Page 31 of Between Imminent Fates

He smiled. “I’ll have Oreos and a movie ready.”

Key lifted on her toes and gently touched her lips to his cheek. She teleported back to Oahu without a word of goodbye.

Instead of trying to decipher the secrets of her own mind, she stood in her kitchen and refocused on the conversation ahead. The cool granite countertop under her hands kept her centered in the present, reminding her that she couldn’t afford to be distracted from her goal. By the time Nero appeared beside her, she’d realigned herself.

“Key?”

She swallowed against a too-dry mouth. “Yes, sovereign?”

“I felt your distress earlier through our clan bond.” His too-perceptive gaze speared through her as he let himself in. “Are you okay?”

Already, Key’s mind was filtering through the vision of what’d she already seen of this moment, of what needed to take place during their brief but important conversation. She felt rather than sensed her eyes frost white.

After this conversation, there would be no going back. Nothing could change the outcome if she breathed the words into existence. Part of her wanted to ignore the vision—and the future that came along with it.

It was a crucially important question, and one that’d both win the war and lose her battle. Everything hinged on Nero’s reply. The lives of their allies and the deaths of their enemies. A future where immortals could prosper, or one where they’d perish.

A war for self-preservation raged inside her. By asking this of her sovereign, she would sign the death warrant of those she’d been bound to protect. She would beg for it—even while knowing exactly what it would cost.

In the end, she was honor-bound to see it through. Swallowing against a throat tight with guilt, she spoke the words that would condemn her.

“Nero. I need to ask you a favor.”

“Name it.”

“When the time comes and I ask it of you, you must restrain Zeke.” The shock of the ask made Nero flinch. “You will have to Lock his abilities the moment I say.”

His mouth dropped open. “You would ask me to wield my abilities against one of our strongest allies?”

She nodded.

“Kiyonne, this goes against our code. I’ve signed a treaty with Zeke, barring action against each other. An attack of this nature—” he shook his head distastefully, “—it goes against everything I stand for.”

“And yet, it must happen. For immortal victory.”

He could only stare at her. Her sovereign was powerful, but his strongest ability was the one he rarely utilized. Nero was a Lock.

Feared among Raethkind, he never advertised the ability, nor showcased it to anyone outside his clan. Key had only witnessed the true extent of the gift a handful of times, the most recent being when he’d taken action against a man who had attempted to kill Jeremiah.

That Raeth—Myko’s father—was still without his abilities, essentially rendered human. The Lock would remain in place forever if Nero refused to remove it.

Not even a Blunt or a Shield could withstand him, and no one outside of their clan knew Nero had the ability. A Lock’s gift existed on a separate plane, untouched by other Raeths or their magic. It could not be manipulated or mirrored, changed, or shielded. It was pure psychic energy.

“Nero, if you don’t Lock Zeke when the moment comes, we’ll lose the war. We will all perish. The horrors that happen to our clans, our children, to your mate—the grim future of our kind would be guaranteed.”

“Zeke would never act against us. Explain what benefit rendering him powerless would achieve?”

“If I tell you that—no matter how much I want to—it will compromise everything we’ve worked for. You trusted me once before, Nero, and it saved the life of your mate. You found her because you had faith in my abilities. I’d ask that you do the same even now, when it feels like failure, and your morality is questioned. Please, Nero. This—thisis the last thing I’ll ask of you.”

Turmoil reigned in her sovereign, but in the end, trust won out. “If you say so, Key, I’ll listen. When you ask it of me, I’ll Lock Zeke’s power.”

Chapter Eleven

Jax

For the first timesince Jax had been assigned to the kennels under Barlowe, the cages were clean. He had arrived early this morning to spray them down and remove waste and urine.

It was clearly apparent which wolves were rabid. Those who’d already been infected threw themselves at the cage doors, attempting to bite him with frothing mouths. Those who hadn’t watched him with a keen intelligence. Several had successfully shifted back to human form, but many found it was easier to remain the wolf. Few wanted to be without clothing.

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