The man laughed. It was rough and ugly. “Unfortunately for you, so do I.”
I felt the cold steel of a blade against my neck.
This was it. I hadn’t fought hard enough. I didn’t try hard enough.
I was going to die.
Warm liquid poured over my back, and my attacker went still.
“Are you okay?” Malachi asked.
My heart pounded. I waited for the weight to lift off my back before I turned over.
Both attackers were dead.
And Malachi held a severed head.
I couldn’t talk. I could barely breathe. I backed up slowly, scooting away from the pool of blood that I was now covered with. It dripped down my back, still hot.
Serefin busted through the bedroom door. He took one glance at Malachi, holding the severed head, and cursed. It was then that I noticed Serefin also splattered with blood, and his sword already drawn.
“We’re okay,” Malachi informed him. “Two of them came through the window. They didn’t even wait until I was asleep.”
“Bastards,” Serefin mumbled. He walked to the body that was still intact and rolled it over. Malachi had stabbed him in the chest. “There was one in the hallway. He ran off after I landed a blow, but I heard Jade’s scream.”
“Do you recognize them?” Malachi asked. Serefin shook his head.
“Someone in this castle will, though.”
Serefin stood up and looked at me. I cowered into the corner, my entire body still shaking from what just happened.
“You okay, princess?” Malachi asked again, finally dropping the head he had been holding. It rolled to the side with a sickening thump.
I nodded yes, but I was sure they knew I was lying. I should be dead right now. What Malachi just did, the speed at which he moved…it wasn’t possible.
Malachi had ripped that man’s head off within a second.
It was pure feral behavior. Pure predator.
Serefin and Malachi exchanged a knowing glance.
Mal walked over and knelt beside me, lifting my chin with a finger.
“People want you dead, Jade. They want you dead so badly that they’d risk fighting against me to get to you.”
His eyes were intense, and I sat in silence as his focus moved from my face down to my throat.
He reached out and rubbed a thumb against my skin. It stung, but I didn’t flinch. I hardly felt it.
When he pulled away, his thumb dripped with my blood.
His wings flared once more, and he drew his eyebrows together in an intense expression that nearly made me look away.
“You’re hurt,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“I’m fine.” My words sounded foreign.
“Don’t tell me you’re fine. You’re bleeding.”
He balled his hand to a fist and stood up slowly, looking between me and Serefin.
“Those bastards drew blood,” he announced. “The people in this room are the only people we tell about this. Nobody else finds out until we know who we can trust.”
Serefin nodded.
“If anyone so much as lifts a finger toward Jade, I will kill them. And I’ll have fun ripping their heads from their useless bodies.”
CHAPTER 10
Malachi
“What about your father?” Serefin asked.
“Someone expects Jade to be dead. Get rid of the bodies. Let’s go see who’s surprised when they see her alive and well,” I said.
The next few hours mixed together in a blur of rage and fear.
Serefin took care of the bodies, but Jade didn’t take her eyes off the severed head until the bodies were out of view.
I couldn’t even look at her. She was covered in blood, most of it not hers. Her black hair had matted with it, and the shirt of mine she wore had ripped at the torso during her struggle.
He never should have touched her. I should have stopped it.
But here we were.
Serefin had left a few minutes ago, but Jade still hadn’t moved from the floor.
“You have to eat something,” I said in an attempt to break the silence in the room.
She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
“Jade,” I said again. “You faced an entire pack of wolves over a dead rabbit in the woods. Certainly a couple of rogue men aren’t that bad.”
I tested the waters, trying to get any reaction out of her. Anything to let me know she was actually alive in there.
“What was that?” she asked. “You didn’t even touch them and they…”
“It’s a special gift of mine. I can inflict severe pain on anyone with a single thought. It takes focus, but it comes in handy.”