Chapter 54
Malec
“Roran isn’t your enemy, Onyx. You understand that now, I hope.” Bay stares at her through the rearview mirror.
Onyx nods, murmuring some awkward apology under her breath in the backseat.
I don’t know why Bay even bothers explaining it to her, but if it helps keep Morvakar and Myko quiet, I’m all for it.
“I almost killed her,” she mutters, her voice breaking—almost crying.
My jaw clenches at the reminder, but Bay rests her hand on my thigh, silently reminding me not to tempt fate with her again. But I snap my head toward Bay instead.
“Two hands on the wheel, Bay. You’re not someone who can pull off one-handed driving.”
The words fly out before I can stop them, panic dripping from every syllable—I’m not getting hurt before I find Roran. Especially not from something stupid like a car crash.
Bay rolls her eyes but grabs the wheel with both hands. “Where the hell is that woman? How far can she run in those abusive heels?”
She drives slower with every turn, scanning the neighborhood. I’m scanning too, waiting for Pedro to send back a few of the men they can spare to help search the area.
“If Fedor’s men took her—”
I turn to Onyx, my gaze cold as ice. I don’t fucking care that she’s already whimpering under it.
“Malec!” Bay cuts me off before I finish.
I glare at her, then turn back to Onyx.
“—you better wish she’s okay, or you’re on your own.”
My nostrils flare as my eyes burn into hers. Her gaze drops quickly to her legs.
“Don’t listen to him, Onyx,” Bay starts, but this time, I cut her off.
“Stop treating her like she’s made of glass! She needs to know actions have consequences!”
I slam my fist into the armrest between our seats, making Onyx jump in her seat.
“I—I’m sorry. Morvakar told me he sensed my brother’s blood in Roran’s body, so I got mad… and then I couldn’t control him anymore.”
Her voice is barely a whisper, but I think that’s the longest thing she’s said since getting to land. I sigh, knowing this is going nowhere with that beast still stuck in her head.
“Wait.” A realization strikes.
“Morvakar could tell she had your brother’s blood in her body? How?” Even Myko couldn’t sense that—it’s the first thing he would’ve told me if he did.
She finally lifts her gaze from her legs. “I can… um… I know runes. Well, more like runes call to me, and I activate them.”
She’s getting nervous, lost in her own explanation.
Runes call to her?
“How’s that connected to your brother’s blood?” My voice lowers—I’m trying to understand.
She frowns, studying my face like she’s unsure how much I actually understand.
“You’re the great Depthborne and you still don’t know?” she mutters, squinting now in disbelief.
“Your whole body is covered in runes, and you can’t even tell?” She gasps the question when I don’t answer right away—probably realizing just how clueless I really am.
Wait.
Her words click.
I glance at my marked arms. “The pod marks… are all runes?”
Even Bay gasps, nearly slamming into a U-turn sign before turning back into the street Roran ran off into.
“Bay. Eyes on the road.” I bark, then twist my body fully toward Onyx.
“Did you know that?” I ask Myko. Not sure why the hell he would hide something that big from me.
“That they’re runes? Yes.” He sounds utterly unbothered. “Why does it matter? The ancient runes began with the first five royals. That’s why the royal marks hold power—that’s why they’re connected.”
“And you’re only telling me this now?” I snap.
“Morvakar felt merfolk blood in her body. I sensed the Kolox rune,” Onyx adds, but I don’t let Myko off the hook just yet.
“How’s that even possible? I thought runes were ancient symbols—a language. They started off with only five?”
Onyx tilts her head, trying to read my expressions as I talk to Myko.
He snorts, like I just asked the dumbest question alive.
“The first son was a Rune Whisperer. He shaped, created, and activated runes, helping forge mixed bloodlines with new runes—to limit each house’s power to their domain.
That’s why I told you—without the Coral of Life to stabilize it, and me to maintain it, the wild magic will spiral out. Into chaos. Into war.”
Bay curses under her breath as she pulls up on the street Roran ran into. She’s hearing that for the first time, too.
“I thought they just… mixed lineages to create new pods when others went extinct,” Bay mutters aloud, glancing at me before focusing back on the road, not sure where we should go from here next.
“Why do you think that’s not working anymore?” Myko snaps. “They tried, for a few generations, to create new pods. But no new royal house could form. No Rune Whisperer—no new runes.”
I rest my head on the window, watching the street fade in the golden light. It doesn’t make sense. My grandmother should’ve known.
Mal-El is a pure line descending directly from the first royal son.
“Your grandmother knows the marks are runes,” Myko says, like it’s obvious.
I didn’t even say those thoughts to him.
“But Rune Whisperers—Runjer’ar—aren’t common.
If you never meet one, you won’t know they exist. They don’t need to be there.
They forge a rune, and it just appears on the next fresh mixedblood born, limiting their power. That’s how it’s always worked.”
So Onyx can make new pods…
She’s forging runes. Controlling them.
And she has Morvakar.
Now I get why Myko was terrified of that combination.
My breath hitches. She’s not just unstable. She’s a walking catalyst.
“Did I say something wrong? Why are you both looking at me like—”
“Wait!”
I cut her off, slamming the door open and sprinting toward a gleam of sunlight.
A broken heel.
Pink. And blood.
Roran’s.
Bay and Onyx aren’t far behind—they run out of the car after me, leaving the doors wide open in their rush. We all stare down at the only confirmation I didn’t want.
She was taken.
I inhale deeply, trying not to lose it, and quickly text Pedro, tell him to get Matteo. We need to find who took her. The French. The Russians. Fuck. She could be anywhere.
I kick the heel away and drag my fingers through my hair like I’m about to rip it out.
“Someone took her.” I turn to Bay.
Her gaze softens. “Malec, I’m sorry, we did what we could. But she’s not our priority right now, we need to get to the Red Dock. Free the merfolk. Then we figure out the rune thing and Onyx—”
“No.” My voice could split steel.
“We’re finding her. Now.”
Rage thrums in my veins, pumping with every breath.
“She’s not yours, Malec. You’re losing it at the worst time. I care about her too, but we can’t save everyone—”
“No. You don’t get to give me that bullshit, Bay.” I jab my finger toward her chest.
“You collect poor strays like they’re your trophy collection—bringing them home, treating them like lost children. But when it really matters, when it costs you something, you set them aside because they’re inconvenient?”
The words fly out faster than I can filter them.
“That’s not fair,” she snaps, glaring like a storm’s about to break behind her eyes.
“I don’t care what’s fair. Roran is mine—whether you like it or not, she belongs with us. So either help me find her, or move out of my way.”
Her mouth opens like she wants to fight, then closes again. She breathes out hard.
“…Alright. Let’s go find her.”
“Can I speak now?” Onyx steps between us with a deep sigh.
We both turn to her, surprised at her approach.
“I know I shouldn’t have done it… but I carved Ash’a—the fire rune—into Roran’s neck. I was going to use it to kill her—”
“Onyx…” I growl, fists clenching. “Get to the point.”
“I can feel her. I tried earlier in the car. She’s alive. I think I can track her through my rune—but it’s going to burn. A lot.”
And she’s only telling us this now?