“You.” Malice points at the Elf, who is only tall enough to reach Malice’s knees. It looks terrified under his gaze. “Out,” heorders, moving to the side to allow the Elf to scramble out. It knocks into the Rabbit in its rush for escape.
“That’s it, I’m calling the Royal Guard!” the Rabbit shouts. Malice grabs him by the collar, easily lifting him from the ground. The Rabbit squeaks, eyes going wide in terror as his feet flail helplessly.
“Stop! Stop it!” Reyna cries, grabbing at the arm that holds up the Rabbit. Malice turns his gaze to her. She’s no longer scared but determined. Reyna looks at him right back, eyes narrow, mouth set in a firm line.
“Put him down.”
Malice almost laughs at the Human giving him orders when he could practically break her neck with a flick of a single finger. Instead, he looks back at the creature in his grip. The Rabbit’s face is gaining color as he loses oxygen.
“He won’t call the Guard, right? Right?” Reyna asks.
The Rabbit shakes his head no, vehemently.
“I can help you. I can tell you’re in pain, just forget about him and let me help you,” Reyna pleads. Malice doesn’t let his confusion at her words cross his face when he sees the desperate look in her eyes. A look that saysgo with it.
“No guards,” Malice growls at the Rabbit, who nods in desperate agreement, his face almost purple now. “Dragons love to eat Rabbits, so keep that in mind.” He adds the lie for good measure, snapping his jaws. The Rabbit flinches violently in response. Malice unceremoniously drops the Rabbit in the hall, pulling the door shut with him and Reyna on the other side. He melts the metal door handle for good measure.
52
REYNA
For the second time in as many days Reyna finds herself in a significantly dangerous situation. The Dragon-Fae turns back to face her, and it takes all the resolve she can muster to keep her knees from wobbling as she takes two big steps away from him. When he held her co-worker by the collar she hadn’t been thinking about her own safety, only his. But now she’s locked in a room with the Dragon-Fae lackey of a mentally unstable Fae Princess who is Paramyr to her secret boyfriend. Yeah, she’s fucked.
He's probably here to kill her. Aerin Tolvare probably sent him here to kill her.
The words leave her mouth before she thinks them through. “Are you going to kill me?”
Malice frowns. “Are we safe to talk freely in here?”
Reyna furrows her brows in confusion but nods. When he still doesn’t speak, she elaborates, “This is a healer’s office. The rooms have wards for privacy.”
“Youare a healer?” The surprise in his voice makes her want to hit him. She forgets she is supposed to be scared.
Instead, she gestures to her robes. “Yes, I’m a healer. I know, so hard to believe from a pathetic little Human. Get over it.” Reyna should have bit her tongue. She should have felt a modicum of self-preservation. She doesn’t.
The Dragon-Fae narrows his haunting blue eyes, assessing her.
“What did you think you’d find me doing at a walk-in healing clinic?” Reyna goads.
“I did not know where I’d find you; I followed your scent from the apartment,” he explains. Reyna balks. He followed herscent? From a place she hasn’t been to in over forty-eight hours?
Reyna’s heard little about Dragon-Fae, reclusive as they are, but enhanced senses seem particularly of note. She’s surprised she hasn’t heard about it before.
“And no, I’m not going to kill you. A certain Prince would have some choice words to say if I did.”
Choice words. As if losing Reyna would simply cause Khortland a tantrum. Like she’s a doll. Anger heats Reyna’s cheeks but she does everything she can to ignore it. Instead focusing on the fact that despite Khortland’s protection, it would only take one wrong move for her to end up dead at the hands of this creature.
“I assume there is a reason you are here, if it’s not to kill me,” Reyna pushes, crossing her arms over her chest. A voice in her head distracts her from Malice’s answer.
[We just got an alert of a crime at your office, are you okay?]It’s Khortland’s voice down their bond.
[Call them off, it’s a false alarm. Say it was a glitch in the system or something,]Reyna responds.
[What is going on?]
[Malice is here.]
[What is that brute doing there? Is Aerin with him?]
