The Legendborn Cycle, #3
Oathbound
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 40
Overview
At breakfast, Bree repairs her rift with Zoe by giving a careful partial truth about her past, her power, and why she chose to train with Erebus. Nick then turns the hostile social dynamics of Mikael’s wealthy Collector circle into a tactical advantage, deciding to exploit their assumptions to gather information.
The chapter shifts the group from emotional fallout into coordinated survival strategy, with Zoe and Mariah joining Bree and Nick’s plan. Ava’s warning raises the stakes: Mikael will target guests he finds suspicious, especially anyone absent during the alarm, putting Bree’s group at risk.
Summary
Bree enters a smaller, less formal breakfast room and joins Mariah and Zoe, who are still masked. Zoe remains chilly after learning Bree is Arthur’s Scion, while Bree explains that Nick has gone to meet Ava and may return with information about how to survive Mikael’s locked-down estate.
After a server leaves, Bree apologizes to Zoe while speaking carefully enough that nearby guests and staff cannot understand the supernatural details. Bree explains that she did not grow up in the Order, discovered her connection unexpectedly while grieving her mother, left because she needed to become stronger, and chose to train with Erebus because he already knew what she was. Bree also reveals enough for Zoe to understand that Bree’s unusual inner power comes from an ancestor’s attempt to protect her descendants.
Zoe forgives Bree, saying Bree needs slack after everything that has happened, though she warns that Elijah may react far worse when he learns what Bree and Erebus have hidden. The tension eases as Zoe and Mariah tease Bree about her complicated feelings for Nick and Sel, including Bree’s basement fight with Nick and his obvious continued interest in her.
Nick enters the room after meeting Ava. An older male Collector calls him over, and Bree silently encourages Nick to play along as Benedict. Zoe listens closely and realizes the men are welcoming Nick because they assume he belongs with them, while pointedly ignoring Bree despite knowing she is his supposed fiancée.
Nick returns to Bree’s table and performs affection for the room, deliberately making the Collectors uncomfortable by acknowledging Bree. He explains that he spoke to them for intel: they are long-time insiders who know the weekend’s schedule and Mikael’s usual patterns. Nick proposes using the Collectors’ racism, misogyny, patriarchy, and class assumptions against them so he can infiltrate their circle and learn about the security communions.
Zoe, Mariah, and Bree agree the strategy is sound, and Nick assures Bree he will not leave her alone again. When Bree asks what Ava wanted, Nick reveals that Mikael will not interview every guest, only those he finds suspicious in business or outside interests, especially anyone who was not in the ballroom when the alarms went off.
Who Appears
- BreeApologizes to Zoe, explains parts of her hidden history, and helps approve Nick’s intelligence-gathering strategy.
- NickPlays Benedict, gathers information from elite Collectors, and reports Ava’s warning about Mikael’s interviews.
- ZoeForgives Bree, teases her about Nick, and uses sharp hearing to monitor Collector conversations.
- MariahSupports Bree during the apology, lightens the mood, and agrees to the group’s survival plan.
- AvaMeets Nick offscreen and warns him about Mikael’s selective interviews of suspicious attendees.
- Unnamed older CollectorInvites Nick into an insider conversation, exposing the Collectors’ prejudiced social assumptions.