Page 4 of Of Blackened Blood (The Blackened Blade #3)

“To lose you would be a pain worse than death for me ...” I shake my head. “How would I continue living without you?” A weak scoff leaves my lips. “ Dying would be easier. I would rather follow you in death than exist without you, Ezra.” Because I can’t survive that kind of grief again. I won’t.

A shaky breath leaves his lips as his eyes close.

“I’ve felt that kind of loss before, Micai ... one so painful and cruel, I wanted to cease existing in this world ...” He takes a quick breath, as if almost struggling to continue, some memory playing out in his mind before I brush my thumb across his cheek, slowly caressing and soothing him.

“My mother. S-she died protecting me, Micai.” He opens his eyes, his breathing a little weak as his eyes grow glossy with pain.

“A-and I don’t ever want to watch someone I love die while trying to save me again.

” His words squeeze my chest painfully, the agony swirling in his darkened eyes making the pain grow quickly as he continues.

“I was young, but I should have tried to help, to fight or something ... but I froze.” He squeezes his eyes shut again with the memory, pain cinching his brows downward in a frown and mirroring his lips.

“She died while saving me, protecting me from a group trying to take us both. And all because of what we are. Sirens .” He grits out the last word, a feeling of frustration biting through.

His eyes meet mine again, his lips parting as his shoulders fall slightly, an empty, hazy look taking over his face.

“It was a cold day in early autumn. We had just recently moved to a small town by the beach, a remote place with only a tiny village nearby with a handful of people around the area.” A weak smile tilts his lips.

“She chose a small cottage with a red door and a thatched roof ... it was really old with holes on one side.” His smile grows softer.

“She placed worn old pots and an old fisherman’s shoe we found around the floor and on tables when it rained to stop the leaks.

She said the place had ‘character’ when I complained about it being too old.

” A small sigh leaves his lips. “We weren’t there long, but I could see she liked it, thought it was ‘quaint’ and ‘quirky.’” A gentle chuckle falls from his lips.

“But the best part was the view. She loved the view.”

His breath catches again, and I start to tell him it’s okay, that he doesn’t have to push himself, but his eyes meet mine and I know he needs this. He needs this moment, so that he can finally set himself and everything he’s buried, free.

So I wait patiently and give him the time he needs.

He takes another minute to compose himself before continuing, clearing his throat a few times and taking a few inhales.

“We were nestled a few feet from a cliff that overlooked the ocean. It was like something from a painting. Even as a young boy, I knew it was something beautiful to behold. And so peaceful ...” His small smile fades.

“That is, until they came for us.” His eyes find mine, holding so much pain in them but not willing to give up.

“I remember her waking me up in a panic and grabbing a few things to throw in a makeshift bag.” His brows furrow.

“We had left in a hurry from a few other places before, but never like this ... she was scared . I never understood it back then but ... she was my world, my mother.” His eyes begin to well up.

“She told me we had to go on another adventure together, but that we had to move faster than ever before.” His gaze falls to the space between us.

“She always told me that we had to travel by land when we moved around, that the sea wasn’t safe for our kind anymore.

It’s something she always drummed into me .

.. never use my power, never let anyone see the real me.

The Siren ... But this time was different.

There was more fear in her than ever before as we left there.

” A hard frown tugs his lips as he continues.

“We ran to the nearest place to hide, the beach below the cliff. By then we were moving quickly, and I could see the frantic worry growing on her face. Then voices began to fall behind us with dark figures appearing ... catching up and falling just feet from us.” Anger builds on his face and cuts through his voice, darkening his features.

“A thick mist started setting in from the ocean, almost as if the sea itself were trying to help cover us from our pursuers. But they kept following us. Their voices grew louder, and then loud blasts began to ring out nearby, with the sand flying up into the air all around us and stopping us from entering the ocean. Before they found us, she took me to a cluster of rocks, using the mist and sand as a cover to hide me away between them. It connected to the ocean on one side and a large cliff on the other ...” He stops, taking a deep breath, the weight of his memories and pain draining the energy from him before he can continue.

“She placed a kiss on my forehead ... whispered tender words of love as she brushed my cheek with her shaking hand ... and then stepped away.”

The look on his face has me gritting my teeth almost painfully, wanting to help him in some way and comfort him. But I knew that if I did, that it would stop him from letting it all out. And finally unburdening himself of this painful memory and the feelings trying to drown him.

“I reached a hand out to her, but she shook her head and wrapped her magic around me, a weak but beautiful smile stretching her lips as she cloaked me with her magic and everything she had in her.” His frown deepens, pure agony pulling at his features.

“And then she headed in the opposite direction away from me ... and drew them toward her.” He closes his eyes tightly, his face twisting further in pain.

“Her magic was weaker than mine is now, and weaker than other Sirens of her time, but it was soft and warm and all her. It always felt like a warm embrace. Hers .” A tear falls down his cheek, another soon following as I reach for him.

His eyes slowly open, finding mine. “I’ve already lost one woman that I loved beyond words, Micai, and I’m a more broken person because of it.” His brows furrow, his hands pulling me closer.

“She was a fighter in her own right too, Micai. She never gave up and fought every day to protect me and keep me safe. She wasn’t physically or magically strong, but she was powerful where it mattered most: her heart and spirit.

” His voice falls to a whisper, water pooling further in his beautiful turquoise eyes.

“But I still watched the light fade from her eyes that day and the air leave her lips, Micai. I watched her last breath fade out to sea with the tide and knew that it would never return to me.” His eyes fall between us as he shakes his head, a sad, bitter smile tilting his lips.

“The last words that fell from her lips before she died was a whisper of my name ... Ezrael . It wasn’t a plea for help, or a goodbye.

It was a tender call to me, that one word was wrapped in all her love and hope before she left.

A final gift .” His eyes meet mine again.

“And one I never gave to anyone else ... until I met you, Micai.”

My chest tightens, tears forming as I gaze at my beautiful Siren and all the pain in his eyes. All the agony he’s held inside him all these years. My Ezra ... my Zrael ... .my Ezrael.

I brush my fingers along his cheek before gently palming it.

“Ezrael,” I call, and his breathing slightly stutters before he leans into my hand on his cheek.

“Yes, Micai?” A soft smile grows on his lips, a tender look taking over his eyes.

I lean up and place a soft kiss against his cheek, and then his forehead, and finally his lips, where I linger, his name falling from my own as his parts.

“Micai ...” He tries to deepen the kiss, but I stop him, wanting him to hear my words, my promise to him.

His eyes glimmer little specks of lilac as my palm caresses his cheek again.

“I will never leave you. No matter who or what stands in our way. I will fight beside you, and for us ... for this .”

I place my other hand on his heart and rest my forehead against his.

“This life, our next, and our past ... I will always find you. Not even death can take you from me. I love you, Ezrael ... I always have .” I lean up, brushing my lips against his again as they part for me.

He quickly deepens the kiss, and this time I don’t stop him.

His hands pull me into him, laying me flush against his chest, this kiss saying everything we want to each other and more in this moment. We will never be without the other.

Ezra was my heart, my soul, my ... I pull back, my eyes growing wide as I meet Ezra’s worried gaze.

“What’s wrong, Micai?”

Ezra is Zrael. So that means Ezra is my ... “ Mate?”

Ezra’s POV

Micai’s eyes widen, my own growing large as the small, single word leaves her lips. “ Mate.”

My lips quirk upward, a flurry of warmth running through my chest with her realisation. Had she finally felt the bond? The soul-connection I had been feeling grow between us?

A look of pure tenderness fills her gaze as her eyes soften further, my name leaving her lips like some sweet lyric as she wraps her arms around me, pulling me into her gentle embrace again.

I can feel the thrum of our hearts beating together as something settles further between us. I feel it instantly; the thickening of a thread being woven over and over, growing in size and width until if feels like there’s no more space for it to grow further.

Every part of me feels it; the final link of our bond snaps into place and tightens itself there permanently.

And with it, I feel something begin to well up and expand with the bond, a feeling so strong that it becomes almost all-consuming. A feeling of so much love, so much affection, it steals the air straight from my lungs with its rising.

Is this what it feels like when a Mate bond fully forms? When it finally connects and becomes whole and complete? When you both become one and bond at a soul level?

My grin grows wide on my lips as I take a deep breath, and then another.

It feels warm and gentle, as if I’m being embraced all around, both inside and out. And as if every emotion and affection I had before pales in comparison to this moment, to this love and affection I have for her, and am now fully sure that she has for me.

I can feel Micai’s heartbeat race with mine as I pull back and gaze into those endless blue eyes. I can see she feels it too. Our Mate bond.

Her eyes are wide, her cheeks flushing a soft pink as her plump lips lay open. All the emotions visible on her face as I feel them within me too.

A look of overwhelming love and warmth fills her gaze as she watches me, unable to turn away for even a second.

And all the painful memories and emotions from moments ago that wanted to drown and consume me have faded to nothing, with only me and her here now. And I know I’ll never be alone in this life again.

“I heard a voice singing one night in the music classroom.” My fingers find a small lock of her hair and I begin twirling it between them as her eyes stay glued to my face.

“It was a voice so beautiful, so breathtaking ... that I found myself lost in a daze trying to follow it. I thought it had to be another Siren, or an Angel beckoning me to them.” My grin widens as my fingers move to her jaw and then cheek.

“It was a sound so alluring; it made me want to sing alongside it, to open my lips and let everything free in that moment. And every fibre of my being told me that the one singing was the other piece of my soul ... my Mate.”

Her eyes widen, the memory coming back to her of that night as I continue.

“When I saw it was you ... It was like everything was right in the world. That every tear, broken bone, and agonising loneliness that I had felt over the years was worth every second ... because it brought me to you.”

A small breath escapes Micai’s lips, a look of awe in her eyes that soon turns into the most beautiful expression I’ve ever seen on her face, a look of pure love and happiness. All for me.

“If you will have me, Micai ... I promise to always be by your side, when you need me and even when you don’t. To protect you like you protect me. To love you until my dying day and then after. And to always do my damn best to keep that breathtaking smile on your lips.”

Micai leans up toward me, her nose softly brushing against mine as a tender smile tugs at her lips.

“There’s no ‘ If I’ll have you’ ...” A playful scoff leaves her lips.

“You’re mine and I’m yours.” The hand on my chest slides up toward my neck and through my hair.

“You don’t understand what you mean to me, Ezra.

How I feel goes beyond even time. I’ll never stop loving you. ”

Then her lips quickly find mine before she pulls me back down onto the bed with her, both of her arms wrapping around my neck as mine find her waist. The soft curve of her body lays below mine, my body growing hot and hard as our tongues intertwine, wanting to feel one another as much as we can in this moment.

And I feel her words wash over me fully as we move together, her feelings made as clear as my own. Micai is my Mate .

And she has fully accepted me and our bond.

My heart swells with the thought and realisation.

She was mine, as much as I am hers. And I won’t let anyone take her from me. And I won’t let anyone hurt her again.

The attack from earlier? I’ll never hold back or put her in that position again. I won’t hold back my power next time. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on my Mate again.

I’ll dig deeper than I ever have before and find who planned that attack and hurt my Mate, and they will pay the price a hundre—no, a thousand times over.

I will do whatever I need to protect my family, even if I have to blacken my body and soul to do it.

No one will come between us or hurt any of us again.

There’s no holding back anymore, no limitations or rules when it comes to my Mate and family.

I have everything I need from this world around me. My family.

Now it’s time to protect it.