Page 2 of Nidev and Lyric

She knew the mentor meeting she was headed to was standard and yet nothing was standard since that bite. Was this him trying to hide it with normalcy? Or were they overcoming whatever plagued them?

Maybe it was something she’d done.

Either way, her friends were expecting answers.

She just hoped whatever she learned would be good news.

****

Nidev stood at the tall window of his quarters, peering into the swamp’s darkness. He focused on the weight of the world that pressed on his squared shoulders. For many, that burden was crushing, but for him it was an anchor that grounded him, a compass that centered him. But the context of that weight was another matter. One whose vexations came without stop, day after day, bearing weapons for which his mind had no defense. Like the shadows flickering behind him from the flame of his desk lamp, they bore the reflection of hard data but moved to the fire’s unpredictable rhythm.

That flame.

Love. Passion. Desire. Lust.

And thatfuckingbite.

The Bishop’s Belle Eveque had been right. Trying to produce outcomes in their prodigy program while lacking the essence needed to do that was destined to failure. He’d foolishly dismissed them as distractions. In strategy, passion was a coward’s weapon in war. Men fought men. Men fought wars. Women should be nowhere near those things and to throw one in the mix for gaining advantage was no different than throwing a baby at a soldier during battle. It was a dirty, weak move, and history was littered with those.

Passion belonged in bedrooms not on battlefields or sprawled out on the tables of strategy. And yet, it was his obsession with strategy and war that became his downfall in the prodigy program. He treated the success of these unions between the gifted as a war to be conquered. And in doing so, removed the essence that would have led them to victory.

Love and passion.

Now, those words, those weapons, were being handed to him. His problem with it had nothing to do with committing, he possessed godlike powers with such things. It was that he had zero knowledge about such love and passion. But seeing that it existed and thrived between the Marsh Kings and their women verified it was real. They were not using love and passion as a weapon or tool but becoming one with them. He might have thought it was restricted to their culture, but he watched with his own eyes as Rukem dared to challenge this missing key and ended up falling madly in love. A bullet and a chamber. Wood and flint. Paper and pen. Lock and key. Once joined, the power of the two unleashed a new power, directed by whatever the wielder wished.

Andthatwas the real phenomena.

The power that tore down entire empires was also able to build them.

And Nidev needed this power. Now, not later. Which brought him to the set of weights burning through his muscle and straining his bones.Findingtheperfectmatch while navigating the flames of thatfuckingbite.

His cock twitched at the mere thought of it, attempting to scatter his thoughts to the ends of the earth. He could surely not be defeated by this power while remaining strictly aware of the countless great warriors taken out by it. But everything was a potential weapon. This was no different. He’d hone it, find every advantage it offered. So far, the bite had given his gifts a razor’s edge, tripling his cognitive strengths.

His latest question was whether he could use it as a catalyst in celibacy. He surely intended to learn that very thing. The state of the world was not open armed to vulnerable connections. Those things a man would die to protect were prime leverage for his enemies and avoiding them wasn’t just logical it was humane.

He’d just recentlybarelysubdued the monster in his cock, enabling him to function around females without scents or sounds throwing him into the flames of lust. The idea to cancel his monthly mentorship meeting with Lyric had hardened his resolve. That was precisely what he couldn’t allow to happen. His cock interfering with his duties and responsibilities to the students at the academy.Especiallyas the leader. Lyric was the perfect first test since she faithfully kept things very professional.

He slowly crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes, meticulously regathering all his data and firmly anchoring it by category onto his strategy board.

The students.

The Quantum Kings.

The Marsh Kings.

The nuns.

The burning world.

The coming war.

That damned prophecy.

His brothers.

The necessity of marriage.

Finding the perfect match.

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