Page 72 of Above Cursed Winds

After Key’s departure, she hadn’t managed to leave the kitchen, opting instead for solitude while she struggled with what she needed to do. Myko had taken refuge on the couch downstairs, tucked up with blankets and pillows and enough dinosaur action figures to guard against the impending hurricane.

Her thoughts were focused on Jeremiah: on the way her internal compass pointed unfailingly toward him and her soul cried out for his. The fact she knew he’d perish if he stayed.

Key had given no exception to the curse she’d prophesized eleven centuries ago. The unerring truth had forever altered Zia’s life. She had only one choice: sever her ties with Jeremiah.

“I’m in here.”

Utterly calm, her voice didn’t carry far, but the Elemental heard it. Concern drew his eyebrows together as he entered the room, those beautiful summer blues catching hers.

“What’s the matter, Z? It feels as though you’ve given up, somehow. And I don’t even know what you’re renouncing.”

Heartbreaking melancholy stole through her. The only way he could’ve sensed it was through the budding mating bond that’d connected them. A beautiful connection, fated throughout the ages of time, that could never be allowed to strengthen.

“Jeremiah, can we talk?”

A devastatingly handsome smile lined his lips, mischief sparkling in his gaze. “‘Can we talk’ is by far the most dreaded of phrases, Lady Z.” A masculine chuckle rumbled from his chest before he added, “What are you doing, breaking up with me?”

When her silence spoke for her, the smile slowly dissolved, leaving the Elemental solemn faced.

Jeremiah asked, “Zia, why do I get the impression that you’re going to cut things off between us before we’ve even begun?”

A metaphorical knife sliced through her chest, and her heart dropped to her feet. “Because we can’t be together, even in the casual way we’ve been until now. I want you to leave as soon as you’re able to.”

For one fleeting moment, Jeremiah only stared.

The building turmoil that blistered across their bond wasn’t her own, nor was the taste of his debilitating vulnerability. Hurt dashed over his features, and when he spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper.

“What did I do?”

“It’s—it’s not you, Jeremiah.” And truly, it wasn’t. “I just can’t do this. There’s too much at stake. My son, he’s everything to me. I can’t put him on the backburner to chase some fling.”

A burning thread of anger smoldered in his face. “I’d never ask you to do that, Zia. When have I ever placed my own needs above yours? Above Myko’s?”

“You haven’t, but it’s only a matter of time.” Zia couldn’t stand to look at him any longer, and her gaze fell to the floor. “All men are the same. You and Sehrin—neither of you would make a good father for Myko.”

“Don’t you dare throw my lot in with his,” he growled.

“At least he’s never pretended to be anything but what he is.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Advancing on her, Jeremiah came to stand in front of where she’d perched on the stool. Arms crossed, she stared him down, intent on ending this conversation as soon as possible.

“You allow yourself to be beaten to a pulp because you can’t deal with your own regret, Jeremiah.” The words that tumbled from her lips weren’t lies, but the venomous honesty tasted bitter on her tongue. “Regret that’s been building since that night Gideon was nearly assassinated. The night you tried to save him and couldn’t.”

Deep hurt stabbed at her through their bond. Jeremiah fronted well, but the apathetic mask he’d donned had already begun crumbling.

Zia continued speaking because she had no other choice. “Gideon died because you failed to save him, because your element refused to comply with your deadly wishes. And praise be, Jeremiah. Everyone downstream could’ve perished had you succeeded.”

Tears burned in her eyes as she persisted, needing to drive home her point. “Why would I want my son around someone who thinks one life is worth more than hundreds? Why would I want to love anyone who thought himself capable of such a monstrous sacrifice?”

“But I could have saved all of them.” Desolate sorrow thick in his words, Jeremiah’s eyes shadowed with guilt so deep it threatened to drown him. “I could have saved Gideon and the people; my element—”

“Realized its mistake with you.”

As soon as the poison passed her lips, Zia paled. She’d wanted to drive the nail into the coffin, to ensure he didn’t return here, but as soon as the words had escaped, she’d recognized she’d gone too far.

A thousand emotions played havoc with his mind, his handsome face mirroring the myriad of thoughts battling within. Bleakness drowned him, from the same source that had once been a renewal of hope. The serenity he’d found with her shattered.

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