The word punches out of me like a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“Pedro updated Bay. I think they found him dead on the way,”Myko’s scales tighten against my skin, like he’s bracing for the explosion. My explosion.
Good.
Because it’s already coming.
It’s not that horny blobfish’s death that’s got me burning alive.
It’s her. Roran.
Out there, somewhere in her father’s hellhole of a territory.
She could be hiding.
Terrified.
Or worse—taken.
My skin heats with every thought, rage licking through my veins. Her scared face flashes in my mind, the way she flinched at every touch. The signs of abuse etched across her body like a map of pain.
I’m not letting her go back.
She’s mine now.
“Andno onetouches what’s mine.”
I hiss the words through clenched teeth into Myko’s hold, just as footsteps scrape closer.
I tilt my head to the right and see my father returning, flanked by Pedro and Mariano.
“It’s time to go home, Malec,” Dad says coldly, the disappointment sharp in his voice. “We have nothing to do here now.”
No.
Not now. Not yet.
“I’m not leaving.” My voice doesn’t shake. Doesn’t waver. It cuts.
“Release me,”I tell Myko, trying to shift from his hold.
“No. You’d put your family at risk.”
His words land like a slap.
I jerk against his grip.“You think I’d lose control like Morvakar? Myko. Let me go. I’m in control.”
“No, you’re not. Don’t lie to me. Youknowbetter.”
A deep growl vibrates in my head. “Myko,” I grit aloud.“These bursts—they’re coming more often. But I’m handling them better now. I won’t hurt my family.”
His answer is another thunderous rumble—not just in my head this time. Dad and Mariano step back, bracing. Even Pedro’s jaw tenses.
What the hell is wrong with him?
A pulse flickers under my skin, hot and strange, radiating from just beneath my arm.
Only now do I feel it—something’s off. Not just him. The air, the surges... it’s not us.
