IGNITE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CAIN

The crack of a gun lurches me upright in bed. Instinct has me grabbing for my own weapon tucked in the drawer of my nightstand. My other hand reaches for Ezra and finds a cold, empty pillow.

No.

“Ezra?” I shout, ripping the sheets off the bed, willing my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once they do, I spot him curled up near the end of the bed. Air whooshes from my lungs.

Ezra sits up, blinking and rubbing a hand through his mess of hair. “What’s wrong?”

His hazel eyes meet mine, widening when they drop to the gun clutched in my hand.

Coated in a sheen of icy sweat, I’m still panting, though the wave of terror has receded.

“Fuck,” I utter, ruffling my hair. “Just a dream.”

His shocked eyes move from the gun back up to my face.

“Cain,” he murmurs, his features scrunching up. “Are you… oh, no. No, no, no.”

He crawls over to my side of the bed to straddle me. Stroking his fingers down my tattooed arms, he eases the gun out of my hand. Before he places it on my nightstand, he checks the safety.

All the while, I’m unable to move. The urge to tell him to go back to sleep sticks in my mouth. My tongue is swollen, my body limp like my bones have been excavated from muscle and flesh.

He tries to push me down flat on the bed, but I keep my back plastered to the headboard, not ready to slip into sleep knowing what my brain will make me see again, too many bodies for one man to have claimed without sacrificing his soul.

Ezra brushes locks of hair from my sticky forehead. He swipes at the dampness along my cheeks. Brows furrowing, I touch a hand to my cheek and find them wet with tears.

Ezra pets me for a while until my adrenaline drains.

“I thought that you… I thought I hurt…” I sigh, giving in to the smooth touch of his hands all over my skin. The comforting weight of him on top of me. “It doesn’t matter. You’re safe.”

“I am,” Ezra confirms. “Always safe with you.”

I kiss his perfect mouth, wondering how he can walk through this world with such enviable lightness when he’s experienced horrendous abuse.

I’m going to pick Gabriel apart like a vulture. And whoever is actually pulling the strings on this fucked up operation? Yeah, I’m going to spend some quality time introducing them to pain before I claim their soul, too. Add it to my fucking collection.

Sensing my rising anger, Ezra cups my face in his hands. He tips my head until our lips meet for a delicate kiss.

“You are so brave,” I whisper, kissing him over and over again. “So incredibly strong.”

Ezra’s slow smile is everything. It moves the scar I cut into his face higher, and I brush my thumb over it. “I hate that I did that to you.”

He wraps his hand around my wrist. “I don’t. It’s proof that this was real when you decide I’m not good enough for you and kick me out.”

My face twists up, those fucking tears still leaking out of me. How long has it been since I’ve cried? Since Aiden’s death? Did I even cry then, or was I still too angry over his betrayal?

“Baby, I need you to do something for me, okay?” I say.

He nods eagerly, running his soft hands over my brows and along my jawline. His touch is everywhere, like he can’t get enough of me. Like he’s trying to memorize the shape of me.

“Isaac wants to meet with you. Regularly. And I want that, too,” I explain, praying he doesn’t fight me on this.

Isaac told me he’d talked to Ezra about his position at Sinro, but he hadn’t approached the topic of offering services just yet.

Ezra fiddles with his lip ring, his hands sliding down to trace circles over my bare chest. “You think he can straighten me out?”

I pinch his little piercing between my fingers, moving the ball back into his mouth. “He makes living a hell of a lot easier.”

Ezra cocks his head to the side. “To repeat your earlier words at my demand, no promises. But I will try. He seems nice enough.”

When he snuggles into my chest, I pull the sheet up over our entwined bodies. I keep one arm draped over his waist and the other buried in his hair.

I had no choice in the matter of getting tangled up in Ezra. His chaotic nature sucked me in, and I know I won’t ever be able to escape him. I am changed at the very center of my being.

Altered.

And it fucking terrifies me. There’s always that chance of losing him, just like I lost Aiden.

Which is why I’m going to do my best to make Ezra bulletproof. I’m going to turn him into a fucking threat, mentally and physically. No one, not even me, will be able to break him.

“Sleep,” Ezra hums. “I can hear the gears whirring in your head. I’ve got you, okay?”

I hold back a chuckle. He really fucking doesn’t. I’m the trained soldier, after all.

But I drift to sleep, anyway, letting Ezra believe he can protect me.