Chapter 25 #2
Her pulse hammered. Ash dug deep, forcing her prickling powers to gather again then she took another shot, missing him entirely. Lightning slammed into the wall, the explosion ricocheting across the arena with a deafening crack. More rubble rained down.
The charge drained out of her, leaving her hollow and shaking.
He stopped in front of her, his scales retreating, smoke curling faintly off his skin. “Okay?”
Then she saw he hadn’t escaped the blast entirely. Angry red welts marred his gold-hued skin, some of them actually bleeding.
“I hurt you,” she gasped, pain and dread swamping her.
“Ash.” He cupped her face with a callused palm. “I didn’t shield. I wanted to feel it, feel the strength of your power.”
“You wanted to feel it?” she yelled, thumping his chest with her fists. “You should’ve warned me!”
“Then you would have held back.” He caught her wrists. “You take down the threat before it realizes you’re a force to be reckoned with. Try again?”
She shook her head and sank to her jelly knees. “I can’t. I’m drained.”
“All right. Remember, once you master control and summoning, it will always answer you.”
He fetched another bottle from the fridge, handed it to her, and crouched near her while she drank.
“Ash?” he said quietly.
Something in his tone set every alarm bell ringing, and she braced herself, lowering her bottle slowly.
“Lemuria is dangerous—”
“I know.” She held his gaze. “And I know you’re scared for me. I am, too.”
His troubled claret eyes held hers. “I can’t take a chance with you, Ash, not when I just found you.”
Her belly tightened, already sensing where this was going. “Good thing I have my powers, then.”
“Ash—”
“No!” She shot to her feet, dread twisting her gut. “Before, I didn’t understand us, what we meant to each other, so it was fine to separate. But now I do. Everything’s changed.”
“It has changed,” he countered, rising. “Those bastards are after you. I won’t lose you. You’ll remain here—”
“Oh, brilliant. So my life becomes a cautionary tale?” She gave a short, brittle laugh.
“Ash—”
“Don’t.” Anger and hurt swept through her that he would dare leave her behind.
Power tingled under her skin as she clenched her hands.
“Call this what it is,” she snapped. “You being overprotective! You’re locking me in this castle like some bloody fragile flower.
I saw what happened—I care about those children and those women! ”
“It’ll be a war zone out there,” he bit out. “I can’t focus on Malcarion and worry about you, too.”
“Then assign me a guard, whoever you choose,” she pushed on when he opened his mouth.
“What good are these abilities, then?” She waved her hands, fighting the surge under her skin.
“Why train me? Make me feel like I’m your equal when you don’t mean it?
You’re not protecting me, Race, you’re sidelining me. ”
“If anything happens to you, I can’t promise I won’t choose your life over the mission,” he ground out.
“Good. Because I’ll choose yours, too,” she shot back, her eyes burning. “But don’t pretend this is about my capacity—it’s about your fear.”
He swallowed. Then, “Yes…” A rough exhale. “I am afraid.”
“Because I’m human, I’m a liability. That’s what you’re really saying, isn’t it?” she asked, disappointment sweeping through her.
“That’s not—”
“Don’t you dare say it’s not what you’re doing,” she breathed, her voice fraying. “Because it is. And it hurts. Not because you don’t care—God, I know you do—but because you don’t trust me to stand beside you. To matter.”
His mouth tightened, eyes darkened as his composure faltered, but she wasn’t done.
“You think locking me away keeps me safe? It just makes me feel useless.” And less than.
Just like Paul and his snobby mum. Like so many others have made me feel, all my bloody life.
Desolation swamped her. “I survived your venom last night. I trusted you with my life. But you won’t trust me with yours. ”
“Ash—” He reached for her.
“Don’t.” She backed away, her throat tight with tears, and hurried out of the arena before she broke.
Fuck. Race slammed his fist into the wall, gravel scattering across the floor. Bones shattered and skin split—but it barely registered over the ache in his chest.
The air still smelled of ozone. Of her.
His dragon stirred. I cannot leave you alone. You mess up everything.
Stop. His jaw ground down. He hated this rift between them—more, he hated that she slammed a mental wall over their bond.
Fix this, his dragon rumbled. Mate hurt.
The door swung open. Lore strolled inside, his metallic-green eyes sweeping over the damage. One brow lifted. “I just saw your female. She looks like her entire world just caved in. Weren’t you two supposed to be celebrating being newly mated?”
“Shut up,” Race gritted out.
Lore chuckled. “My mate’s taken her to the kitchen.”
He strode for the door.
“Race, wait. She’s upset. Give her some space. Fight me—work off that frustration. Trust me, it’s a better way to clear the mind, or you’ll barge in there and just make it worse.”
He growled low and stopped, every muscle straining to move.
Lore summoned two swords from the stand and tossed Race one. He grabbed it.
The former angel circled him, his own weapon braced. He lunged with an upward swing, and Race countered. They moved hard and fast as they fought, steel blurring. The blade bit into his biceps, and he staggered.
Fuck. He couldn’t concentrate.
He held up a hand. “She wants to go with me back to Lemuria. It’s too damn dangerous. I can’t lose her. I just can’t.”
“I get that,” Lore said, lowering his blade. “Believe me, I do. But she’s a psi, and from what I’ve seen, her powers are off the charts, or she wouldn’t even be here.”
“That’s beside the point, she’s human…” And Ash’s words crashed through his head.
I’m human, I’m a liability.
Hell. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Do you know, after I fell, a seraph came to finish me off while I was comatose?”
Race lifted his head. He knew Lore had chosen to fall to be with his human mate, but not that.
“I was lost to the world after my fall, barely alive when Michael found me.” Lore took Race’s sword. “My mate stayed behind while he went for help. That’s when the seraph appeared. Nia had only just come into her powers. No one can kill a seraph, but she did, with hardly any training.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Maybe try socializing with the rest of us sometime.” A wry smile tugged at Lore’s mouth. “Not that I should talk. I never hung around angels, either. But Nia’s human—she needs people, needs the connection. So, I learned to deal with the noise.”
Just like he would do anything for Ash—
Dammit. He’d messed up. Again.
He had to speak to her, put this right. He picked up his discarded t-shirt and pulled it on.
“I’m not saying that fight didn’t leave Nia unscathed,” Lore said quietly.
“Just know your mate would do the same for you. And they’re canny.
Tougher than you think. Oh, and one more thing.
There’s a small catch with soul-joining.
You cannot be apart for long periods. In another world?
” He shook his head. “Let’s just say you’ll be coming back for her. ”
“When she walked out, I already felt the separation. Now I can’t feel her.”
The angel rubbed a finger over his lips as if trying not to smile. “She blocked you. It’s good for the soul, don’t you think?”
Race growled and picked up his shirt. “You’ve been here a short time, and already you sound like those mofos who inhabit this place.”
Lore laughed as Race stalked for the door. “Since I lost my sparring partner, I might as well use the gym.”
Race spun back as Lore crossed to the back wall and set both their weapons back on the stand. “Anything else I should know, besides the soul bond not tolerating separation?”
“There’s the death clause. If one dies, then the other follows,” Lore said, strolling back. “Soul-joining’s downside. There’s always a price to be paid for mystical gifts received.”
A fact Race knew all too well. His bloodline held the power of the gods, as long as the males mated with a noble. Damn assholes.
With a nod, he dematerialized.
The distance in his heart hurt like a wound, and the warm glow in his chest, which was all hers, remained dull. All of it tore at him.
He couldn’t blame her for shutting him out. I’ll make this right, heart-fire.