Chapter 52
Malec
“How the hell did you let this happen?”
My voice cracks through the alley like a thunderclap, and Onyx flinches, shrinking into Bay’s arms.
“It’s not her fault. She can’t control Morvakar yet,” Bay says, stepping between us. But I don’t care who’s in front of me. The rage is already clawing up my spine, hot and visible now, dancing under my skin in glowing pulses.
My glare snaps to my aunt. “And you just unleashed Myko right in front of her?”
Her jaw tightens. “I don’t control him too sometimes—”
“I don’t fucking care.”
My voice growls out from a place deeper than fury. “The men scoured every corner, and she’s gone. We have nothing. And she’s gone.”
I drag in a breath. Another. It’s no use. Bay’s glow surges now, and it forces me to stumble back as Myko rises above us, towering like judgment itself.
I brace for more bullshit—some stupid lecture about my tone with my aunt—but his tail coils around me instead, lifting me just slightly off the ground. I don’t fight him.
The glow fades into his scales, and I lean into the curve of his body, eyes locked on Bay and Onyx in his hold—rage still burning behind mine, but caged for now.
“Thanks,” I mutter, jaw tight. “I’ve got better control now, though.”
“Not when you hear the rest,” Myko says quietly. “They lost Novax, too.”
I snap upright. “What?”
The word punches out of me like a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“Pedro updated Bay. I think they found him dead on the way,” Myko’s scales tighten against my skin, like he’s bracing for the explosion. My explosion.
Good.
Because it’s already coming.
It’s not that horny blobfish’s death that’s got me burning alive.
It’s her. Roran.
Out there, somewhere in her father’s hellhole of a territory.
She could be hiding.
Terrified.
Or worse—taken.
My skin heats with every thought, rage licking through my veins. Her scared face flashes in my mind, the way she flinched at every touch. The signs of abuse etched across her body like a map of pain.
I’m not letting her go back.
She’s mine now.
“And no one touches what’s mine.”
I hiss the words through clenched teeth into Myko’s hold, just as footsteps scrape closer.
I tilt my head to the right and see my father returning, flanked by Pedro and Mariano.
“It’s time to go home, Malec,” Dad says coldly, the disappointment sharp in his voice. “We have nothing to do here now.”
No.
Not now. Not yet.
“I’m not leaving.” My voice doesn’t shake. Doesn’t waver. It cuts.
“Release me,” I tell Myko, trying to shift from his hold.
“No. You’d put your family at risk.”
His words land like a slap.
I jerk against his grip. “You think I’d lose control like Morvakar? Myko. Let me go. I’m in control.”
“No, you’re not. Don’t lie to me. You know better.”
A deep growl vibrates in my head. “Myko,” I grit aloud. “These bursts—they’re coming more often. But I’m handling them better now. I won’t hurt my family.”
His answer is another thunderous rumble—not just in my head this time. Dad and Mariano step back, bracing. Even Pedro’s jaw tenses.
What the hell is wrong with him?
A pulse flickers under my skin, hot and strange, radiating from just beneath my arm.
Only now do I feel it—something’s off. Not just him. The air, the surges... it’s not us.
He thinks it’s coming from me?
“What do you feel from me?” I ask before I even know I’m speaking to him. “Tell me what you’re sensing.”
Something’s wrong. I felt it earlier, running back here when I realized Roran was gone—hotter than usual, like the whole world was tilted slightly wrong.
I thought it was just me, losing it again. But this...
“Your body’s heating up. Something’s not balanced,” he hisses in my mind, but I can tell—he’s not just worried about me.
“It’s not me, Myko.” I slap my palm hard against his scale. “Let me go.”
Finally, he loosens his grip—but not without a sharp, shuddering growl that rolls through the air. He coils upward, spiraling into the sky, his massive body casting a shadow over us. Protective. Guarded. Threatened.
Bay steps up beside me, eyes on the sky. Her expression twists. I think he’s not being gentle with her either.
“It’s not him,” I mutter when she’s close. “I think something’s messing with us.”
“You feel it too?” she breathes. “I thought it was just nerves, after what happened with Roran and me. But he’s too… on edge.”
I nod slowly, my gaze sweeping the alley.
And then my eyes catch on her again.
Onyx. Standing stiff, fists clenched in the oversized pants Bay gave her. Her arm is glowing red.
Shit.
“She’s fighting him,” I say, tilting my chin toward her.
Bay’s head snaps to follow my line of sight. A string of curses slips from her lips. It’s never a good sign when she’s doing it.
“You think it’s Morvakar?” I ask.
She shakes her head, still locked on Onyx. “Myko wouldn’t confuse him with us.”
She’s right.
Unless—
“Let’s get out of here,” she says, voice tense. “We can’t leave Onyx like this, not outside, not like this. We don’t know what she’s capable of yet, and we can’t risk any more humans around.”
Seriously?
“Myko’s the size of a building and you’re worried about her in broad daylight?” I deadpan.
She shrugs. “People in this area have seen worse. They just lie to themselves about it.”
Right.
Bay’s logic. She actually thinks that Myko makes sense, but Onyx doesn’t. I sigh.
My father steps away, calling over his shoulder. “The girls are in the car. You go back with Bay and Onyx. It’ll be safer if she’s only with you two for now.”
He’s right, but that’s not happening.
“I’m not going home,” I say, my voice a wall. “Roran is out there. I’m getting her back.”
His body stiffens mid-step. His eyes snap to mine—cold. Controlled. Deadly. The way he looks at men he’s about to make disappear.
He’s on edge, too.
I don’t move. Don’t blink. I’m giving him this moment—out of respect. Not because I’m asking for permission. Just letting him know.
Bay grips my arm, just as Myko’s voice murmurs in my head.
“She’s asking you not to push him. Your mom’s not her best lately. He’s barely holding it together.”
Don’t I know it.
But Roran’s out there—alone. I’m not going back.
“Then tell her I don’t give a damn what he’s doing. I’m not leaving without her.”
Bay sighs and steps forward to face him herself.
“I’ll keep him out of trouble,” she says softly to Dad. “We have two beasts here. I think we’ll manage.”
Pedro throws one last worried glance Bay’s way, small arcs of electricity crackling in his hand.
I don’t blame him, we’re deep in enemy territory.
The Russians know way more than we thought. More than I thought.
But I don’t care.
I’m not stopping until I get Roran back. And I’m not leaving a single soul who hurt her in this world—or the next one.
“We’ll stick to the old plan of tracking the Red Dock. Keep us updated,” my father finally says, eyes on me, not Bay.
Something lifts in my chest.
I was going anyway. But now... it feels like I’m not doing it alone. He approved.
I nod once.
Pedro lingers a moment longer before disappearing into the cars with the others. Engines roar to life as Myko spirals down, his glow slowly shrinking into Bay’s chest until he disappears.
She breathes in deep.
“Let’s go find Roran,” I say.
This time, no one stops me.