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He rested his forehead against hers, his voice barely audible. “Neither have I.”

“We did this. Together,” she stated fiercely. “Not the doctor. Not the bracelet. But the two of us.”

“We will find a way out of this.”

“Together,” she repeated.

He gave a firm nod. “Affirmative.”

They stayed joined for a long time, wrapped in the warmth of each other’s arms, the bond between them filled with contentment and unspoken promises. Whatever lay ahead, they would face it together. For now, in this moment, they were whole.

Chapter 6

ELARA STIRRED, reaching out to the empty space beside her, only to find Zar’Ryn already gone. She blinked awake, the lingering warmth of their shared intimacy fading as she sat up. Her gaze fell on his discarded shirt nearby, and she pulled it on, the fabric loose but comforting around her frame.

When she finally spotted him, Zar’Ryn was standing at the edge of a pulsating energy field, his sharp eyes narrowing as he studied the swirling arcs of light. Each ripple of the field sent a faint tremor through the floor, alow vibration resonating in the air. He raised a hand, the glow from his bracelet casting a faint sheen over his bronze skin. “This is not ordinary containment,” he muttered, his tone edged with suspicion. “It is reactive… adapting.”

Elara, still catching her breath from the intimacy they’d recently shared, pushed herself upright on shaky arms. She turned her gaze to the field, her brow furrowing. There was something about the way it shimmered, the patterns in its oscillation that seemed… alive.

“Zar’Ryn,” she said softly, her voice tinged with unease. “Look there.” She pointed to a faint distortion in the energy, asubtle flicker that seemed out of place. “It’s not just adapting. It’s reacting to us. To the bracelets.”

The energy field crackled and hissed around Elara, each spark dancing too close for comfort. Her breath came in shallow gasps as the oppressive heat bore down on her, and every inch of her body ached from the strain of holding herself upright. Through the bond, she could feel his pain—sharp and unrelenting, like molten steel being poured over his skin. It made her chest tighten and her visionblur.

“We can’t stay here,” she rasped, her voice barely audible over the field’s oscillation. Panic surged through her like a rising tide, threatening to drown her. She clutched at the bracelet on her wrist, the metal burning against her skin as if alive. “We have to do something, Zar’Ryn. We have to—”

“Elara.” His voice cut through her spiral of fear, steady and commanding. He stood tall despite the field’s punishing force, though his face was taut with effort. “You need to calm yourself. Focus.”

“Focus?” she echoed, abitter laugh slipping out before she could stop it. “On what? This thing is going to kill us!”

His piercing amethyst gaze locked onto hers, intense and unwavering. “No. Not if we work together.”

Her mind reeled, the bond thrumming with his determination. She could feel it—asteady pulse beneath her panic, an anchor in the storm. But what did he mean? Work together how? She tightened her grip on the bracelet, its glow intensifying. “What do you—?”

“Take my hand,” he said, extending his arm toward her. “Trust me.”

Elara stared at him, her pulse hammering in her ears. Trust? It wasn’t a word she used lightly, and yet something in his voice, in the way he looked at her, made her hesitate. The bond pulsed between them, warm and insistent. Gritting her teeth, she reached out, her fingers trembling as they closed aroundhis.

The moment their hands touched, the bond flared to life. Asurge of energy coursed through her, sharp and electric, leaving her breathless. The bracelets began to glow brighter, their light pulsing in time with the pounding rhythm of her heart. Elara gasped as images and emotions flooded her mind—Zar’Ryn’s ironclad resolve, his pain, his protectiveness, and beneath it all, araw, unspoken need for her that stole her breath.

“Focus,” he urged, his voice a low rumble that resonated through her very being. “Push everything else aside.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers tightening around his. The bond grew stronger, their thoughts intertwining until she could no longer tell where hers ended and his began. Together, they channeled the energy, the glow of the bracelets building until it became a blinding light.

The energy field rippled, its drone rising to a deafening crescendo before it shattered outward in a burst of heat and light. Elara was thrown to the ground, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. She lay there for a moment, dazed, as the world slowly came back into focus.

“Elara.” Zar’Ryn’s voice reached her through the haze. She blinked, her gaze finding him as he staggered toward her. His arm was burned, the bronze skin blistered and raw, but he moved with purpose, kneeling beside her. “Are you hurt?”

“I…” She struggled to sit up, her head spinning. “I think I’m okay. What about you?” Her eyes flicked to his injury, guilt twisting in her chest. “Your arm…”

“It is nothing.” He dismissed her concern with a shake of his head, though his jaw clenched against the pain. “We need to move. Now.”

Elara nodded, forcing herself to her feet. The bond still teemed between them, areminder of their shared power and the cost it exacted.

After retrieving his sword and a communication device from a nearby counter, Zar’Ryn jerked his head toward the door. “We go.”

She followed him down the corridor, her legs shaky but determined. She struggled to control the waves of pain communicated through the bracelet, aware her warrior fought to protect her fromit.

The dimly lit hallway seemed to stretch endlessly, the sound of distant alarms echoing off the metallic walls. Zar’Ryn led the way, his movements precise despite his injury. Elara tried to keep up, but her thoughts were scattered, her body still reeling from the surge of power they had unleashed. Okay, and maybe a little from the sex. That delicious, passionate, powerfulsex.

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