Page 104 of Zayrik

To charge in, and let rage override strategy.

To become predictable in my desperation to reach her.

He didn’t want war.

He wanted a spectacle.

A moment to break me.

But I wasn’t breaking.

I was becoming.

Becoming something deadlier than rage.

Something colder than fury.

Hewould break.

Because the next time I saw him?

The next time I felt him hurt her through our bond?

There wouldn’t be enough left to identify.

Wouldn’t be enough left to bury.

Just ash and memory and a warning to anyone who thought they could touch my mate.

The marks on my arms pulsed in time with my heartbeat.

In time with hers.

A countdown to retribution.

To reunion.

To everything we could be once this was over.

Hold on, Nyla.

I’m coming.

And I’m bringing hell with me.

Through our bond, I felt her pain spike again.

Felt her determination waver.

Felt everything that made her mine start to fade.

31

Zayrik

THE DECK SHOOK.

The cause wasn’t weapons fire.