Trapped(3)

And that power allowed him to hunt down and destroy several wraith-pairs every night, all by himself.
Before he took to the skies, he turned into her and licked her ear, hoping to tease her into a couple of hours with him in her bedroom, but she drew back.
“Hey, none of that.”
He smiled. “But you like it so much.”
He felt her hesitation and his chest lit up with sudden hope.
She shook her head. “Just take me home, Zeph. I’m tired and my feet hurt.” Her gaze flitted past him and her face twisted with sudden horror. “Red wind. Sweet Goddess, no.”
An unusual red wind always presaged the arrival of wraith-pairs, but not everyone could see the telltale sign of the Invictus. Yet apparently Alesia could.
He felt the vibration in the air at almost the same moment as he released her, shoving her behind him for protection. He turned to face the wraith and in this case her bonded troll. She wore the typical gauzy red strips of fabric that most wraiths wore and the troll had a vicious, fierce look as he lifted a battle axe, ready to engage.
The wraith shrieked, a sound designed to strike fear into the hearts of their intended victims.
Just stay behind me, he pathed to Alesia. And whatever you do, don’t run.
Not going anywhere.
Zephyr dropped into his hunched battling position, shoulders lowered slightly as he gathered power from all around him, the earth, the air, the nearby pine forest. At the same time, his mastyr level of power allowed him to erect a protective blue shield between himself and the wraith-pair that would help keep Alesia safe.
“This one has power,” the wraith shouted, hovering a few inches above the gravel. “But we can take him.”
“Yes, mistress.”
The troll lifted his arm and the axe flew. At the same time, the wraith shot a powerful red blast from her hand. Both were aimed at Zephyr.
His shield shunted the axe aside and he countered the wraith’s battling frequency with his own. He settled into his power and created a surge that broke apart the wraith’s energy beam so that the resulting unimpeded flow hit her square in the chest.
She screamed as she flew backward several yards, while the troll collapsed where he stood. Zephyr wasn’t surprised, since the bonded mates often became incapacitated when the controlling wraith was injured.
He lowered his blue shield and was about to go in for the kill, when he felt a hand on his arm. “Don’t, Zeph, please. Call for someone to take them to the rehab prison. Please.”
The wraith was already rising, clearly a profound self-healer. She bared her yellow fangs and hissed. Her long, thin blond hair floated around her head, having a life of its own.
“Please, Zeph. I knew this troll before he was abducted. He had an auto parts business about two miles from here and used to eat at my diner every night. He lost his wife in the attack, but he didn’t deserve this fate, to lose his essential identity when the wraith bound him. Don’t you get that part of the equation? For every wraith-pair that you save, you’ll be bringing a realm-person back from the dead?”
He stared at her hard, willing her to understand. “But how many have they killed tonight? That’s what you’re not considering, what you never think about.”
Tears tracked her cheeks. It occurred to him suddenly that she must have other reasons, more personal reasons for feeling this strongly. But he’d seen way too many innocent people drained-to-death, or slaughtered outright, to believe it would be wise to let either of these two live.
“Zeph, I’m begging you.”
“Even if I called for help, the recovery team wouldn’t arrive for hours. I’d have to spend the better part of the morning, probably in your diner, continuing to hurt them in order to keep them locked down. And even then, surely you know the rehab rates are really low.”
But she was adamant and though it went against his principles in the war against the Invictus, he knew for her sake, he had to try.
He was about to acquiesce and make the call, when suddenly two more wraith-pairs dropped out of the night sky. In addition, the time he’d used up arguing with Alesia, had given the wraith enough time to complete her healing.
“Oh, Shit.”
Alesia grabbed his arm. “Zeph, what are we going to do? Can you battle all three pairs and survive?”
Only if he was alone, but he didn’t tell her that. Instead, he shifted into action and without giving Alesia a warning, he whipped her into his arms, shot straight up into the night sky, then streaked north as fast as he could.
If none of the wraith-pairs were unusually fast, he’d reach his locked-down, fortress-like home and they’d be safe.