The Legendborn Cycle, #3
Oathbound
by Tracy Deonn
Contents
Chapter 35
Overview
Bree and Nick are forced into a tense, intimate conversation while maintaining their false identities at Mikael’s gala. Mikael responds to the break-in and attack by postponing the auction for three days and trapping willing Collectors on-site under stricter security, giving Bree another chance at the crown but greatly increasing the danger.
The chapter reveals that the night’s chaos involves at least one unknown third culprit and that Penumbra’s Collectors expect something beyond a standard auction. Nick’s reaction to the extended stay exposes a deeper fear tied to being near Bree, shifting their reunion from flirtatious tension into emotional danger.
Summary
Bree and Nick take their new isolated table near the front of the ballroom, maintaining their covers as Iris and Benedict. Bree notices increased security, doubled guards, and Zoe’s wary attention, but she does not feel demonic scrutiny beyond Zoe. Ava watches Bree coldly from farther away.
Nick questions whether Bree caused the earlier blackout, and Bree denies it. Nick concludes that a third attendee must have triggered the security incident, then adopts a careless rich-bro persona to question a server. Through the exchange, Nick learns Mikael will appear in person and that the breach did not happen in the manor proper.
When the server leaves, Bree and Nick discuss pretending, wealth, and the moral cost of innocent people being caught near magic. Their guarded banter turns intimate as Bree asks about their past. Nick admits they have kissed and touched before, but he says he has already decided not to stop Bree from leaving after the gala, cutting off the emotional opening between them.
Mikael Di Centa takes the stage unmasked, projecting wealth, control, and power. Bree recognizes his cultivated human aesthetic and compares him to a demonic Gatsby. Mikael reassures the Collectors about Penumbra’s secrecy, but Bree feels a strange electrical tingle as the room responds to him.
Mikael announces that someone attempted to breach a secured outbuilding and that a guard was violently attacked inside the manor. Bianca has determined that both culprits remain among the guests. Mikael offers guests the chance to leave, but warns that leaving means forfeiting the auction opportunity; Bree and Zoe silently agree they must stay because the crown may not be available again.
Mikael then changes the stakes: the auction is postponed for three days, and interested Collectors must remain at Penumbra all weekend under heightened security. The guests react with eagerness, many producing overnight bags, which makes Bree suspect the Collectors want more than artifacts. Bree is relieved that Erebus prepared Zoe and Bree for a changed game, but Nick reacts with fear and desperation. When Bree asks why three days is too long, Nick says Bree was not supposed to be there and that he cannot be around Bree for that long.
Who Appears
- BreeMaintains her Iris cover, probes Nick’s past with her, and resolves to stay for the crown.
- NickDisguised as Benedict; banters with Bree, reveals intimacy from their past, and panics over staying.
- Mikael Di CentaPenumbra’s Nightshade host; reassures Collectors, reveals the incidents, and postpones the auction.
- ZoeWatches security and silently confirms with Bree that they must remain at Penumbra.
- AvaSits apart from Nick and Bree, watching Bree with cold suspicion.
- BiancaMikael’s security captain, credited with determining both culprits remain among the guests.
- MariahRemains in the ballroom as part of Bree and Zoe’s disrupted cover arrangement.