Page 8 of Dark Reign

Julian nodded in agreement while Levi gave an indifferent shrug.

“And yet, despite the lack of trust in the system, you’re all still opposed toplan B,” I observed.

They were all silent.

Completely.

In fact, that was their collective response every time I brought up that there was another plausible solution, one that could not only satisfy the requirement for us each to take a bride before taking the throne. It could also potentially fix a number of things ailing the Dynasty. In my opinion, for that reason alone, it seemed worth considering.

Succumbing to a blood bond by way of a sacred ritual—specifically one consisting of blood and venom from four emperors—could change lives. Couldsavelives across all four quadrants.

However, because there was no guarantee this would be a quick fix, or even a viable solution down the road, the others had been hard to convince. A great sacrifice with only thepossibilityof our blood producing an antidote to the sickness was, apparently, not incentive enough.

The others’ hesitance may have also had to do with the fact that there was a very specific side-effect of the ritual. To summarize, we—four princes who’d soon be emperors of the free world—would be bound toonequeen, locked in, and forced to share one mate.

For eternity.

While it wasn’t the best scenario I could have thought up either, according to Dr. Percival’s reports, once the ritual was complete and we were a solid unit of five, all feelings of possessiveness, jealousy, and separatism would disappear. We would be enlightened, understanding the bond on a deeper level than most could fathom.

Our fathers had been offered the same opportunity in years past, along with council from Dr. Percival himself should they have agreed to initiate a bond. However, with no guarantee of its effectiveness, they quickly refused, deciding instead to choose mates and wed of their own volition.

At that time, hundreds of years ago, there was no illness to speak of, and thus no noble benefit to justify making the sacrifice. It was easy to understand why our fathers opted not to participate. However, by the time the first case of the sickness arose, the option of a bond had been lost, thanks to a series of unforeseen events. Thus, the opportunity to test Percival’s theory had only recently reemerged as we, the emperors’ sons, prepared to take the throne.

Despite the extensive research Percival had done, I was still the only one willing to consider it. Even with the added benefit of inheriting the gifts of the other three quadrants. Yes, my intuitive abilities had been convenient, but I could only imagine that adding my brothers’ region-specific gifts would have been even better.

Roman’s gift of flight.

Julian’s incredible strength.

Levi’s psychokinetic abilities.

These all added icing to the cake if you asked me. And to keep balance, not only wouldwepossess all these traits, our mate would as well, and whatever descendants came of the union.

If we could find a way to come into agreement on this, we could be on the verge of not only curing the sickness, but becoming the first super nation to ever exist.

“I’d sooner take up with a Doll and risk marring my family name,” Levi blurted. “For all we know, this whole bit about the blood bond is just the mindless rant of a madman.”

It was forbidden to speak of Dr. Percival in such a way. However, Levi knew this was one of few settings where expressing himself openly wouldn’t result in a swift beheading. Well, provided none of Julian’s staff was in earshot to report us to the magistrate. Not even our titles and status could protect us from the long arm of the law if the committed offense was against the beloved founding father of our Dynasty.

“Mind your tongue,” Julian grumbled, reaching to pour a glass of fresh blood.

“Oh, come on,” Levi scoffed. “You all agree. You simply don’t have the balls to admit it. No one’s laid eyes on Percival in years, and generally people only retreat to a mountain range to work in solitude when they’ve lost all their marbles. Therefore, I think it’s time we all consider that some of his later theories and research might just be steeped in insanity,” he concluded.

I said nothing. Partly because I, too, had grown concerned about the stability Ian Percival had shown in recent years, but still believed him to be a great man of science. I mean, he was the reason we even existed, the reason we had the luxury of enjoying immortality.

Unhinged or not, no one could deny the man was brilliant.

“I just don’t buy it,” was Levi’s indifferent conclusion. “You mean to tell me the best the man could do was to require that we break the strictest law—one hehimselfimposed—to even get this insane bond started?”

It was no secret that the only way to initiate the bond would be for one of us to break the ‘no-turn’ law. With population control being a major concern, as was blood shortage, turning humans into Ianites was strictly forbidden now. Not only would it remove a blood source from circulation, it would also create another mouth to feed. And even if we did decide to give this a try, we’d have tohopea human woman would be willing to participate.

The more I mulled it over, weighed the odds of this working in our favor, I had to admit how slim the chances were. Still, it would have been a huge breakthrough if it weren’t so farfetched.

Sitting back in my seat, I decided not to push. Besides, there was only one way to know if Ian Percival was insane or a genius, and that was to throw caution to the wind.

“Well,” I sighed, “as long as none of us randomly decides to turn a human girl, I suppose we’ll never know.”

Levi raised his glass into the air, thick, red liquid sloshing inside. “I’ll drink to that.”

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