Chapter 14 Zeth
ZETH
We need to talk.
Those four syllables hit me like a hammer to my chest. I froze mid-stride, boots stuck in the gravel parking lot as she climbed back onto her bike. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it was going to bust out of my chest.
She wanted to talk? My mind spun. Had Calix uncovered something? Was she worried about the substance? Or was this about whatever had been bugging her when she left?
Yeah. No. Of course, it was Syndicate shit. It had to be. Then why did my gut sink at those words?
I opened my mouth to ask why we couldn’t hash it out right here, but then I caught her reflection in her bike's side mirror. Her shoulders sagged beneath the leather jacket, her cheeks hollowed. She wasn’t really looking at me, just staring past my shoulder, jaw tight, fingers drumming along her thigh, and alarm bells clanged through my skull.
*She’d never looked at me like that before. Not when we were training together as kids, not when I came back and demanded my role by her side, not over the past five years that I’d been back in my rightful place. Never.
The pull to use my magic came hot and fast. If I could just read her emotions, get a taste of what she was concerned about, I could figure it out on the way to her house and have a solution to her problem, but that damn voice in the back of my head spoke up.
Don't do it. You know she doesn't like it when you do that to her.
My mind flashed to earlier when I wanted to use my power. When she was fighting that turned wolf and jealousy rose up in my chest when their eyes met. If it wasn't for Lucy distracting me with all of her annoying, stupid questions, I might’ve tried to leap into the ring myself.
No. I needed to take a more direct approach.
Swallowing hard, I pressed my palm to my chest where the pulse pounded like a war drum.
If only I could spin her around, look into her eyes, and coax it out of her.
I’d find out whatever had fractured the light in those beautiful, sunset soul catchers so I could apologize and fix it.
I was here to solve her problems. My whole reason to be here and stay by her side.
Stepping forward, I reached for her elbow. The instant my fingertips hovered near her shoulder, her whole upper body flinched away. My arm froze in midair. Did she not want me to touch her? My arm fell limp at my side, my breath caught in my throat painfully.
What had I done to make her this upset? Why was she acting like this? Why wouldn’t she look at me?!
My chest trembled. I didn’t understand. I’d done everything I could.
I kept quiet as I watched her fight with that turned wolf, kept my fury buttoned shut, even while my blood screamed to explode.
When she left, I called Rack and begged for the coordinates, then raced over here as fast as I could and banged around until she could hear me. Why was she pushing me away?
I ached for a cigarette right now. Anything to burn away this electric tension buzzing under my skin. Something was wrong, catastrophically wrong, and I couldn’t unfeel it.
Without glancing back, she kicked the stand up and turned the key. Her bike roared to life, the engine’s growl rattling my skull.
“I’ll meet you at my house,” she called, her flat voice devoid of her normal, easy tone. Then she tore off down the sunbaked street, whipping up a cloud of dust that stung my throat. In a second, she was gone, a distant silhouette swallowed by the haze of dust.
A volcano of panic erupted deep inside my chest as I stood there, watching her leave me like a doomsday omen. My pulse drummed in my temples painfully. The world felt taut, my soul on the brink of exploding.
“You know what? You’re a fucking idiot.”
Calix’s mocking voice sliced through the haze like a blade. I spun to find him leaning against my car, arms crossed, with an infuriating half-smirk curling along his lips as if he’d been waiting the whole time.
A sharp ache split through my jaw. If I’d been human, my teeth would have splintered. He’s a boss. Her brother. Don’t let him get to you. Ignore him. Get to the car. Focus on Nova.
I tried, gods, I fucking tried, to pivot away and leave him standing there like the self-satisfied bastard he was. I should’ve known better. He was a Desmond after all.
“That’s why I don’t like you.” His voice followed me, lazy, cruel, his words tumbling out and picking up shards of my anger.
“Pure idiotism. We don’t need that kind of trait in the family gene pool.
So, keep this up.” He flicked his chin at the empty street where Nova had vanished. “You’re doing me a favor.”
Heat crawled under my skin. My muscles coiled tight as bowstrings. Beneath the surface, my demon magic hummed, a low, hungry vibration that wanted out. Wanted to hurt.
Only two people knew the truth, that I was powerful enough not just to read emotions but to manipulate them. My fingers twitched with the urge to make Calix cower, ripping that smug grin from his face and stripping away the oppressive superiority he draped over me like a noose.
It would feel so good.
But I shoved it down. Hard. Remember the consequences.
One small moment of letting go, of letting myself feel, and my manipulation magic slipped out. I was devastated when her eyes changed and she said the words I’d always wanted to hear. All under the influence of my magic.
I didn't sleep that night. The only thing rolling around my head after all was said and done was that I needed to learn how to control it. I needed to be useful to her… so I called Manic.
A full year away from her was painful, but mastering restraint and control was more important. My mess up, my desperation for her to love me, cost me time apart from her. Every day felt hollow and vacant.
I was so excited after I mastered my power, knowing that I could now return to where I belonged.
She was a little mad at me, but nothing could ruin us, right?
No amount of her anger could keep us from being where we belonged.
I could work on softening her anger, proving that she should never regret picking me.
My spine went rigid, every breath shallow enough to cut.
My throat burned with unshed fury as I forced a stiff nod and turned on tight hinges, palms sliced from how hard I’d clenched them.
Every step toward the car rattled with the promise that something inside me was about to snap, and I wasn’t sure if it would be him or me who broke first.
Starting a fight with Nova’s brother, Syndicate boss or not, was a bad idea on its own. Doing it after he’d just helped her? Even worse. Breathe. Don’t fight him. Not worth it.
The crunch of gravel behind me made the hairs on my arm stick up, ready.
“I know what you want, Zeth Carter.” Calix’s voice dropped lower, closer, like a devil whispering in my ear. “I can see it even if she doesn’t, and I’m telling you here and now—you’re not worthy.”
The words sunk into my skin, searing me from the inside out. I know that, I wanted to tell him. Why do you think I haven’t pushed harder? Why do you think I keep my distance? Why do you think I've been holding back?
Heading for my car, I knew he'd never understand how much it cost me to keep myself in check when every nerve melted only for her. How many times I’d swallowed the urge to kneel, to beg for another chance.
I’d never let my power ruin it again. I'd wait for years, decades, centuries for her to feel the same way for me if she would let me.
If she would only open her heart just a crack.
“And she knows it, too.”
My hand froze on the door handle, heart clenching so hard I heard it crack.
A rush of air brushed my neck, then his voice was suddenly right there, hot and poisonous. “I’ve even heard she’s hanging out with a turned vampire. I mean, I don’t want her to stoop that low, but anything’s better than you, right?”
The last thread of sanity snapped. Rage and pain surged molten in my veins, and I couldn't keep it contained anymore.
My power burst out, hungry, fast, and overwhelming.
A smoky web crawled along the ground like a dangerous fog, meant to cripple him, to drag him down into the feeling of agony and make him beg. I wanted to see him break.
When I stepped forward and the haze cleared, a blur of motion landed right in front of me. Calix was standing there, arms crossed, smirk intact.
“You think us bosses don’t know everything about our seconds?
” His gaze dragged over me with disdain.
“Whenever we announced our seconds, we had to give reasons, and everyone had to agree. I was outvoted on you. But all of that is to say—” he spread his arms in a mocking invitation—“I know about your little emotional manipulation trick, and now I know I can outrun it.”
He turned his head, looking off into the distance. “Looks like you’ve got about a fifty-yard radius. You’re welcome for the test.”
I didn’t think. Didn’t feel. Just moved. My fist cracked against his face, the crunch of bone loud as a gunshot. His grin shattered, his head snapping sideways.
For a moment, everything stilled. Calix’s head slowly turned back toward me, eyes lit up in untapped rage. Those rosy eyes turned sharp, a predator considering prey.
His fingers brushed the spot I’d hit. Whatever I’d broken was already healing, but my body still vibrated, craving another hit, another rush of violence after years of swallowing it down.
“That was a good shot.” His voice was eerily calm, still water hiding a riptide. He rubbed his face and twisted his neck to peer at me with a cruel smile that promised retribution.
My stomach dropped as I gulped. I just punched Boss Winstale in the face. Fuck!
Calix grinned wider, blood on his teeth glinting as his vampire fangs caught the fading sunlight. “You won’t get another, Carter.”
Pain detonated in my stomach before the words even finished. My body went airborne, back slamming into a tree with a sharp crack, my ass slamming into the ground as splinters rained down all around me.
Fire erupted in my chest, sudden and merciless. My teeth ground together as the pressure gave way—hard, splintering pops that crushed the breath out of me.
I folded inward, lungs stuttering, each inhale carving me open from the inside. Deep beneath the pain, broken pieces shifted and scraped, clawing toward one another, knitting back together far too slowly, every second a fresh kind of torture.
“Now that we’ve gotten our frustrations out of the way…” He crouched in front of me, lazy smirk back in place. “I’ll give you some advice. Do your job. Leave my sister alone. She has no room in her heart for a man like you. Stay in your lane.”
He got up, giving me a pitiful look before turning away from me.
Something inside me went cold and absolute. The fury didn’t burn anymore; it locked into place. Dense and unyielding, the hard, cutting stillness edged every thought.
I knew I wasn’t good enough for her. I knew I messed up, but I’m hers whether she wants me or not. His opinion of me doesn’t change that fact.
I wanted to be the man she needed. I wanted to give her my all and let her choose.
If she rejected me, it would gut me, but I deserved no less.
Still, if there was a sliver of hope, I would take it.
I would make her see me and prove to her over and over that I was the right one for her whether her wolf wanted to mate with me or not.
With my mind made up, I focused on his back and unleashed my power again. This time, it hit. I felt it sink into his psyche, and my veins lit up with that addictive high.
“I’m not weak,” I whispered, knowing he heard me as I shoved raw pain down the connection. Calix groaned.
I got up on shaky legs, puffing out a laugh as I stalked closer, power thrumming in my veins. Years of being underestimated boiled up—
His hand shot out, snatching my throat and lifting me like I weighed nothing.
What the fuck? His body should’ve been locked in torment.
His eyes were bloodshot and blown wide. Blood dripped from his lip, and his fangs were bared. He looked monstrous, nothing like the smooth, controlled Calix I knew.
He snarled. “You think we haven’t been trained to resist mind manipulation? Fairy, mage, demon—it’s all the same.”
Even before his fingers squeezed, I’d lost my breath. They’ve been trained for this? They know how to resist it? Hope blossomed in my chest. My mind was focused on only one thing, and it wasn't the pain Calix was inflicting.
I wheezed, clawing at his arm, desperate to hear the truth. “Did… Nova get… this… training… too?”
He glared at me, bows pinched, before dropping me like dead weight. My power snapped away from him.
“Fuck.” He shook his head. “I don’t like that feeling,” he muttered, rolling his shoulders.
Coughing a few times, I croaked again, “Did Nova… get that training?”
For a heartbeat, behind all his fury, I caught a flicker of something unexpected: respect.
“Yes, dipshit! We all did.” He looked around, exasperated. “Did you really think Nova would have a second who could control her? Do you think we would let her?”
The words hit me harder than his punch. I can’t control her.
For years, I’d been repeating it in my head like a curse. It had been the reason I told her no. My whole body suddenly light, the years of guilt lifting away like smoke. I bolted for the car. I had to see Nova. Had to talk to her. Explain. Maybe, just maybe, we could start over.
My stomach coiled tight, breath coming in erratic bursts, but my heart was light for the first time in months. I didn’t even register the pain from Calix’s punch anymore.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Calix shouted after me.
I raised my hand without looking back. “I don’t have time to deal with you anymore. I need to talk to Nova.”
Slamming the car door shut, my engine roared to life, mimicking the way my own soul had come back online. Gravel spit under my tires as I tore out of there, Calix shrinking in the rearview, arms crossed, glare sharp, but the corner of his mouth had lifted.
He played me. Again.
Fucking Calix.
It didn’t matter because, tonight, I’d prove I wasn’t the weak link he thought I was. The time for caution and patience was up. I was going to show her that she was mine.
* Heartless by Diplo ft. Morgan Wallen