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One end of his mouth hooked, and he tipped his head toward the guest rooms down the hallway. When Blair joined them, Nina offered her a smile, but they walked in silence, leaving behind the ruckus in the kitchen and the laughter that trailed them.
Nina turned to him once the door to the guest room was shut. “What is it?”
So much needed saying, and though he’d thought about it for hours while she was still asleep, words seemed foreign. Instead, he went with the simplest explanation.
“I can’t be regent anymore, Nina.”
A blink was the only indication of her surprise before she, too, fumbled with her response. “You—you are unwilling? Or unable?”
“Both,” he answered honestly. “Nina, a sovereign’s place is with her people, and I am a poor substitute.”
“You’ve never been a substitute, Kaien,” was her gentle response.
Blair stepped forward, alongside him, and linked her hand with his. “You’ve put him in a position where he can’t succeed, Nina. You left. He stayed. By merit of that alone, he had to step into your role.”
The ice in Nina’s gaze chilled, but it wasn’t directed at either of them.
“I know you needed time, and Kaien has given it to you, but it’s been a century, Nina.” Nothing in Blair’s voice showed a willingness to hurt her best friend, but right now, she was proving her tie to her mate was stronger. “It’s not fair to keep asking this of him, and you know it.”
Nina’s gaze dipped to the floor, looking alone and forlorn, set apart from them. The barest trace of shame crept through their psychic bond, filling Kaien with remorse. Before he could speak, his sister did.
“I hated it here,” she breathed. “Every time I turned around, I saw pity in their eyes.”
He had no response; it was true.
“I ran, and you suffered for it.” Nina offered him a watery smile as she reached out to squeeze his wrist. “I’m sorry. I should never have dumped this burden on you.”
“I’m not built for leadership, Nina. You are.” Inhaling, Kaien straightened. “Come home.Stay.”
Eyes glossy, she held his gaze. “You’re right: my place is here, and I’ve done a terrible job of being a good sovereign over the last century. A terrible job of being a good sister. I even let Blair run off into danger under the guise of being a good friend and ‘supporting her’.”
Nina’s eyes closed, and she huffed a sigh. “I’ll come home, Kaien. This will no longer be your burden to bear.”
The relief that rushed through him almost made his knees give out. Blair, sensing the strength of the emotion running through him, didn’t delay and wrapping her arm around his waist.
“See?” Blair laughed. “Nina’s not a monster.”
Though Nina rolled her eyes, the smile that finally spread on her face was something he’d waited a long time to see.
Reaching over, Kaien ensnared his sister in a bone-breaking hug. He always forgot how much smaller than him she was, dwarfed by his much larger frame. It never failed to make his protective instincts spike.
The scent of oven-baked macaroni wafted from the kitchen as they walked back into the laughter of her front rooms, but it wasn’t long before their temporary peace was breached by a telepathic request to meet.
From Isaiah.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
BlairknewthemomentNina stiffened who’d asked to enter her territory. Decades ago, she’d consoled her best friend when regret plagued her after a brief interlude with the other sovereign. Now, that same tension showed in the lines around her sire’s mouth, the look of irritation splashed across her features.
With a single telepathic response, Nina permitted Isaiah into her territory.
It’d been the first time in centuries that Isaiah would set foot here in Solaris—Blair knew that much—and she had to consciously remind herself that he was not the enemy. For Nina, he truly had never been one, regardless of their ire for each other.
The Sylth sovereign didn’t deign to glance at anyone but Nina upon his entry. Isaiah’s dark brown eyes, now free from the red she’d last seen in them, studied hers with rapt focus.
“I appreciate your assistance in moving Luc’s people to safety.”
“Luc and his House are members of the vampire nation,” Nina reminded him. “I need no thanks from you for saving my own people.”
