Jax was drowning in rage.
A storm of fury so violent that rational thought had abandoned him entirely.
His mind replayed everything.
How Nerith had been broken. How her family had been crushed. How they stood there with arrogant faces instead of guilt.
And then there was the main problem.
Himself.
His tongue touched his lips. Tasted the clotted blood still caking them.
He remembered every kick. Every stomp. Every humiliation.
They had done the one thing in this world that guaranteed consequences.
They had hurt Jax's ego.
And now they would witness bloodshed.
The dark beam erupted from his palm.
Screaming toward Eryndel's head.
Jax smiled, imagining it. The skull shattering. Brain matter decorating the sacred floor. That smug face reduced to chunks of—
The beam stopped.
Inches from Eryndel's eyes.
The energy began reversing. Sucking backward into... something.
Jax's head snapped to the side.
High Commander Zyrek stood beside him.
