Page 46 of Above Cursed Winds

Jeremiah ground his teeth. “We’ll have to inform everyone else, Nero.”

“And we will,” came his ready reply. “But only after we’ve thoroughly checked over the hard drive and discovered any possible leads or scheduled attacks. No sense in going into it half-cocked and unable to field questions.”

Beside Jeremiah, Zia’s head leaned against his thigh, a sure sign of her lethargy. Gently, his fingers threaded through her hair, delicately cupping his hand against her cheek.

That was when Key made her entrance. “Seems you got the message, Elemental.”

“What message?” Nero frowned.

Key smirked. “A kiss is always a kiss, except when it’s not. Worked out well, did it?”

“You knew?” A thread of anger incited inside him, old wounds reopened. “You knew this would happen to Zia and yet you did nothing to stop it?!”

“Of course I did, Elemental. That’s the reason I told you about the kiss.”

Jeremiah physically staggered backwards before Nero jumped in. “Clarify, Key. Now.”

At the note of warning in her sovereign’s voice, Key had good reason to pale. “Jeremiah found another way to remove silver from the host.” She chuckled. “His kiss works wonders, doesn’t it, my fine friend?”

Luna was the first to catch on. “Ah, I see.”

Jeremiah pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. The last thing he needed was to be the center of whatever Key seemed to be suggesting.

“Can I take Zia home now?”

Luna’s piercing gaze swung Jeremiah’s way. “Soon. But first, check your phone messages. Gideon and Rukia need you.”

Muttering curses, he plucked his phone from his pocket, glaring at the screen when it showed twelve missed calls from the pair of them and more than two dozen text messages.

Stepping away, he shut the door to Nero’s office behind him and walked into the dome. Gideon’s messages progressively went from irate to concerned, then back again, the yoyo-ing emotions leaving Jeremiah snarling.

Rukia’s single voicemail, however, was ruthless. “Jeremiah, sweet of you to send me to voicemail, you jerk. I hope you’re drowning yourself in the local surf and not a bottle. If I find out that you’ve touched one drop of alcohol, I swear to you that I’ll skin you and let the sharks feast on whatever remains of your ginger soul.” A dark chuckle. “Also, I love you. Allegedly. I hope you’re enjoying yourself, windbag.”

Smiling despite himself, he glanced at the rest of the text messages again, but chose not to respond. Their group text, created over ten years ago when cell phones were still a relatively new invention, had become more and more just Rukia and Gideon going back and forth on trivial matters.

As soon as Gideon had died, Jeremiah had archived the string of messages. Something had changed that day in him, and he still couldn’t figure it out. He needed the distance to clear his head, and Hawaii had been just the ticket.

Waltzing back into the sovereign’s office, Jeremiah leaned against the doorframe and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops.

“Can we go now?”

Sighing, Luna gave Zia the once over before commanding the room. “Sleep. Take it easy. Have Myko take care of you tonight. Maybe even the tall redhead.”

A soft smile touched Zia’s lips before she whispered, “I’m ready to go, Jeremiah.”

He needed no further prompting. He carefully swung her into his arms and cradled her into his chest, satisfied with her startled gasp.

“No complaints. No excuses.” He eyed Nero. “Ciao.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Magic , Zia thought. Jeremiah’s fingers were magic.

Eyes closed as she enjoyed the sensual massage against her scalp, she relaxed backward into his chest. After arriving home, he’d whisked her up the bathroom to wash her hair and rinse the silver from her skin—after she’d changed into a silk bathrobe.

She sat, nearly asleep, as those magic fingers worked her hair into a lather, and he gently massaged her roots. Calling him a miracle worker would’ve been nothing short of the truth; Zia had never experienced anything quite so wondrous. The Elemental’s quiet ministrations were akin to a lullaby.

At some point, she must have nodded off, because she woke up snuggled against his chest. Silver poisoning had exhausted her, and even though he’d managed to withdraw a large portion from her lungs, some had still made it into her bloodstream. It’d struck her down.

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