Page 51 of Upon Shattered Bonds

“You’re wounded!”

Frowning, he retreated into himself and took stock of his own body. The first twinge of pain sparked to life as the adrenaline receded. A wave of dizziness caused him to stagger slightly on his feet, his gaze dropping to catch his balance. Blood was pooling on the floor.

“Zeke!”

Nina’s shrill cry cut through his sudden mental fog. “I’m fine, Nina.”

He’d known his mate hadn’t been injured because the bullet had burned through his arm instead. Having suffered through merjha wounds in the past, he knew what it felt like. It’d been the only reason he’d teleported away from her to target the threat. Rage had flooded his mind with such conviction that he hadn’t taken stock of the damage.

Twisting his body, Zeke attempted to rotate his right arm to survey the entry wound. Nina, however, gripped his forearm tightly enough to temporarily immobilize him.

“Stop moving, you fool.”

Growling through clenched teeth, Nina’s ice-blue eyes were fixated on where his tricep was radiating pain. While she probed the tender area, a low level of electricity snapped through the air. Hemin’s telepathic voice cut through his mind, distracting his concentration from the woman before him.

Sovereign, have you been injured?

Yes, he replied. Flesh wound, Hemin. Nothing to worry about.

All the same, I’d like to inspect it. Then, a question in his voice. Was it from a merjha?

Of course, the shrewd healer would know what’d befallen him. Grumbling, Zeke answered in the affirmative. Yes, but Nina is tending to it. Not much you can do.

Call me should you need any assistance, sovereign. I’m a teleport away.

When he wasn’t a saint, Hemin dutifully played the sacrificial lamb. Zeke’s ability to mirror the abilities of any Raeth in his clan—or those of Raeth in his general vicinity—gave him unprecedented power.

Unfortunately, a Healer’s gift was a finely tuned instrument. While Zeke could mirror it and heal scrapes or bruises, even a broken bone on occasion, he’d never possess the delicate art of those naturally gifted with the ability. Mending things like eyes, brains, or hearts was impossible for him.

Hemin’s presence receded from his mind just as Nina’s scathing hiss erupted from her mouth. She gave him a withering look before she manifested a first-aid kit into her hands.

“You stupid man, you could have died!”

“And you believe I wouldn’t gladly give my life for yours?”

An uncomfortable silence settled between them as his mate inspected his arm and determined the bullet was lodged inside. Unlike with humans, leaving the bullet where it’d embedded would do greater harm than good—especially with a merjha bullet.

“They’re getting desperate,” Zeke thought aloud. “No silencer. They must have known it’d be easy to locate the sniper.”

Nina remained focused on mending his wound. “Or they were depending on him killing me and you being too distracted to retaliate.” She pursed her lips. “It’s odd, though; what changed three days ago?”

Frowning, Zeke’s mind cast back to the events of the last several days. Though most of them were a blur, he still had the presence of mind to remember what he’d been doing before all of this started.

He stiffened. “The wedding.”

“What changed at the wedding? Blair and Kaien have known each other for centuries. And there are plenty of Raeth-vampire mated couples; we’ve been socializing with the other immortals for several years now.”

Nina guided him into a chair and went to work on his wound. A twinge of pain lanced through his broken flesh while the bullet was carefully extracted. It pinged against a table beside them as Nina discarded it. Pressure was applied against his arm to plug the bleeding.

The feeling of her hands against his skin was heavenly. It’d been ages since he’d felt the reassuring touch of another. Though he would commonly trade the usual physical contact with his clan members and trained in combat with his lieutenants, an intimate caress or a loving embrace was far different. Especially when they came from the woman currently seeing to his wound.

As she bustled around, her hands flitted between his injured arm and the first-aid kit, never leaving him unattended without a reassuring touch.

Her tenderness broke him.

Zeke couldn’t keep his eyes from following her around the small space, the slightest of smiles twitching on his lips as he played the part of obedient patient. If he had known that an injury would’ve endeared him to her in this manner, he would’ve sacrificed himself far sooner.

Stifling a laugh, he sobered as she gently ran the backs on her fingers up his arm. Her casual intimacy with him, sweet and unrestrained, broke something inside of him.

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