Chapter 26 Kane
“She demanded I give her my chain, she still wears Sai’s, and she was dressed in Ezekial’s clothing covered in your darkness, Kane. She’s using these things to ground herself. We need to ensure—”
Sai flits into Ezekial’s office in a flurry of crackles, dismisses us all and stands toe-to-toe with Julien when he asks, “Did she agree? To the sleepover? Can two of us stay?”
“Hello, mon ami.” Julien’s lips twitch when Sai leans closer, scowling at him like he’s the one being dismissive. “In a way, yes.”
Sai closes his eyes, stepping back to punch the air with a low, “Fuck yessss!”
“In a way?” Ezekial echoes, his brows furrowing.
Julien doesn’t speak to reply, instead, sharing the memory.
Her soft voice filters through our minds: “I can’t choose.”
Ezekial breathes out long and hard through his nose while pinching the bridge. “Julien, I’m not sure that works.”
“I will ask,” I say, levelling Julien with a stern stare. “Sai influences you too much.”
“Not enough,” Sai mutters with a wide grin, giving Julien’s shoulder a playful shove. “Good job, man. So glad you’re back, these fuckers never let me have any fun.”
That line hangs for too long as we all remember why Julien is with us again.
Jasmine.
Her choice. Her gamble. Her willingness to walk into danger because we wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t take the risk. She endangered herself because we treated her like someone who needed protection rather than our equal. Our bond.
Ezekial clears his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “Now we’re all finally here.” He gives Sai a quick scowl, and he mouths a brief fuck you back. “I’ve recalled the Lead Commanders, we’ll be meeting with them in two days.”
Sai’s smile disappears. “Two? Nah, why not right-the-fuck now?”
“Two days to consider why a Lord has called them back,” Julien answers calmly. “Two days to worry.”
“Nervous people make mistakes,” I add. “Especially liars.”
Sai nods like we were waiting for his approval. “Right, love a good emotional tactic, I’m here for it.” Then his gaze flits across the room to each of us. “But just how sure are we that it’s actually one of them?”
Ezekial swipes up on the tablet beside him on his desk. A holographic map of the district appears in the air, all crisp lines and glowing markers.
“These markers,” he explains, pointing out several red Xs, “mark searched zones. Every X has a signature, that’s standard procedure.”
The map zooms out and shifts, mirroring Ezekial’s movements over his screen, until it stops.
Over the outskirts, the place that only I had been patrolling, with Xs I didn’t make.
“Who?” My voice is clipped.
Ezekial double-taps and the display shifts again, zooming in on the digital tags.
Four different signatures.
We all lean forwards, reading them, recognising them.
Lead Commander One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Sai exhales frustratedly. “It’s all four of them?”
“I really fucking hope not,” Ezekial mutters, rubbing his temples, staring hard at the hologram. “But only we and the Lead Commanders can access this log.”
He brings up a secondary screen—lines of code, secure access data, endless pages of it as he scrolls and scrolls.
“Each unique electronic signature is tethered to a biometric hash—a fingerprint. Encoded, multi-factor verified. So, unless we’re dealing with four separate instances of internal compromise, someone’s managed to spoof or extract the biometric data.
Problem is, every single fucking system authentication has been routed locally, through this network node. ”
We all look to each other, even Julien seems a little perplexed by my brother’s words.
“Cool. Sick,” Sai begins, throwing in a few mocking little nods for effect. “Now, could you maybe try saying that like you’re not a massive fucking nerd?”
Julien lets out a low snort.
Ezekial’s glare cuts sharp. “Sorry, I forgot I’m supposed to dumb it down for the guy who thinks sarcasm counts as communication.” He locks eyes with Sai before taking another deep breath.
“It means I can’t trace a single damn thing,” Ezekial grits out, yanking off his glasses and rubbing hard at his scarred eye.
“They didn’t think we’d notice,” he adds dryly with a bitter laugh. “But in case we did, they hid themselves among the others. If Kane hadn’t been doing his own patrols, I might’ve missed it entirely.” He shakes his head, disgusted with the code, with the Leads, with himself.
But without this document, we may never have realised at all.
“You did well to find this, brother.”
He doesn’t respond, too frustrated to accept praise.
“Anyone got any guesses who?” Sai asks, glancing at us all. “I mean, they’ve been our Lead Commands for what… at least a decade? And surely we can cross off Orion?”
Our gazes drift to Julien. He exhales deeply. “The magics of this world are vast. I would like to think I could sense betrayal in the man I sired. Alas… he is my only one.”
“Fuck.” Sai slumps back in the chair, dragging his tongue over his teeth in frustration.
“We’ll find them,” I declare. My darkness seems to agree, enticed by the idea of violence. Of revenge. “And they will be punished for their betrayal.”
“Having Jasmine present will help.”
I slowly turn to my brother, the shadows spread, the temperature drops.
“She asked to be there, brother,” Ezekial says quietly, but firm.
He knows I don’t want her near this, he doesn’t either, but we promised her anything.
“We may not like it, but an empath of her level…” Julien murmurs, eyes distant as he trails off, falling into a memory.
There’s a snippet through the bond, dragging us all into the moment, the way her darkness calls to us, a whisper becoming a summons we can never refuse. How it can drag us to our knees.
How could we not be awed by her?
Her power. Her will.
Her.
“She will feel things we won’t,” Julien finally finishes, voice hoarse, eyes darker.
For now, Julien’s blood-lust seems sated. But the hunger in his gaze is there. Now that he’s tasted our bond, that need will always be there.
Just when I’m about to intervene and halt the shadows seeping towards him, there’s a knock at the door, and a wave of power seeps in from underneath.
The hunger clears from Julien’s gaze immediately as all of us focus on the being behind that door. Ezekial opens it with the flick of his wrist and Kacey’s bond, Amon, enters.
“I’m glad to see you have recovered from your fainting spell,” he says to me, tone sincere.
I stare at him, silent, ignoring Sai’s snort.
Amon frowns. “May I suggest spending more time with your bonded? That should help—”
“How are you and Kace getting on?” Sai cuts in, and for once, I’m grateful for it.
“She’s… skittish.” Amon’s brows furrow. “But I’m forever indebted to you and your bonds for caring for her. Whatever you require, I will give. And if I can’t, my guild will.”
“Speaking of that… have you told Kace yet, Your Highness?” Sai’s smirk edges towards being cruel.
Amon hesitates. “It’s a subject I’m unsure how to broach.”
“Well, a word of advice from fuckers who’ve been there: tell her now, or risk being doomed to the friendship pit of hell.”
Amon blinks, then turns to Julien for guidance.
Julien sighs. “Ignore him, Amon.” Then he sends Sai a warning glance. “Do not discuss our bond with him, Sai.”
“She hasn’t accepted you?” Amon sounds… shocked. I cant my head. “I apologise.” He looks between us all. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. It’s just…”
“What?” Sai sits up sharply, eyes narrowed, air crackling. “Come on, spit it out, prince.”
“Bonds are more common in shifter districts, and you feel…” Amon’s amber eyes flicker, wary. “Forgive me. I… I must be mistaken. I thought you were fully bonded.”
Sai groans, full-bodied and miserable, slumping back like a man mortally wounded—which I suppose we are. “I fucking wish, man.”
There’s a nervous pause from Amon, clearly unsettled by this information, until Julien steps in. He begins a conversation with Amon, one not about our bond.
I let their words fade around me, but it’s clear the dragon values Julien’s wisdom, listening carefully as he discusses the importance of breathing. He may be Kacey’s bond, but I don’t trust him.
And I don’t care if he knows it.
I catch his gaze slipping to me now and then. Every time, I’m already watching him. When he leaves, so do I, without a word. Which I know will anger my brother. But I’m impatient. I’d waited long enough, because even when I’m with my unit, all I think about is—
Jasmine.
There she is, crouched on the edge of the riverbed that runs through the atrium, studying the water with a soft smile. The sun beams down, soaking her in golden light, and her gentle laugh carries on the breeze to me.
I will never recover from her beauty.
Then she looks at me, still smiling, and when her hand raises in a small wave, it’s like a magnetic force has awakened within me. I go to her.
“Hey,” she says, squinting as she peers up at me. I immediately stand closer, blocking the rays so she isn’t blinded.
“Thanks.” She smiles.
She thanked me and smiled.
Then she kneels, patting the patch of grass beside her. “Sit.”
I do.
I try not to sit too close, but I’m also not sure how to sit on the ground, I don’t remember the last time I sat on a floor. I prefer standing.
I think she laughs, but tries to hide it while I awkwardly bend my legs, deciding to rest my arms over my knees.
“You look… better,” she says, her voice soft as she keeps feeding the fish—an array of hungry, gaping mouths all staring up at her, desperate for her attention. “Did you sleep?”
I tried not to. I’d rather stay awake and catastrophise all the ways yesterday could have ended. I imagined arriving too late, picturing her lifeless body hanging from Julien’s arms—
“Hey, what’re you thinking?” Her eyes are wide, troubled.
I needed to get better at blocking my emotions, but being near her always eased them out.