Chapter Six
Malachi
The door creaked open, casting faint light from the hallway into the room, its glow cutting through the shadows. Dane was looking out the window, his back to me, his frame outlined against the faint silver glow of the moonlight. He didn’t turn when I entered, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the stiffness in the way his hands gripped the edge of the windowsill.
“You didn’t knock,”
he said without looking back. His tone was flat, but the words carried a weight that hinted at his mounting frustration.
“I don’t knock in my own home.”
I closed the door behind me. “Should I start, for your sake?”
Finally, he turned, his mouth set in a deep scowl. “It’s called basic courtesy.”
“Courtesy,”
I repeated as I approached. I brushed past him, our arms briefly touching. I felt Dane softly shudder just as he glanced up at me. “You’re a guest here. A reluctant one, perhaps, but a guest nonetheless.”
“What does that have to do with being polite?”
He turned to fully face me. I was bothered at how much I liked his gaze on me.
“I’ll do as I please in my own home.”
His jaw tightened. Folding his arms, he leaned against the stone wall next to the window. “What do you want, Malachi?”
The question wasn’t hostile, but there was a wary edge to it. The fact that he stood his ground instead of flinching away only stoked the strange intrigue he had over me.
My gaze slid over him, stopping briefly on his lips. His dark hair was slightly mussed from sleep, his clothes rumpled, but his eyes were piercing. There was a defiance there that didn’t match the exhaustion lining his face.
“I came to see if Kyson’s gamble hasn’t cost us both,”
I said finally.
“Anything else, or are you just here to stare at me?”
His reply was tinged with sarcasm.
Despite myself, I fought a smile. “You’re remarkably mouthy for someone in your position.”
Just as mouthy as Kyson, but coming from Dane, it was somehow endearing rather than annoying.
“And you’re remarkably hostile for someone who keeps saying I’m a guest.”
He stepped away from the window. The movement was subtle, but closed the gap I’d left between us.
Hostile. The word grated more than it should have. My attitude darkened as I took another step forward, forcing him to tilt his head to meet my gaze. “You should be afraid of me, human .”
The pulse in his neck jumped, and I heard it like a drumbeat in my ears, steady and strong despite the tension in his frame. But he didn’t back away.
“You think I’m not?”
His voice was quiet but firm. “Trust me, Malachi. I know exactly what kind of trouble I’m in. But I’ve been through enough to know fear won’t save me.”
The weight of his words struck a chord. There was no bravado in his tone, no empty posturing. Just truth. He wasn’t a coward. That much was clear. But it wasn’t bravery that kept him standing in front of me. It was something deeper, something that refused to bend to anyone’s will no matter how frightened he was.
I knew that feeling all too well.
At least this time, he didn’t bother lying about being afraid of me.
My gaze dropped to his throat, his pulse steady and strong, but I fought to ignore the temptation. It would be so easy to seduce him into giving me what I wanted.
“Just let me go back to my car.”
Did the male have a death wish? “You’re not going back to it.”
The shift in his demeanor was immediate, defiance sparking in his sapphire eyes. “The hell I’m not! My entire life is in that car.”
“Your entire life won’t matter if you’re dead,”
I growled. “You know damn well what awaits you the moment you step outside these walls.”
“I can handle it,”
he said, his jaw clenching. “I’ve been handling it for months.”
“You think I’m unaware of what demons do to their victims?”
I shot back, my voice low and dangerous. “You’re alive because I protected you, because Kyson brought you here. That’s twice in a single night he nearly got his hands on you.”
My words had come out harsher than I’d intended, but he was so damn infuriating. I felt the moment my eyes had turned red, the moment they’d begun to glow. But Dane didn’t flinch. He met my gaze head-on, his voice quiet but steady when he spoke.
“And you’re alive because I retrieved your stupid phone.”
I leaned in closer, the air between us charged. I had no memory of my time in his car, but I wouldn’t admit that to him. “And you’re alive because I didn’t drain you.”
For a moment, we stood there, neither of us willing to break. I both admired and cursed his steel spine. He was well aware of just how dangerous I was, yet the male glared at me like I wasn’t a threat.
I forced myself to take a step back, the distance feeling both necessary and unbearable. “You’re not leaving here,”
I said, each word weighted with finality.
“I’m not your prisoner! This is the thanks I get for helping? Fuck you and the moment we met, Malachi.”
He turned toward the window, giving me his back.
He was even braver than I thought, causing my intrigue to only grow stronger. But whatever this was, this fire between us, would have to burn unanswered.
Dane was a risk I couldn’t afford to take.
* * * *
Emmett stood in front of my desk, studying me before he glanced away. “The car’s been moved, far enough from Ashwood to avoid suspicion, Prince.”
I nodded but barely acknowledged him, my mind wandering to Dane. Kyson was with him, making sure he was fed. Humans needed to eat endlessly, so I wasn’t about to give him another excuse to complain. Not that I owed him anything. He didn’t belong here, and keeping him under this roof risked too much.
The smarter thing would’ve been to let him go and wash my hands of him entirely. But the demon’s words at the restaurant refused to leave me.
But then again, I like my toys intact before I break them.
My anger flared. All demons were violent, but Osiris’s cruelty was legendary. The thought of Dane in his clutches twisted something deep inside me. That was how Kyson had come to live here, another victim of the demon’s brutality.
“Did you gather his belongings?”
If Dane was going to be my prisoner , I wanted him comfortable, though I couldn’t quite explain why. The memory of sitting across from him at the restaurant—those curious, innocent eyes meeting mine—flashed through my mind once again.
“Yes,”
Emmett said, but his frown deepened. “If I may ask, does this car have anything to do with the scent of human lingering in the halls of Winterhaven?”
“Bring the items to my room.”
The less the others knew about Dane, the better. His presence here was already too much of a liability and I was still furious Kyson had taken him to the kitchen. What had he been thinking?
“As you wish.”
Emmett bowed slightly before retreating from the room, the heavy door closing behind him.
The silence left in his wake pressed down on me. I sighed, running a hand through my hair, while calling myself a dozen different idiots.
Hours passed, but Dane’s face kept intruding on my thoughts. Before I realized it, I found myself standing outside his bedroom door. Kyson and Dane’s voices filtered through the heavy wood. My fingers grazed the cool metal of the handle before I pulled them back, cursing the impulse to see him.
I shouldn’t care. But the fact I stood outside his door mocked the lie I kept telling myself.
This was ridiculous. He was just a human, and I was wasting precious energy on him. Shaking my head, I turned on my heel and walked away, refusing to give in to the irrational interest that kept drawing me to him.
I had more important matters to attend to—matters that didn’t involve sapphire eyes or an inexplicable need to keep him safe. Even as I walked away, his presence in my mind refused to fade.