Chapter 17
CHAPTER
“We need to find the others!” I panted in between coughing.
I spat out what felt like half the river, shoving my wet hair out of my face. My boots squelched in the mud, every step sounding wet and squishy. Beside me, Malakai looked annoyingly unfazed, of course he did, he never seemed bothered by anything but me.
He raked a hand through his hair, the white strands becoming messy, and water droplets ran down his jaw onto the red ink of the demon markings curling over his neck and disappearing underneath his shirt. I tore my eyes away before he caught me staring.
“We should get out of these clothes before we freeze,” he said, already tugging at the straps of his harness on top of his shirt.
“Excuse me?” My voice cracked in a way that was definitely the water’s fault.
“Relax,” he drawled, undoing a buckle with maddening leisure. "Unless you’d rather I catch a cold and die. That would solve your problems nicely, wouldn’t it?"
“You’re impossible,” I muttered, trying to focus on wringing water out of my top.
He smirked, peeling the soaked shirt from his shoulders, muscles flexing as the fabric slapped wetly against the ground. “You could use that fancy fire magic of yours, you know. Heat us up, dry the clothes. Unless you’d rather keep watching?”
Heat rushed up my neck faster than any spell I could conjure. “I am not watching!”
“Sure you aren’t,” he said, voice low with that infuriating half-laugh.
I spun around to face the forest instead of him. “I am not watching. And I’m not using my…” the words got stuck in my throat briefly. “Magic.”
“Why not?” His voice was maddeningly smooth, like he already knew my answer.
“Because I don’t want to use it,” I said sharply, shoving dripping hair over my shoulder, trying to wring out the worst of it.
“You’d rather be cold than save us both?” He made it sound like a joke, but there was something sharper underneath.
I refused to answer, which was apparently answer enough.
He chuckled low in his throat, and I heard wet boots dropping to the ground. “Relax. It’s not like I’m taking my pants off.”
I whipped around before I could stop myself.
He stood barefoot in the mud, shirtless, water tracing over muscles and those red markings, curling around his arms, past his collarbones, and to the middle of his chest. They still had a slight glow. The smirk on his face said he knew exactly what I was looking at.
“You—!” I choked on my words, snatching the dagger from my holster.
He tilted his head, utterly unbothered. “Careful, kitten. I’m unarmed.”
“You should be dead,” I snapped, anger rushing in to cover up the heat in my cheeks. “Your kind should all be dead.”
“And yet here I am.” His grin widened. “Maybe you just like keeping me alive.”
That was it. I lunged.
Steel flashed as I slashed at him, aiming for anything I could reach. He caught my wrist, twisting enough to force me to drop my blade, and spun me so my back hit the nearest tree.
“Better,” he said softly, dangerously. “Finally putting that rage to good use.”
I kicked at his knee, grabbing my sword, and this time he laughed, actually laughed, as he dodged, circling me like it was some kind of game.
“Stop playing with me!” I shouted, striking again.
“But you’re so cute when you’re angry.” He ducked under my strike, caught my blade mid-swing with his own dagger. Where had he even gotten that? He twisted us until we were chest to chest, blades locked.
I glared at him, breathing hard, water dripping between us. “One day I will kill you.”
His grin was all teeth. “Then today isn’t that day.”
He let go suddenly, stepping back as though the fight had been nothing more than sparring practice. He was still smirking.
“Good form, by the way,” he said, retrieving his shirt from the ground. “You almost had me.”
“Shut up,” I hissed, well aware that he was lying.
He merely laughed again, low and pleased, and sauntered past me as though we hadn’t just been one wrong move from drawing blood.
“Then answer this, why are you so determined to kill me?” Malakai asked, twisting his shirt until water dripped heavily from it.
“You’re a demon,” I barked, marking the word heavily. His glowing eyes darted to mine.
“And you’re a mage.”
His words struck worse than a dagger. Rage boiled inside me, and in that moment of weakness, I threw my blade through the air at him.
Red threads shot out, blocking it, and the steel fell into the dirt.
“You’re ashamed.” It wasn’t a question, he merely confirmed what he saw in my shattered eyes.
I bent to pick up the dagger he had forced out of my grip earlier, before I began walking away from him—away from everything—aimlessly.
I heard no footsteps, no sound at all, yet red blood swirled before me and suddenly he was standing right in front of me, blocking my way.
My grip around the handle tightened, and his eyes noted it briefly before meeting my glare again.
“You think you deserve to die, simply because you were born with powers?” His voice was low, I almost mistook it for vulnerability. But I knew better than that.
“No.” My voice came out strong. “I had buried it, left it behind, until you showed up and forced me to use it.”
“You know that could kill you, right?” He tilted his head, studying me. I averted my eyes, my hand curling into a fist.
“You often get fevers, you said so yourself,” he pressed on. “Never wondered why?”
I swung at him and he caught my wrist again. My breath hitched, as fear slammed into me when I saw flames burning around my knuckles. The fire felt it, and sparked brighter, spreading all over my hand as I heard the crackling sound of my flames meeting his flesh.
My eyes snapped to his, but he was completely unbothered by it, as if I was burning against rock.
What if he was feeding off the energy? Quickly, I snatched my hand out of his grip.
“You only want me to use it so you can feed off of it, don’t you?” I asked.
His eyes turned cold in an instant.
A beat…
Then he lunged forward, his teeth baring as his red eyes scorched.
I stumbled backward, but his hands grabbed my arms, holding me in place.
I felt his breath against my neck, but the teeth never sank into it.
As if he was hesitating, or perhaps he was just enjoying my struggle, like a cat playing with a wounded mouse.
Malakai grunted as he shoved me to the side, walking past me. I spun right around. “Why didn’t you kill me?”
He stopped a few feet away, his back still facing me. “Who knows? Perhaps your stupidity is beginning to rub off.” His voice sounded teasing, yet different.
I snorted and caught a low chuckle in response.
He turned his head enough for me to see his profile. “Make a fire, get yourself warm,” he instructed. “I’ll dive in and see if I can find our bags.”
It took me forever to get the fire started because I used the old-fashioned way to do it.
Yes, I was using dry branches and twigs.
For the first couple of minutes nothing happened, then I got excited over a few sparks, only to have nothing happen for another couple of minutes.
Before I knew it, the sky was already getting dark; hours had passed since we were with the others. My hands trembled when the cold wind swept in, my clothes refusing to dry in this damp weather.
“Shit,” I muttered.
I glanced around, Malakai was still not back and it was quiet, except for my stomach that pleaded for food. Another spark, and I carefully blew on it, trying to feed it, as it ignited the wood.
Finally.
Slowly, it claimed the branches I had stacked together and by the time the flames were strong it was even darker. I sat close to it, feeding it to keep it alive.
A loud splash sounded and a wet bag landed next to me, before I saw Malakai walking out of the river.
“Only found one,” he murmured, clearly annoyed.
I began looting it, finding some food cans and water pouches. It was my bag, and luckily for us, I had been the one to buy more rations in the market before the incident.
I threw him a can that he caught with ease as he placed himself next to me by the fire.
“You think the others… are okay?” I asked carefully, not sure if I wanted an answer.
“We’ll start searching tomorrow,” he answered flatly, or was it from lack of interest? “Unless I freeze to death first.”
I cocked a brow at him. “Demons don’t die from cold.”
“How do you know?” he challenged.
I glared at him, and he sneered, taking it as a win.
“Do you know where we are?” I asked, a shiver going through my body as a wind blew past.
“Near the border.” He leaned back against a tree trunk, savoring the food, even though it tasted bland.
“Shouldn’t we put out the fire? What if mages find us?” I asked, grabbing an empty cup and filling it with water from the river.
“Then we’ll show them that you’re a mage too and they won’t hurt us.” A mischievous smirk appeared on his lips.
Why hadn’t I thought of that? Well, I hadn’t been able to before, not with the others around… but Malakai already knew about my secret.
“We could infiltrate them!” I gasped, excitement sparking inside of me. His eyes snapped to me, jaw clenched like he was actually considering my plan. “It will be dangerous.”
“When are our lives not in danger?” I rolled my eyes at him, crawling back to the flames before the chilly air had me chattering my teeth.
“The cold is making you blue,” he pointed out, arching a brow. He sighed, patting the ground between his legs. “Come here.”
My eyes widened. “No.”
“Wasn’t a question.”
“Good, because it’s not an option,” I hissed.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, brows furrowed in irritation. His free hand snapped his fingers and blood swirled out of nowhere, into thin threads catching me in a net. I struggled against it, but my body wouldn’t move as it pulled me closer to him, placing me between his legs.
“Let. Me. Go!” I barked, baring my teeth at him like an animal.
“Stop fighting,” he said, voice low and almost bored, but his grip on the blood-thread tightened, just enough for me to feel it pulsing, warm and alive against my skin. “You’ll freeze out here. I don’t feel like dragging your corpse through the forest tomorrow.”
“Then leave me here,” I spat. “Wouldn’t that make your life easier?”
He leaned in until I could feel the heat radiating from him, his breath brushing the shell of my ear. “Maybe,” he murmured. “But you’re not going to make me that lucky.”
I glared at him over my shoulder, my chest tight, my pride screaming.
He was a demon, the enemy.
My enemy.
And yet, the warmth seeping through his leathers was already coaxing a treacherous shiver out of me.
“Release me,” I said again, quieter now.
“Not a chance.” His voice dropped, amused. “You’re shivering so hard I can feel it through my legs. You’re going to stay right here until dawn or until you stop breathing, whichever comes first.”
My jaw clenched. “You’re enjoying this.”
His laugh was a low rumble against my back, dark and humorless. “Not nearly as much as you think. Believe me, if I wanted to enjoy myself, this would look very different.”
My cheeks heated, and I refused to give him the satisfaction of a response.
I tried my best to stay rigid, but then his blood magic swirled, almost comforting, humming, and little by little my body gave in.
My spine brushing his chest, my shoulders slowly loosening up.
His arms stayed slack at his sides, but the heat rolling off him was a cage of its own.
“That’s it,” he murmured, mocking, as if he could feel my resistance falter. “See? Not so hard.”
I gritted my teeth. “If you think this is me surrendering, you’re delusional.”
“Call it whatever you want,” he said, so close I could feel the curve of his mouth move against my hair.
I wanted to elbow him in the ribs, but I lacked the strength, my body suddenly heavy.
“I hate you,” I muttered, every syllable bitten off.
“Good,” he said, almost gently. “Hate keeps you warm.”
I remained stiff for as long as I could, but exhaustion crept in with the cold. My eyelids grew heavy, my body traitorous in its need for warmth.
He shifted behind me, a slow, careful movement, and before I could stop him, something brushed over my shoulders. His arms, heavier than mine, warmer, settled across me.
I opened my mouth to protest, to push them back, but his voice rumbled low against my back.
“Go ahead. Waste your strength fighting me. The cold won’t care.”
I shut my mouth with a snap.
The wind howled, but under his arms, the air felt almost bearable. His heat seeped into me until I couldn’t tell where his warmth ended and mine began.
He was quiet for a long time, so long I thought he might have fallen asleep. Then I felt it, the faintest press of his cheek against the crown of my head, like he was testing if I’d flinch.
I didn’t, or rather couldn’t. My body was too heavy now, too tired.
“You’re impossible,” he muttered, so soft I wasn’t sure if it was meant for me or himself. “A nuisance.”
His cheek stayed where it was, growing heavier as he dozed off.
The blood swirls burned into nothing, disappearing from my arms and legs, but I didn’t move away.
Not because I wanted to stay, but because I couldn’t move my body underneath his weight, and my own felt heavier than ever. Instead, I let sleep drag me under.