My heart sank like a stone in a bottomless lake. Just the sight of her was enough to make my blood run cold. For so many years, I’d thought Eliza was going to be our axis. We courted her, protected her, and poured our souls into the prospect of a future with her. We’d loved her, truly and deeply, in the way a shield is meant to love the center of their universe.
And then she betrayed us. She cheated behind our backs, stringing us along while she secretly courted a transfer shield from Russia—the Riftward Shield. When she finally bonded with them, the shock and humiliation had nearly destroyed Stardust. To cope, Lucas, Theo, Phoenix, and I had spent the last two years fucking our way through too many human women, desperately trying to scrub the memory of Eliza from our skin.
All of us except Jamie.
I glanced at Jamie now, sitting rigidly in his chair. He hadn’t moved a muscle, but the scarred skin of his face was pulled taut, his knuckles white where he gripped the edge of the oak table. Jamie had neverbeenwith a woman. He’d been saving himself entirely for when we completed the bond, holding onto that sacred connection with a reverence the rest of us couldn’t fully comprehend.
Eliza’s betrayal broke something inside him. Even now, two years later, Jamie avoided any and all women, keeping himself locked in a fortress of his own making.
Eliza was an American, a Reece, and the sister of Aiden Reece from the Nightfall Shield. Looking at her now, the resemblance was undeniable. She had that same striking blonde hair and those same calculating, golden-flecked eyes as her asshole brother.
But as I looked from Eliza’s perfectly manufactured, icy beauty back to Jupiter, I realized with immense satisfaction that I very much preferred Jupiter. There was literally no contest. Eliza was utterly dull and uninteresting compared to Jupiter’s cascade of midnight silk black hair and burning, moonlight eyes. Eliza was nothing but regret and heartbreak.
“No, Eliza, you can’t.”
Eliza’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“I said no. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it here, in front of Jupiter and Jamie. Otherwise, you can turn around and walk back out with at leastsomeof your dignity, not that you have much of that left.”
Her sneer deepened, her gaze flicking back to Jupiter with venom. “I was trying to do you a favor, Rowan. My brother warned me about her. I thought you of all people would know better than to let a manipulator sink her claws into your shield.”
Jamie stood up so fast his chair crashed backward onto the stone floor. The sound echoed through the cavernous archives like a gunshot. “Get. Out.”
Eliza took a step back, her mask of poise slipping for just a fraction of a second. “You’re making a mistake. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
With a sharp pivot on her sensible black shoes, she marched out of the archives, the sound of her footsteps fading down the corridor.
Cursing under my breath, I reached down to right Jamie’s chair. He didn’t sit back down. Instead, he grabbed his pack and slung it over his shoulder, his hands trembling slightly.
“I need a bloody smoke,” he muttered before he turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the library.
I watched him go, my chest aching for him, then slowly sat back down. She was watching me curiously. Less angry than I expected and more confused.
I cleared my throat awkwardly, running a hand over my face, feeling a flush of shame heat my neck. “Eliza was going to be our axis, but she played us for years. Made us think she was actually in love with us. I feel like such an idiot now. For months she was secretly bonding with the Riftward Shield after they transferred here from Russia two years ago. When she finally made it official with them, she didn’t even have the decency to tell us to our faces. We had to find out from the Assembly’s registry when we applied to make it official.”
She didn’t offer empty platitudes or pity. She just reached out, her fingers lightly brushing my forearm. The contact sent a jolt of pure electricity straight to my core, and fuck, it made my cock swell.
“I’m sorry, Rowan. I know exactly how much that kind of betrayal hurts.”
“I know you do,” I said softly, turning my arm just enough so that my skin rested fully against hers. “But Eliza was wrong about something else. You aren’t a manipulator. And I don’t give a damn what her brother or anyone else at Dominion says. I trust what I see. And I trust what I feel.”
Her breath hitched, and for a long moment, we just sat there. I wanted to lean in. I wanted to press my lips to hers and prove to her that she was worth so much more than the pain Nightfall had put her through. But I held back. She was fragile right now, even if she refused to admit it, and I wasn’t going to push her.
“Come on,” I said, gently pulling the heavy book away from her. “You aren’t going to find a safe way to break an axis bond tonight. Let’s get you back to the tower.”
5
Jupiter
The walkback was quiet and Rowan stayed close. My mind was reeling about Eliza. It made perfect sense now. She’d broken the Stardust Shield just as thoroughly as her brother had broken me. I guess assholery ran in the family.
When Rowan left me at the base of my tower, he gave me an odd smile, but his eyes held what looked like a million questions that he didn’t bother asking. It was a smile that made my stomach flutter in a way I wasn’t so sure I wanted to feel. Men truly were complicated creatures, and I’d never fully understand them. Actually, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to.
“Get some sleep. Training tomorrow at six, remember?”
“I’ll be there bright and early, with coffee in my bloodstream.”
I climbed the staircase to my room, feeling the heavy exhaustion of the day finally catching up to me. Noodle slithered out of my sleeve the moment we entered the room, making a beeline for the warm hearth.
