His voice isn’t loud. But it doesn’t need to be.
It echoes through my head, through my chest—through the place where Kael’s mark lives inside me.
Kael’s hand finds mine, squeezing hard.
“We didn’t call anyone,” he says, voice low, dangerous.
The Sentinel tilts his head. “You bonded.”
The word lands heavy. Accusatory. Final.
Light surges across their bodies. Brighter. Stronger.
The air distorts around them, bending, warping.
Tempest screams beneath us, trying to bolt. Kael holds her steady. Barely.
“They’re going to try to take you,” he says under his breath.
“Not happening,” I whisper back, even as fear claws up my throat.
His head turns slightly, those impossible turquoise eyes locking onto mine. “They’re trying to get into my head… intoours.”
Something brushes the edge of my consciousness. Presses in. It doesn’t retreat. It just waits.
He looks up, gaze fierce, swallowing hard. “Name, Sentinel.”
“Calder,” the first one says.
“Son of?” Kael snarls.
A pause.
“It doesn’t matter.”
My cowboy shakes his head. “Son of a bitch… thought so.”
Through the bond, I feel them trying to break into Kael’s head. His jaw tenses, teeth grinding, fighting to remain calm.
“Torin,” the other says, cruel-faced. “You should not be here.”
“Could say the same about you,” Kael grunts, hand squeezing mine so tight my fingers sting.
Then I feel it. All at once. A fear so overwhelming it digs into blood and bone.
My fear—Kael’s—combined.
And that’s when it all becomes deadly real. Real enough we might not make it.
“Kael,” my voice cracks.
His face is torment. I can’t watch what they’re doing. But I can’t shut off the sensations either.
The pressure slams into him. Not just force. Control.
Like they’re peeling his mind back layer by layer.
His body locks in front of me, every muscle straining.
