17. Seventeen

Seventeen

Corentin

Until our bonding, the nature of myself has always felt like a punishing pressure.

An unfavorable personality trait that was going to make everyone hate me because it reminded them so much of the generations before my mom. Regardless of that feeling, I still owned it. I never shied away from who I was even at times when I lost my shit or second-guessed every decision I made.

I've always known I wasn't like them, despite the doubt that always crept in when tough calls had to be made. I don't enjoy nor do I adhere to the law so forcefully it cost people their lives. I'm quite the opposite actually. I want everyone to be safe, especially my family.

But bonding with my Primary, my princess, has made me look at myself and my controlling tendencies differently.

I realize that my demeanor and mannerisms command a room. Others don't have much of a choice but to listen to what I say. It'll always be that way, but I'll never use it as a selfish advantage. But it's different for and with Willow. She puts shit in perspective for me that others don't and simply just can't.

When it comes to controlling anything to do with her, she makes me feel like my most off-putting behavior is a privilege. A privilege she lets me exercise whenever I want. The fact of the matter is, though, she can just as easily shut it down.

Like just a minute ago.

I've sensed her hesitancy in the plan since we discussed it with her, but I was confident in it despite the remaining unknowns. When she came out of her vision ready to change the carefully constructed preparations I've been working on over the past several weeks, I thought for a moment my heart was going to pound out of my chest.

She recognized the immediate panic in me. I knew by the softening look on her face that she did. And just as quickly, she fixed it.

No one else in this realm could do that but her.

To my utter shock, though, I was willing and ready to give over the responsibility to her if she truly wanted to dictate everything. Would that have been hard for me? Abso-fucking-lutely. But I would have, for her.

When she made the comment about too much random shit happening to her for her to be in charge, I wanted to tell her that it's okay, I have plans for that too, but I didn't. I don't want her to feel like she's disrupting anything when she can't help when the visions, or Elementra, or fucking CC, step in and change everything up.

Since she was taken, my mind has been able to conjure up the worst of the worst-case scenarios, then I form a plan around that. I have a library's worth of backup plans ingrained in my brain so we're never in a situation again where she exchanges herself for anyone.

"What's got you so lost in your thoughts?" Willow asks quietly as she climbs into my lap where I'm sitting at my desk.

"The usual, princess."

"Me, to-do list, how to save the realm, hiring new instructors, who's going to take care of the academy while we're gone, the failing students…what else am I missing?" she teases and we both laugh, although it's the Elementra-honest truth. "I'm sorry for throwing a monkey wrench into the original plans."

What the hell is a monkey wrench?

She tries to cover her laugh with a cough that doesn't work at all and I shoot her a harmless warning smirk about her nosiness. "It's just a saying from the nonmagical realm. It means when someone messes up or in some cases purposely sabotages a plan. I'm not purposely doing it, by the way, but I did mess it up."

"You didn't mess up anything, princess. The change from capturing Keeper to negotiating with him is an easy enough switch. I don't know what benefit we'll get from it yet, but if you believe that's the best course of action then that's what we're doing. We can leave the original plan as a backup just in case. Everything will work out."

She searches my eyes and my bond for any hint of doubt, but she won't find any. I meant it that I trust her and her decision completely and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that the new plan in place is executed perfectly so she can trust herself as well.

"Okay then," she agrees with a breathtaking smile, then turns in my lap to look over the piles of papers. "Tillman said I'm done with training for the day, but we have more stuff to work on before we can go home, so what can I help with? What's item number one for right now?"

"Well, as usual, Gaster will be in charge of the academy while we're gone, but for the most part, except for emergencies, we've always tried to avoid missions that required all four of us present. The entirety of our Nexus and Ry's going leaves both combat class and E.F. training needing coverage. Not only that, it leaves the academy severely under protected," I tell her.

Tillman and I have been searching relentlessly to find a suitable, permanent combat instructor but have come up empty-handed finding one that has the same moral compass and values we do when it comes to preparing the upcoming students and E.F. recruits, as well as putting the academy's protection at the forefront.

When the decision was made to hire Claven as a combat instructor, that was solely a political and social compromise on my part. I wanted no part of him in this academy, but his loss was causing quite the rift in the upper families. After the two of us argued endlessly over it, Tillman really stuck to his guns that hiring him would cease the divided bitterness. So pushing our personal feelings aside, I hired him. Obvious mistake.

"Hear me out on this, but I think Lucas would make the perfect permanent combat instructor," Willow says.

Tillman's gaze collides with mine as we both swing our heads to one another. I honestly hadn't even considered Lucas because he's one of our enforcers and hasn't expressed any interest in the position. We also haven't brought it up to him.

"Why do you think he'd be perfect, little warrior?"

"Well, because he has a soft spot for the students. He has a protective nature that would ensure they're not being ruthlessly pitted against one another, but that protectiveness would also drive him to teach them everything they need to know. I could see how hard it was hitting him when we couldn't find those Crestwood students. He's an enforcer, so he and his Nexus are obviously highly skilled, but the front lines aren't where his heart is. Don't get me wrong. The little I've seen of him or even talked to him doesn't give me a right to give any personal testimony like you all can, but I saw his intentions clearly when I was rescued."

"Huh," I hum.

Fuck, would him taking the position make so many of our worries over the academy go away? He holds the same values as we do and Willow's analysis of him and the students is one hundred percent accurate.

"Do you want me to arrange a formal interview or just call him in?" Tillman asks, already aware I've made my decision.

"How do you feel about this? This leaves you losing two enforcers in a short amount of time," I say.

"Well, technically, I won't be losing Lucas. His position will just be shifting to a more permanent arrangement here, but he'll still hold his title and like Lyker, he'll always be loyal to the force. But I agree with Will. His heart isn't on the front lines, which isn't a bad thing."

"Call him in then so we can talk with him. If he says yes, that takes a huge issue off our plate."

As he steps into the hallway to make the call, I pull Willow in for a hungry kiss. She has no clue how much I've been stressing about finding someone I could trust to fill that role and look after everything while we were gone.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I tell her.

"I didn't do much but throw out a name and my opinion," she says, undermining her help.

"It was far more than that. It was a huge to-do that's been driving me mad. You helped me tremendously, princess."

"Well, when you put it like that." She smiles, pulling my lips back to hers.

"Do you want to stay in for our talk with him, or go to Gaster's with Caspian and Draken? I believe Oakly is joining San there as well," I ask her as we finally pull apart.

"If you don't need me to help with anything, I'll go with them and start on some research."

"Go with them, princess. After we talk to him, we'll come and get you, then head home."

I swear watching her walk away from me never gets easier. Regardless of the fact she's walking into my brother's shadows or Draken's arms, I still want to pull her back into my lap and suck up everything she's willing to give me. I don't believe I'll ever get enough of her.

For the few minutes I have before Lucas arrives, I throw myself into a few minor things I need to get together for my new assistant Geo. I won't lie and say the struggle not to do everything myself isn't strong, because it really is, but the kid's smart, efficient, and most important, doesn't hit on me.

He's a fourth year, who had applied for Archivist aid at the beginning of this term. He wasn't sour in the least when Oakly beat him out, although I knew he was disappointed. He doesn't come from an upper family, so the need to prove himself is persistent. I figured he'd take having a first year getting the position over him hard, but instead, he just tried harder and applied for every other open role in the academy. Which told me he didn't care what position he got. He just wanted a chance to prove himself. I knew the moment I moved Crissy from my assistant's position, I wanted him.

Hiring him also made me reflect on the day I interviewed Oakly. I remember clearly mentally rolling my eyes when she bebopped in here with a bright smile and purple hair that was even brighter. At first, I was thinking there's no way this girl is seriously applying for this position, then she opened her mouth and I knew I was picking her. She sounded like the younger girl version of Gaster. I could sense her desire for the position. It wasn't something she was seeking out to make her family proud. She wanted it for herself because that's what she's passionate about.

Honestly, I was ready for flirting, giggling, and unnecessary comments I was used to receiving, especially from upper families like the one she's from but nope. Instead, she basically looked at me like I wasn't shit. The same way she looks at the rest of the social hierarchy. She treated me like I was just some normal guy she couldn't give a fuck less about. She wanted that position and didn't care about anything else.

There've been times since then I've wondered if that was a test from Elementra. Her way of judging how I was going to react or treat my Primary's other bond before she even got here. I'd like to think I passed. I know for a fact I'm not Oakly's least favorite. I'd say me and Tillman rotate second and third, depending on how much he pisses them off in training on any given day.

"You feel good about this?" Tillman asks, standing up from the couch after reading the message that just came in on his communicator.

I guess that's the sign Lucas and his Nexus is here.

"Yeah, and Willow's confidence in this seals it for me."

The asshole shoots me a knowing smirk. Since the mental connection has firmly snapped into place, he loves to call me out on shit. He doesn't always do it out loud. He likes to let me know privately he knows what's running through my mind.

And fuck, so does Draken.

The shit that filters in from him is wild.

"Tillman. Corentin. We got here as soon as we could. Is everything okay?" Lucas asks after he and his brothers shake our hands.

"Yeah, everything's fine. We just wanted to talk to you in person about something. Sorry for the last-minute notice and if we worried you at all," I tell him. Everyone gets nervous when we call them here. You'd think it'd be the command room that has that effect, but no. Everyone treats that room like a retreat compared to here.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"We'd like to offer you the combat instructor position here at the academy," I say, cutting straight to the point.

His eyes widen and his posture relaxes as he realizes he isn't in any kind of trouble. Although he stays tense as he lets my words sink in. His brothers bounce back faster than him, smiling and squeezing his arms like they've accepted the position for him. Which is a good sign.

"That's amazing, but what does this mean for my Nexus? I don't want to be separated from them."

"Of course not. They'd be here with you. It'd be much like how Ry's Nexus functions. Jamie is an intricate part of the lab here, but San and Nikoli work closely to Ry. They don't have the second-in-command title, but they're shown the same respect. Your brothers would have the same. We'll find roles for them in a capacity that best suits their abilities. Whether that's helping you, the E.F. recruits, instructing their own classes, whatever it may be. You'd have a Nexus house here on campus. This would become your permanent station," I inform him. I've given offers like this multiple times and I'm always prepared for the fearful questions.

Most Nexuses would be worried about being separated, but we'd never allow that. I'd never move anywhere without my brothers, so I'd never expect any of our instructors or E.F. members to do that either. We even make it a point to give students their own homes together if they have a fully formed Nexus.

Nodding at Tillman for him to continue, he picks right up, explaining the position. "Your job would move from being on the front lines and manning missions, to teaching combat skills in all variations. Rather than enforcing soldiers, you'll be preparing the students who either plan to join the E.F. or those who just simply want to learn how to defend themselves. I can't promise with a war like the one we have going on, you'll never have to step into a fight again, but for the most part, you'll be coming out of active duty and entering the beginning training stages for the gifted coming into the academy."

"I…can I talk it over with my brothers?" he asks.

"What the hell is there to talk about, Luc? This is fantastic. No more moving around. No more fighting. We've been holding out on bonding with a Primary because of our situation. Now we won't have to," one of his brothers chimes in encouragingly.

I keep my blank but relaxed mask in place, hiding my own excitement over this. Not that I'm trying to come across as a hard-ass or anything, but I don't want him to feel pressured by my own hope. This is completely up to him.

"There'd be no more traveling, no more missions or recon, or anything like that for the most part. No more thrill of the fight. You all are really okay with that?" Lucas asks them. I hear the subtle hope in his voice, but he's trying to hide it in case one of them doesn't agree.

"Yes," the three of them echo.

His breath whooshes out of him and a slow smile spreads across his face when he looks at me and Tillman.

"I accept."

Dropping the mask, I return his smile and stand to shake his hand. Typically, interviews are a lengthy, formal, nuisance of a process, so I've got to say, this way was far easier and enjoyable.

"Fuck, I thought you two were sending us off on some crazy-ass recon or possibly firing me," Lucas says with a laugh after we finish congratulating him.

"Well, this isn't typically how Corentin would run this process, but we're on borrowed time with the Forest mission coming up. We've been struggling to nail down a trustworthy person for this position and our Primary's the one who said she thought you'd make a great fit. It sparked some urgency, and our minds were made up before I called you," Tillman says.

"Please give her my thanks for the recommendation. You know we'll always be enforcers through and through, but honestly, we've been getting lonely. We made a pact years ago that we'd never take a Primary while being in the service. We've just seen what it does to people when they're broken apart and we weren't willing to put our Primary through it," Lucas tells us seriously.

His comment, although doesn't fully surprise me, it does make me think about how many Nexuses feel the same way. How many of them are holding out because they don't want to get into a committed relationship in the middle of a war. There aren't many E.F. Nexuses who have Primaries.

That thought makes me even more eager to end this.

Everyone, mostly anyways, deserves the feeling of a completed Nexus.

We run through a few more basic formalities, and they eventually leave with the plan of packing up their current belongings that are at Crestwood academy and moving here by tonight. Tomorrow, Tillman will start him fresh in his new position.

"That went better and faster than I expected," he says after he returns from walking them out of my office.

"Hell yeah, it did. Too bad all interviews and offers aren't like that."

"Well, Will isn't always around calling the shots for you to make the process easier," he says with a mocking grin on his smug face.

"Fuck off." I chuckle, pulling my communicator out that's been going off for a minute now.

Huh. Three missed calls from Codi.

I dial him back and put it on speaker for Tillman to hear. I grow anxious the more and more it rings with no answer. My mind filters through the possibilities in seconds. Did Trex turn on him? Was the Castle attacked? Has someone been hurt?

"Corentin, sorry for blowing you up. I couldn't get in touch with Tillman either," he says as soon as he answers.

"He's with me. Is everything okay?"

He lets out an irritated sigh, which tells me nothing too serious has happened, but it's still something that needs our attention. "It's Willow's fa—Franklin. He's gone fucking mental. Screaming, throwing his shit around his room, refusing to eat. He's demanding for her to come here. He won't stop yelling for us to bring him his daughter. That she's his prop…well, you know the shit these people say. I think he's cracked."

That fucker. Believing he can make demands of my princess. Call her his property. I'll fucking end him.

"Corentin," Tillman murmurs, cutting through the red haze that instantly covered my sight.

"We'll discuss it with Willow, and I'll let you know what we decide." I hang up on him before he responds and begin pacing behind my desk.

The boiling rage I feel has me wanting desperately to just transport to Rebel Castle and kill him once and for all. Fuck, I hate that man with a passion, and if Willow hadn't asked us to hold off, I would've shoved my light through his eyes until it singed the fabric of his soul by now.

"Look at you not even restraining your gift," Caspian says, stepping out of the shadows.

"What?" I ask, whirling around to him.

"You didn't lock your gift up. You were letting it flow with your anger rather than restraining it. Proud of you," he says with a small, sly-ass smirk that I want to knock off his face.

"Asshole. What are you even doing here?" I ask. Ignoring the fact that I appreciate his words. Allowing my gift to just be free has been a challenging obstacle for me, but with Willow's help, I'm proud to say I've gotten better with it.

"The Primary felt you go from happy to madder than a pissed off dragon. She was ready to come rush to your rescue, but I told her I'd come."

I roll my eyes at him because he's apparently in a teasing mood today. Not that it's a bad thing, but I'm about to ruin it when I tell him what pissed me off. Also, I kick myself for not locking my bond up 'cause now I'm not going to be able to hide what pissed me off from her.

"Codi called. Franklin has gone crazy apparently, breaking his shit, refusing to eat. He wants to see Willow."

Just like I thought, the grin melts from his face and his shadows leak out of him. If he were bonded with Willow, she'd no doubt be popping in here now, knowing something's going on.

He stares at me in unchecked fury for a good minute before he takes a deep breath and collects himself. "She's not going near him."

"I'd love to agree with you, brother, but you know as well as I do, that's not our decision."

He sneers and clenches his fists at his sides, but he doesn't argue. He knows I'm right.

Yeah, deep in my heart and mind, I'd love to sweep this under the rug, pretend I never got the call from Codi, and not tell Willow the first thing about it, but that shit would blow up in my face the moment she found out the truth. And the truth always comes out one way or another.

"Well, let's go get this over with. We all know how she is. Once we tell her, her decision will be made, then there won't be any letting it go for now. If she wants to go, we'll be heading to Rebel Castle in a few minutes. I'll have Ry meet us over there," Tillman orders, pulling his communicator out.

I convince the two of them that we should walk over there rather than transport or shadow. It'll give us all some time to calm down and it's a pretty good distance, so we can put it off for a few more minutes.

Mentally, I already know what's going to happen. She's going to want to go. She's going to look at this as an opportunity to gather information from him. Bad or good. Then we'll have to heal the chunks he cuts out of her heart from what the fuck ever he tells her. Not that we mind doing that. We'll help her heal from anything, no matter what because she's our eternity, our beating hearts.

It's the fact that man doesn't deserve to even breathe the same air that she does, let alone open his vile fucking mouth in her presence.

By the time we walk into Gaster's office, everyone's already here, and she knows something's going on by the sweet, concerned look she shoots me. Although I'm livid at this whole situation, I still pull her close to me, kiss her forehead, and smile in her hair.

"Something happened. You all are so tense. What's going on?" she asks when I release her, and she moves over to Tillman.

"Franklin wants to see you. He's causing Codi and the others trouble, so he called me to let me know what's going on," I tell her.

She looks taken aback for a second. That wasn't at all what she thought I was going to say. And fuck, I wish there were something else I could've said.

"He hasn't hurt any of them, has he?" she asks a little frantic, more concerned about everyone else's safety.

"No, everyone's fine. He's just throwing a tantrum, breaking all his things in the room, refusing to eat, and constantly screaming, apparently," I say.

The thoughts running around in her mind are practically visible to me. I'd be the same way. If the roles were reversed, I'd want to know what it is he has to say.

"You knew what I was going to decide. That's why everyone's already here," she says, arching a brow at me.

"Just a feeling."

She snorts and shakes her head, but she can't hide the worry creeping into her eyes. Yeah, she may be curious, but she's dreading seeing him.

"Should…" she trails off.

"If you want to call him and ask if he wants to join, you can, little warrior," Tillman tells her and it's easy for me to piece together, she wants to ask Lyker to come.

There'd be no other random him Tillman would be referring to.

Although with a little bit of hesitation and nervousness, she calls Lyker and informs him of what's going on and what we're doing. Of course he easily agrees to meet us there. So within a few minutes, Willow and Oakly have everyone's research put away in Gaster's secret room, which I still don't have access to, and we make our way out of the archives.

"Ready?" Tillman asks.

"As ready as I ever am to see that man," Willow murmurs.

"We've got you, Primary. One wrong move and I'll end him," Caspian says seriously, making her laugh.

By the time we arrive at Rebel Castle, Lyker, Aria, Lennox, Kyan, and Zane are already standing out front. Willow's gratitude and happiness at their being here flares in my bond as soon as she sees them. Finding out you have a blood brother is quite an adjustment, but I think because of the instant connection she felt to him, even though she assumed it was because she needed to save his life, has helped both her and him accept this more freely.

They all approach her, giving her all their attention and easy hugs before even acknowledging the rest of us, and I can't help but mentally chuckle. She really is collecting her own family, and it just keeps growing. At this point already, anywhere the three of our Nexuses go, plus Gaster, that's sixteen people having to get closer to one another because one Primary said so.

"What do you think he wants?" Lyker asks her as we make our way into the Castle kitchens.

"I have no clue. Probably try to convince us to let him go or some shit. He made it clear he wasn't going to give us any information on the Summum-Master or the society, so I don't know what he's up to."

"You lost the bet," Trex tells Codi as we walk into the kitchen.

Against my wishes and pushing, Willow convinced us that he should be able to be free during the day to roam around the Castle with Codi, be put to work or something instead of being locked away in a cell. I surely didn't want to give in, but she insisted. We had a serious conversation with Codi, and he agreed to take full responsibility over him.

"What bet?" Willow asks.

"Codi didn't think you'd come today. I said it would only be a few minutes," he says.

"Don't place bets on my Primary," Caspian says coldly, while Draken growls, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. Tillman just shakes his head, and Willow smirks like it's funny.

"Do you have any inkling of what he wants to talk to me about?" she asks.

He instantly wipes the smirk off his face and grows serious. His whole demeanor change makes the hair on my arms stand up, and I'm ready to transport her right on out of here.

"Not exactly, but it can't be good. He probably has no choice at this point," Trex says, and immediately, his nose starts bleeding.

Codi's quick to grab him a cloth and Aria walks over and lays her hand on his head.

"We should've come back before now. There're cracks along my rune. Why didn't you tell anyone?" she asks Trex.

"It still felt sturdy to me. The only change was the nose bleeds are happening now even if I just think of something important."

"I've reinforced it, but I don't know how much longer it's going to hold if he or whoever keeps pounding at it. You need to tell Codi if you feel any changes at all," Aria scolds him, and he gives a sheepish nod.

I don't think he was purposely keeping it from anyone. I think he's just used to being alone and not having anyone he can trust. Or he's just used to the thought of death that it doesn't even faze him anymore.

"So there's a possibility Franklin's is down completely," Willow states.

"Yeah," Aria agrees begrudgingly.

We need to get this over with before his heart falls out.

"Well, he's still alive, so that means that the Summum-Master doesn't want him dead yet, or he isn't willing to kill him. Ry, Lyker, the two of you can join us inside the interrogation room. The rest of you, I think it's best for you to stay here for now. He's less likely to talk with an army of us in there. You ready, princess?" I ask, pulling her in for a hug. She's even more nervous now, understandably, but she needs her wits about her before coming face to face with that pathetic monster.

"Yeah."

Fuck, that wasn't convincing.