Page 67 of Upon Shattered Bonds

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Few things conjured true fear in Zeke. The list was short, namely those closest to him dying or being injured. After looking eternity alone in the face, very little could summon such dread as to make him freeze in fear.

Seeing Nina on the wrong side of a merjha made every muscle in his body lock. His heart kicked against his ribs, adrenaline surging, before he mobilized in her defense a split second later.

The trickle of her fear across their mating bond had been his only inkling that she’d been in danger. When he pulled on the thread, he realized they’d come to claim her life once more.

He should’ve known. While Zeke had never experienced it for himself, Traka was the only other Raeth in existence that had a known Blunting ability. The taste of the other man’s power was oddly familiar, and his mind connected the dots.

This person, and most likely several others, had been on the periphery of his territory several times over the last week—in the void where he’d experienced the absence of sensation. It’d been present when the psychic attack had taken place, and that had been where they’d hidden following the initial attack.

All this had become crystal clear as his fury that built. As a direct result of Nina’s fear, the cascading effect was amplified in him, morphing into something darkly malicious.

Had he been merely another Raeth attempting to teleport to Nina’s side, it would’ve been impossible. But Zeke wasn’t any other Raeth. His Blunting ability was far more advanced than Traka’s, and his skill at unweaving the psychic effect—even when it wasn’t his to begin with—was legendary.

His mate’s life was at stake.

A split second was all it took for him to barrel bodily into Nina’s attacker, the predator beneath his skin in full homicidal rage. Vaguely, he was aware that she had made some type of defensive move in anticipation of the gunshot, but all his attention was focused on the worthless man at his mercy.

Crimson colored Zeke’s vision. Like an animal, he roared, taking out his aggression on the man who’d never seen the attack coming. With each pummel of his fists, the virulent strain of adrenaline and fear mixed to produce an untamable beast. The only thing that mattered was keeping his mate safe and killing his target.

Try as he might, Traka couldn’t gain any purchase against the viciousness of Zeke’s assault, and soon enough, the flailing beneath the blows stopped.

As the red haze of his wrath receded, he finally shuddered to a stop. He shoved away from the corpse, suddenly revolted by what he’d done in the heat of the moment. Shivers shook his frame and the bones of his clenched fists ached. Each knuckle was painted a sickly shade of scarlet, the noxious color splattered over his arms and clothing.

Blood stained both the physical body and his soul.

He’d well and truly lost all reason. Nina had been a witness to every single blow of his fists and bore testament to the instincts that’d been released in a fit of anger. He could only imagine what she thought of him now. Squeezing his eyes shut, he realized he wasn’t brave enough to lift his gaze to find out.

And then, her voice broke the silence. “Zeke?”

Tentative hands groped for his, uncaring for the blood that stained them. As he processed her tenderness toward him, the shivers only magnified, the belated fear of Nina’s death shaking him to his core.

The words, unbidden, spilled from his mouth. “The gun, Nina. He’d have shot you. You’d have died. Again.”

“I’m still here,” Nina cooed, her thumb drawing a soothing circle against his forearm. After everything, after facing death again, Nina was soothing him. “I’m still here.”

Uncaring that he was covered in blood, Zeke dragged her into his lap, holding her against his chest like precious jewels. He buried his face in her neck, whispering, “I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.”

Every syllable rasped from his throat like a dying promise, Zeke’s mind scattering like ashes in the wind. If she’d died, he couldn’t fathom what he would’ve done. What was certain was that he knew that if Nina died, he’d follow her to the grave.

Nina’s concern sunk into his soul through their wallowing mating bond. Every tendril of her spirit seemed to stroke against him, her overriding affection for him eating away at the crippling fear that nearly destroyed him.

His mind sharpened.

Now, exposed in the aftermath of her brush with death, she couldn’t hide behind falsehoods and lies. Raw emotion filtered from his woman, and it painted a startlingly clear picture.

Drawing back with a jolt to look her square in the eye, Zeke frowned. “Why did you lie to me?”

Nina was taken aback. Her mouth opened, but whether in denial or acknowledgment, he’d never know. Before she could speak, the terrace door opened, and Kaien and Blair sprinted out with similarly aghast looks.

“What happened!” Kaien’s horror at the situation painted his face, a similar expression on his vampire mate’s. “Is that your blood?”

“It’s not ours. They sent another one to kill me. Zeke intervened.”

Though Nina replied to her brother, her attention never left Zeke. Something had changed behind Nina’s eyes as she searched his, the pulse of their mating bond becoming a painful ache in his chest.

Kaien spoke again, but neither he nor Nina responded. The only thing that mattered in that moment was the woman who clung to him, the woman who was the flame on the opposite side of his mating bond.

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