I turned to face him, rage boiling in my veins. “What the fuck do you want from me, Draco? You think I should be happy for her? You think I should celebrate that she’s found someone else to fuck while we sit here rotting?”
His eyes flashed violet. “Iwantyou to stop broadcasting your suicidal thoughts through the bond. It’s loud enough that I can barely think.”
A fresh wave of sensation crashed through me. Jupiter’s pleasure building, her body tightening around one of them, her breath coming in short gasps. I doubled over, bracing myself on my knees as her climax washed over her, and through us. Aidenmade a strangled sound, dropping his head into his hands. Percy’s knuckles went white around the arm of the sofa.
“She hates us,” I whispered, nearly dry heaving. “She wants us to suffer.”
“And we are,” Draco said, standing. He moved to the center of the room. “But sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves isn’t going to fix anything.”
“What do you suggest?” Aiden asked bitterly. “We’ve tried apologizing. We’ve tried gifts, letters, but all of them were returned, our calls unanswered. We turned up at her fucking school and got thrown on our asses. She won’t even look at us.”
“Then we try something else,” Draco said. “We petition for a transfer to Imperium. Officially. Not through Dominion.”
The room went silent. Even Percy looked up, his expression shifting from despair to cautious interest. “You think they’d let us in?”
“Nightfall is one of the most prestigious shields in America. Our combat record is impeccable. The Assembly has been pushing for more cooperation between the academies. It’s not impossible.”
Percy sat forward, the joint forgotten between his fingers. “Even if they accepted us, Jupiter would never agree to be with us again, and they made it pretty clear that it was her choice.”
“Not as her mates,” Draco agreed. “But maybe as her shield. As a combat unit that functions non-romantically.”
I laughed. “You think she’d want us anywhere near her after what we did? Even in a non-romantic way? She’s more likely to send the next poisoned dart through our window.”
“She’s still bonded to us,” Draco argued. “And I think that bond is killing her as much as it’s killing us. Maybe if we could find a way to work together without the romantic entanglements, we could all start to heal.”
“Strictly business,” Aiden said, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “No attempts to win her back. No declarations of love.”
“Exactly,” Draco nodded. “We approach her with a proposal. We join Imperium, we work together as a combat unit, and we respect her boundaries. No more, no less.”
I ran a hand through my hair, considering it. The thought of being near her without being able to touch her, to hold her, was its own kind of torture. But it was better than this, better than feeling her through the bond with other men while we wasted away thousands of miles apart.
“It might work,” Percy said. “If we can convince her it’s purely professional. That we’re not trying to manipulate her or win her back.”
“And if she says no?” I asked.
“Then we respect that and continue to suffer,” Draco said. “But we have to try.”
Percy stood. “I’ll draft the petition tonight. We’ll submit it to both academies tomorrow.”
“And Jupiter?” Aiden asked. “Who asks her?”
“I will,” Draco said. “I’ll catch her in the morning before they leave. I think... I think she might listen to me.”
I nodded, a fragile sort of hope kindling in my chest. It wasn’t what I wanted. Not in the slightest. I wanted her back in my arms, wanted to erase the past months and start over, but it wassomething. A chance to be near her, to see her, even if it was from a distance.
“Alright,” I said, my voice rough from screaming. My head pounded and all I wanted to do was take a long shower and pass out. “We try it your way.”
20
Jupiter
I wokeup to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand. Lucas and Rowan were still asleep, their bodies warm against mine, their breathing deep and even. I carefully extracted myself from between them, trying not to wake them as I reached for my phone.
It was a text from Lydia.
L: Back on campus and heard you were here! Come to my room ASAP. Miss you!
My heart leapt. How the hell did she even know that? I quickly replied that I’d be there in fifteen minutes, then slipped out of bed. I pulled on some borrowed clothes, ran a brush through my tangled hair, and scribbled a quick note on the counter for Lucas and Rowan before quietly leaving the guest suite.
