to aid in any way possible, Eden suddenly froze when he pulled back the curtain to reveal the night beyond. The full moon mirrored itself in the black ocean.

Eden stared at it, blinking as her world shifted around her. A burning sensation smoldered through her veins, a pit hollowing out in her gut. Her limbs began to tremble slightly as the flame rose and the feeling in her stomach intensified.

Claws raked down her insides, shredding at her skin from within, making her hands fist and her nails dig into her palms. Instead of curling in on herself, her spine stiffened as she threw her head backward and shrieked.

Something within her wantedout.

Nero’s arms were instantly around her, supporting her trembling frame, as his worried voice sounded in her ear. “What’s wrong, Eden? Where are you hurt?”

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