Page 78 of Above Cursed Winds

“Have you rejected him?”

“I haven’t severed the bond, but I informed Jeremiah this would be the end of anything between us.”

When Gideon didn’t respond, she cautiously studied his features. Shadowed eyes betrayed his disappointment in her.

“I’ll teleport us,” Nero spoke softly in the tense atmosphere.

Moments later, Jeremiah was in her bed. Gently, she gathered a light quilt from a box by the wall, spreading it over him. The Elemental was panting, sweat beading along his brow, and she could sense his erratic heartbeat even without touching him.

“How can I help him, Gideon?”

“After such a colossal use of energy, he’ll be dormant for some time, perhaps a week or longer. If I was to compare it to something Raeths go through, I'd say it’s similar to a recoil. He’ll be unable to use his gifts, or even feel the wind. For all intents and purposes, defenseless.”

Zia’s heart kicked. Without notifying his monarch of her intentions, she reached out toward where Jeremiah lay. Small cuts—abrasions from where droplets of water had sliced through his skin—marred his otherwise perfect body.

As soon as her hands were on him, his heartbeat calmed, and their immature bond thrummed inside her soul. His weariness was apparent both in his physical form and his fleeting consciousness, and he’d undoubtedly be under for a long time before he woke.

Nero muttered an apology before teleporting away, leaving Zia alone with the Elemental monarch and his wife. A yearning scrubbed abrasively at her psyche, and she turned to Gideon.

“Ask me, Gideon.”

Something darkened in his features before he inclined his chin. “You rejected him.”

“I did.”

Gideon’s lip curled though he tried hard to control the impulse. “What did you say to him? He was broken when I found him, just before Nero called for his assistance.”

Wilting at the news, Zia closed her eyes, keeping her hands on Jeremiah’s chilled skin. “I needed him to leave. I was—I wasn’t kind.”

“Why?”

“His life is at stake if he stays with me.” The unabridged truth couldn’t come out, but they could connect the dots. “If we finalize our mating bond, he’ll die.”

“How can you know that?”

She swallowed, her throat thick. “Key. She foresaw it centuries ago.”

Gideon and Rona exchanged a look. “If what you say is true, I won’t let him risk his life—knowingly or not—not even for matehood. Today was proof he’s already walking the line. Jeremiah never would’ve risked himself like that had he been in his right mind, no matter how much the rest of us pressured and asked for the impossible.”

A tentative knock on the door startled all of them. “Mom?”

“Hey, Boo.”

Shy, Myko slowly crept up to where she was still seated on the bed. “Is—is Jeremiah gonna be okay?”

“He’ll be okay, baby, he just needs to rest.” Retracting her hand from where it’d warmed his skin, Zia pressed a kiss into Myko’s forehead.

“Is he gonna stay with us, mom?”

Zia froze, reeling from the innocent question. And when those dark indigo eyes blinked endearingly up at her, tears misted her gaze for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

She tugged Myko into her side. “Jeremiah can’t stay with us, baby. He’s got his whole life in Paracel where he lives. He’s—he’s happy there.”

It was a lie. When Zia caught Gideon’s eye, he knew it as well as she did, and Rona’s downcast features said the same.

Myko sniffled, his head resting comfortably under Zia’s chin. “But he’s my best friend, mom. And I think he’s yours, too.”

Zia could only comb through Myko’s ebony locks and murmur soothing things to her son while her mind tied itself in knots. What he had said was perfectly true. The connection forged between them went beyond matehood and romance.

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