Chapter 10
Quinn
Tears sting my eyes, but the maelstrom inside me roars so loud, I can’t even think.
I’m surrounded on all sides.
An warrior at my back I don’t know.
A circling gang of orcs who’ve ruined my family before.
And Malphyr.
My husband, my heart. The one dealmaking demon I thought I could trust to stand by my side.
I let him in. I opened up. And he lied to me.
My chest feels hollowed out. Carved open. Exposed.
In the cavity where my heart should be, there’s an avalanche of hurt. It howls through me the way the winter gale blows through the heart of the forest.
And when I look at Mal, at his trembling wings and the defeated curve of his tail, I see that devastation mirrored back to me.
“You see, sweetheart?” Khaor hikes the duffel bag high on his shoulder and reaches for my arm. “Demons only ever look out for themselves.”
But the words don’t ring true. Not for me.
The second I feel Khaor’s hand clamp hard around my elbow, I snap.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” I twist out of his hold as surprise lights up his eyes.
“I told you, didn’t I? Your girl can put up a fight!” Khaor laughs, the sound brittle, edged with anger. He makes another grab for me, but he doesn’t even get close.
Power surges through me as I finally unleash the magic inside me.
A gift, a curse, passed down from mother to daughter. For my grandmother, it granted life — blooms abundant and roses galore.
For me, it granted death — cold, crisp decay.
I raise my hand, and an icy blast flows out of my fingertips, fast and free and unrestrained. Wrenched from my soul, the frost radius burns like a flash. It covers everything. The ground, the trees, and even the sky splits with an earsplitting crack!
Vespina claps her hands over her ears, wincing in pain.
Every orc in the clearing staggers back, then ices over.
Only Mal stands, awestruck and rooted in place, as snow drifts over him.
All around us, frost crackles and blisters like a living thing. Every breath drags thin, icy air into my lungs. But everything else—the orcs, the swaying branches, even the blades of grass—sits in silence.
“Fuckin’ hell, Mal,” Vespina gasps, arms wrapped tight around her body. “You never said she was a literal ice queen.”
“I didn’t know,” Malphyr says, black eyes soft and sad.
For once, his deep red skin appears almost purple, and I wonder if it’s worse for him — a man who runs hot, standing in the circle of my chill.
Clearing my throat, I throw my shoulders back and lift my chin up.
“Now, take me to my brother.”
Apparently, demon wings don’t work in below freezing temperatures. We have to make our way through the forest as a trio.
I trail behind Malphyr and his lieutenant, snow crunching between our feet as they strategize and plan for what’s next.
I catch snatches of it — something about glitter and police raid and whatever else — but for the most part, I’m lost in my own swirling thoughts.
Sifting through the absolute shitstorm of the last few days, I start laying out the cold, hard facts.
Ten years ago, I bargained away my heart so Kai and I could have a fresh start.
Oh, the contract marriage and baby, when I expected to negotiate for my soul or a lower repayment interest rate. But when I entered that room and saw that enormous black-eyed demon, I knew I was marked as the devil’s bride.
It was in the way he looked at me, the way he teased me.
The way I felt before him.
People — monster or otherwise — don’t make me feel anything. Not unless they mean something to me.
Not unless they’re important.
So, Mal? For better or worse, he’s important. As important as family. Why else would I run straight into his lair, into his arms the second I knew I was in over my head?
From up ahead, Malphyr looks back over his shoulder at me. He catches my eye, and I feel a flush of warmth ripple through me. It sparkles and shines like something golden and beautiful.
Connection.
I frown.
My normal instinct would be to shut it down. Shut it out. Run.
And I did. I intended never to return to this place.
Yet I always expected to return to him.
I spin the ring on my finger, around and around, puzzling over the memories.
His strong arms cradling me. His fussing over my scalded skin. The filled fridge so I wouldn’t be hungry.
At every turn, at every opportunity, he tried to anticipate my needs. He tried to meet them. And fuck, he even let me set every boundary between us — and he held to them.
Why?
And then, it clicks.
Because he’s mine. Every much as I am his.
Mal turns, testing his wingspan and glancing up at the sky. “Okay, I think we’re clear.”
“I’m going to handle the orc situation,” Vespina says, sending me a tight smile. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain why there’s orc popsicles in the middle of the forest. The police know I’m more of a slice and dice girl.”
I laugh as she reaches over and cuffs my shoulder.
It’s a friendly gesture, one I’ve seen plenty of other people make, but not one I’ve ever been the recipient of. Weirdly, that, too, makes me feel a small burst of emotion and I reach out to take her hand.
“Thank you,” I say thickly. “For stepping between me and those goons. I know we don’t know each other very well, but I appreciated the gesture. And sorry if I scared you back there.”
Vespina’s smile grows as she squeezes my hand back. Then, she glances over her shoulder at Mal, who waits with his hands planted on his fists and his face turned up to the sky.
“Listen, it’s not my business, but… go easy on him, okay? He’s got a good heart. For a demon, anyway.”
Tucked into Mal’s arms, I inhale his spicy scent and curl into his warm embrace.
“Are you cold?” he asks, as he takes us deeper into the forest, up along a craggy mountain side.
“No, I don’t really feel the cold. Benefit, I guess, of my grandmother’s magic.”
“We’re nearly there.”
Still, he shuffles me closer and holds me tighter as if he can shield me from everything — the wind, the world, the hurt.
I hide my smile against the plane of his chest, and let my fingers dance over the smooth, muscled skin. Beneath my fingertips, his heartbeat pounds a steady beat.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “For everything. I should’ve told you I had Kaiden when you first turned up in my house.”
Tilting my head up, I search his face. “I know you’re sorry. Why’d you do it? Why lie to me?”
“I… it’s my nature, for one.” His eyes widen and he glances down at me, stammering, “N-not that it’s any excuse! I should’ve told you.”
“Yeah. You should’ve. Next time, tell me.” I sigh. “I may not need your protection, but I do need your honesty.”
“Understood. I guess I was trying to right so many wrongs, and I really thought it’d be safer — better, maybe — for me to do it on my own.”
I pull back, eyebrows raised. “Right what wrongs?”
“A long time ago, when I was still living in the Hellhole, I was in charge of a poisoned mirror. I didn’t like how it distorted how people saw the world and themselves, so I broke it.
Thought that would be the end of it.” He laughs bitterly.
“But I underestimated the power in it, and ended up releasing it far and wide. It infected so many, and when I see traces of it in people — even now — I can’t stand it. ”
“Traces of what?”
“Self-loathing. Vice. All that can be twisted in this world. It’s all my fault, you see? If I hadn’t broken that mirror, people wouldn’t struggle as much to master their vices. They wouldn’t see themselves in such ugly ways. I’ve been trying to fix it ever since.”
“People being attracted to vice, or having a warped sense of self — those things aren’t your fault, Mal. Those things are just… part of the whole human experience. We all have our demons.” I reach up and cup his cheek, smiling softly. “And, it seems, even demons have their demons.”
He looks so anguished, so broken, that my heart aches.
Funny, that.
Before Mal, I tried not to feel anything. While he felt everything.
“For the record, you never wronged me.”
He quirks a brow at me.
“Okay, you didn’t tell me you had my brother. That was a bad call on your part. But you said you did it to keep him safe, and I believe that.”
“I used that knowledge to nudge up your timeline for marrying me.”
My eyes narrow.
“I knew what I was getting myself into. Or have you forgotten that I’m a sought-after city fixer? I always, always look for the loopholes.”
“Quinn,” he huffs, “I took advantage of the situation. Of you.”
I purse my lips together to hide my smile. He’s so damn cute when he’s disgruntled.
“Oh, and I was just an innocent, idiot damsel in distress, was I?”
He rears back as if I’ve slapped him. “No! Fuck, no.”
I laugh. “What I’m saying is, I forgive you. You should learn to forgive yourself.”
“Forgiveness,” he murmurs, rolling the word around like an it’s an utterly foreign concept. “Haven’t tried that one before.”
“Mm. Now, is there anything else you haven’t told me?” I tease.
He winces. “I maybe haven’t told you that you’re my one true love. Demons only get one. So, if you won’t have me, well… that’s just too bad. I’m bound to you, tethered together for a lifetime.”
“Malphyr, aren’t you immortal?”
He tilts his head, grinning sheepishly as his horns gleam in the fading light. “Well, not anymore. Not since I mated with my one true love. Apparently, that gains me a soul. And an expiration date.”
My eyes go round as he lands on the balcony of an enormous, hidden away cabin carved in rock and nestled deep in the forest.
“You mean— you gave up eternity to be with me?”
“Darling, you’re worth it.” He smiles, dropping a kiss on my temple and giving me a nudge forward. “Go on. Kaiden’s waiting for you inside. He’s safe.”
As am I.
That bright, golden emotion wells up inside me again, and this time, I decide not to bottle it up.
Instead, grab hold of my demon and drag him down for a kiss that sears me down to my soul.
And as I fit myself against hard body, something old and magical and right slides into my heart and blooms inside me.
Then when I pull back, my eyes searching his warm, dark depths, I find the words that match the feeling.
“I love you, Mal. Then, now, and forever.”
His eyes drift shut. “I love you, too, Queenie. For always.”