“It is the Calling, Nikolai,” I admit. “I did not tell you about this yet because it’s been difficult and I don’t know how to handle it either.”
His face transforms with the quiet, devastating understanding of a male who has been there. “For how long?”
“Since the moment I first met her and scented her in my kitchen. Ten days now.”
He closes his eyes for a beat. When he opens them, he looks like he wants to walk through the screen. “Has the Calling brought down your fangs?”
“They are halfway down now and she is not even in the wing.”
“Have you been hard for her?”
“Yes.”
“Continuously?”
I shrug. “Basically.”
“You sat in this very office and told me the Calling was sacred. That it was not to be tossed away arbitrarily. That if it came to a Krovenian male in this lifetime, it was a gift from the gods and we did not refuse the gods. Do you remember?”
“I remember what I said.”
“Thenclaimher.”
I admit to him, the one barrier that it has been difficult for even admit to myself this last week. “Elara wasn’t my true mate, but we were best friends. When she died that was terrible for both me and Lilly… I cannot survive losing a true mate.”
“Viktor, you cannot live your life, not choosing love because of fear.”
A growl rumbles in my chest. I exhale and run my fingers through my hair. “She is also my employee and the power imbalance is staggering.”
“I know.”
“She has a contract.”
“I know that too.”
“This human has a life she gave up in Ohio to come here for one year. She did not sign up to be Krovenian nobility. She signed up to be anannyfor a small grieving princess, and she has done that job magnificently. I will not coerce her into something larger than what she came here for. I will not be that male.”
“You and I both know none of these are true barriers. All of this can be talked through. Have you told her any of this?”
“No.”
“Viktor…” he growls.
“I know.”
“Hazel Novak deserves to know what is happening to you. She deserves to make her own choice, not the choice you have made on her behalf. You are deciding for her by hiding it from her. That is the same coercion you are claiming to avoid, in the other direction.”
Dammit, I hate it when he continues to make good points. He’s always been good at this. This is why it is best that he is King.
“I almost lost Claire because I waited. I let my honor and doubt convince me that not speaking was the kinder choice, and it almost cost me everything. Do not make my mistake. Tell her, Viktor.”
Finally, we end the call and I sit in my chair for a long time after the screen goes dark, thinking about what my brother said and understanding the logic. He’s right, it must be done. I will talk to her, now, before it is too late.
Then I stand and find my housekeeper in the corridor outside the breakfast room as she overseees the morning silver inventory. “Madam Petrova.”
“Sire.”
“Where is Miss Novak?”
