Chapter Fourteen
Malichai
Lines in Blood
There are moments, fractures in time, where instinct takes over. Not logic. Not control.
Just pure, brutal instinct. I haven’t felt that pull in over a century. Until now.
Because the second I smell him, Ravik Morgrave, on the wind outside The Gin Room, my dragon snaps. He’s close. Too close. And my mate is inside.
The building looks normal from the outside. Patrons coming and going. Music humming from within. But I feel it. A disturbance in the power lines. A shift in the air that tastes like rot beneath sugar.
Ravik’s calling card.
I storm through the front entrance, flanked by Tavian and Dax, both already keyed into my aggression. The moment I pass the threshold half the room stiffens. Paranormals can feel me coming—like the pressure before a thunderclap.
Celeste spots me first, her smile faltering as her eyes lock onto mine.
She knows. Even as a human, she can feel it too. Danger.
“Where is she?” I demand, voice low and lethal.
“Back bar,” Celeste says, instantly serious. “Ten minutes ago, she went to restock mixers.”
I move. Not running. Not rushing. I hunt her down.
The hallway behind the main bar is empty. My boots strike the tile with the sharp, clean rhythm of someone already counting heartbeats. The bond pulses in my chest, dragging me toward her like a tether.
She’s not in danger yet. But he is near. And the second I round the corner into the stockroom, I smell it.
Blood.
Not hers. Not much. Just enough to mark intent.
I shove the door open and find her there, crouched behind a case of top-shelf whiskey, hand glowing with barely contained magic, eyes wide and ready to kill.
The fae blood in her shines when she’s furious.
Her mismatched eyes are radiant, wild, and untamed.
She’s the most dangerous thing in the room.
Until I enter.
“Ari,” I breathe.
Her eyes lock on mine and the tension releases like a sigh. “I’m fine,” she says, but her voice shakes.
“Where is he?” I growl.
“I didn’t see him. I just ... I heard something. Then this smell, like sulfur and ash. And blood. I think he wanted me to know he was here.”
Ravik.
The bastard likes to play. Likes to taunt his prey before he strikes. I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.
I pull out my phone and bark orders to Tavian. “Lock down the block. Seal the exits. No one in. No one out.”
“Come here,” I tell her. She hesitates only a second before stepping into my arms. I hold her tighter than I should. But not as tight as I need. “You’re okay,” I whisper into her hair.
“I’m angry,” she says. “I hate being a target. I hate being bait.”
“You’re more than bait,” I growl. “You’re mine.”
That earns me a sharp glance.
“Who the hell is he?” she mutters.
“An old enemy.” I smile grimly. “Someone I should have killed when I had the chance.”
“You’re going to lose control,” she says softly, not accusing, just knowing.
“I already am.” Because I want to shift. Right here. Right now.
I want to scorch the pavement outside. Burn the shadows he walked through. Melt every ounce of filth that dared to step within twenty feet of her. But she’s watching me.
So, I don’t. Not yet. But the leash is fraying. And Ravik has no idea what kind of hell he just invited.
****
Hours later, the Gin Room is locked down. Security increased. Wards refreshed. Ari insisted on finishing her shift, so I stayed. In the shadows. Out of the way but keeping watch. I am always watching.
She’s stronger than she knows. But strength doesn’t mean she has to do this alone. He, Ravik, is targeting her because of me and I will do everything I can to keep her safe.
After she closes up, we walk back to her apartment in silence. The city is quiet again but this time, it feels like a lie. When she unlocks her door, I follow her inside without asking.
I’m not letting her out of my sight. Not tonight. Perhaps not ever again.
“I know you want to keep me safe,” she says, tossing her keys onto the counter. “But you need to know something.”
I arch a brow.
“I’m not the kind of girl who hides behind a dragon,” she says. “I may not be full-blooded. But I’m not weak.”
“I know that.” I say with a nod.
“Then don’t treat me like a porcelain doll.”
“I won’t.”
“But you’ll still guard the door all night?”
“Yes.”
She sighs. “You’re impossible.” She rolls her eyes, and I can’t fight my smile.
“You’re luminous when you’re mad.”
That earns a ghost of a smile.
“Can you at least stay on the couch instead of lurking outside like a gargoyle?”
I nod once. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I need.”
She pauses, then steps closer, close enough that I can smell the hint of whiskey and magic on her skin.
“I’m still mad,” she whispers.
“I know.”
“But I don’t want to sleep alone.”
My dragon roars. But I don’t touch her. Not until she reaches for me first. Until she forgives me every move between us will be initiated by her. I’ve already hurt her in the past and I won’t risk losing her now. Her fingers curl around mine, soft and sure.
And just like that, I know. The next time Ravik comes for her? He won’t find a frightened girl. He’ll find a queen.
And the dragon who will burn the world for her.