Page 37 of Upon Shattered Bonds

Instantly, the force of his blow ripped her off her feet and sent her hurtling. Her breath was stolen from her when her head collided with the still frozen ground, the yellowed grass providing no pillow.

Behind her, she heard the muted gasps of her kinsmen, the forlorn sob that was undeniably Blair’s. But she couldn’t focus on them, not now.

Nina dragged air back into her lungs to prepare for Liam’s next assault. Her eyes remained closed, and the look of pain plastered over her features. Instead, her psychic senses flared out, pinpointing Liam’s exact location as he careened toward her for the finishing blow. Feigning desperation and weakness wasn’t difficult given how injured she truly was.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

Now.

Liam said nothing when his boots crunched next to her, dagger in hand. But when he knelt to plunge it into her heart, Nina made her move.

His eyes widened as the realization slammed into him, his lifeblood spilling out of a gaping gash in his neck when Nina’s razor-sharp fangs had torn it open. Wounded, he collapsed on the earth next to her, the female sovereign rising to her knees to straddle his paralyzed form.

Instead of killing him, Nina’s telepathy plunged into his mind. Two fingertips connected with his temple to increase the exposure, and she closed her eyes to better concentrate on the task at hand.

Pilfering through Liam’s mind was child’s play, like sorting through documents in a file cabinet; she just had to locate and open the right folder.

Discovering the truth behind the attacks would take seconds.

Chapter Sixteen

Zeke watched as his mate leapt up and straddled her dying challenger. With the ease of a maestro, she dove into Liam’s mind. The punch of her power was incredibly intense, an electricity that raised the hair on his arms and a growl of appreciation in his throat.

Because Nina’s talent was undeniable. Telepathy came as easily to her as breathing. The orb overhead had awarded her the match as soon as Liam’s life was forfeit, but the woman continued to probe his mind even as she rapidly renewed ties to her clansmen through their neural net.

A swell of pride in his mate accompanied the thought.

Just seconds before Nina had gained the upper hand, Zeke had broken out in a cold sweat. Nina’s vulnerability, so reminiscent of what’d occurred with his sister, had nearly doubled him over.

Like Nina, Isabeau had been too young when she’d found her mate. Though Georg was an honorable man, Isabeau had locked herself into immediate matehood. By the time they’d discovered the truth of it, the danger to his sister had been unveiled. It’d been too late to save her, and Izzy had paid the price with her life. She’d looked just as fragile as Nina in her dying moments.

Unable to assist, Zeke’s own sense of futility had crawled over his skin like a thousand insects, pinching and biting until he’d nearly lost all semblance of sanity. The feeling of helplessness still haunted him in recurring nightmares, more than a millennia later.

Distracted, Zeke identified the incoming flare of power moments too late. It slammed home into Liam’s body, and he’d lost the chance to blunt the effects. Liam was dead by the time Zeke had reached Nina’s side, and the occasion to rifle through his mind was gone.

Nina’s growl pierced through the air as she cursed under her breath.

“What were you able to skim?”

Kaien’s deep voice sounded behind Zeke, the healer swiftly moving to his twin’s side. Though he’d asked the question, his attention was focused on her breastbone, the area that’d borne the brunt of Liam’s assault.

Rocking back on her haunches until she sat cross-legged on the ground, Nina’s eyes closed. The moment Kaien’s hand rested against the bone, he muttered a curse.

“Your sternum is fractured.”

“If they’ve told everyone of your attack,” Zeke growled, “they that’s likely where they’ll target.”

“Lovely,” Nina deadpanned. “To answer your question, Kaien, I wasn’t able to identify who was behind the original attack, but I did see one thing: the challenges are not one-offs. They’re part of an intricate plot designed to remove me from power at any cost.” Ice blue eyes lifted to Zeke’s. “They’ve declared open season on me.”

Even without the link between them, he could sense the heavy weight of fatigue that’d crept into her bones and the agony that stemmed from her battered chest. Kaien continued to heal her, scowling and muttering things that were barely audible.

Zeke squatted beside her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Though he wondered whether she’d accept his touch, she didn’t shrug away from the contact.

Taking that as his cue, he poured psychic energy into her, flooding her with the warmth of his gift. Every second he was connected to her, the feeling of rightness permeated the boundaries between them. The blockade that separated their souls had begun to crumble.

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