Page 57 of Devoted

I tried to thank Micah, but the words wouldn’t come out. He seemed to understand, coming to stand beside me and putting his arm around my shoulders. He had to duck around my wings, but he made it work. “It’s okay. Nate will find him.”

I nodded. It was all I could manage. My mind was fuck knew how many miles away. With Sam.

Was he okay? Was he hidden? Had he called the police? Who was in his house? Why? What did they want?

The ironic thing was that I’d been phoning Sam to try and cut things off. After seeing my mate and realising he wasn’t Sam, I’d known what I had to do. Not about my mate—right now I couldn’t even begin to think about him. The only thing I’d known for sure was that I couldn’t continue leading Sam on. It wasn’t right.

But then I’d heard the fear in his voice.

Nothing else mattered after that.

“Got it,” Nate said triumphantly, rattling off an address in Enfield.

I didn’t waste time going to one of the external doors. I barely had enough patience to open the window as opposed to just smashing through it.

In less than a second, I was in the sky, the wind pushing my wings faster. Behind me, I knew the Seraphim were following. Nox too, I suspected.

Part of me—the tiny part that was able to think about anything other than Sam—was so fucking grateful to be a part of this unit. They hadn’t stopped to ask questions. They didn’t know what they were about to face.

But they hadn’t hesitated.

All they knew was that something was wrong. That I was panicking about someone. It was enough to have them tailing me through the night, ready to do whatever was needed to help.

In under a minute, we were landing on a road of terraced houses. I didn’t need Nate to tell me which one was Sam’s. My instincts were guiding me. Pulling me towards him.

Go. Faster. Now.

All around me, compulsion nets filled the air, hiding us from view. I let my power free, unfurling it through the house. There were five humans downstairs, one upstairs.

Sam.

“Micah, five on the ground floor.”

“Got it,” Micah replied, coming up beside me. His power joined mine, compelling the five humans to freeze. “I’ll hold them, go get Sam.”

I could’ve burst into the house and killed them all instantly, but the last thing I wanted to do was scare Sam. God only knew how much fear he was already experiencing.

I’d get him to safety first, then I could focus on the ones who’d broken into his home. Who’d threatened the sanctity of his peace. Who’d besmirched his safe place.

The fuckers would pay. Make no mistake about that.

The front door fell open under a blast of my power. I tried to slow my steps, not wanting Sam to be frightened further, but I couldn’t. My very soul was dragging me up those stairs.

I flew into the bedroom, zeroing in on the wardrobe in the corner.

There was a muffled sob. It was so quiet. Almost silent.

But it roared through me like an explosion.

“Sam,” I croaked, running across the room. “Sam, it’s me.”

I yanked the doors open. Sam was curled up in the base of the wardrobe, both hands over his head. I couldn’t see his face as he shrank back against the back wall. “Please. Don’t hurt me.”

I fell to my knees, my heart cracking. “Sam, it’s me. It’s Zeke. No one’s going to hurt you, baby. I won’t let them.”

“Zeke?” He sniffed, his chin wobbling as he finally lifted it. “How the fuck did you find me?”

I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t speak. I could only stare.

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