He studied me for a long moment, the glow in his eyes dimming to something sharper, but not cold. “So…” His voice was smoother now, playful in a way that made my pulse skip. “What’s the plan, kitten?”
I blinked, still dazed. “What?”
“You came here to kill me.” His thumb slid from my lip down to my throat, tracing my racing pulse. “And instead, you gave yourself to me.” His grin curved, slow and knowing. “Feels like a better deal, don’t you think?”
Heat flared in my chest, anger, shame, want, all tangled. “Don’t flatter yourself,” I bit out, though my voice wasn’t as steady as I wanted.
His chuckle was low and delighted.
“There she is,” he murmured, thumb brushing lightly against my throat. “My kitten.”
I glared at him, refusing to look away even as my body still ached from his closeness. “I may not have killed you,” I said, sharp as I could manage, “but that doesn’t mean youownme.”
Instead of being offended, his grin only widened, his eyes glowing hotter.
“No?” His fingers curled lightly at the back of my neck, pulling me close enough that I felt his breath on my lips again. “Then maybe, I’ll just have to make you wish I did.”
He said it like a promise, not a threat, and the worst part was, my heart leapt at the thought.
CHAPTER
33
Iwas burning.
Shame and guilt but also thrill and longing. It was all a mix, confusing me further as we strolled down the damp corridor.
“Why were you put there in the first place?” I asked, trying to end the silence, but my voice broke a bit, making the atmosphere more tense.
“Nicron saw through me, apparently,” he shrugged.
“And you simply walked nicely into the cell?” I snorted.
“Well, I was curious.”
“I hope you’ve changed your mindset… because they will try to kill us again, and I amnotcurious.” I sent him a glare, but he merely grinned back at me.
Slowly, we began climbing the stairs, me in the front and Malakai right behind me. I heard him take a deep breath, as if savoring the smell of something, before I reached to open the door. I was met with a myriad of faces, all of which were aiming guns at us. I’d never heard of mages using guns… but then I realised, it wasn’t me they were aiming for, anyway.
As their eyes slid past me and they saw the figure behind me, they opened fire. I tried calling on my flames, but they never reached above my wrists; I was too slow.
Malakai’s red threads slithered in front of me, catching the bullets within a web of blood. His hand reached out casually and plucked one of them from the web.
“Three regular, the rest quartz… you were aiming for her, too?” Malakai asked, his voice thick and threatening. He gathered all of the bullets in one hand, and twisted his wrist slightly. The bullets shot out of his grasp, each hitting the guards in vital organs, either killing them outright or putting them on a direct path to death’s door.
Michlael stood in the middle, his eyes harsh and focused on Malakai.
“What kind of magic is this?” he asked curiously, yet stern, before his gaze slid over to me. “You didn’t just let him live, you healed him?” The cruel judgement lingering in his voice was undeniable.
An ice shard came flying from the side, but blood swirled around it, shattered it to pieces, before redirecting the shards towards its creator, peppering him full of holes.
“Keep aiming at her,” Malakai warned, giving Michlael a dark look. “And your entire base will be left in ruins.”
For the first time ever, I saw Michlael tense, his eyes burning at me. “What in the hells have you done?”
“Me? I’m not the one who attacks blindly here.Youtortured him, one ofmy people.Youare shooting at me,” I barked back.
“No,” Michlael clenched his teeth. “Youare the one standing beside a demon, one able to wield magic at that.”
