Page 41 of Between Imminent Fates
Key hated it.
Centuries of loneliness and clinical detachment from her loved ones had enforced her discipline. She couldn’t let herself get distracted from the mission that had cost so much already. She knew Zia was still sifting through Barlowe’s memories and re-arranging them to their benefit, but there was still more to accomplish today.
“Circe.”
Perking at her name, the red-haired Raeth walked over with her mate. “Yes, Key?”
“We’ve need of your talent. You and Remmus will need to combine your abilities for our next task.”
“How would we do that?”
Lucius hovered behind her, his gaze darkening with warning. Key knew that if she made any misstep here, the vampire would edge toward violence. Given her past influence in his history, she more than deserved his mistrust.
“I’m a Link,” Key explained. “It allows me to merge the talents of Raeths as long as I’m given access. We lack a personal object of this General Winters who is theCitizens’ contact in the Army, but we can trace his electronic footprint through Barlowe’s phone.”
Hesitation lined the younger Raeth’s brow. “I’ve never attempted that type of trace. I can’t guarantee it would work.”
“I’ll walk you through it.”
Lucius’ eyes glowed icy blue. “There is no precedent for that ability. We’ve no way of knowing what harm could come of it.”
“I’ve foreseen their success.”
“Success yes, but at what cost?”
It was a valid question that Key hadn’t predicted. Today, no one would be injured, but she couldn’t guarantee the same for tomorrow or the day after that. For those who would lay down their lives, the cost of their victory would be high—but for a future of peace, wasn’t it entirely worth it?
Lucius’ words had hit a bruise that’d been building in her heart. For centuries, she’d worked behind the scenes for the immortal race, pulling strings that occasionally resulted in bad things happening to good people. It was a lonely mission. She had drawn further and further away from simply foreseeing the future to actively manipulating it.
Key had spun every string, like a spider in her web. The fate of each person was intricately connected to the others. Threads crossed and weaved together toward an end game only she knew. While some ventured into happiness, others simply … ended.
She couldn’t reveal to Lucius where their victory would lead, and the more doubt he held about their ultimate survival, the worse it’d affect their chances.
“You don’t trust me.”
“It isn’t that I don’t trust you, it’s that I have the right to be concerned about where this unconditional trust leads. I barely lived through one of your ‘successes’ before.”
Key felt Jax hover supportively behind her, and tried not to lose herself in the rare sensation. “Our survival. That’s where it leads.”
“We’ve little assurance that the outcome you’ve foreseen isn’t simply another version of hell,” the vampire argued. “TheCitizensmay be defeated—and I’m counting on that—but what is to say that another group of humans won’t take their place in ten years? If we trust you now, can you guarantee it won’t breed something even worse down the line?”
“Lucius, Key ensured youdidsurvive that trial. Aren’t you the vampire who found his fated mate due to her prophecies?” When the other man stared blankly at him, Jax added, “Seems to me that she has more than proven she’s been working in all your favor.
“From the little she’s told me,” Jax continued, “without her guidance, there would have been no future to save. How can you not trust her when she says something must be done? Do you truly think Key would work toward this end for centuries only to burn us a few years later?”
Circe squeezed Lucius’ hand. “He’s right. Without Key, we wouldn’t have found our way together. We need to have faith.”
Key took comfort in Jax’s support. Never being fully trusted had taken its toll on her. More than once, she’d been on the brink of simply ignoring the call, and letting fate play out as it willed.
But she had never quite given in to the destructive temptation. Even at her worst, when her dedication faltered, she couldn’t overlook the suffering of her people and the damnation she saw ahead. Forced to remain objective, Key had manipulated and lied her way through life, using her gift as a tool—and being used by it in return.
Fate was without mercy. Some souls had to suffer to be saved.
Lucius would have to make his decision without any more details or guarantees. While Key refocused on the task ahead, she would continue in what she did best and compartmentalize both the doubt and Jax’s surprising support.
“Soon, Zia will be finished with Barlowe. We need to find Winters. Circe, Remmus, do you consent to the Link?”
They exchanged a look, and Remmus said, “I think we’re both willing to try, but we need to understand how exactly that would work.”
