Page 92 of Silent Lucidity

Tenthil shook his head, forcing away his lingering dizziness.

He held no illusions as to whether hedeserveda quiet, happy life, but he would not give up his chance at one. He would not lose a single thing more to the Master.

The Master stood between Tenthil and Abella. That made him another obstacle to be eliminated.Nothingwould keep Tenthil from his mate.

Tenthil grasped the hilt of the energy blade in both hands and reactivated it. He held the Master’s gaze; the blade’s glow gave the Master’s white skin a green sheen.

“If nothing else, I will always recall your tenacity with some fondness,” the Master said.

The chill presence in Tenthil’s mind slithered over his conscious thoughts. He growled and shoved it aside, charging at his enemy.

Tenthil attacked with speed and precision, seeking out any possible gaps in the Master’s defenses, anything of which he could take advantage. The flashing blade traced green arcs through the air.

But the Master was just a little faster, keeping one step ahead of Tenthil. He didn’t draw a weapon of his own—he simply sidestepped, swayed, and dodged, avoiding each of Tenthil’s attacks, occasionally throwing a punch or a kick that struck with enough force to throw Tenthil off-balance.

Each time he was knocked away, Tenthil threw himself back into the fight with increased ferocity, but he remained cognizant of their positioning—steering the battle as far from Abella as possible.

His eyes darted to her for an instant. She looked so small and frail here, so worn, sospent.

The Master caught Tenthil’s hands in all four of his own, wrapping his long fingers around Tenthil’s fists and squeezing. The energy blade’s hilt creaked and groaned beneath the viselike pressure.

“She is a distraction,” the Master said, leaning closer to Tenthil. The energy blade crackled between them, its reflection blazing in the Master’s eyes. “A distraction for an ungrateful beast.”

Something popped in Tenthil’s left hand as his weapon’s hilt buckled and collapsed. The pulsing blade flickered and went out.

Tenthil grunted against the pain and tensed his leg, meaning to kick the Master; before he could even move, the Master stomped on his foot and leaned his weight forward, pinning it painfully in place.

“I made you,” the Master said. “Iownyou. I am inside your head. There is nothing you can do that I will not foresee.”

Heat flared in Tenthil’s chest as he struggled against the Master’s hold. The cords on his neck stood out, his breath caught in his throat, and his arms trembled with the exertion. The Master swayed slightly as Tenthil poured more strength into his struggle. The energy blade’s grip crumbled further, and pieces of it dropped to the floor with metallicpings.

For Abella…for…

The Master grinned, revealing a mouthful of pointed teeth. “Once you are resting in the Void’s embrace, I will send her to join you. You may spend eternity searching the darkness for one another in vain. Two animals chasing each other’s tails through nothingness.”

Tenthil’s eyes flicked aside; he could see Abella’s head and shoulders just past the master’s black hair. She remained in the slumped position she’d been in when he entered.

She’d suffered so much already—because of the people who tore her away from her home against her will, because of Cullion and his cronies, because of Tenthil’s rash decisions. Because of the Master.

Tenthil knew the agony of the Master’s mental intrusions. He knew what it felt like to have his secrets ripped out of him like overripe fruit plucked from a tree, knew the pain of being totally vulnerable and utterly exposed to a hostile being.

The Master had caused her current suffering. The Master had threatened her life, and Tenthil knew the Master made no idle threats.

As Tenthil stared at his mate, the heat in his body intensified, creating an immense pressure more painful than any injury the Master had yet inflicted.

Abella washis. His to hold, his to protect, his to love. That was the truth in his mind, in his heart, in the deepest, most primal parts of his soul—his.

Rage, possessiveness, and love smashed together and erupted from his chest in a deep, powerful roar.

Tenthil released control, released his years of training, released conscious thought. Instinct swept in, dark and bestial. A red haze swept over his vision as his muscles swelled.

Protect.

Destroy.

The Master’s grin faltered.

Tenthil snapped his head forward, slamming his forehead into the Master’s nose. There was a wet crack, and the Master reeled backward, but he did not release his hold. Tenthil tugged him back into another headbutt.

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