Page 81 of Infernal Bonds

“I want you to stay with me.” I tried to keep my voice soft to avoid triggering him to lash out at me or run away into the forest and get himself hurt—or worse, lose himself to the magic completely.

A guttural growl was his only response as he looked around, scenting the air. He was looking for Rae. Even if his memory was failing, deep down he knew who she was.

“She’s not here right now.”

He bared his fangs at me again.

“You want to see her, right? Your mate?”

His lip curled.

For as long as I could remember, I did everything I could to be strong enough to stand with him. I trained until my hands bled and my body broke. He was a fighter through and through, while I was a scrawny teenager who just wanted him to see me as something more than a little brother to protect from Cornaith.

I wanted to be someone who could stay beside him even if only as another heir to the council. I became strong enough to hold my own against him, if not surpass him in ways.

When I joined the Elyrdin Guard, I believed I had earned my place beside him, but losing him to this place now would shatter everything I’d worked for.

“I need you to stay with us. You can see her if you stay with us.” I flinched when he snarled. “Cyn, please.”

He prowled toward me, stopping just inches from my face. “Give her to me,” he seethed.

“Why?” I couldn’t hide the tremor in my voice. I didn’t want to hurt him. “You can’t hurt her.”

His hand came up to clutch the front of my throat, but he didn’t squeeze. He was still in there somewhere if he was pulling punches.

“I won’t let you hurt her.” I took a slow breath through my nose when his grip tightened. “You wouldn’t hurt her. This isn’t you.”

He stepped forward and pressed me against a tree, growling in my face. His nose trailed over my cheek as he moved to my ear and sniffed me. I didn’t know what to make of it.

“You need to let me go. You’re hurting me.” I winced as his claws scraped the column of my throat.

He practically flung himself off me and moved to the other side of the clearing, where he started pacing. “You need to run. Take her and run,” he said, though his words sounded distorted as he fought the magic trying to take over his body and mind.

“No.” I pushed off the tree. “I’m not leaving you out here to die.”

Even while losing himself, he tried to protect Rae. If he hated her as much as he had claimed before, he would have left her behind. Instead, every choice he’d made since we woke up here had been to protect her.

“Zeke,” he pleaded, turning toward me, keening when his body seized under the strain.

“Cyn, no!” I took a step forward, but stopped when he slammed the side of his fist into the tree next to him, splintering it. I couldn’t get near him.

He stood frozen, his back bowed as he bent forward.

“Cyn?” I couldn’t stop the tears that welled in my eyes. “Cyn, please say something—anything.”

He lurched forward a step and lifted a hand to the tree he had splintered, digging his claws into its surface.

“Cyn!” I shouted at him, not caring if I attracted something.

Rae was hidden, and the lesser infernals wouldn’t touch Cyn since the magic coursed through his body. They’d see him as one of their own.

I blinked against the tears blurring my vision, and they tracked down my face. “Please don’t go, Cyn. We need you to stay here. I need you.”

He staggered a few steps, lifting his eyes to mine.

Something inside me broke, the world draining of color when he looked at me like I was nothing more than a stranger.

“Please don’t leave me!”