My simple but truthful admission popped that balloon of apprehension he’d turned into, and he fell to his knees before me with a signature smirk. The sounds of fighting faded around us as Kai and the others took care of the djinn who were left. I wasn’t sure if Soloman stuck around through all of it, but right now, I didn’t care.
Not when Ezra looked at me like that.
Like I was the most precious thing in the world. Like he’d kill a hundred more men if it kept me safe and in his arms. Speaking of arms… A warm, gentle hand lightly pressed on my back, right over my shoulder blade, and I whimpered at how that small motion sent fire through the abused joint. Ezra’s other hand gripped my bicep.
“You know, I think my arm looks better like this. Don’t you?”
My nervous attempt at stalling wasn’t going to stop him. I was in agony, and he felt it. Shit,Ifelt it, but I also wasn’t too keen on feeling even more just to fix it.
“We don’t have to do anything about it right now. I think it will slide back all on its own if we give it enough time.”
Ezra’s brows lifted, and his head cocked to the side in a charming but also antagonizing way. “You’re adorable, but absolutely failing at convincing me not to fix your shoulder. Thelonger we leave it, the harder it will be to get back in,” he said, curving his hand around my arm for a better grip.
Despite his secure hold, my body shook. Call it leftover adrenaline or call it shock, either word was a mask for how much I did not want to do this. So much had happened to me in a short amount of time; from attempted murder, to being captured and threatened with a motherfucking tattoo collar. Listening to Soloman explain how he was going to use me to kill everyone I loved was icing on the cake. And now I stood on yet another precipice of pain.
My breaths came in short gasps.
Hey, look at me. Just at me.
Ezra’s smooth voice reached through my panic and wrapped around me like a hug, urging me to meet his stare. I forced myself not to hide from it. From him.
I’m tired of everything hurting, I whispered, ashamed of my inability to handle this one last thing.
Do you trust me?
I nodded. Of course I did.
Let me past your wall, all the way. I’ll protect you from the pain.
You can do that?
His hand left my arm to hover between us, the little finger lifted, and my tears escaped on the wings of a laugh. Ezra and his damn pinky promises. My good hand rose and curled over his, hooking our fingers together. Without letting go, I exhaled and dropped my wall.
In an instant, I was no longer just myself. Ezra’s every thought and fear, his leftover adrenaline and turbulent worry; all of it became part of me. Where he ended, I began, and it took a couple tries to separate us once more. We were two souls in one body.
I floated in the center of him, enveloped in nothing but love and warmth. I didn’t even notice he’d popped my arm back into place until the enormity of him faded and I was once again left on my own, alone but not. Never again.
The world came back to us slowly, our private bubble dissolving around us. The grove was silent and dark. A corner of shadows blocked out the sun that was already hiding behind the willow, where Kai had Soloman pinned to the trunk. A thin but tall boy stood beside him, arms crossed.
I couldn’t make out the conversation from here, but I knew Soloman was spewing some bullshit.
“That’s Frederick,” Ezra told me, supporting my elbow as we got to our feet.
My injured arm stayed tight to my chest until we could get a sling on it, and I leaned into Ezra’s side as we slowly made our way over to the rest of the group. The center of all my nightmares was right there. Solomon’s son was the catalyst for all of this, for the reason I was here in this moment, rather than safe on my family’s farm. But I wasn’t afraid.
Kai had him wrapped up good and tight, and my friends stood between us. His ending was written the second he categorized Ezra as the weaker opponent and then went after his bond.
“I think you know what’s about to happen,” Kai stated, his straight face as hard as granite.
Soloman laughed, but there was a thread of true fear in it. “That runt couldn’t kill me. He couldn’t even create an illusion of him killing me. He’s tooweak.”
Which was exactly what Frederickwantedhim to think. All this time, he kept his magick contained and coasted on the outskirts, never drawing attention to himself lest his uncle saw him as a threat and murdered him the way he did hisown brother. And literally everyone else. But in that silence, Frederick honed his abilities, and now was his time to strike.
“Umm, I don’t have a weapon.”
I buried my head in Ezra’s shoulder in lieu of a face-palm. That was not what I expected to hear. Soloman screaming as his nephew made his brain leak from his ears, maybe. Or a mess of jumbled sounds like Kol now made. That was an acceptable alternative. Standing in front of the guy you’re supposed to usurp and admitting to being unprepared was not the look.
“See! What did I say?” Soloman crowed, obviously thinking the same thing.
