Chapter 21 – Malice
Chapter Twenty-One
Malice
“ W ell, this isn’t what I was expecting,” Silence mutters.
“Me either.” Ali blinks up at me from where she’s wrapped around my chest. The darling little fae climbed me like a tree in front of her husband.
Apparently, she’s more relaxed in the dream realm, because she never once launched herself straight up my torso in all the years that I siphoned us.
It was extraordinarily cute, while Silence ruined the moment with his constant nagging that he might vomit.
“I think I’m going to siphon up and check things out before bringing you two.” I pat her ass, nodding to the ground.
Silence wanders a few feet away, staring up at the cliff face in what I think is awe.
“Nope, I’m coming. I trust you to keep me safe,” Ali says, burrowing closer. “I need to know Charity is okay.”
“She was fine as of five minutes ago,” I remind her.
“Let’s all pop in at once,” Silence says, coming back to my side. “And for the love of God, don’t drop me.”
I chuckle.
One less male vying for Ali’s time would increase mine with her, but she’d also grieve his loss... I think. As such, the soothsayer is safe enough, at least from me.
Look at that—I’m evolving into a decent packmate. If he were Wraith or Knight, I’d drop him just because it’s funny as hell to hear them scream. Though, they’re truly immortal, and we’ve done a fair amount of tormenting each other over the years.
In the case of the Prince of Spring, I’d rather build camaraderie.
We make it to the cave not forty feet from the top of the peak. The wyvern—I still don’t know that fucker’s name, as I’ve never seen him in human form—lifts his head and chuffs.
Charity lies with her head against his stomach, and she’s chattering away about why she needs to get home to her son. She doesn’t seem to be in any particular distress, but my nostrils flare with the scent of blood.
Fuck me, what happened in the five minutes I was gone?
“Aline?” Charity says, pushing to her feet. “Whoa, who’s that?”
“Malice,” I say, bending at the waist in greeting. I turn to Silence. “You may want to do the thing where you slightly influence the beast before he attempts to barbecue us all.”
Silence steps forward, rolling his shoulders back.
“Please be careful,” Ali whispers.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Charity blocks Silence from getting any closer.
“I’m attempting to calm the monster, so Malice can whisk you to safety awa y from your kidnapper,” Silence says haughtily.
“I’m fine,” Charity says, planting her hands on her hips. “He didn’t hurt me.”
“You smell of blood,” I note.
“I almost took a tumble right off the edge of the mountain, but he saved me. Unfortunately, his teeth nicked my arm.” She swipes a hand through the air. “My kid is a dragonling. I know better than anyone that accidents happen.”
A chilling roar fills the air just down the mountain.
Well, shit.
I thought I was giving Bane the opportunity to play the hero by rescuing the princess from the dragon.
Erm, type of dragon. Kind of dragon? Whatever. I’m not sure if wyverns qualify or if they are their own species.
However, I clearly forgot one important detail. Bane is also a dragon, and he thinks Charity is his mate.
My eyes fly to Ali’s. “I need to get the three of you out of here immediately. I believe we’re about to see what happens when a wyvern and a dragon battle.”
“What?” Charity gasps. “No, I’m not leaving.”
“Yeah, I think we should,” Ali says calmly. “We need to get you back to Veryn.”
Silence flattens himself against the wall of the cave, blocking Ali with his body as Bane, in full dragon form, makes quite the dramatic entry.
His front legs land on the lip at the edge of the cave, but he’s so massive, he has to duck his long neck to scurry inside. The roar he releases shakes the floor.
I siphon to Ali and Silence, despite the fact it drains me significantly to do so without full shadows. It’s pretty dark, outside of that inconvenient fucking fire the wyvern built, but it casts enough light that even the short trip depletes me.
“What the hell is that?” Charity hisses, her eyes bugging.
“Bane,” Ali adds helpfully.
“No way,” Charity says, crossing her arms over her chest. She still manages to jab a finger in his direction. “You asshole! You know how I feel about dragons. You lied to me!”
I’ve never seen a reptilian creature look so confused.
Bane’s massive bluish-gray head tilts like he’s utterly lost to how the conversation veered in that direction. The wyvern stands, shaking out his massive body. He uses his tail wrapped around Charity’s middle to pull her out of the way before snarling at Bane.
“Stop. What are you doing?” Charity snaps, fighting against his hold. “He’s bigger than you.” Her fighting proves futile, and she turns to Bane. “Don’t you hurt him, Bane. I swear on the sweet baby Jesus that I will castrate you if you try.”
“She’s half fae,” Silence whispers. “She prescribes to Christianity?”
“Not the time,” Ali mutters. “Also, she grew up in the human realm. She’s allowed to believe whatever she wants, just like we do.”
“Thank you,” Charity says, struggling against the wyvern’s tail.
I laugh. The human realm is delightfully entertaining. Hell was never this ridiculous.
Silence tosses up his hands. “My apologies. I meant no disrespect.”
“It’s all good. Could you maybe get this overgrown iguana to release me, so that I can save his life? He’s like half the size of that ridiculous salamander.” Charity sighs. “I swear this day is never going to end.”
I snort, shaking my head. Earth truly is my favorite realm.
“You should do something,” Ali says to Silence.
“I’m not risking being burned to a crisp with dragonfire.
There’s no way he’ll hurt her.” Silence gestures to Bane.
He gets close to Ali’s ear and whispers something I can’t hear.
He’s likely reminding her Bane thinks she’s his mate.
He’d never put her in harm’s way. At least, any decent mate wouldn’t, but she’s also displeased about him being a dragon.
I vaguely wonder if it has anything to do with the father of her son.
Veryn woke me up one morning, threatening to burn me alive with his pathetic child-size version of dragonfire. He wanted to know where Ali was and my solemn vow that she wasn’t hurt.
He’s a precocious little monster.
I very well couldn’t kill the boy for discovering Kash’s shell in the laundry room prior to waking me. I enjoy sleeping in Ali’s bed, and I don’t hurt children, so I made friends instead.
Should I have stayed at Kash’s?
Probably, but I wanted to be surrounded by her scent and all her things.
Which reminds me, I should likely move her panties to the dryer.
I was trying to be a gentleman, so I ensured I washed them after, but I’d never jerked off in the human realm and...
Oh yes, we’re currently in the middle of a crisis.
Back to the matter at hand.
Veryn can’t wake up to his mother missing. He’d be worried. He’s an adorable little fellow and he’ll make a solid alpha one day.
“Right,” I clap, “so, I’m going to pop back home with Charity, so her son doesn’t wake up to find his mother missing.” I give the wyvern a disapproving frown. “You both know where to find her.”
I siphon over, grabbing Charity, and disappear before the two monstrous reptiles can blink. I trust Silence’s and Ali’s magic to keep them safe until I can return.
“Here we are.” I land in front of the old wolf’s house. Mrs. Segar isn’t my biggest fan, or she wasn’t in Kash’s shell. Hopefully this will help improve her opinion of me. “Sorry about that. Likely, the wyvern came across you because of me.” I frown. “I mean Kash.”
“Oh God, I think I’m going to hurl.” She bends over, resting her palms on her knees. She gags, and I take several large steps back. “That wyvern is my mate!”
“What?” I ask, truly bewildered.
She nods. “Every time we touched, my chest felt warm and tingly. He was also able to send me thoughts and images telepathically. I’m not the most familiar with the monster world, but I’m pretty sure that means we’re fated.”
“Indeed,” I agree, scratching at my jaw. Huh, Haven is full of surprises. I’ve never heard of dragons sharing a mate. Let alone with a wyvern, which, from my understanding, are viewed as less than in dragon society. “I should get back and recommend they not kill each other.”
I wave and siphon back to the cave. The two monstrous beasts are gone.
Shocking.
It does put a damper on my ability to warn them not to kill each other.
Oh well, I tried.
“Charity thinks the wyvern is her mate.” I chuckle. “And Bane believes she’s his. That’s going to be interesting.” I meander over to the wall, where Silence has Ali pinned. “What did I miss?”
“I ache,” she groans.
I swallow thickly, getting a huge hit of her pheromones. She’s definitely entering the initial stage of her quickening, or as demons call it, her heat.
My cock hardens to a painful degree.
I glance toward the fire and back at Ali. Even if it’s extinguished, I’ve left us in quite a precarious situation.
“We’ve got you,” Silence murmurs, typing away on her phone one handed as the other caresses her head. “Okay, so they’re aware of where we are, and they’re going to check on Charity and meet us at your house.”
“I’m completely tapped out.” I grimace. “Siphoning from the shadows alone takes almost no energy, but carrying guests does. Doing it from a well-lit area is a completely different situation. It drains me significantly.”
“Malice,” Ali whimpers, stretching out a hand.
“I’m here, kitten. I just need a bit of time to recharge, and I’ll get us all back safely.”
Silence steps back and Ali flings herself at me. I catch her easily, turning to survey the area. It’s a fucking cave. It doesn’t have much to offer.
“Okay, so I’ve informed them we may be a bit delayed.” Silence frowns at the phone. “Or I believe I have. The checkmark means it’s been sent?”
“Yeah,” Ali moans breathily, licking her way up my neck.