Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
Idrink in the shock on Zev’s face like zinfadelan.
It had been a risky move—purposefully slitting my own wrist, then pretending I couldn’t heal myself. My reserves were low, but even the weakest healer could’ve still sealed a flesh wound, deep as it were. It was a foolish, reckless gamble, betting that he wouldn’t let me bleed out in his arms.
But one that paid off.
His borrowed power surges through my veins. I’ve never felt such strength, such awareness. My body senses every drop of water in the vicinity—every tiny molecule. In the ground, coating the leaves, in the air.
The wave that hits him isn’t planned—it’s instinct.
With a twist of my hand, I send another one crashing into his chest. He flies backward, head knocking against the ground. I don’t stop. My arms glide through the air. The water responds. Zev struggles to his feet, but another massive wave waits for him. They crash into him again and again.
The sky tears open, and it begins to rain.
I freeze.
Waiting. Listening.
Except there’s no thunder. No lightning.
He must be too weak—how much of his power did he give me? I study him, chest rising and falling in ragged bursts, sweat beading on his brow. He looks half-drained, like he poured everything into me without hesitation.
My heart lurches. Why would he do that? I betrayed him. I revealed myself as his enemy. Why would—
I don’t have time to dwell on it. A slow, molten heat is already unfurling in my belly, hot and insistent. My skin tingles. My breath saws through my lungs. Tides damn me—I don’t have much time before the aphrodisiac effects overwhelm me.
I hadn’t thought my plan through. Not all the way. Not to this part.
I need to move. Now. Before this burning want drowns out everything else.
I close my fist. Raindrops merge into a sloshing ball. It floats over to where Zev has risen again, submerging his head. With my other hand, I guide thick streams of water over his legs, then freeze them up to his hips. Another wave. Another layer of ice, frozen solid.
Bubbles escape from his mouth, rising to the surface of the watery orb.
I’d expected him to claw at his face, to try to escape. But even through the fog of the water, his gaze is fixed on me.
But his eyes aren’t blazing with hatred.
His fingers slow. He doesn’t move.
A shrill ringing blares in my ears.
Tides, why do his eyes look so damned soft? He looks resigned. Almost … peaceful.
Bile rises in my throat.
Something sharp clamps my heart in a vise.
His eyes begin to bulge.
By the Tides, he’s not even trying to fight for his life.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
The water drops with a splash.
Zev sputters, coughing violently, water spilling from his lips as he sucks in deep lungfuls of air.
I should kill him. End this.
But I can’t.
My hands fall uselessly to my sides.
I just stand there, staring at him, each shallow breath punishing my lungs.
He blinks in confusion, as if he can’t believe the water is gone. And then his steel-gray eyes finally blaze with the cold, unyielding fury I’d been waiting for.
“Run, Mayah,” he snarls, voice ragged. “Run.”