Between Imminent Fates (The Immortal Accords #12)

4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Key

“I bear news of an upcoming shift in our war. The choice is yours to make, as it always has been. Should you decide to do nothing and leave here today without a plan, every immortal on the planet will be dead within the decade.”

The silence that followed her decree was both expected and damning.

Their reaction seemed to drain what little energy Key had, leaving her a hollow shell. The clarity she’d had yesterday during her time with Jax seemed to escape her now, her mind muddled with visions she couldn’t stop. She was forever shaped by a future she’d foreseen so many times it conflicted with the present.

But this was the present. This was now. And every pair of eyes in the room was fixated on her with an intensity that’d make a lesser woman wither. Nero finally broke the stifling silence.

“What did you say?”

As if his hearing was anything but perfect, her sovereign’s earthy brown eyes were full of worry and apprehension. His new mate’s hand was clasped in his own.

Key wasn’t daunted.

“If we do nothing, every immortal will be dead in a decade,” she repeated, knowing she needed to allow it to sink in. Cocking her head, she stared at the faces lined with worry and fear. “I’ve foreseen this moment so many times, living it is an odd reflection of the past mirrored into the present.”

There was a note of admonition when Nero said, “ Key .”

“Apologies. My gift is overpowering at times.” A tight smile for their benefit. “Our lives are threatened, and immortal society will cease to exist if you elect to do nothing.”

“How?”

“The Citizens . They expose us. We are hunted to extinction.”

“When did you foreseen this?”

Turning to the water Elemental, Key told Rukia, “A thousand years ago. It was my first vision. In the centuries since, I’ve seen the impending battle and unavoidable tragedy should we choose to do nothing. Over and over, I’ve seen the horror of our future.”

As the devastation in the room rose to a crescendo, Key amended, “But all isn’t lost. I’ve been working behind the scenes since that first vision, shaping our world so we survive.”

“You’ve planned for this?” Zeke’s words were cutting. “Why’ve you never disclosed it?”

“If I’d disclosed this any earlier, our plan would be compromised,” she replied. “The pieces needed to fall in place as they were meant to. The plan is more important than any one of us.”

“What is the plan, then?” Nova asked.

“The plan is that you trust me implicitly.” Her voice held no room for negotiation. “Regardless of your hesitations, regardless of your past, you must understand that whatever I tell you will be for our ultimate survival. You cannot question the decisions I make. You cannot pursue your own path. You cannot decide to alter your instructions.”

“And what proof do we have that what you say is true?” Aidan growled.

Unabashed, Key turned a calculating gaze toward Lucy. “Do you believe it was a coincidence that you ‘fell into a hole’ at work and acquired your abilities when you did? That your heel tangled on a tree root just enough that you couldn’t get up?”

At the couple’s shocked expression, she continued. “ I facilitated that. I was behind the sudden breeze that blew your papers out of your hands. If I wasn’t standing there on the construction site disguised as another member of their crew, none of them would’ve even known Lucy was buried. That’s my proof, wolf.”

Swallowing harshly, Aidan’s hand squeezed Lucy’s, and he looked away. Key had him; that much was apparent. But she wasn’t done; there were more minds to convince.

Knowing which mated couple would challenge her next, she found them across the room. “Didn’t you find it odd that the bomb’s leftover wiring was conveniently located in Silas’ quarters, Nova? That you found your traitor based on sheer luck?”

Tilting her head, she then caught Gideon’s molten gold gaze. “Or the fact that you just so happened to hear of Victor’s Maui home from the ‘cleaning lady’ who was awfully helpful, Gideon?”

Silence.

Drake was the one who broke it. “What else have you done?”

“I’ve done more than you can possibly imagine.” Her voice softened, knowing that the news must be difficult to hear. “I’ve been working toward this outcome for centuries, moving pieces on a chessboard that was hundreds of years in the future.”

Key studied Drake and Toni. “You two were the modern-era linchpin that ensured only a handful of future scenarios were now possible. If you hadn’t met and fallen in love, the Citizens would’ve dispatched us long ago.”

Toni paled.

Key took the last remaining seat in the lounge. “Who do you think just conveniently happened to give Cortana Broadway tickets? Or told Nova where to go to find you afterward? Coincidence?”

Speaking the words made her feel lighter than she had in centuries, but their hearts hadn’t been won yet. Believing her was vital, but they needed to trust her for the good of the plan.

With every breath, she drew closer to revealing the piece that’d be the toughest to swallow. It might turn the tide of their opinion, twisting her from a hero to a villain in a heartbeat. Though she’d never wanted to be thanked, being scorned and detested would break another piece of her soul.

“Every person in this room is of vital importance—as is Derikles, Isaiah,” she added. “Your second must be involved moving forward.”

For an excruciatingly tense moment, the weight of Isaiah’s glare abraded her skin. Then, finally, he gave a small nod. “It will be done.”

Zia stirred. “What else have you done that we don’t know about?”

“I’ve always been behind the scenes, ensuring you all found your mates,” she shivered, knowing what followed, “and ensuring that your stories were written the way they were intended to, even if it required less than redeemable methods.”

“Explain, Kiyonne.”

Nero’s command, though she’d heard it hundreds of times in her visions, still made her cringe. “The Citizens needed certain pieces of information to ensure our survival.”

“Like what?”

Squaring her shoulders, Key bit out the betrayal that damned her. “I provided them with your image, Lucius. And yours, Blair.”

The poisonous words revealed the sin that’d stained her soul. One of the worst things she’d done to ensure the survival of their species, it weighed the heaviest on her with the knowledge that she could never atone for it.

The immediate spike in aggression was almost tangible.

Eyes aglow in an icy blue, Kane bit out, “You’re the reason Luc was abducted?”

“The photo I provided prompted Torrin into an obsession with you, Lucius.”

Lucius merely stared at her. She couldn’t begin to understand what must be going through his head, to know that the reason for his torment was sitting right before him. She could barely comprehend it herself, and she’d foreseen every second of his pain— so many times —until it’d come to pass.

Unfair , her inner voice screamed. Undeserving of what he’d been subjected to.

“The Citizens needed a vampire. They needed someone to fixate on—or at least Torrin did.” Jerking her chin at Drake, Key explained, “Had Drake been taken, Toni would’ve gone supernova, taking with her half of New York City. Kane’s whereabouts would’ve been tirelessly tracked down by Nova, leaving a trail of bodies easily followed to the packs. She would have exposed immortalkind to humanity in the worst possible way.

“Neither option was acceptable. One way or another, a high-ranking vampire associated with the council was going to be abducted. And while you’ve briefly experienced the worst humanity has to offer, Lucius, you’ve never become jaded to humans as a whole. It had to be you.”

Beside the stoic vampire, Circe’s fingers curled around his forearm as the telltale trickle of telepathy tinged the air. Lucius’ face remained a blank canvas as he processed Key’s message.

Tears threatened to spill from Key’s eyes, but she needed to remain objective here—even while she was dying a thousand deaths inside.

To settle the room, she added, “Know that without your abduction, Lucius, you would’ve never mated Circe. Isaiah would’ve never loved Rukia, and Blair and Kaien would’ve never accepted their bond. Your abduction and torture, egregious as it was, was one of the most important parts of the plan.

“But it’s true,” Key admitted, “you’ve been disproportionately subjected to the worst of the Citizens , Lucius. There’s little I can say to right that wrong, but know that I consider it one of my greatest sins that I never found a way to spare you. I realize how much my actions hurt you, and while you may never forgive me for my role in what happened, you have my deepest apologies.”

The words had been dragged from the most wounded part of her soul. Even now, it took effort to hold his gaze, every part of her wanting to hide from the vulnerability it exposed.

As the group digested the information, Key waited.

“So, Key, what happens now? How do we live through this?” Ever the voice of reason, Nina brought them all back from the precipice. “What do we need to do?”

“The Citizens will launch an attack against us in April during the Lyrid meteor shower.”

“That gives us two months, Key,” Zeke interjected, aghast.

“I realize that, but informing you earlier was impossible. As I’ve stated, it would’ve compromised the integrity of our success. Our future, as it currently stands, isn’t fixed. If we fail in any of the tasks leading up to the day of their attack in April, we lose.”

“And what about their attack?”

“Nothing is fixed. Multiple scenarios could play out at any given point, and I’ve drawn a strategy for each of them. They’re named with a single designator. Throughout the next several months, you’ll have to memorize each of them.”

A heavy sigh from Riaz as he rubbed his eyes. “And here I thought we were going to have a pleasant evening.”

The round of stiff laughter that followed succeeded in loosening the tension. Relaxing slightly in her seat, Key’s shoulders dropped as the faces of those present softened.

“And we all play a part, Key?” Toni asked. “Each of us here in this room can help?”

Key nodded, genuinely pleased.

Zeke wasn’t appeased. “And what if the strategy you’ve outlined is flawed? We still have no say?”

“No.” As resolutely as she could manage, Key shoved the urge to snarl at him down her throat. “I’ve had twelve centuries to prepare. Unless you’ve somehow developed the gift of foresight, Ezekiel, you won’t be able to improve them.”

Ava continued the train of thought. “And you’ve foreseen all outlets? What about suggesting alternative paths?”

“I’ve foreseen every situation. Every scenario.”

“Isaiah and Nina could decimate any army,” Nero suggested. “What if we allow them to utilize the abilities they’ve been gifted? Have you foreseen that?”

As her sovereign’s suggestion fell heavily on the shoulders of those in the room, Key dropped her gaze to the floor. Whispers of that future echoed in her ears, brittle and bitter. She allowed the despair to show on her face as she revealed the truth of what’d come if they allowed that to happen.

“If we encourage Isaiah and Nina to embrace the darker side of their nature, we lose them to it.” Key’s voice was almost a whisper. “Neither will ever return to sanity after they claim the mercenaries’ lives. With it, they slay half our number before we’re able to contain them. When we attempt to bring them back to reason, they take another third of us. We cannot follow that path, sovereign; it ends only in destruction. Both theirs, and ours.”

Horror cast Nina and Isaiah in shadows, and their mates were equally alarmed. The attention of the room flicked almost ruefully toward the Raeths born of destruction, just as quickly looking away.

“Then we won’t follow that path.” Rukia squeezed Isaiah’s hand. “We follow your strategies, and we get out of this alive.”

If there was one thing Key admired, it was the water Elemental’s tenacity.

“I promise you: if we work together, we’ll defeat this enemy,” Key assured them. “Each of you will play your part. All of you will be assigned a task—or several. But first, before we depart, I need to hear it from your own mouth. And Remmus?”

He perked. “Yes?”

Key’s icy stare had him frowning. “You will listen to every person in here as they agree to this plan. And you will inform me if they lie.”