“No,” he growled. “It won’t happen again.”
Before I could protest, he grabbed my wrist and walked out of the room, dragging me behind him.
Except he didn’t take us back to the ballroom.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
His steps were fast and aggressive. I had to jog so I wouldn’t fall straight on my face.
As we snaked through the cascading hallways of the castle, it dawned on me where Malachi was going to take me.
It was his wedding night. Our wedding night. He was taking me to his bedroom.
The pit that formed in my stomach was confirmation enough. I had expected this. From the moment my father told me I was being sent to marry the fae prince, I expected this moment. Prepared for it mentally.
But Malachi was pissed. That wasn’t exactly helping my nerves.
He didn’t say anything else. Just continued dragging me through the castle in silence.
When we rounded the last corner, we weren’t alone in the hallway. I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my chin as Malachi approached the guard that stood in front of what I assumed to be his bedroom door.
I had seen that guard before, I thought to myself. His dark skin contrasted with the white stone walls. He was tall, but still had a comforting posture. He turned to us as we approached, and his face came into view. He was the guard that took me from my home.
Serefin.
“My lord,” Serefin greeted Malachi as we approached. He gave me a small nod of acknowledgment before returning his attention to Malachi. “I believe congratulations are now in order,” he chirped.
I half expected Malachi to yell, but he just clasped Serefin on the shoulder and laughed, finally letting go of my wrist.
“If you even think about it, I’ll kill you,” Malachi joked. The two of them laughed, and I found myself surprised that the Prince of Shadows interacted with anyone this way. It was intimate and personal, they had clearly been friends for quite some time. “You’re lucky you get to miss stupid parties like that.”
I rolled my eyes behind him. Of course he would describe the biggest and worst day of my life as a stupid party.
But I was merely a human. My life was expendable to him.
“Something wrong?” Serefin asked, calling me out. I supposed my annoyance wasn’t as subtle as I expected it to be.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I replied, but the words somehow added to the fuel of my anger. Malachi turned to face me, eyebrow arched. “Being dragged out of my house before dawn this morning only to have my entire life ruined by a stupid party full of people who may or may not want to kill me is exactly how I imagined this day. Thanks for asking, Serefin.”
He didn’t respond. Just gave Malachi a glance that said good luck with that.
“My wife has had quite a day,” Malachi said. “But I have a feeling the night is far from over. Are you on guard all night?”
Serefin checked that the hallways were empty before answering, “So far, yes. I had to bribe Darcy to switch posts with me, though. He was pretty hesitant, I guess your father has everyone on pretty strict orders tonight.”
Malachi sighed and tilted his head back, eyes closed. “I wish I could say that was surprising,” he said.
“You think the King has something to do with this?” Serefin whispered.
Mal clenched his jaw then moved to open the bedroom door. “Let’s talk in here,” he said. Serefin nodded, and the three of us entered Malachi’s bedroom.
I did my best to appear relaxed and confident, but as soon as I walked through the door, I was amazed. What was I expecting? Skulls and black everything? Yes.
Malachi’s room was spectacular. The ceiling was nearly transparent, similar to the ceiling in the ballroom. Greenery and vines twisted their way around the dark stone of the walls, and a large, four-post bed with black, silk sheets anchored in the center of the room. A bathroom in the back of the room consisted of a waterfall-like structure, the greenery and stones mimicking nature almost to perfection.
Serefin and Malachi were oblivious to my reaction, which saved me a decent amount of embarrassment. They walked into the room as I lingered by the door.
“My father was insistent on me trusting everyone at the party. He practically told me not to worry about Jade’s safety,” Malachi said.
“So, you think he wants Jade’s safety to be compromised? Maybe he’s just a prick and didn’t want his ego to take a hit by you not trusting his guards.”
“Maybe, but I also found my brothers looking for Jade in the hallway earlier. Adonis wanted to meet with her alone.”