My hands trembled. The scent of Malakai, lingered in my mind, the memory of his warmth, his voice, his touch. And now, the Demon King knew that scent, too.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring with an empty gaze in front of me, letting memories of my friends flash by, drawing strength from them.
I couldn’t show fear, couldn’t show anger, not yet.
They thought I was prey?
Let them.
Fire waits, and when the time comes, it leaves nothing butash in its wake.
CHAPTER
28
My heart slammed against my ribs as I ran, fear crawling up my throat.
“Keep going!” his voice shouted behind me.
Why was I dreaming about this? The day that Lionel and I had stolen a whole loaf of bread and gotten caught. We had only eaten soup for a week at his parent’s house, all of us starving, slowly thinning away.
I stumbled, almost falling before a hand clutched around my arm, forcing me up again.
“Don’t look back!” Lionel ordered, right before I heard a heavy thud.
I kept running.
As I was about to round the corner of a building I glanced back to see that they had Lionel pressed against the dirt.
They had caught him.
Something flickered inside of me, a heat spreading faster than my heart pumping blood. I could save him, but then he’dknowwhat I was. They would all know
As if hearing me hesitate, I saw his head tilt up, mouthing ‘RUN’ through his teeth. The man who held him slowly looked up and saw me.
“Hey, you!” he barked. “Stay right there!”
I clenched my teeth, but I ran.
A coward.
A nuisance.
I ran as fast as I could to Lionel’s parents, and his father immediately took matters into his own hands to go and get Lionel back. They weren’t mad at us, not really, they knew we did it out of the goodness in our hearts… But they feared that our actions would tarnish our future.
Lionel’s mother soothed me as I cried over my uselessness, for lacking in strength, for not being able to save him.
Once Lionel and his father returned, Lionel was covered in bruises… And yet, he smiled, holding up the loaf of bread.
I woke to the feeling of something being off before I even opened my eyes.
The room was too quiet and the air too heavy.
When I moved, something pulled tight around my wrists.
Chains, cold steel that weighed heavily.
My pulse jumped, I didn’t remember falling asleep. I didn’t remember—
