Page 111 of Gift from the Nexus

Well, fuck me.

“You’re the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever seen,” he mumbles with wide ruby eyes, then leans forward to lay a kiss on her forehead. “Do not wait for me, my beloved, but know that one day, I will find you, and I will give you all of me.”

“I’m already yours, Keeper, and I’ll love you even after my last breath. There is no other.”

She presses her lips to his fiercely as tears stream down her cheeks, then before she can change her mind, she moves through the ward, disappearing through the darkness.

He stands there. Watching. Waiting.

He’s still there minutes after her silhouette disappeared in the night and when he turns around with a single tear dripping down his cheek, my body begins to fade.

Oh, Elementra…so we’re just going to reunite families everywhere, huh?

Coming out of the vision, there’s no answer from Elementra or CC other than an unyielding warning that swirls in my gut and instincts that I don’t understand telling me I can’t tell anyone about this.Yet.

Damn, that was like watching a tragic romance.

I only like happily ever afters.

The soft, cushiony surface below me is familiar and just one deep breath tells me I’m in Corentin’s office and everyone’s here.

“Little wanderer.”

“I’m here, dragon,” I mumble. My voice is thick with emotion as I blink my watery eyes open, and they collide with his worried cobalts. “How long this time?”

“Three hours,” he whispers.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I knew after a few seconds, since you didn’t snap out of it that it was going to be a long one.”

“Yeah. It definitely was,” I say gloomily as he gives me a hand and helps me sit up.

“You shrieked, laughed, and cried out loud this time, Primary,” Caspian says, kneeling in front of me and wiping away my tears.

“I believe that. That was a whirlwind of a journey.”

Glancing around the room, everyone’s here. My guys, Gaster, Oakly, Ry, Jamie, Nikoli, and San. This level of love and support piles onto my heavy heart and I swallow roughly.

“Are you okay, princess?” Corentin asks, concern lacing his voice when he feels the emotions coursing through me.

“Yeah, I’m okay. That was just a heartbreaking blast to the past,” I tell him.

I don’t tell them the woman’s identity or anything about her. That will stay Keeper’s secret for now, but I do explain that hehas a house, and I’m not sure if the other vampires do, but it’s a possibility. Despite their immediate disagreements, I hold on strong to the belief that Keeper isn’t a bad person. Much like Trex, something is being held over his head and he’s being forced to comply. I refuse to believe anything else after what I just saw.

They relent a little when I grow more and more passionate about it, but I don’t believe they’re one hundred percent convinced.

“We can’t stick to the original plan of removing him with that cord in his neck anyway. I have no doubt now that the Summum-Master will kill him or destroy whatever it is that’s being held over his head. Our plan will have to shift to a negotiation rather than capture, kidnap, whatever the hell we’re calling it,” I say adamantly.

“Negotiate for what, princess? We have no clue what it is he wants or what the Summum-Master has on him,” Corentin says softly but factually.

“Then we ask. We ask flat out what he has, then we agree to retrieve it in exchange for his loyalty. And in the meantime, we find out how to get that cord out,” I command. I’m not backing down from this.

“Okay, princess.”

“Okay?” I ask, a little taken aback he’s giving in.

“Yes, okay. If you feel this strongly about him, then I believe you. We go with your plan.”

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