Page 86 of Above Cursed Winds

Roaring in overt aggression, Jeremiah lunged for the other man. Before he’d even made contact, Sehrin merely lifted an eyebrow and said, “Stop.”

The power lacing the word was enough to stop the Elemental in his tracks. Hands fisted and heckles raised, his body froze mid-attack against his will. Every ounce of his autonomy had dissolved, leaving him putty in Sehrin’s hands.

“Well, what a handy trick.” Maniacal laughter glinted in Sehrin’s eyes. “While I’d love to stay and play, I’ve a woman to coerce.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Who had coerced Rona?

The question, on repeat in Zia’s mind, continued playing in the background as she focused on Myko and the other women and children. Nolan had confirmed that the Citizens Raeth hadn’t had the ability, so the answer they’d settled upon had been fundamentally incorrect.

And that meant that the Raeth who’d targeted Jeremiah was still unknown.

Over the last few minutes, an increasing sense of dread had slowly seeped through her, spreading like a stain over her skin, inky and dark. Zia’s attention, having been focused on her son, finally sharpened at the blatant tug through the ghosting mating bond.

Keen, penetrating fear bloomed within her. Jeremiah was in trouble.

Frowning, she looked around wildly, searching for the red-haired Elemental until she remembered he’d gone to the lighthouse. Muttering an apology, she quickly made haste toward the beacon, intent of investigating her would-be mate’s fear.

Darting around downed tree limbs and piles of glass and debris, she’d sprinted up the steps only a minute later.

What she saw at the top stole her breath.

Sehrin and her mate stood, only a yard apart, the Raeth grasping Jeremiah’s shoulder in what appeared to be a companionable embrace. When Sehrin glanced over, the Elemental’s gaze didn’t follow.

“I told him, Zia.” A soft spoken, demure whisper from Sehrin. “I told him why you’ll never have him.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. Scrutinizing Jeremiah’s profile, she saw only a blankness that hinted more of defeat than fear.

“Jeremiah?”

Barely registering to her weakened system, telltale electricity trickled between the two men, indicating their psychic conversation. Then, as though he hadn’t heard her, Jeremiah pivoted and walked toward where the wind whistled through a broken pane of glass.

“What are you doing? Jeremiah!”

A brief stab of psychic pain punched outward from the Elemental, but he said nothing. Zia, holding out her hands in front of her as though she were approaching a rabid dog, inched closer.

“He’s ending his life, Zia. I’ve tried to talk him out of it, but he can’t take the pain of the broken mating bond, and he’s chosen to fall. Isn’t that right, Jeremiah?”

Every ounce of blood drained from her head when the Elemental merely responded, “Yes.”

One step, then another, and another. As Jeremiah neared the edge, her slow inching toward him became frantic, her heart beating behind her breastbone with the ferocity of a raging supernova.

“Jeremiah, please, don’t choose this route. Please—I—this isn’t what you want. This isn’t what I want.” Tearfully, she shook her head. “I love you, Jeremiah. If you fall, I fall with you.”

Calling upon her wings, she unfolded them gracefully from her back, the brilliant white sparkling like diamonds, the deep indigo feathers near the bottom flaring out in preparation for flight. If Jeremiah fell—if he jumped—she would catch him.

Movement behind her briefly caught her attention. Sehrin scoffed in response to her words, and before she’d even understood his purpose, his hands fisted around the elegant arch of her left wing and snapped.

Instant, agonizing pain vibrated along her wing, the nerve endings on fire. Collapsing under the monumental misery, her knees bit into the cement, a cry loosening from her throat. The deformed wing dangled uselessly by her arm, hanging at an unnatural angle.

“You’ll thank me one day, Zia.”

Barely managing to withhold her screams, she inched toward her mate on her knees, blinking back tears. “Jeremiah—Jeremiah please! Please don’t do this!”

But the Elemental hadn’t even turned around. He hadn’t even blinked when her wing had audibly snapped. The truth rose up to snatch her breath: he hated her. She had ruined him with her crass words and her refusal to bond.

She had compelled him to jump to his death by attempting to prevent it.

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