Page 85 of Above Cursed Winds

Jeremiah bristled at the revelation. While he’d certainly established a connection to Zia, the link between them hadn’t announced itself as a mating bond. In light of Sehrin’s words, however, it couldn’t be more obvious. The connection to Zia was as clear as day.

Jeremiah instinctively grasped at it, the pulsing bond between them entirely unique and blissfully serene. For all immortals, a mating bond was sacred, something to be cherished, encouraged, and celebrated.

If that was true, then why had Zia cast him aside? And why had Sehrin alluded to the inevitable failure of their union?

The Raeth offered him a casual shrug, leaning out through the broken glass to get a gander at the rocks below. “Of course, you know about Zia’s curse. Why she won’t ever mate with you?”

Deep within, alarm bells sounded, but Jeremiah was too preoccupied with Sehrin’s bait and snare that the Elemental didn’t heed them.

“What are you talking about?”

“Zia’s mate is fated to die. Years ago, when she was only a handful of centuries old, Kiyonne disclosed her future: you will find love in your mate, and watch him fall while you lay broken.”

Jeremiah balked. “But if Zia’s mate is fated to die, then that means …”

“Yep,” Sehrin chuckled, almost gleeful. “Poor Jeremiah is on the chopping block. Perhaps that’s why she wanted you gone, Elemental. To save you from your inevitable doom.”

True horror fisted around his throat, and Jeremiah choked. Zia’s attempts to get him to leave could truly have been self-sacrificial. She may have been forcing him away for his own good. There was a chance, however small, that she hadn’t been guarding herself against Jeremiah’s weaknesses. That she hadn’t really believed everything she’d said to him just days ago.

“Regardless,” Sehrin’s voice sounded nearer, making Jeremiah’s attention snap back to the situation at hand, “you won’t ever get the opportunity to mate with her. Zia’s mine.”

The wayward claim served to prod Jeremiah out of his spiraling thoughts.

“She’ll never be yours.” Growling, Jeremiah stood, all six and a half feet of his towering frame coiling in readiness. “Zia deserves far better than the likes of you.”

Sehrin’s sneer rapidly shifted to a predatory chuckle. Putting his hands in his pockets, the Raeth tilted his head and sent Jeremiah a penetrating look.

“It’s odd, isn’t it?”

Jeremiah almost didn’t want to ask. “What?”

“That your vampire friend attacked you.” Playing the innocent card with dedication, Sehrin pouted, the look ill-fitting on his features. “Why would she do such a thing?”

An ominous sense of foreboding sat itself heavily upon Jeremiah’s shoulders. “We aren’t sure.”

“Luna said it was coercion, was it not?”

“Yes.”

Jeremiah’s hands shook the slightest amount, adrenaline already pumping through his blood as his fight or flight reflex began to kick in.

A rumble emitted from the other man’s throat. “You know, coercion is a rare gift, they say. Only a handful of Raeths born of destruction have it, and there are already so few of us to begin with.”

Taking a deep breath, Jeremiah eyed the stairs before refocusing on Sehrin. “Would you happen to know anything about that?”

“I might.” Sehrin’s hands stayed in his pockets while he lifted his shoulders in an ominous shrug. “It seems your people—the Elementals—are immune to both Raeth coercion and a vampire’s gift of suggestion when you’re not dormant.”

And then Sehrin asked the question that had him sweating: “But you are dormant right now, aren’t you, Jeremy?”

Jeremiah didn’t answer.

Instinctively, he knew where this conversation would end up. He knew what Sehrin’s end game was. Jeremiah couldn’t outrun the other man, and he couldn’t hide. If Sehrin truly had the ability to coerce, he was as good as dead.

“People drown in Hawaii every day, you know,” Sehrin continued. “Accidentally walk off cliffs. Sometimes you never find their bodies. And now that Zia has rejected you, well, we could say you’ve chosen death over a broken heart. After all, you nearly went through with it only yesterday. Failures like you always have to try a few times before it sticks, though, don’t you? How worthlessly romantic of you.”

“Do you truly think Zia would come to you after knowing what you’ve done?” To me, Jeremiah’s mind added. “She’ll never take you back.”

“Oh, I think she will.” Sehrin grunted a laugh. “Coercion does marvelous things, you see.”

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