Chapter Ten
Malichai
Let Her Burn Me
The city is quiet before dawn.
Not peaceful, New York never is, but quiet in that way a storm goes silent before the thunder hits. Like the entire world is holding its breath, waiting to see if something beautiful or catastrophic is coming next.
I know that feeling. Because I’m standing in the middle of my office, shirt half-buttoned, eyes on the elevator, waiting for her.
And I don’t even know if she’ll come. I shouldn’t hope. But I do.
Because dragons are cursed that way, always chasing what they were never meant to have.
The moment I feel her in the building, everything in me snaps to attention. My dragon lunges forward, pressing against my skin, roaring for her. The bond flares like a match held to gasoline.
She's close. Closer than she’s ever been to choosing me freely.
The elevator dings. Soft footsteps echo down the hallway. And then the door opens, and she’s there. Hair wild from the wind. Cheeks flushed. Hoodie zipped to her chin like armor. She doesn’t speak.
Neither do I.
Not at first.
Because I don’t trust my voice not to crack under the weight of what this is.
Ari steps inside slowly, eyes scanning the room. She’s vibrating with magic and emotion and purpose, and I know, instinctively, this is a defining moment. For both of us.
“I didn’t come here for apologies,” she says, voice steady.
“I won’t insult you with more.”
Her mouth curves, just a little. Not a smile. Something sharper.
“I came to ask you why.”
I nod. “You deserve that.”
“I know I do,” she snaps.
I step forward, but only one pace. “I was scared.”
She snorts. “Of what? Me?”
“No.” I meet her gaze head-on. “Of losing you.”
She swallows. I continue, each word dragged from the deepest, rawest part of me.
“You don’t know what it did to me, feeling that bond snap into place the moment I laid eyes on you.
I wanted to claim you so badly I couldn’t breathe.
But my father ... he would’ve killed you just to keep me from falling for someone who wasn’t dragonborn.
And I couldn’t...” My voice breaks. “I couldn’t risk that. ”
“So, you took the risk from me.”
“Yes.” It’s true even though the word tastes like bile on my tongue. I know what I did was wrong but still, I can’t bring myself to regret keeping my mate safe.
“That’s not love, Malichai. That’s control.”
I nod again, throat thick. “I know. The truth is, I would do anything to keep you safe even if it means I could lose you.”
She crosses her arms. Her magic pulses, bright and wild. “But you still flirted. You still touched me. You still looked at me like I was yours when you knew damn well I had no idea what was happening.”
“I couldn’t stay away.” I drag my hand through my hair in frustration. “I tried. Every day. I watched you live, laugh, fight, drink, flirt with strangers, and I tried to stay away. But it was torture. Because every breath you took felt like it belonged to me.”
She inhales sharply. “Don’t,” she whispers. “Don’t say things like that unless you mean them.”
“I’ve only ever meant them.”
She takes a step forward. “You said you chose me,” she says, voice trembling. “Not because of the bond. But because of me.
“I did.”
“Then prove it.”
“How? Tell me,” I demand, leaning closer to her. “I will do whatever you want.”
She looks up at me, eyes storming with anger and fear and something else that shimmers too close to longing.
“Tell me everything. No more shadows. No more half-truths. I want to know who you are without the mafiaesque crown you wear. Without the dragon. Just you. I want the truth so I can say I chose or rejected you for who you are.”
It’s a terrifying request because no one’s ever asked. No one’s wanted the man underneath the myth. But she does. So, I give it to her.
“I’m over a thousand years old. I’ve fought wars you’ve never heard of, watched cities burn, lost people I loved, and buried every last bit of softness under steel.
I’ve ruled monsters, walked with demons, brokered peace with nightmares.
And for centuries, I believed I was incapable of being more than that.
” I step closer. “But then you walked in with your pink hair and wide mismatched eyes and smart mouth, and you fucking ruined me. You made me want things. Gentle things. Human things.”
I pause. “And I hated you for it.” Her lips part. “But I’ve never stopped loving or wanting you.”
A long beat of silence stretches between us. Then she walks right up to me, barely reaching my chest, and pushes me. Hard.
“I hate you for making me choose,” she spits. “If I had the time you’d had I would know for sure but now I am just running on instinct.”
“I know.”
“I hate that part of me still aches for you even after everything.”
“I know.” I don’t know what else to say in the face of her accusations.
“I hate that I don’t want to walk away,” she whispers.
My heart stutters.
“And that,” she says, voice shaking, “scares me more than anything.”
I look down at her. At this furious, radiant, powerful creature. And I fall. Without touching her, without magic, without claiming the bond, I fall for her all over again.
“I won’t ask you to stay,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper, “but if you do, I’ll spend the rest of my existence proving I’m more than the man who took your choice. I’ll be the man who gives you everything from now on. Every choice is now yours to make.”
Tears slip silently down her cheeks.
“I don’t forgive you,” she whispers.
“I don’t expect you to.”
“But I believe you.”
And just like that, the fire between us doesn’t simmer anymore. It roars.