Page 15 of Demon Rider

Blinking, I faze out, my head is spinning, and it’s not just from everything that’s happened — it’s Tyson.

The way he looks at me, the things that he says. No doubt women fall at his feet to have a piece of him, but with me it feel like he means what he says.

Maybe what I really need is a stiff drink and a long, heavy sleep, something to quiet the chaos long enough for me to make sense of any of this. Because right now, I can’t tell if the world is tilting… or if Tyson is the one knocking me off balance.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tyson

I leave Kristina in the kitchen, telling myself she needs to eat, needs a minute to breathe without me hovering and being overbearing.

I can be a lot, as my dead wife used to tell me, plus the brothers here.

But the second I step out, my chest aches like I’ve left something vital behind.

Feels wrong walking away from her, even for a minute, but it needs to be done. We have Gadget, digging into what happened the night she was taken. Did anyone see and report it, are her people looking for her?

Zeke’s already in the office when I walk in, leaning back in his chair, arms folded, eyes sharp like he’s been waiting for me.

“You look like you left a limb behind,” he says.

“Feels like it,” I mutter, dropping into the seat opposite him. “Kristina’s in the kitchen. Eating. I didn’t want to leave her, but we need to talk.”

Zeke nods once, slow. “We do. Gadge, is still digging. No solid leads yet, but we’ll get there. She good?”

My jaw tightens at his question.

“Define good? She is pissed one second, upset the next. Her head is fucking spinning, brother.”

He studies me for a long moment, head tilted. “As it should be, it was a fucked-up thing that happened to her, but that’s not what’s eating you.”

I exhale, rubbing a hand over my face. “When I’m near her, something in me settles. When I’m away, everything feels wrong, but it is like she is ready to bolt.”

“You’re bonded.” Zeke’s mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smirk.

“Yeah, but she doesn’t know that yet, so I have to pray that the Fates here right in picking her for me. I know deep in my soul she’s mine. Not in some possessive bullshit way. Not like claiming a woman because it’s convenient. It’s… something older. Deeper. Like I’ve been waiting for her without knowing it.”

“You sure?” Pres asks. “You know that the Fates do not get shit wrong.”

“Yeah,” I say without hesitation.

He nods again, slower this time, thoughtful. “Then we protect her. We keep her here until we know exactly what happened. And if she wants to stay after that… we make space for her.”

“Oh she is fucking staying. I told her she can go to her place to collect some of her shit once she has had a nap. Maybe then she can think clearly, and know she is safe here. Right now, she is confused.”

He laughs, pointing at me “There is the possessive fucker I know.”

“What can I say. I know what I want and I want Kristina. She was fated to me, so I get to keep her, I just need to break through that fire wall she has up around her.” I huff. “Respect her for not losing herself, but fuck it is going to be a fight.”

“Then go back to her, brother, when we’re done here. She needs you close. And you need her closer.”

He’s right. I already feel the pull, the urge to get back to her, to make sure she’s okay, to see her breathing, eating, existing in the same room as me.

Because she’s mine. And I’m hers.

Whether she knows it yet or not.

Slipping from Zeke’s office I head back to the kitchen, when I hear voices that make my blood boil.