My voice broke into an anguished yell. “I’m doomed no matter what I do! But I won’t stop. I’ll never stop. I will find a way to destroy him.”
Silence stretched between us, thick as smoke.
Then—
“Shhh,” Malik whispered.
He smoothed his palm up and down my arm, the fabric barely a barrier between his touch and my skin.
“I won’t let Balthazar hurt you,” he promised. “As long as you’re with me, you’re safe. You. Rosie. Emily.”
Then he pulled me against him, wrapping his arms around me, his grip firm and sure.
And before I could stop myself?—
I let him.
Malik rocked me gently, his body warm and solid.
I sobbed into his shoulder, my fingers clutching his bare skin, letting him comfort me.
“My mother fell in love with a monster!” My voice cracked, raw and bitter. “I’m chained to Balthazar because of her! I despise her!”
Malik’s arms stiffened around me like iron restraints.
A sharp inhale. His muscles coiled like steel cables beneath my hands.
“Do not speak of Alina that way.” His voice was quiet—too quiet. Tinged with something dangerous. “Your mind is filled with lies.”
I stopped breathing, my pulse hammering.
For a single, terrible moment, I thought he might strangle me.
“You know nothing but lies about your mother, Olivia.”
His grip tightened—too tight—his arms unyielding, his presence unshakable.
A flicker of movement?—
And suddenly, he was across the room.
Standing near the dresser.
I blinked. How?
The loss of his warmth sent a shiver down my spine, like stepping from fire into the cold.
I scrambled off the bed and stormed toward him. “Don’t defend my mother!” I shouted. “She loved a monster who is now hunting me like prey!”
Malik stepped forward.
I backed up.
Until I hit the wall.
He followed, caging me in.
“No, darling,” he murmured, placing an arm on either side of me, his body an unmovable force. “I won’t stop defending her.”
