The doors boomed shut behind us.
We were alone in the hallway.
He dropped his hand from my back and paced to the large window near us, running his hands through his dark hair.
I assessed the situation.
The knife was still strapped to my thigh. If I aimed perfectly, I had a chance at stabbing his heart.
But would it kill him?
I doubted it. And it wasn’t worth the risk. I had to survive the night, and then I would make my escape.
But what of Tessa? Our deal would be broken if I ran away. She could starve if I didn’t make it home alive.
No. There was only one way to survive this. And it was to be the damned human Princess of Rewyth.
“Mal,” I said, breaking the silence. He spun around to face me, leaning against the window ledge. Do not be afraid, I told myself. “You came to see me yesterday. Why? Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
His eyes scanned my body, pausing at the busted lip Adeline had poorly attempted to conceal. “What happened?” he asked. The fierceness in his voice almost made me step back. I fought the urge to cover my lip.
“Nothing,” I said, touching a finger to the painful area. I wasn’t about to unload what happened with my father last night. I had larger issues here.
His eyes squinted like he was about to call me out for the lie. I spoke before he had the chance and asked, “Answer my question. Why were you in the forest yesterday? Fae aren’t supposed to be in the human lands.”
His eyes scanned my body once before meeting my own. “I am not allowed to see my wife before I marry her?”
Heat creeped up my neck at the way he stared at me.
“I assumed you wouldn’t care much either way,” I said. I hated how weak it sounded, but I stood my ground anyway. If I was going to die tonight, I wanted to dig up as much information as possible. “Your wives have never lived that long anyway, right? How long until you tire of me, too?”
His eyes grew dark and he pushed himself off the window ledge, coming so close I could feel his breath on my cheek. It was the same dominance I saw from him in the forest yesterday against the wolves.
“Let me get one thing straight here, princess. My other wives have been killed, yes, but not by me.”
My eyes widened.
“Shocked?” He asked. Yes. “Surprised that the deadly, feral Prince of Shadows is not killing each of his wives after they are wed?” a low, evil laugh rumbled in his chest. “You have a lot to learn, Jade. And we’re about to spend the evening with hundreds of drunk, idiotic fae who haven’t seen a human in decades.”
If he was trying to scare me, it was working.
“So do yourself a favor and stay by my side. Don’t trust any of them, and hold onto that little toy strapped to your leg,” he said, eyes flickering down my dress once more. “You’re not safe here, princess. But I’m not losing another wife. I don’t care how many fae assholes it costs me.”
He stopped talking but didn’t back away. I stood there, staring into his dark, passionate eyes. “That’s good to know,” I admitted after a few awkward seconds. I couldn’t believe he was talking about the other fae–his family–this way. From what I could tell, he despised them. Especially his brothers.
Malachi broke our gaze first, walking back to the massive doors of the ballroom. When he held his hand out to me, I took it. “A bit of advice,” he said, “don’t drink anything.”
I didn’t have time to ask for an explanation. Malachi pushed the large doors open once more, and we were greeted with the same group of fae.
Except things had certainly gotten rowdy in the few minutes we were out of the room.
Music flowed through the massive ballroom, echoing off the stone walls. The reserved audience from earlier was now standing, dancing, and drinking away. Never-ending tables of food lined the perimeter of the room, and servants walked around with trays of drinks for every guest.
Malachi navigated us through the crowd. The others had a large level of respect for him, bowing their heads as he passed. Part of me wondered if they were just as afraid of him as the humans were.
What had he done to get his reputation? How many people had he killed? Tortured? Tormented?
I shook my head. None of that mattered now. What mattered was getting out of here alive, and Malachi was my best chance at that.
I squeezed his hand tighter, hoping he didn’t realize how nervous I was. I was the only human in this entire room, perhaps even this entire compound.
I was going to find out just how much fae hated humans, after all.