Chapter 121: ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE

Nicholas’s POV

The next morning, I could sense that something was terribly wrong.

The penthouse was quiet, but there was a voice coming from downstairs. I slowed as I reached the last few steps, recognizing it almost immediately. Blackthorne.

I hadn’t heard his voice in days, but there was no mistaking it.

Was he here?

My heart immediately started racing as I thought of the worst.

No, they wouldn’t let him in.

I stepped into the dining room and found all four brothers already seated around the table. Adrian had something small placed in front of him, and the recording was playing through it.

Oh, the recorder.

Cassian and Roman were listening with their attention fixed on the device, while Elijah was wound up so tight that he hadn’t even noticed me enter.

Blackthorne’s voice filled the room. "I’ve given you enough time to find them. I don’t care what excuses you have anymore. They lied to me, and now they’re hiding somewhere thinking I won’t find them. My sons have suddenly become very clever, and Nicholas has been growing balls lately, so I want them found before they decide they’re brave enough to come after me."

I stopped beside the doorway.

Adrian noticed me first and his hand immediately reached for the recorder as he switched it off.

The whole place went silent at that.

Everyone looked at me, and I stared back at them, already knowing what this meant. I pulled out a chair and sat down slowly, keeping my face calm even though my thoughts were moving much faster.

Adrian leaned forward, resting his arms against the table. "That is the consequence of you meeting your mother yesterday. Your father knows we lied to him about where we were, and now he’s actively looking for us."

I looked at the recorder. "Oh, I—"

"He knows we’re not on vacation anymore," Adrian replied. "And judging from that recording, he’s already angry enough to start searching everywhere he thinks we could have gone."

I took a breath and looked around the table. Nobody seemed surprised by any of it. They had probably been sitting there listening to the recording before I came down, trying to figure out how much Blackthorne had already uncovered.

Then Adrian reached for the recorder again. "There was more."

He pressed play and Blackthorne’s voice returned, slightly distorted through the recording. "And don’t leave out Nicholas. I want him brought to me too. I’ve heard enough about this ridiculous bond. If he thinks having four of my sons tied to him somehow makes him untouchable, then he clearly doesn’t understand the situation he’s put himself in. Find them. I want to know where they are, who they’re with, and what exactly they’ve been planning behind my back."

Elijah suddenly pushed his chair back. "He knows about the bond." His voice cracked slightly, and he stood there staring at the recorder, his expression filled with panic.

"What is he going to do to Nicholas when he finds us?" Elijah asked, looking from Adrian to me. "He’s already tried to get rid of him once. Now he knows about the bond too. What happens when he actually gets Nicholas in front of him?"

Nobody answered immediately and I couldn’t either.

For a moment, all I could think about was my mother sitting across from me at that café the previous evening, talking to me like I could trust her.

I mean I had trusted her enough to tell her what I could. I’d deliberately left certain things out because I knew she was living with Blackthorne, but somehow that hadn’t been enough.

She had told him everything.

Including the mage bond. And the fact that I intended to continue what my father had started.

I looked down at my hands for a moment before slowly sitting back. "She told him."

Adrian’s expression hardened. "Yes. Apparently, your mother did."

I nodded, trying not to crash out. I couldn’t afford to panic every time something went wrong. Blackthorne wanted me frightened. He wanted me to think that because he was powerful, everyone around him would eventually have to bow to him.

No. So what if he was looking for me? I was also looking for him. But for a completely different reason. I wanted revenge.

I looked at my brother’s. "I told you yesterday that I’m going to finish what my father started, and I meant it. I’m not changing my mind because Blackthorne knows about the bond now. He tried to have me killed, and he murdered my father. We’ve also learned what he’s been doing to other people, including other Alphas who stood against him. He has spent years pretending he’s some respectable man while destroying anyone who gets in his way."

I paused, letting the words settle before looking directly at them. "I know he’s your father. I know you grew up with him, and I know this isn’t simple for any of you. But I need to ask you something before we go any further."

Elijah lowered himself back into his chair. Cassian watched me carefully, while Roman leaned back with his arms folded and Adrian didn’t interrupt.

"If I kill your father," I said quietly, "will you hate me for it?"

The room went so still that I shuddered.

They were clearly trying to proces what I was asking of them.

Sure, they hated him, but he was still their father. They were going to hesitate at the thought of killing him.

Cassian was the first to move. He leaned forward, resting both hands on the table, his expression serious as he looked at me.

"Nicholas, whatever happens to him from this point onward, he brought it on himself. You don’t have to protect his reputation just because he’s our father. He’s been pretending to be righteous while doing things that would make anyone else a criminal in our eyes. If he loses everything because of what he’s done, that’s on him."

Roman nodded slowly beside him, his face still hard. "Cassian is right. I don’t know what we’re supposed to feel about him anymore, but I know I can’t sit here and defend him after everything we’ve learned. Whatever consequences come for him, he deserves to face them."

Elijah remained quiet for several seconds before finally looking at me. He still looked shaken, but there was no anger in his expression toward me.

"I don’t know what I’m going to feel when it actually happens," he admitted. "He’s still the man who raised us, and I’m not going to pretend that doesn’t matter. At least to me. But I can’t ignore what he’s done to you or what he did to your father. I can’t ask you to forgive him just because he’s our father. Because I also don’t forgive him either. So yes, I’m with you."

Adrian’s eyes remained on me. "You asked whether we’ll hate you," he said, his voice steady. "No. Whatever happens between you and him, we won’t hate you, Nicholas. We support you."