Chapter 2
CHAPTER
As we walked over the field towards the supply tent, Ashley turned her head slightly watching Nate, as if assessing her damage.
“Look—” she began, but was cut off when she bumped head first into someone.
“Watch out, you—” she barked as she turned but then instantly fell silent.
“My bad, are you okay?” a man asked, his smile bright and warm. His black hair was a tussled mess, eyes like the sky itself. Black tattoos swirled across his tanned neck, his ear was decorated with an orbital piercing and another piercing glimmering in his left brow.
“I-I’m fine!” Ashley stuttered, voice completely changed, even taking a step back.
The man chuckled. “I’m Jaden Moss, the Aetherion who’s supposed to join—” he looked up until his eyes found me behind Ashley. “The flame wielder.”
“Ethalyn Deering,” I corrected. “This is Ashley—”
“Briarsen,” she smiled awkwardly, making me cock a brow at her.
“Lionel, Nate and Eve,” I continued, gesturing to each in turn.
Eve slid in right beside Ashley, almost nudging her to the side. “Eve Miller… So what kind of mage are you?” Her voice was utterly fake, sweet as honey, I had almost forgotten how she was around men she was attracted to.
She must have totally forgotten her hatred towards mages for a brief moment, dazzled by Jaden's looks.
“I’m an earth wielder,” Jaden smiled back, ignoring the aggression building between the two women in front of him. Well, either that or he was just too polite to point it out.
“Is this normal?” Nate pointed at them, looking over at me. “He’s not even that good looking.”
“I’m as clueless as you.”
“Our journey won’t be boring, that’s for sure,” Lionel muttered, brushing through his hair with his fingers.
“It’s my pleasure to join you,” Jaden said, shining too bright for my eyes.
“Why don’t the three of you go pack our supplies?” I asked, holding back the urge to sneer.
“Sure.” Jaden nodded, and neither Ashley nor Eve had the will to deny him, so off they went.
“You’re evil,” Lionel chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. “They’re going to tear each other to pieces within the hour.”
“Want to bet on who survives?” Nate sneered and I chuckled, shaking my head. “Wait until Mey—”
His words died, and it was as if all air had left his lungs. I slowly turned and looked at him, the pain on his face was momentary, yet devastating, but he quickly slid his mask right back on.
“Sorry, force of habit,” he muttered, as he curled his hands into fists, holding himself together.
Lionel looked away as he patted Nate’s shoulder.
“No one expects you to adjust that fast, or even at all,” I said, lowering my voice.
“Do you… blame Eve?” Lionel asked quietly, still averting his gaze.
“I know it was a freak accident, but…” Nate sighed. “Sometimes I imagine putting a bullet into her head, and it doesn’t feel wrong.”
A chill went down my spine at his words, the bloodlust almost pouring out of his eyes.
“We all have, once or twice, right?” I tried joking, but it fell flat.
Lionel frowned at me, slowly shaking his head.
I bit my lower lip, as silence chewed at us for a moment. The last couple of weeks had been the same. There was a need to be careful of every word, of every move, as if walking on eggshells.
One day we had all broken down, weren’t able to be in the same room as one another, because even the slightest glance reminded us of what had happened—reminded us of her.
“You handled the meeting well,” Lionel changed the subject quickly, noticing the shift in the air.
“Were we at the same meeting?” I muttered glancing over at him and pouting. “It’s been weeks, and this is the first time we actually made any progress.”
“Yeah, weeks of them trying to work together, weeks of them not fighting each other with weapons or magic, but with words.” Lionel nudged me with his shoulder. “You give yourself too little credit.”
I took a long deep breath as my eyes slid towards him. “Thanks.” Having him here made things easier for sure, he was always thinking, planning and calculating. He was a step ahead of all of us and always had my back in those meetings.
Ashley came skittering with a bag on her back, practically glowing.
“Oh?” Nate sneered, as if nothing had happened. “Did you lose?”
“Lose what?” Ashley snapped, before taking a bite out of a piece of bread she had somehow procured.
“No, she prioritized,” I chuckled looking at the food, as Lionel and Nate burst into laughter, but Ashley furrowed her brows confused.
Then Jaden showed up behind her, snagging the bread.
“I was wondering why a piece was missing.” He flashed a smile at her, dancing the line between threat and politeness, while she warred about whether to bite or play nice.
Considering that he hadn’t lost his arm taking her food, she must’ve felt something for him.
Eve swung her rifle onto her back, eyes locking in on Lionel. “I’ve got your ammo in my bag as well.”
“Thanks,” Lionel smiled easily, but his eyes never met hers.
“Who has the map?” Eve asked, looking around.
“Can I have my bread back now?” Ashley muttered, stretching for it, as Jaden teasingly lifted his hand higher.
“I have it,” Nate said, his voice flat as he stepped forward and snagged the bread from Jaden, giving it to Ashley, before continuing past them.
“Our journey will not be boring,” Lionel repeated, this time with a sigh.
“Did I do something wrong?” Jaden cocked a brow, looking at Nate.
“Don’t worry about it, he’s going through… stuff,” Lionel waved it away, before strolling after Nate.
“He lost his sister,” Eve clipped, her hands tightening around the strap of the rifle.
“Oh,” Jaden’s face went blank, with a slow nod.
After we had gathered our supplies, we continued to the outskirts of the field. We stopped at the edge, glancing back at the camp, taking in the sight of the budding peace between Aetherions and Ashen Corps, together in one place, without ripping each other apart.
“This could be the whole world one day,” I whispered, warmth spreading inside me.
“Yeah, just one little demon army away from peace,” Nate scoffed, breaking the bubble of happiness that I was clinging to.
I scowled at him, my glare sharp enough to make him wave his hands in the air, before I moved in front of them. I managed to take one step, before I froze in place.
“What?” Ashley asked behind me, peeking past me.
A thin, red thread floated in the air, a faint glow pulsating, and my heartbeat quickened from the sight alone. No matter how long I had tried to prepare myself for it, for seeing him. I couldn’t contain my reaction.
“What’s that?” Jaden asked cautiously, not moving an inch.
On pure instinct carved into me, my hand reached for it, not able to resist the temptation, but just as I was about to touch it, it flickered and disappeared.
My brows furrowed and I let out a long breath, confusion spreading inside of me.
Then I saw the same red thread floating in the air, but a couple of feet ahead of me, taunting me in every way possible.
“Arrogant demon,” I hissed low, my blood boiling.
“Demon?” Jaden echoed, his voice an octave higher. “They’re already here!?”
“Half, half-demon,” Ashley chuckled nervously, as she patted Jaden’s shoulder. “The details are important.”
I snorted dryly at her words. But before I was able to step up towards the next red thread, Lionel grabbed my arm. “Be careful… Okay?”
I looked back at him, nodding slightly as he slowly released me again. We were all still on-edge, after what had happened at Rimefield. I walked towards the glowing thread once more.
“I’m warning you, I’m already in a bad mood,” I muttered at it, before I reached for the glowing thread again.
One moment there was nothing, and the next, he was standing right in front of me, his hand grabbing mine tightly.
Malakai.
His grip closed firmly, claiming me without hesitation. He lifted my knuckles, brushing his lips against them, but his scarlet eyes never left mine, burning underneath his silvery-white hair, with that unshakable intensity that kept undoing me.
“Caught you, kitten,” he said, low and velvet smooth, the ghost of a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Or maybe you wanted to be caught.”
Heat flared on my cheeks, no matter how much I tried resisting it.
I hadn’t seen him for weeks, not since he killed the leaders of the Ashen Corps and Aetherions and then almost died himself to a quartz bullet.
It was all part of his grand plan to force the two organizations to unite and focus on the demon threat to the south.
I had steeled myself for this moment, imagined it in my mind a dozen times, and then a dozen more.
It wasn’t fine, I wasn’t fine… Maybe it was stupid, but I wanted him to have trusted me enough to have told me before it happened, to have spared me the moment of doubt and hurt of thinking his feelings hadn’t been real.
But seeing him now…
I faltered, instantly.
“You’re late,” I told him, though my voice came out lower than intended.
“I’m exactly on time,” he countered smoothly. A gentle tug drew me a step closer and I stumbled as I tried resisting it. “You reached out for my magic, I don’t miss when you call for me, sweetie.”
Behind us, the group stirred.
“I can’t believe you haven’t crashed the campsite yet,” Ashley huffed amused. “Or have you been meeting in secret outside?”
“No,” I snapped.
Lionel shifted uneasily, jaw tight, though he said nothing and Eve’s eyes flicked between him and Malakai, sharp and calculating.
Nate muttered something about dramatic entrances under his breath, meanwhile Jaden watched Malakai with guarded suspicion, his posture rigid, and hands hovering in the air, ready to call for his abilities if needed.
Malakai didn’t spare any of them a glance. In this moment, they were background noise, his focus was only me.
“Maybe one day,” I continued, tilting my head up at him, “I won’t be here to reach for your magic.”
His smile deepened, dark and unyielding, and his thumb brushed lazily over my knuckles.
“You will,” he said, his voice a promise wrapped in steel. “Because you’re mine to catch.”
The words lingered, sinking deep into my chest, heavy with certainty.
I hated how much I didn’t hate it.
“He’s a demon, right?” Jaden clenched his teeth, clearly not open to all this. “Sorry, but why haven’t we killed him yet?”
Perhaps Amestele hadn’t warned him, or maybe she simply hadn’t thought Malakai would meet up with us so soon.
“Don’t worry,” I cut him off, while my free hand pulled out a piece of rope from one of my satchels.
“He’s on probation.” I forced Malakai’s hands together and began tying the rope around his wrists.
Malakai cocked a curious brow at me.
“If this is how you show discipline…” he whispered. “I’m starting to think I should get in trouble more often.”
I tightened the rope as hard as I could before securing the final knot, giving him a glare. “Don’t.”
“Not to criticize your plan or anything, but he’ll break that within a second, why even bother?” Nate asked confused.
“Because he won’t,” I said firmly, locking eyes with Malakai. “Not unless he wants to piss me off even more, that is.”
“For you sweetie? I’ll play along, for now…” He chuckled quietly, eyes glinting with mischief.
“Why even bring a demon?” Jaden interrupted again. “You’ll risk the squad, the mission, and for what?”
I couldn’t blame Jaden, for him to not trust a demon out of nowhere, let alone that the demon wouldn’t want to betray me because I simply said so? To an outsider, I could see how we weren’t convincing at all.
“Because this guy happens to know the way,” Ashley clarified, refraining from calling out Malakai’s true nature. “He’s also got a thing for Ethalyn so… But I’m not going to apologize for shooting you when you bit my girl and pretended to be the bad guy.”
“Fair,” Malakai shrugged, not bothered at all.
“He did what!?” Jaden narrowed his eyes on us.
“Izera won’t be happy about us letting Malakai tag along,” Lionel sighed, scratching his head.
“Good thing Izera wasn’t invited, then,” Ashley sneered.
“Is there anyone you don’t have beef with?” Eve cut through, crossing her arms.
Ashley darted her eyes towards Nate, meeting his gaze for a brief moment before looking away.
“Probably not,” she muttered.
“Well shit… That’s what this journey is for right?” Jaden tried smiling at her. “Uniting the people?”
“An optimist, a rare breed,” Ashley snickered, practically beaming at him.