Between Imminent Fates (The Immortal Accords #12)

Bonus Chapter 1

Drake

DRAKE CASTELLANOS SCROLLED THROUGH the hundreds of emails within his inbox, each of them begging to be read. It’d been a week since Key had divulged the life-altering circumstances after Nero and Eden’s mating party, and everything since then had barely registered.

In that time, the council had met, spoken about now-meaningless things, and disbanded. None of their counterparts had questioned Kane, Lucius, Rona, or Drake on their somberness, but perhaps their acting had simply been commendable.

If there was one thing Key had stressed, it was that no one outside of their circle could be informed of the upcoming assault.

While Drake abhorred withholding the information, it was necessary for the success of their collective mission. To compromise their secrecy meant their pursuit would fail.

There was a click as he shut off his phone. Toni would be expecting him home shortly, and the thought brought a smile to his face. After an attack on House D’Ancouer a few years ago had left their penthouse suite compromised, Toni had taken the liberty of redesigning it to her tastes.

Their penthouse now featured a fully-fledged yoga studio.

Drake gazed toward the darkness beyond the windows. It was true: New York City never slept. Perhaps that was because of the endless sea of lights that blinked back at him, the never-ending street noise that made a quiet moment impossible.

A smirk kicked up one side of his mouth. Toni had grown to love The Big Apple since he’d begun courting her nearly five years ago. Raised in Wayland, she’d grown up as far from the big city as New York allowed.

When they’d met, he’d been ensnared by her, and he’d fallen hard in the days that followed. The further they dug into her origins, the more they discovered. Shockingly, there were four immortal races to walk the earth, not three as they’d always believed.

The Elementals had claimed Toni as their own as fiercely as he had.

It might have been because she was the only fire Elemental to walk the earth in centuries, or perhaps because the Elementals were led by Gideon, a man Drake had come to recognize as a living saint.

Lost to his thoughts, he barely caught the sound of low voices several floors below him. A male and a female, both on the same floors as the archives.

No one save Suka, the council building’s main receptionist, was expected to be in the skyscraper at this hour. The approaching sunrise would render any vampire lethargic, if not totally unconscious, and no one had asked the council for their permission to remain overnight.

His interest piqued. Drake strode down the stairs but intentionally kept his footsteps silent. While he didn’t covet surprising the duo, he certainly wasn’t going to announce his presence. His sire had taught him as much.

The low voices continued, unbothered, but Drake couldn’t yet make out their words. As he descended into the bowels of the building, he passed by remnants of fire damage. It remained from when the Citizens had attacked their headquarters nearly four years ago. The council hadn’t wanted human contractors or builders close to their archives, and the restoration hadn’t been a priority.

He rounded a corner, pleased to be out of visibility to the charred walls. Nothing churned his gut faster than the thought of how close they’d come to losing their own. That time, they’d managed to save every life.

Abruptly, the voices stopped just as they began to clarify into discernable language. Drake sped up his approach, casting a glance down the aisleway to find two Raeth sovereigns speaking within the archive’s book stacks.

Nina, his sire. And Isaiah.

It was a curious pair, and Drake wore his surprise on his features. When he opened his mouth to greet them, Isaiah teleported away without so much as a nod in his direction. Temporarily rendered silent, he pondered the significance of the disappearing act.

“Drake.” Nina moved toward him, her quest forgotten as she beamed up at him. “What brings you to the archives at this time of night?”

“Perhaps the better question is: what brings you to the archives, sire?”

Erasing any trace of confusion from his features, he warmed to her as she enfolded him in an embrace that was as comforting as the night to a vampire. He pressed a reverent kiss to her forehead and stepped back, waiting for her answer. She gestured toward the open-paged book sitting on a small table behind her.

“I’m borrowing your books. I’m in need of a bit of light reading.”

“And Isaiah?”

“The same.” Her mischievous smirk made Drake’s shoulders loosen. “Don’t worry, we’ll return them.”

“What are you looking for? Perhaps I can be of assistance.”

Her smile tightened. “Regretfully, I’ve been advised by Key to keep my secrets. No doubt you’ve been given your own tasks already?”

Drake nodded solemnly. “Indeed.”

Something dark passed behind Nina’s gaze, but it was so fleeting that he nearly missed it. When Nina said nothing into the silence between them, he softened.

“Come home with me, sire. Toni would love to see you.”

“I’m afraid I’m wanted at home. Zeke keeps reminding me that he loves me and enjoys spending time with me.”

Chuckling, Drake propped a shoulder on the closest bookcase and sobered. “Sire, what do you make of Key’s plan?”

She turned introspective. “I believe that if Key’s been behind our lives for that long, ensuring our paths are walked the way that’s necessary, we can trust her for the outcome. What she’s said—what’s she’s done—it’s irrefutable, Drake.

“The mysteries we’ve faced in the last few years: she’s an answer to all of them,” Nina continued. “We need to trust her and make peace with that. I sensed nothing but the truth from her, and Remmus echoes the same.”

“I had never once questioned the tickets to Broadway, nor the fact that Nova found me that night.” Drake was perturbed with his own lack of investigation. “To think that Key was behind it, ensuring Toni and I found each other? I don’t know whether to thank her or be suspicious.”

“I’d air on the side of appreciation,” she replied. “With what she’s said about Cassandra, we can finally close the book on my own mating, as well.”

Zeke hadn’t said a word, but he hadn’t needed to. His reluctance had washed away from his features, and the tension he’d carried slowly vanished.

“Listen,” a note caught in Nina’s voice, yanking him back to the present. “Go home. Enjoy your time with Toni. Let tomorrow’s troubles remain in tomorrow.”

“Ever my mentor.”

“Always, Drake. Oh, shall I sign these out somewhere?” Thumbing toward the books she’d kept off-rack, she turned an inquiring eye to him, but he merely shook his head.

“I’ll take care of it.” Drake clicked his tongue mockingly. “Reduced to a common librarian. What’ve I become?”

“A good leader and a good man,” she replied. “And one who better get home before his skin starts sizzling.”

Rolling his eyes, he gave her a reverent bow of his head. “Until tomorrow, then.”