Itwasreal, in some capacity. It existed in the Web as a clear result of actions that led to an inevitable conclusion, if I chose the wrong path.
The wrong path.
My eyes widened when I saw a pattern, one that helped shed light on why Zeke was being an asshole right now.
In every scenario that he told the truth, the same thing happened. Even if I couldn’t see the details in those visions, I could read the sequence of them.
If I forced him to talk, he would die.
He couldn’t read the future anymore. But, somehow, he knew what was coming.
“If you’re so intent on sharing, Rowan, why don’t you tell me why you’re bleeding magical flames?”
His earlier question lingered in his blank irises. The only color in them was the reflection of the flicker of red fire that I seemed to be producing.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I don’tunderstand,” I added, speaking to both his question and the visions swarming through the Web like bees.
Why would Zeke’s telling me what had happened at the Collegium end in his death?
It explained why he felt the need to leave, though.
But returning to his old House of Hypocrites? Unacceptable.
“None of it makes sense to me right now,” I told him, finally willing my fire to cool before it melted the clothes right off Zeke’s body.
While that sounded appealing, his blond hair was starting to curl at the ends, suggesting he wasn’t immune to my fire. I had to be careful with this new ability.
Zeke’s jaw flexed and he reached up a hand to cup my face. I leaned into his touch, desperate for us to understand one another.
For him not toleave.
“Kiss me,” Zeke said instead of giving me answers.
Or maybe that was his answer. He couldn’t tell me what he wanted to with words, so he would with his body instead.
The pained look in his eyes held so much emotion, so much desire, that it crippled me to deny him anything.
I put my weight on my forearms as I slid my fingers into the roots of his hair, angling him for my mouth.
And then I kissed him.
Brutally.
He groaned as I took out my frustration on him. I thrust my tongue against his and he endured each violent stroke with skilled mastery.
Zeke was sex incarnate. In another life, he might have been an Omega.
He was certainly built like one. Slender. Gorgeous. And completely irresistible.
He used his hips to dismount me, flipping us until he was the one on top. His hair hung around us like a curtain as our chests heaved.
“I want you to fuck me, Rowan,” he said. He eased back and peeled off his black shirt, revealing lean muscle underneath.
And splattering of dried blood that sent a cold chill down my spine. It was a vision of the past, because it disappeared a moment later.
Whose blood was that?
“I will,” I promised. “And then you’re going to explain what happened,” I added.