Page 76 of Gift from the Nexus

How his fucking mind works, I’ll never understand.

“No, we’re taking a break before I shift and eat Corentin. I’m finding his gift much harder to manage than the rest. Anyways, what was that you were just singing?” she asks, cocking her head curiously at him.

“Oh, just some song my mom used to sing to me. I haven’t thought about it in years, but Caspian asked me something that made it come to mind.”

“Huh. I liked it. So what are you reading?” she asks me, rapidly changing the subject, which makes me think the sneaky little Primary knows something the rest of us don’t.

“Histories and records of powerful bloodlines documented in the realm, but none of these that I run across seem to stick out. They’re all elites or powerful enough families to make a name for themselves, but we’ve always been aware of them. Whoever you come from, Primary, I believe were incredibly secretive,” I tell her honestly.

“Well, can you blame them? With people like the Summum-Master and Franklin chasing after them, they didn’t have another choice. You all like to keep me a secret and that started before we even knew of Franklin’s role or the fact the Mastery was after me.”

“No, I can’t blame them. If they have a bloodline that consist of powerful females, it was smart to keep that a well-kept secret,” I easily agree.

Powerful females have always been targets and basically classified as Primaries even without Nexuses because it’s pretty much a guarantee they’ll end up someone’s Primary, whether it be true or chosen. The more we’ve figured out about what the Mastery’s doing, it’s easy for me to assume they target them so Nexuses can’t be completed, and true Nexuses can’t come into full power.

Even if the route to take a chosen is selected, the Nexus still gets a power boost. It’s nothing compared to what we’ll get, butstill it’s more than what they had, and that’s most certainly a threat to the Mastery’s plan.

“How far back do these particular records go?” she asks, plopping down in my lap, running her finger down the worn, bound parchment.

I blow out a slow breath because everything in me wants to pull her ass back and forth slowly across my already hardening cock. Fuck, what this little creature does to me is damn near unbearable.

“Around a thousand years,” I say casually as if the feeling of her body on mine isn’t causing me to lose my fucking mind.

She hums, still caressing the pages. I contemplate throwing the damn book and demanding she run her hand across me like that, but before I can, she asks, “When did the Vitos take power?”

“Two thousand years ago, princess,” Corentin answers.

“What? Damn, that was a long time ago. I don’t know why, but I had it in my mind that the grandma you told me about was the first of the line. Wait, so that means…” she trails off, shooting Gaster a devious little smirk, to which he laughs and shakes his head.

“Yes, child, I was alive then as well, but still you’re no closer to getting that secret from me.”

With a huff, she crosses her arms and leans back into me fully. I can’t help the rumble of laughter in my chest because I too have been trying to figure out the mystery of the old man’s age for as long as I can remember. Elementra calling him the ancient one leads me to believe my assumptions are still inaccurate, though.

Wrapping the Primary in my shadows, I give in just slightly to my depraved need for her and drag her even closer to me. Twitching my hips just enough to taunt her, let her know what she’s caused, and a triumphant smirk crosses my face when the quietest of noises bubbles out the back of her throat.

Clearing her voice and squirming in my lap, she says, “So let’s start there since we know the Summum-Master hates your family.”

“Our family, little wanderer. You’re our family now too,” Draken says, and love blooms in my Primary’s chest. I don’t have to be fully bonded to her yet to feel that’s what she craves the most.

“Right,” she says bashfully as her face reddens and a breathtaking smile breaks out across her cheeks. “Our family. What’s our family history?”

“I say you tell the story, Grandpa Gaster. You’re the oldest amongst us. You’ll recount a mini-Vito family history lesson the best,” I declare smugly, hiding my smirk in Willow’s hair as he arches a brow and sends me an unamused look.

“Fine. Very well. Willow likes my stories better anyway,” he states confidently, causing her to snort.

“Two thousand years ago, the Vito Family entered the Realm Trials when the ruling Matriarch was killed. She was a true Primary, so her death brought about the entire ruling Nexus’s downfall. This was the first time in many, many millennia that there had to be a trial because up until then, there had always been an heir.

“The trials were ruthless, as any trial such as this is and the five families that made up the Ruling Nexus’s council all entered with the want to win the throne. The Dew Family, the Beyla Family, the Newort Family, the Choice Family, and of course the Vito Family. All were willing to do what it took to win, and needless to say, without the graphic details, the Vito family was victorious. No one else survived.”

“What? What do you mean no one else survived?” Willow sits up, flabbergasted.

“The trials were to death, which was agreed upon by all the entering families. They all knew, if they lost, but were still alive,it would mean unrest, war. None of them would’ve bowed to the other,” Gaster explains.

“Damn. So, unlike the Alpha trials, there was no submission or forfeiting, nothing like that?” she asks, wide-eyed.

“No, little warrior, none of that,” Tillman says.

“Shit, that’s rough. Glad we’ve moved away from that then,” Willow says, leaning back onto my chest.

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