Page 36 of Binding His Fated Mates

The first bulb exploded.

Hunter startled and raised his hands. A dome of golden light flared into existence over himself and Reed, just as glass rained down from the ceiling directly overhead. The second bulb went half a second later, then the third, in a chain reaction that raced across the room. The neon crescent moon behind the bar exploded in a spray of blue and orange sparks. Dimness swept over the space, broken only by the neon beer sign over the door, which was buzzing and flickering wildly.

The golden dome over Hunter and Reed caught the shower of falling glass mid-air. The shards hung suspended for a moment, glittering in the shield’s glow, before clattering harmlessly off it to the floor.

In the next moment, Lee pulled me out of the booth and down to the floor, covering my body with his.

A gasp escaped my lips. I felt his weight on top of me, the hard press of his chest against mine, his arms around my head, cradling me.

Then the power outlet across the room erupted.

A bolt of wild electricity arced all the way across the room, right through the space where I’d been sitting a heartbeat earlier.

And then it was over.

A shocked silence fell over the room, broken only by the erratic buzz of the last surviving neon sign and the sound of all of us breathing hard. The room smelled of ozone and charred wood.

“Well, there’s something you don’t see every day,” Topher remarked, after a long moment had passed. He hadn’t moved a muscle.

Lee lifted himself off me. His face was close—inches away—and even in the near-darkness, I could see the intensity in his green eyes. This was the second time in two days he’d thrown himself between me and sudden danger.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No,” I managed, though my voice shook. “Thank you. Again.”

Something almost like a smile crossed his face. “Stop thanking me for that.”

“Did you—did you see that happening?”

He paled. Then he nodded, his gaze fixed on mine. “Yeah. I did.”

Across the room, Hunter’s golden shield popped like a soap bubble and he lowered his hands. Like Lee, he was paler than before.

Reed stood motionless, his hands at his sides, staring at the destruction around him. His face was ashen. The fight had gone out of him completely. He looked at his own hands as if they’d betrayed him.

“Well,” I said weakly. “Um—it could’ve been worse.”

Hunter’s eyes widened at me. Then, impossibly, he laughed. It had a manic edge to it. “Well, shit. I guess Reed needs to be added to the quarantine list.”

Before anyone else could reply, there was a groan from the makeshift examination table.

Oh no, Robert.

He sat up, blinking, shards of glass sliding off his shirt. His eyes were wide and confused. “Where—what happened? Where am I?”

Reed glanced over at Topher.

“We need Robert calmed down,” Reed said. His voice was deceptively steady, but I could see the tremor in his hands. “He can’t tell anyone in town what happened here.”

Topher’s expression cooled. “His memories have already been tampered with by whatever did this to him. You’re asking me to alter them further.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“It isn’t ethical.”

“No,” Reed agreed. “It isn’t. But if Robert convinces enough people that something unnatural is happening in Crescent Springs, there’ll be a panic—or, at the very least, it’ll be attention that none of us can afford. And it could prevent us from being able to find and stop whatever’s doing this, which means more innocent people get targeted. This is the right thing to do, and you know it.”

Topher regarded him for a long moment, his pale eyes unreadable. Then he gave a single, curt nod. “But I want it noted that I’m not comfortable with this. And I’m taking him home after, to make sure he’s alright.”