Chapter 6
My stomach sinks when I find the house as empty as I left it. Part of me had hoped Malakai would have returned, but I should have known better. I need to accept he won’t always be waiting for me anymore.
A sigh escapes me as I lock the front door behind me.
I leave my coat and shoes in the foyer closet and saunter to the kitchen.
In the center of the kitchen table lies a twig adorned with a few white-pink blossoms, carefully placed there.
I frown, wondering if Malakai left it for me, and pick it up.
The small flowers smell sweet and delicate.
I think I’ve seen them somewhere before, but I can’t quite place them.
After a moment of confusion, I shrug and set them back down. I go to the library and collapse onto the sofa, exhaustion catching up with me. The fire crackles, its warmth enveloping me, yet tiredness lingers in every part of my body.
Nevertheless, my mind is far from calm. The peace I felt earlier becomes a distant memory, partly spurred on by my unsettling encounter in the park. My thoughts fill with the image of those teeth—those fangs. A shiver runs through me, despite the heat surrounding me.
I don’t know how long I sit there, staring into the fire without truly seeing. Eventually, the door opens, and Malakai enters, carrying a cardboard box.
“You’re still up?” he questions, raising an eyebrow as he stands beside the sofa.
I blink at him, needing a moment to shake off the darkness of my thoughts. “Looks like it,” I reply coldly, my anger from earlier returning swiftly.
“I brought you something.” He sets the box down next to me on the sofa.
I look from the box to him and back, unable to read his expression, unsure if I even want to. With a sigh, I lift myself up and open the box. Inside is a head—a really big, dark brown dog’s head. I glance at him, unimpressed.
“Cute,” I say, my voice frigid. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”
“It’s Nikolay.”
“So?”
“He interrupted us.”
“Because you let him, you asshole,” I spit. “And this is a dog. A one-eyed dog, but still a dog.”
“Nikolay is, or rather was, a psoglav. They have a human body with horse legs and a dog’s head.” Malakai can tell by the unimpressed look on my face that I’m not convinced. “You can tell because of this.”
He opens the dog’s mouth and pulls out its tongue. A mark is burned into its flesh—a snake coiled around a moon.
“Is that… Did you brand him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Those who work for me in permanent positions carry this Mark, my Mark, as part of their contract. They fulfill their agreed-upon work, get paid well, and enjoy my protection when needed. If they break the contract or disobey me, I kill them. Nikolay did both, so here we are.”
I pull a face at him, and he can’t help but smile. “A Mark proves nothing; it could still be a dog. Besides, I thought inhumans couldn’t die?”
“Only the pureblood ones.” Malakai gestures to the head in the box. “Nikolay was a half-breed, or hellspawn, as they like to call themselves. As you can see, they’re very much capable of dying. You just need to know the trick.”
I look at him, disgust evident on my face. “I take it you’re a pureblood, then?”
Malakai bares his teeth in a predatory smile. It’s all the confirmation I need. Of course, he is. Not a single drop of humanity, as expected.
“Wait,” I say, something clicking in my mind. “Half-breed? Does that mean inhumans can have children with humans? Or only the purebloods like yourself?”
The look he gives me says he doesn’t think it’s the right time for this, but he knows I won’t let it go. You can’t just tell me there are half-breeds and expect no follow-up questions.
“Most purebloods can, or at least the males can,” he replies with a deep sigh, clearly done with this conversation.
“How so?”
“Many of the pureblood females are either not allowed to bear children or can’t be bothered, depending on their species. Half-breed females are barren.”
Anger flares deep inside me, but I bite down on my lower lip to contain it. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t want to discuss this; he knows this topic is a difficult one for me. But I asked, and I want to know.
“Still,” I say, shifting the topic in an attempt to keep my stomach from turning, “this is ridiculous.” I gesture to the head. “He interrupted us, yes, but you still chose to leave. So now you give me a head in a box and think it’s all okay?”
He shrugs.
“Then what will you do if someone ever looks at me in a way you don’t like? Gouging out their eyes?”
“Oh, I most definitely will,” he replies, his voice stern and humorless.
And I know he would, so I curse at his admission. But why do I want to watch him do that?
“Next time, love.” He sits beside me, whispering the words in my ear, his hand resting on my thigh.
“That’s beside the point,” I say, scrambling to my feet, trying to hide the flush on my cheeks. “I don’t care that I’m yours—” Malakai’s golden eyes shine with satisfaction at my words, effectively cutting me off.
“What?” I snarl at him.
“You just admitted it.”
“Admitted what?”
“That you’re mine.”
I grit my teeth, resisting the urge to let it get under my skin. “I’m not your plaything to use as you please,” I finish my earlier sentence.
“But you like it when I do,” he says, rising and wrapping his arms around me again.
“I don’t.”
“You tend to come awfully hard for someone who doesn’t,” Malakai purrs, and I swallow, my cheeks burning with shame. He tips my head back, licks my lips, and gives them a soft nip to stop me from denying his words a second time.
“You might not want to admit it yet.” His hand travels from my chin to my neck, between my breasts, and to my stomach, lingering at my hip. “But you love it. All of it.” He brushes my hair aside and places a soft kiss on my neck.
My breath hitches at the contact, my pulse races, and I can’t deny craving more. I relish the feather-light touch of his lips against my skin. He’s right, and he knows it all too well. No matter what he does to me or how he treats me, I love every second of it.
Malakai steps away, and I immediately miss his hands on me, the heat from his body against my skin. “Go freshen up. I have to go to the office, and I’d like you to join me.”
“What about…” I nod at the box.
“I’ll take care of it. You want it on a spike here, or perhaps in the bedroom?”
“Disgusting,” I say, crinkling my nose. “I want it out. It’s smelling up the place.”
I’m already waiting in the hallway with my coat on when Malakai walks down the stairs, cleaned up and ready to go out. My eyes catch on the way he has his black hair slicked back, and he raises an eyebrow at me when he sees me staring.
“I want to mess it up,” I admit in a whisper.
“Later, love.” He smiles, amusement twinkling in his eyes, his hand going to my back as he guides me to the door.
“I’ll hold you to it,” I state while he closes the front door behind us.
My eyes drift to the park across the street, a quiver running through my stomach when my gaze sweeps over the tree line. “Mal?” I ask while he steps up next to me. “Does anyone on this street have long, dark brown hair and green eyes?”
Malakai thinks for a moment, following my gaze, then replies, “Not in that combination, no. Trouble?”
“Not yet.” The memory of those sharp teeth makes me shudder slightly.
We walk to the city center, where, just like before, we are followed by stares and whispers. I know why, but I want nothing more than for them to stop. Knowing I can’t, I try to tune it out. The anxiety gnaws at me, making me want to snap at them.
Malakai notices the spike in my magic and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me close. “You’ll get used to it.”
“And what if I don’t? Can I make them shut up then?”
“Maybe.”
We stop in the middle of a plaza with a small garden, surrounded by tall glass buildings. Malakai gives me a moment to take it all in, the luxurious design making me gasp as I look up. The view up there must be breathtaking.
After a few minutes, Malakai takes my hand and guides me toward one of the buildings. “This is us.”
We step into a beautifully decorated foyer, with tall windows, white and black marble floors, and rich dark furniture. Malakai approaches the reception desk, manned by a man and a woman, heading straight for the woman. She immediately blushes when he approaches.
I sometimes forget how handsome he is, especially with his devilish smile. Seeing another woman look at him like that stirs feelings I never expected… I hate it, utterly despise it.
I stand there, teeth clenched, watching as she nearly drools over my husband. It doesn’t help that she’s stunning, with flawless fawn-colored skin, bright amber eyes, and long black hair. She wears a dark gray pantsuit, and a silver necklace with an eggplant-colored gemstone hangs around her neck.
“Be a dear and let Thomas Evans know I’ve arrived.” Malakai smiles at her, and I have to hold back the urge to hit him—for smiling at her, for enticing her.
“And your name, sir, please?” She stumbles over her words, fawning over him. I want to hit her for looking at him with those big doe eyes.
“Deimos.”
Upon hearing his name, her eyes widen, and her cheeks turn an even deeper shade of red. She nods at him and calls for Thomas. I’m ready to tear her throat out. Malakai guides me a few steps away while we wait for Thomas, his fingers digging into the skin of my arm.
“I didn’t take you for the jealous type,” he notes, looking at me with a teasing smile, easily picking up on my thoughts.
“Well, it looks like I am,” I snap, surprising myself because I never was before. Not until him.
“You have nothing to worry about. No one even comes close to you in comparison.”
Malakai comes closer, putting a hand around the back of my neck. “Look at her. Really look at her.”