Chapter 19
CHAPTER
My feet hurt.
We had been walking for a while, time seemed to lose meaning out here.
Malakai was carrying the one bag we were able to salvage so I could rest my shoulder.
The silence was eating at us, as we had once again fought about our objectives.
He wanted us to press on, aiming for the mages’ camp to try and infiltrate them.
I was all for it, but I wanted to find our comrades first.
“What if the mages ask more than one of us to prove our powers? They’ll kill them,” Malakai argued, irritation in his voice.
“Then you’ll show yours?” I shrugged.
He chuckled dryly. “Sweetie, they can’t handle my power. It’s not an option.”
“What if one of them is hurt? We need to help our own,” I pressed on, glaring at him.
“I’m sure your sniper boy is fine,” he muttered.
My cheeks burned. “I’m worried about all of them.”
He scoffed, the sound making my blood boil, my fist catching fire as I hurled it towards his back. My eyes widened in shock when I realised I’d thrown a small fireball at him. Malakai wasn’t impressed, stopping in his tracks and slowly turning with threatening, glowing eyes directed at me.
“Careful,” he growled, voice low and dangerous. “That almost felt like an attack.”
“Maybe it was,” I shot back, but the words came out a little too high-pitched. My heart thudded as the flames died on my fingertips.
Then, just as quickly, the threat in his eyes melted into a slow, infuriating grin.
“Ohhh, you’re itching for a fight? Gods, that’s almost cute. Want to try again, or was that your best shot?” His gaze raked over me, lingering long enough to make my skin prickle. “And you decided to show me first.”
My stomach dropped. “It’s not… I didn’t decide—”
Hells, why did it feel like my face was on fire now, too?
He stepped closer, all lazy menace, until he was right inside my space.
“Relax, kitten.” His smirk widened, slow and knowing. “I’m honored, you’re comfortable enough to use your abilities around me.”
I swallowed hard, crossing my arms like a shield. “Don’t read into it. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His grin said he didn’t believe me for a second.
“Sure,” he said lightly, but there was sharpness under the word. “Then tell me, sweetie, does anyone else know what you are?”
My silence was answer enough. He smiled, lingering for a moment, before he spun around and began walking again.
I hated how he used that knowledge to silence me.
“What about you? Why are you hiding amongst the Ashen Corps, then?” I barked, marching after him.
“The same reason as you, I’d guess,” his voice softened, smooth like silk and very convincing.
“You don’t know—”
“You joined to blend in, right? To reject the part of you that you felt ashamed of?” His voice cut through mine, sharp, confronting, but in a soft way.
“How did you…” I blurted, eyes wide.
He went silent, but as I studied him I saw how his features had softened—this wasn’t the Malakai I was used to.
He was ashamed of being a demon? The thought had never occurred to me before… but it didn’t add up. “Why did you kill Carolyn then? She was like us, she was—”
“No,” he interrupted again, still calm. “She was not ashamed, she was an infiltrator.” He stopped and glanced at me.
“When you saw what I was, you fought me with weapons, denying your magic even if it meant that I’d kill you.
Carolyn knew no eyes were on her, so she used her magic every second, rejecting the weapons she had.
Her nervousness was never because of the demons or mages, she was scared of getting caught and was ready to kill you with her magic just to keep pretending. ”
I remembered it vividly; as soon as I had caught her using ice magic, her eyes had turned cold, her whole posture changed into something different…
“Right,” I muttered.
And she had been scared when she looked over my shoulder… when she saw him. Had she known his true nature, or was it the fear that he saw her using magic? I glanced at him, I had never heard of demons looking just like us… well except for shapeshifters. Was that what he was?
“So… are you a shapeshifter?” I asked curiously.
His eyes darkened, before he averted his gaze and walked past me again. “No.” The firmness in his voice told me to not press on.
“Okay… but are you on their side, then?”
“I’m not on any side, since none would welcome me if they knew the truth,” he chuckled bitterly. “What about you? You’re comfortable killing your own kin, without knowing their side of the story?”
I pressed my lips together into a thin line. “I… haven’t thought about it like that.”
“If you ask me, they’re both stupid,” he continued. “Mages and ungifted fighting each other, while the ones who tore them apart watch eagerly from the sideline, unharmed, until they can swoop in and kill whoever is left.”
Since he told me about the quartz and our bullets only slowing the demons down, I began wondering if any of the higher-ranking officers besides Malakai knew of this at the Ashen Corps?
We were simply delaying the demons, while slaughtering humans, mages and non-mages alike, slowly letting the demons grow in numbers, until the day their faction would be larger than their enemies combined.
We wouldn’t stand a chance against them at that point. I felt unease, knowing this, but grateful for his honesty.
“We should try to confront the mages,” I agreed. “If we manage to unite some of them, or at least reach a ceasefire… we could focus on the real threat instead.”
Malakai nodded.
“Thanks… you know, for sharing,” I muttered awkwardly.
“Careful kitten, it almost sounds as if you’re being nice to me,” he smirked teasingly at me and I chuckled lightly.
For a brief moment, I wasn’t feeling tense, or rejecting myself, my flames. I was able to relax, not fearing that Malakai would attack me at any moment because of what he was, or that he’d tell the world of what I was capable of.
A moment of peace.
Before two words entered my mind, making me go rigid again.
Temptation demon.
Coaxing me to use my power, making me feel safe, using sweet words to lower my guard and tempt me to trust.
Shit.
A part of me wanted to believe him, but the other part of me had this gnawing feeling that he didn’t want to tell me what sort of demon he was.
There had to be a reason for it. If he was happy to tell me about his weakness, his shame… then why hide that?
I swallowed hard, my throat feeling dry and tight.
“Tell you what—” Malakai’s voice broke through my thoughts, making me stumble. “I have a small wooden figure somewhere on my person, if you manage to take it from me, we’ll search for the others.”
I furrowed my brows. “What?”
“Give it your best,” Malakai said, his lips curving into a wicked grin. “For your sniper’s sake.”
My hands balled into fists and I flung my hand towards him, like I had before, preparing a fireball and-
Nothing.
Not a single spark, and I looked ridiculous.
Malakai stared at me for a brief moment, before he huffed and then burst into laughter, mocking my very existence…
I bit my lower lip, before I ran towards him, putting all my strength into a single blow. He leaned back and I missed, but I kept throwing punch after punch at his stupid, taunting face.
He sidestepped, left and right, smoothly evading me. His eyes were locked on mine, as if he was able to predict every movement. An opening came and I went for it, almost connecting with his jaw, but he grabbed my wrist before it was able to.
“First failure,” Malakai noted, looking utterly disappointed.
I glared at him, before realizing how close he was. My eyes flickered to his hand holding my wrist firmly, before I met his gaze again, as he cocked a curious brow at me. He was a demon, but he looked like any man…
I placed my free hand on his chest and his brows furrowed. Slowly, I let my fingers glide along his shirt in a lazy circle, before traveling upward.
“Unexpected,” he noted, watching like a hawk.
I jerked suddenly, my hand clenched around his throat, trying to squeeze, but he spun around, keeping his grip on my wrist as he pulled my arm to my back and pressed to lock me down.
“However, not very original,” he chuckled dryly, his free hand appearing around my throat pulling me back against his chest. “That was your second failure.”
I snarled angrily at him, apparently he wasn’t foolish enough to fall for such cheesy tricks.
Without a warning he released both his hands, and I fell to the ground with a thud.
“Try to not be too predictable, kitten.”
I was fuming, but I burned with determination to prove to him that I was stronger than he cared to admit.
A few hours later I surprised him when he stopped to drink some water, trying to tackle him from behind. He didn’t move an inch. “Third fail.”
No matter. I’d just keep trying.
I made another move the next day, surprising us both as I had somehow managed to swing a flame-whip at his leg, ensnaring him. I looked confused at the burning rope before he simply grabbed hold of it and tugged until I fell flat on my stomach and the fires died out.
He sneered at me, and he didn’t even have to say anything out loud for me to know what he was thinking; fourth fail.
We found a little creek, and we stopped to refill our water pouches. I looked over at him, he was hunched down, his fingers dipping into the water as if enjoying the cool touch.
My eyes slid to his shoulder imagining fire erupting.
Nothing.
Shit, this was complicated…
I felt myself growing restless, annoyed, and suddenly a flame sparked on his leather jacket. His head turned and his hand tapped against the flames, choking them out, before he glared at me.
I stuck my tongue out at him, before another small fire lit up on his kneecap. He brushed it away just as easily.
“Are you even trying?” he taunted, tilting his head at me.
“Sorry,” I muttered, mostly because I was embarrassed by my sad attempts.