The dread I feel sits heavy in my stomach. In all my time with Andres, never have I feared a conversation with him. Not when he told me my human life was over. Not the night he told me I'd have to kill my brother. And not the talk we had about me becoming the vampire king and what that meant for my future. Everything has changed since Cordelia came into the picture. Whatever this involves it will have an effect on her as well. She changes my outlook on everything.

I lightly tap on Andres' door and wait for his permission to enter. As always, he sits before the fire relying on its flames for a dim source of light.

"You wish to see me," I say, gently closing the door behind me

"I do. Take a seat." He waits for me to sit in the chair across from him and says, "My ears in the castle tell me you have chosen a way to defeat your brother."

"I have."

He shifts in his chair and smooths the blanket in his lap. "I must say that you are too kind. After everything he has put you through, I would just as well see him dead."

Although my sire is a fair ruler, he is swift and harsh with his judgement. It's the reason none of his subjects get out of line. I do not have it in me to so quickly condemn someone to death. It will be the one way his rule and mine differ.

"I believe returning him to his human state will be punishment enough. Everyone from our former life is gone and he will spend some time in a very lonely place before he finds people he can trust, or that trust him."

Andres nods. "The plan has merit. But I wonder how you plan to lure him in. It's not like he will come willingly and allow you to strap him to medical equipment."

I consider his words, and I have to admit I feel a little foolish. I actually hadn't thought about this part; I've been so worried about Cordelia, the finer points of the plan have sort of slipped my mind.

"You didn't think that far ahead, did you, son?" Andres guesses.

I shoot him a half-hearted glare. "No. I didn't." Heaving a sigh, I lean back in my chair. "Fuck! Any ideas?"

"Well, since you're using Cordelia as the donor...and she'll be there anyway...you could—"

I hold up my hand. "All due respect sir, no. Absolutely not. I won't use her as bait."

"It will work. Cane is desperate to have her back, is he not?"

I can't believe I'm even considering his question. And I all too quickly know the answer. My brother would do whatever he could to get one up on me. Cordelia is just the start of his bigger plan. By now, he knows it would devastate me to lose her again. Which raises another question: would he fall for it? Cordelia was so quick to return here with me. His suspicions would be raised.

"He is, but she left him so easily. I fear that he might not take the bait as quickly as we would like. Cane is emotionally driven but he is also very intelligent."

Andres laughs bitterly. "Don't I know it? Do not forget; I created you both. Well, in your current forms. Despite his intellect, I believe in the state he is in now, in his desperation to become king, to have his true mate by his side, he'd do anything. I also think Cane has always had a bit of a tendency to lean toward the delusional. He hasn't ever been dragged to that place before. Now, I believe he's very likely on the edge. I think if your Cordelia is even a little bit of a decent actress, you can pull this off. He'll believe she wants him. Just because that's what he needs to survive."

"I won't make this decision for her, but I will talk to her about it." I don't know why I'm pretending in the slightest like she would not go for this. She is already willing to risk her life. I won't even finish asking and she'll say yes.

"As eager as I am for you to take my throne, I don't mean you or your mate any harm. I wish she had a chance to ease into this, but my days are numbered."

I hate thinking about the day he'll leave me. He has lived for centuries, and his body is finally at its breaking point. "I know. I wish we had more time too. I will see what I can do to get this done quickly. You deserve some rest, my lord."

He leans forward and with shaking hands covers mine. "Thank you, Elias."

"No need to thank me. You gave me the life I needed to meet this woman I love with every fiber of my being."

***

And this woman I love with every fiber of my being is at this very moment about to drive me up the damn wall. Sometimes her attention span is literally zero, and right now is one of those times.

"Don't you think we should put floral wallpaper in here, babe?" she asks, standing back from the back wall of our bedroom with her hands on her hips, head cocked to the side like the hottest interior designer I've ever seen.

"Whatever you want, belle rêveur," I say, plopping down in my chair in front of the fireplace. "Can you come sit now, please, so we can talk?"

"Yeah, yeah, hang on, I just want to measure the wall."

"Cordelia, what I have to say is important and the wall will still be standing when I'm finished."

Her starlit gaze darts to me and back to the wall. The debate going on inside her head is so clear.

"You undivided attention...please."

She lets out a huff and sits in the chair across from me. "Okay. The wall can wait."

"Andres is diminishing quickly, and we need to make our move soon," I say.

"I still don't understand that. I thought supes were immortal."

"We are but there comes a point when everything returns to dust. The body gives up. Bones begin to crumble and organs have functioned to the point of failing. Andres has lived longer than you or I can imagine. It is just his time."

She nods, chewing on the corner of her lip. "Oh, that makes sense. So, we have the plan, right? We could just go ahead with it. We know what we need to do. You just have to get the donor blood to replenish mine. My blood type is the universal one, so that shouldn't be hard."

I shake my head. "I already have the donor blood secured. Andres brought up something today I hadn't considered."

She wiggles her eyebrows. "Oooh, something the all-intelligent Elias forgot."

I give her a flat look. "Very funny. He brought up the question of how to get Cane here. It's not like's he's going to come willingly for a medical procedure."

Her grey eyes widen and I see the recognition land in her mind. "Oh. Shit. Well, did you come up with something?"

"Yeah, he did."

"Well? What is it?"

I take a deep breath and the words get stuck in my throat. I don't even want to fucking say it. It feels wrong. Like I'm throwing the woman I love to the fucking wolves.

"Elias? What?"

"To use you for bait," I mutter.

She is silent for a moment and then says, "Oh, fuck. Duh! That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that immediately!?"

"Of course you would say that. I'm not thrilled with this plan. What happens if he teleports you before I can secure him? It's just another risk on you."

She thinks for a second. "What if he can't touch my skin? Does that make a difference? Does it have to be skin-to-skin contact? What if I'm like, covered completely in clothing?"

"I don't know. It all depends on how strong he is. And we've not had many family dinners since I tried to kill him, so it's hard for me to gauge."

She leans forward and places her hand on my knee. "We have to try, Elias. There is no us if we don't. The world goes to shit, remember?"

I kiss her knuckles and lean back, closing my eyes to gather my thoughts for the next thing on my mind. This woman is my forever. She commands my body, holds my heart in her hands, and is the perfect match to my soul. We are meant to spend our lives together, and I want that in every way. As far as I'm concerned, we are tethered in every way. I want to make it official.

With a deep breath, I slide out of my chair and kneel before her. "I've been thinking a lot about us. You once thought we shared a primal bond. Did you know that if we shared that bond and the one between our souls that we would create a Zenith bond? It is very rarefor supes and said to be a blessing for those who encompass a love beyond what this world can comprehend. Not only would we share the knowledge of the other's physical well-being and the completion found between soulmates, but our lives would be tied together."

Her plump lips part and she shakes her head as she squeezes my hands in hers. "I've never heard of the Zenith bond. No one ever told me about that before. I—Elias, that is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," she says, tears filling her eyes. "I'd want that with you so badly. I want to share everything on earth with you, but—"

I rare back and sit on my heels. "But?"

She leans forward, slips out of her chair, and kneels in front of me so we are eye to eye. "Elias, please. I don't mean it like that, I just—I don't know if we should complete the primal bond. Not if—not if it's going to tie our lives together like that. I can't—" A sob tears through her throat. "I can't imagine a world without you in it, even if I'm gone. And this thing we are doing with Cane...something could happen to me. There is a very real chance. We can't take that chance right now. If I die, you'd die?" She shakes her head. "I don't want to be responsible for that too. Then everything we did was for nothing."

"So you're saying no?"

She shakes her head. "I'm saying not right now."

I've endured a lot in my lifetime—broken bones, death, loss, guilt, shame—the list is long. None of that, not one single thing, compares to the feeling of Cordelia rejecting me. She might as well have kicked me in the balls. The pain would be less. With all her good intentions, my mate just fractured my heart.