Page 39 of Upon Shattered Bonds

After an assassination attempt and two challenges, his mate had begun to plan for the worst.

Chapter Seventeen

Worry spiraled through their unfinished mating bond, his overwhelming desire to safeguard her driving a spear through her core. Nina hated the fact that she was costing Zeke peace of mind—and more so that he felt compelled to remain here as her guard.

All of them would stay with her until the very end, even if she didn’t want them to. Weakness would define her fall from grace. To know her closest friends and family would be forced to watch her eventual death on the battlefield—or by an assassin’s bullet—made her stomach churn.

They were hunting her. Whoever was behind the attacks held no loyalty to the system developed and refined over the course of recent millennia. Spineless perpetrators had relied on cheating and cowardice to conceal their identities.

There was only one thing to do.

“We need to make plans.”

Aidan frowned. “For what?”

“For the clan,” she replied. “The Peace Accords. Even the vampires—though I’m certain the council will run just as smoothly in my absence.”

“Your absence?” Drake asked.

The vampire’s look of confusion only served to make her feel more guilty. “If, or when, I’m defeated. We can’t keep banking on me winning every time or surviving every assassination attempt.”

Aidan growled from across the room. His eyes, gone wolf, were filled with a melancholy Nina understood all too well. “Where is this coming from? You just killed your second challenger in as many days.”

“They’re going to keep coming, Aidan,” she breathed. “You didn’t see what was in Liam’s head. They’re desperate to remove me—I just don’t know why.”

A flash of hostility burned through Nina’s mating bond, searing her to the core with Zeke’s sudden surge of emotion. Sucking in a breath at the intensity, her eyes sliced over to where he crouched beside her.

“How many Raeths?” Zeke growled. “How many Raeths do they have lined up to challenge you?”

“Ten. Twenty.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Rhonnen was cannon fodder, but they thought that Liam would have a decent chance at survival. I can only assume they will propose more competent adversaries each time.”

The immortals who’d taken up protective positions around the room stared at her with a mixture of shock and horror. No matter how hard this conversation was, Nina couldn’t take the easy way out.

“I won’t keep getting lucky.”

Blair’s mouth opened, her throat working, but she couldn’t speak. When Kaien took a step forward, the fire cast light over his features, wrath and misery warring with each other for purchase.

“Luck has nothing to do with it, Nina,” her twin snarled. “You’re strong—and you’re going to keep winning.”

Kaien’s positivity made her want to smile, but even that seemed too big a task. Leaning back on the chaise where Zeke had placed her, she sighed.

“I’m tired, Kaien,” she admitted. “You said it yourself: I have congestive heart failure. How long will it be before it resolves itself? What if it never resolves? We can’t know. We need to plan for the worst—at least so that I have some peace of mind.”

Seemingly spurred by her comment, Kaien crossed the room and sank to the floor in front of her. Without a word, he reached up to place his hand against her heart, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze. Their bond didn’t lie: his despair at the situation had grown twofold over the last hour.

Nina reached up and covered his hand with hers. “Sometimes, life takes away our choices, and all we’re left with are dead ends.”

Staccato pops crackled from the hearth. As Nina looked around the room, she recognized the familiar ache in their faces. Tears welled in Toni’s eyes as her hand found Drake’s. The ancient vampire didn’t return his wife’s comforting squeeze, the man too shocked to respond.

Beside her, Zeke broke the silence. “Do you know who is next?”

“Next?”

“Next in line to challenge you.”

She smirked, instantly knowing the reason he was asking. “Why, so you can kill them?”

Even when he didn’t say a word, his expression spoke volumes.

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