Page 105 of Infernal Bonds

RAE

Crying and moaning stirred me awake, and I sat up, looking for the source, only to realize it was Zeke.

I pushed to my knees and reached for his shoulders as his head thrashed back and forth.

“No, please, don’t hurt her! Dad! Stop!”

Cyn rounded the tree and rushed toward us, dropping the branches in his arms. “Zeke!”

I placed my hand on his forehead when Zeke whimpered, mumbling something about dying. “He’s burning up.”

Cyn cursed. “We need to get out of here today. We’re not going to make it if we don’t.”

I looked up at him and saw genuine fear in his eyes. The gravity of our situation settled over me, turning my stomach all over again.

Zeke screamed and jackknifed forward, but I grabbed one of his arms and Cyn grabbed the other.

“Easy,” I whispered. “Easy. You’re safe.”

His eyes locked with mine, and his expression crumpled as he reached for me and hauled me into his arms, clinging to me as if I’d float away if he let go.

I looked at Cyn over his shoulder, not sure what to say.

“You’re not dead,” Zeke whispered into my hair, his hot tears falling onto my bare shoulders.

“No. I’m right here,” I soothed, stroking the back of his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Cyn retrieved the branches and came to us, dropping them on the ground. He sat down and started stripping one while Zeke continued to cling to me. “What happened? What’d you dream about?”

“I can’t stop thinking about it.” Zeke pulled back, wiping his face with the back of his forearm. “I keep seeing her on the stupid slab in Cholian.”

Cyn sighed, and his amber eyes met mine. “This isn’t the first time he’s had a nightmare about what happened in Cholian.”

“I just feel so guilty.” Zeke slumped against the tree.

Cyn passed him a stripped branch, encouraging him to eat. “For what? It wasn’t your fault.”

“We didn’t stop it. We let them take her.” His eyes brimmed with tears again. “What if they really killed her?”

“But they didn’t,” I said, taking his free hand. “I’m here.”

“I’m so sorry we didn’t stop them,” he said.

Cyn tore a bite off the branch, staring at the ground.

I’d already gone over this with them, but guilt was an angry thing that gnawed at your insides even if you logically knew you weren’t to blame. The only person I didn’t think felt remorse was Cyn—at least until he returned Mom’s necklace.

It seemed they all carried a piece of that ordeal with them.

I leaned forward and cupped the side of Zeke’s face, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips that made his eyes widen. “I forgive you. I’ll say it as many times as I need to. I’ll let you do whatever you feel you need to do to make it up to me, but know that you don’t have to do anything.” I glanced at Cyn. “No one does. Not anymore.”

They’d saved me so many times. Made a place for me in their home. Shown me love—at least Zeke and Ash had. It would be cruel to keep holding something against them that they couldn’t control once they realized the truth too late.

Zeke sniffed and then groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “I don’t feel good,” he whispered. “I think something’s wrong with my head.”

“What are you feeling?”

He looked at Cyn. “It’s hard to think sometimes, but not because I have a lot of thoughts. Everything’s just… fuzzy. It’s like there’s static in my head and cotton.”