Part of me was grateful that he had waited to show me until we were alone. I was certain I had looked like an idiot, mouth gaping and everything.
But if I was being honest, Malachi looked terrifying with those things. I had heard the stories about the Prince of Shadows and his dark wings, which obviously stood out in a fae land with silver wings. But I wasn’t going to ask about them.
Malachi’s ego was big enough already.
I looked away before he caught me staring.
I walked to the large glass window, staring up at the stars that littered the sky.
“Careful,” Malachi warned. “You don’t want an arrow in the chest because you’re admiring the stars.”
I blushed, as if somehow Mal realizing what I was doing made me appear weak.
“You really think someone will try to kill me while I’m with you?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitating. His dark eyes seemed to grow even darker, swarming with emotion and exhaustion. “I do.”
I ran my hands through my hair and let out a long breath. “How were they killed?” I asked, crossing the room to sit next to him on the long sofa. “Your wives, I mean.”
“I know what you meant,” he said quietly. His eyes remained somewhere in the distance. “We found my first wife with a slit throat in the hallway during the party,” he said. “Nobody saw, nobody knew anything. We had all continued to drink like idiots, who knows how long she had been dead.”
I remained silent.
“My second wife was strangled while I slept next to her. Someone had drugged my drinks, I didn’t find her until I woke up nearly a day later.”
More silence.
“My third wife didn’t even make it to the ceremony. I guess that doesn’t technically make her a wife, but it all meant the same.”
I hid my shock.
“Who would want your wives dead?” I asked, careful with my choice of tone.
“That list is very long, princess. I’ve earned quite a few enemies in my days.”
I thought for a moment. Each of his wives had died long before now. Why was someone waiting so long to make an attempt on me?
As if on cue, Malachi’s pointed ears flickered up. I opened my mouth to ask what he was hearing, but the look he gave me made me close my mouth.
I double checked the knife I had strapped back to my thigh. Someone was here.
“Act like we’re still having a normal conversation,” he whispered.
I nodded and smiled. “Okay,” I said. I didn’t risk looking out the window.
Malachi reached his arm up and over, placing it around my shoulder. He moved his body so I was tucked into his side.
“Is everything okay?” I asked when he was close enough.
He picked up a strand of my hair and leaned in. To anyone watching from the window, it would look like he was kissing my neck.
Still, every single one of my senses was aware of his every move.
“When I say go, I want you to roll under the bed,” he whispered, lips brushing my ear. “And don’t come out until I come get you.”
I let him lean over me, pushing my torso back and reclining both of us until his entire body was covering my own on the couch.
I couldn’t speak. I just nodded.
He slid a hand up my thigh, finding the knife that he had gifted me. My skin lit up under his touch.
“I hope you know how to use that thing, princess,” he mumbled. He was so close, I was certain he was going to kiss me again.
His eyes moved to my lips, only for a split second, before the sound of shattering glass erupted in the air.
“NOW!” Malachi yelled, launching into action. Before I could even sit up, Mal was across the room. Two fae, dressed head to toe in black, concealing armor busted through the opened window.
Malachi dropped on them in seconds. He held a small dagger in each hand. Where had he been keeping those? He dodged each advance with little effort. He towered over both of his attackers by at least a foot, but they kept his attention on them I was still cowered on the couch like an idiot.
Under the bed, Jade. Get under the bed.
Saints, where was Serefin?
I rolled sideways and crawled on all fours toward the bed. I had almost made it, too, when rough hands grabbed me by the ankles and dragged me backward.
I screamed and kicked as hard as I could, but my attacker just launched himself on top of me, pinning me to the ground.
I searched for Malachi in the dark room, but saw him fighting hand to hand with the other attacker.
A rough hand grabbed my hair, pulling my head backward.
“Please don’t,” I begged. “I have a family to take care of!”