I knew she was still on the balcony, listening to every word. But my father didn’t know that. For all he knew, Jade was still locked away in my bedroom.
“You really think harming my wife is going to make me obey you?” I asked. My wings inched wider with every second. A predator’s defense.
“I think she is your weakness, Malachi. As every wife of yours has been before this one. When are you going to learn? I’ve tried to make you learn, I really have. You weren’t meant to be like the others. You were meant for power. Can’t you see it?”
“Jade is not a weakness.” I kept my voice as flat as possible.
My father smirked. “I saw the way you defended her yesterday in the court meeting. Against your own brother, too.”
“I was defending myself.”
“You lie!” he yelled. “You have grown soft! You are not the boy I raised, Malachi. I raised you to be a weapon. A killer!”
I couldn’t take any more. I had spent decades obeying my father in hopes that he would eventually tell me where my mother was. I had waited and waited like an idiot. But now he was using Jade was leverage, too?
My blood boiled in my veins.
“You want me to be a killer, father?” I asked through gritted teeth. My heart pounding was the only thing I could hear. “Then you should have just said so.”
One of the guards entered the room, and I didn’t hesitate. I flashed across the room, unsheathing my sword, and sliced the back of his legs. He dropped to his knees in an instance, and I grabbed him by the hair, exposing his neck.
“Is this what you wanted?” I yelled at my father. “You want me to be tough?”
My father’s eyes widened, just slightly. Enough to let me know that he hadn’t expected that.
Good.
Because he underestimated me. He always underestimated me.
“Malachi, I–”
I sliced the guard's throat before he could finish objecting.
“Is that enough for you, father? Is this the man you always hoped I would be?”
“Control yourself,” he boomed. “Or there will be consequences.”
“I’m tired of controlling myself, father. I’m tired of being told what to do. You want me to be powerful? You want me to be the Prince of Shadows that everyone has hoped for? Then fine.”
I stepped over the body in front of me, heading toward my father. Ready to fight him if I needed to. Ready to defend myself and my wife from this monster.
I was tired of controlling myself. I was sick of it all. My power rumbled through my body. My wings shadows across the floor, a reminder of how strong I really was.
How powerful I really was.
The Prince of Shadows.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” My father said in a rushed voice. He held his hands out in front of him, as if that would stop me.
As if anything could stop me.
“And why is that?”
His eyes moved from me to something behind me.
I turned to see what he was looking at and my stomach dropped.
Two guards dragged Jade into the room and threw her to her knees in front of me.
CHAPTER 26
Jade
“Don’t hurt her,” Malachi said instantly. “If you even think about touching her, I’ll kill all of you,” he said.
The power in his voice boomed across the room, but the guards didn’t budge.
I should have been ready. How stupid was I to think sneaking around the castle was safe for me?
Adeline had tried to fight them, but it was no use. The guards had trained every single day for combat.
A female fae was no match.
She could do nothing but watch as they dragged me away.
“Malachi, I’m okay,” I said to him. But I knew he would do anything to protect me.
I also knew this was a test. The King was testing Malachi to see exactly how far he would go.
All for me.
“You claim she’s so important to you, Malachi. If you disobey me, she’ll get hurt. And you’ll never find your mother. Do you understand?”
Malachi’s hands were fists at his side. The fact that his father pushed him this far was astonishing to me. Did he not think Malachi could kill him?
Would Malachi kill him? Was he capable of killing his own father?
My eyes darted to the body on the floor just a few feet away. Fresh blood pooled around it, slowly leaking onto the stone floor.
“I understand,” he said through gritted teeth, but the darkness in his eyes said something else. They promised retribution. They promised death.
“Good,” his father said. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “But just in case…”