… Okay, the voice’s constant insistence that he had a mate was starting to get a bit weird. Why would he want to avenge something he didn’t even have? He was starting to think that maybe his usual assessment ofdevil on my shoulderwasn’t so far off the mark after all.
It’s the only way to keep her safe,the voice whispered – and at that moment, the man on the ground struggled under Max’s weight, clearly gathering his resources to make one last effort to overcome him. He raised one shaking hand toward Max’s face, and Max suddenly remembered what that meant. How powerful his enemy was.
Let him have all of it.
He unleashed a torrent of energy, concentrating it into the very center of the man’s consciousness. The air glowed a brilliant blue, the man twitching beneath him, a pained cry rasping from his throat.
Max could have kept doing this all day. For the first time in his life, he felt powerful. It was soeasy.
But there was a strange electric feeling pulsing through his body. Not from his powers – where they burned, this soothed. It was nice. Calming.
Distracting.
A voice was calling out to him. He had no idea what it was saying – a few sounds repeated over and over again. All he could say was that it soundedright, even though he couldn’t understand a word.
Maintaining his powers enough to keep the man incapacitated, he turned his head to follow the voice, to seek the source of the pulsating electricity.
Kneeling before him was a woman, her hands on his face, her pretty face bathed in blue. Tears shone on her cheeks, and he couldn’t figure out why. Could she be a companion to the man on the ground?
No. Surely not. He couldn’t quite say why, but he knew that this was wrong.
Then… was she a companion tohim?
Max shook his head to clear it, noticing with a grimace how weirdly heavy it felt.
At least now he had an answer to his questions: this woman was the source of both the repetitive sounds,andthe nice electric feeling. It emanated from her hands where they touched him, calming him, dispelling some of the noise that was coming from the agitated voice in his head.
The woman moved her mouth, the sounds coming out again, her expression full of love and compassion. Her hands really did feel wonderful against his face, and he leaned into the touch, closing his eyes.
This feels like what I always imagined the mate bond would feel like.
The thought was a strange one. Why would he have a mate now – one he couldn’t even remember? And why was the voicein his head telling him to avenge his mate, when apparently she was right here, seemingly alive and well? Assuming shewashis mate, of course, but it seemed like the most logical explanation for everything.
… He reallywastired. And confused.
Max leaned deeper into her touch with a sigh, enjoying the warm buzz of her fingers as they stroked his hair. He thought that maybe he would go to sleep right here.
Her voice floated to him out of the comfortable darkness.
Max.
It was a sound he’d heard her making before, but this time he thought he understood it. It was his name… wasn’t it?
He cracked open his eyes, meeting her kind, serious gaze.
Max. You can stop now. It’s okay.
Somehow, the words made sense. Mostly. But stopwhat?
Oh,he thought suddenly.That. Yeah, maybe I should stop that.
He turned his head to look at the injured man sprawled on the ground beneath him.The fae,he thought suddenly, not sure where the idea came from. He’d never met any fae in his life.
Whoever the man was, he was still alive – but not for long, if Max continued to use his powers against him. Max may not have understood a lot about what was going on, but he did know that much.
My mate,the woman said.You’re my mate, Max. And you need to stop this now. I’m safe.
Max’s heart soared at the wordmate. He still didn’t fully understand it, but it felt right. And the woman – his mate – was calm, in control. She obviously knew much better than he did what was going on, and he knew that he needed to take his cues from her in this instance. He needed to stop using his powers on the fae.
