Chapter 29
CHAPTER
—Malakai—
The air stank, or perhaps it was just this place. Even the stars above the Demon Lands looked twisted and sharp, it felt like the whole universe was mocking me.
Because they had taken her.
We’d been walking for what felt like hours. No one had said her name in at least half of the time, but it filled the silence anyway.
Or rather, she filled my mind.
“She’s not dead,” I said, more to the horizon than to the team behind me. “I’d know.”
A snort came from Ashley. “Of course not, but if you know that, then tell me where she is, genius. I’m two seconds away from blowing up the entire Demon Lands if we don’t find her soon.”
“You’ll alert every demon within ten miles with your arguing,” Lionel said, voice even but tight. The barrel of his rifle gleamed faintly in the dull moonlight. “We need to think.”
“We need to move,” Ashley corrected with a hiss.
Nate trudged beside her, arm still bound due to his healing wound, giving her a sideways glance. “Maybe try both? Think and move? Radical concept.”
Ashley swung around to glare at him. “You’re lucky I didn’t follow through on that stab last time.”
He grinned, unbothered. “Love hurts.”
Jaden groaned. “For the love of…”
Faelin walked in silence, her eyes flicked to me more often than she probably meant them to. Wariness. Not fear, but close. I could feel my control bleeding thin, the air around me had taken on the faint metallic scent of my blood magic.
Eve, walking on the ridge above us, lowered her rifle. “We can argue when we’re not glowing like a beacon. Malakai, your magic is leaking.”
I looked down. Sharp strands of crimson shimmered faintly between my fingers and hung down to the ground, spreading around me, twitching like living things. I forced them back, the movement a slicing pain through my skin. The blood obeyed, curling back into my veins.
They mirrored my true chaos, my control slowly slipping, and the urge to find her growing deeper, more desperate.
“She can’t be too far,” I said quietly. “I can sense her.”
“That’s not creepy at all,” Ashley accused, glancing at me. I glared back at her.
This was the reason I had given Ethalyn the carved cat. I had infused it with my magic, allowing me to feel her heartbeat as long as she kept it close.
If her heart stopped, this world would too; I wouldn’t spare anyone.
Lionel’s gaze met mine then, steady, searching. “And if it’s a trap?”
I smiled without humor. “Then I’ll spring it.”
He sighed. “Of course you will.”
He saw me as reckless, but I considered myself productive.
If there was a demon army standing between me and my woman, I’d slaughter them. Simple as that, no need to waste time planning it.
Every godsdamned second I was out of reach of her drove me mad. Not because she needed me, she’s plenty capable of taking care of herself.
No, I needed her.
Without her, everything was dark, the world flat and meaningless. She was the stars, shining through the darkness, guiding me home. Her smile brought me more warmth than the flames she wielded.
The path curved down into a stretch of dead forest, black bark gleaming like obsidian. A thin fog pooled between the roots.
“Not another dead forest,” Jaden groaned.
“Then stay here,” I said flatly.
“Yes, splitting the group sounds like an excellent plan… For the demons,” Nate shuddered.
“Can’t we walk around the forest?” Jaden muttered.
“And waste even more time?” I snapped, turning towards him, my eyes burrowing into his. “Every second we hesitate, is another second they torture her.”
Jaden’s jaw tightened, before he averted his gaze.
Lionel placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll save her.”
I shrugged him off, anger building inside of me, raw and unruly.
“You’re feeling guilty.”
My eyes slid towards the voice, landing on the wind mage.
Faelin flinched but held my gaze. “It’s not your fault.”
Ashley’s voice joined, soft, I barely caught it. “She was on watch, Malakai, none of us heard a thing.”
“I know.” My jaw locked. “And I’ll make them pay with their lives, anything less is unacceptable.”
I turned and continued walking, the others following right behind me.
For a while, only the crunch of boots and the faint hum of distant magic filled the air.
“If the Demon King has her…” Faelin broke the silence.
I stopped for a brief moment, every nerve in my body on edge. “He does.”
No one spoke after that.
There was something inside my chest throbbing faintly, a heat I couldn’t reach. It had grown, ever since that first time I tasted her blood, like an invisible thread that linked us together. I didn’t know if it was her pain or her fire, but it was enough.
She was calling for me, and I had no intention of making her wait.
“We can make plans later,” I said, voice low. “We keep moving, punch every demon face we see until they bring us to the Demon King… We can rest once we’re dead.”
Ashley cracked her knuckles. “Finally something I can agree with.”
Lionel hesitated, then nodded once. “Fine. We rescue her, and then we fall back, that’s the smartest move. We can’t face a huge demon army and their King all by ourselves.”
Eve gave a quiet laugh from above. “Since when has Malakai ever done something smart when she’s involved?”
“Since never,” Jaden muttered bitterly.
Maybe they were right—maybe I was already half gone.
But as the wind shifted, I caught it again; her scent, the sweetness laced with the smell of newly sparked embers. Every part of me that was human clung to it. And every part of me that was demon wanted to devour it.
The forest changed before the horizon did. The air thickened, shadows deepening between the trees until they no longer looked like absence of light but living things waiting to move.
Eve’s voice came sharp from the ridge. “Movement, three o’clock.”
Before I could answer, something jumped out of the fog.
Its shape flickered, first human, then smoke, then the pale reflection of her.
The realization that they had seen her, enough to mimic her made my blood turn cold and my body reacted before my mind.
Blood threads snapped from my fingers, slicing through the illusion.
The thing screamed, body shredded into black mist.
“Shapeshifters,” Faelin hissed, forming a barrier of swirling gales that was meant to slow approaching enemies. “They’re copying her of all people?”
Another shape lunged at Lionel and Ashley tackled it to the ground, leaving a bomb with it as she threw herself to the side.
The charge went off soon after, a bright burning light before the boom.
The blast evaporated three of them, but five more rose from the dust, each one a distortion of someone we knew.
One wore my face.
My pulse was roaring in my ears. I felt my threads twitch before I meant for them to, sharp as razors, drawn to the smell of demonic blood. They flared red in the gloom, slicing through the copy-cat in a single violent motion.
“Malakai!” Lionel’s voice cut through the chaos. “Control it!”
I couldn’t. The power surged, a living snarl, threads whipping through air and demon alike. My weave of threads grew, devouring a larger and larger area around me. The forest floor splattered with black blood, absorbed by the dirt on contact.
Ashley grabbed my arm mid-swing. “Hey, hey! Save some for the rest of us!”
Her hand burned where it met mine, but she didn’t release her grip.
“Let go,” I growled.
“Not a chance.” She yanked a dagger free with her other hand, slashing a demon that got too close. “If you lose it now, we’ll all die before we find her.”
Eve cursed from her vantage point, firing into the darkness. “He’s going to bring the whole damned army down on us!”
“Let him,” Ashley shot back. “At least something’s happening.”
Lionel was beside me then, his rifle forgotten, one hand braced against my shoulder. “Malakai, look at me.”
I tried, but the demon inside of me didn’t like being commanded by others or ignored by me.
“She’s alive.” Lionel’s voice was steady. “But she won’t recognize you if you walk in there like this.”
His words hit harder than a blow. For a moment, I saw her, the way she’d looked the night before she vanished, laughing at something Ashley had said, firelight reflecting in her hair.
The threads stilled, just for a breath.
Something big crashed out of the trees, a shadow demon, limbs too long, teeth glinting wet.
Nate shouted a warning, pulling Faelin down as it swept its claws where her head had been.
Jaden brought the ground up under it, spikes of stone impaling its long legs, but the thing kept coming, breaking the rock as it screeched.
I felt a sudden pain, unbearable and crushing. It clung like a disease, but it wasn’t mine. Her blood was pumping faster, scorching. Had she been hurt?
I stopped thinking.
The blood threads lashed forward, wrapping around the demon’s throat and I yanked.
The head came apart in a matter of seconds, my power cutting it off like blades. The rest of its body crumbled, black ichor spraying like fireworks, splashing all of us.
Silence followed, heavy and horrified. Even the fog seemed to still in dread.
Eve lowered her rifle slowly. “Tell me again why we trust that?”
Faelin didn’t speak, but her magic coiled defensively, the air humming faintly around her.
Nate forced a laugh, thin and shaky. “Because without him, we’d all be wall decorations right now.”
Lionel didn’t answer. He just looked at me, the way people look at a storm, knowing they can’t stop it, only steer clear of it.
Ashley finally let go of my arm. “Next time,” she said, unexpectedly soft. “Aim away from the team, yeah?”
I looked at the blood still glistening on the threads, felt them tremble, alive and eager.
With effort, I drew them back in. My arms hurt, every line of my demonic markings stinging like a cut.
It was a sign; I was going mad, and my blood was thrilled by it, fighting against the cage I had crafted for it for so long.
“I told you,” I said quietly, trying to take deep breaths. “I’m not stopping until I find her.”
Lionel nodded once, weary. “Then let’s make sure there’s still enough of you left when you do.”
The air fell silent behind us as we moved on, only the distant whisper of the shadows following, hungry, patient, waiting for me to slip again.
How long did I have before I became their worst nightmare?
We stopped at the edge of a ravine, the fog below us as thick as spilled ink. The squad set up a quick camp, no one said it aloud, but we were too spent to keep moving.
Lionel took charge, as usual. “We rest here. Two-hour shifts. We need clear heads before we go any further.”
I didn’t sit. “We don’t have time.”
He looked up from his seat, rifle tight in his grip. “You want to us to charge forward tired and hungry, possibly making it all worse? Or we could rest a bit, conserve our energy enough to come up with a plan and make sure we save Ethalyn.”
“She’s hurting,” I bit out low. “I can feel it.”
Ashley, who was crouching by the fire glanced up. “Then we only take a quick break, but if you burn yourself out now, she’ll have to rescue you.”
I gave her a faint, humorless smile. “I don’t need saving.”
Eve snorted softly from her watch post. “That’s what every dead idiot said right before doing something stupid.”
The others chuckled, but the sound didn’t reach me. My patience was already thin, fraying like the threads pulsing under my skin.
Lionel stood, crossing the distance between us. “You’re not the only one who cares about her.”
The words scraped against something raw. “You think you understand?”
He didn’t back down. “I don’t need to understand. I just need you to not get us all killed before we reach her.”
Something in me snapped. My magic surged, threads of blood whispering free, bright and sharp in the dark. Lionel’s rifle hit the ground with a thud.
“Careful,” I said, voice low, dangerous. “You’re talking like you command me.”
He didn’t back down. “Someone has to.”
The air crackled between us. In the dim light of the campfire, I saw the reflection of my eyes in his, red, glowing brightly.
An abomination.
The markings on my skin flared like molten lava, crawling up my throat.
“Stop it,” Ashley snapped, rising fast. “Both of you.”
But it was already too late. Lionel moved first, shoving me hard in the chest. I caught his wrist mid-swing and twisted, blood threads curling around his arm before I even realised they’d moved.
Ashley’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. “Malakai! Don’t you dare!”
Eve was beside Lionel in a flash, pistol drawn and aimed right at my head. “You let him go, now.”
I could have ended it there. One pull, one cut, I wouldn’t even need to move and he’d drop.
She would’ve loathed me for it… But he would’ve been gone forever.
She would never utter my name again if I killed him, although, I could always devour her.
No, shit. I’d never see her smile again or feel the warmth of her touch.
Focus.
“But she would always be with you, always a part of you,” a dark voice whispered inside of my head.
I clenched my teeth.
No.
Instead, I turned my gaze to the blood swirling around Lionel, my blood. My jaw tightened as I forced the threads to release, caging the demon inside of me that was on the verge of escaping. The blood snapped back, leaving a strong red glow on my skin.
Lionel stepped back, breathing hard. “You think you’re the only one who’d risk everything for her? Don’t be stupid!”
For a moment, neither of us moved. The only sound was the fire, spitting sparks between us.
“Why do you think we’re all heading towards the Demon King’s castle like a pack of idiots?” Lionel kept shouting. “We have no plan, no back-up or any guarantees of getting back alive. But we’re all still here, trying to save Ethalyn.”
I smiled, a small, sharp curve of lips. “Good. Then stay alive long enough to prove it.”
Ashley rolled her eyes and kicked at the dirt. “Boys and their damn hero complexes.”
Eve holstered her weapon, but not before throwing me a glare. “If you lose control again, I won’t hold back.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to,” I said coolly.
Lionel shook his head, sitting back down by the fire. “We rest. In an hour, we move.”
I lingered on the edge of the shadows, the hunger still thrumming inside me, quieter now but far from gone.
The others eventually drifted into uneasy silence.
I stayed awake, staring towards the black horizon, where I felt the other end of the bond. The pulse of her magic tugged at me again, faint, but alive.
I breathed it in, let the fire under my skin settle, and muttered into the night, “Hold on, kitten. I’m coming.”