The only thing on my mind was the smell of damp linen and the echo of that single word,possession. It made me want to break my composure and tear this place down myself, or die trying.
And then she was moving, the door opening with a whisper, but before she could slip through, someone caught it and Zinlia’s eyes widened for the first time.
Heentered, the air shifting as if the castle itself feared him. Red shadows clung to his presence, the torches shrinking lowin their sconces, flames drawn thin by the weight of his power.
Crimson hair caught in the faint light, dark as fresh blood. For an instant, the sight of him twisted something deep in my chest, Malakai’s face echoed there, sharper, older, crueler.
“Still alive,” the Demon King said lightly, his voice smooth, deliberate. “Good. I would have been disappointed if my pets ruined you before I’d finished thinking.”
He stopped beside the table where Zinlia had left the bowl of murky water. His gaze lingered on it, then returned to me. “I needed time to… consider yesterday’s revelation.”
Yesterday? Had it already been a day here since I first met him?The knowledge rubbed my sense of confidence, making me wonder how long I had been away from my friends before I even woke up.
I held his stare, though every instinct screamed to look away. “You mean the fact that your son exists,” I said, my voice rough.
A faint curve touched his mouth. “That he exists, and that he left his scent all over a mage of flames.”
He moved closer, the air heating as he did. “Half demon, half human,” he mused, studying me. “Born of my blood. I never imagined one of mine could create something so… conflicted.”
My pulse hammered in my throat. “He’s nothing like you.”
“Oh?” The word was soft, almost amused. “Tell me, then. Does he keep you as a vessel to draw strength from until you’re hollow? Or does he feign tenderness and call it love?”
I swallowed hard, the ache in my thigh pulsing in time with my heartbeat. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
He tilted his head, eyes burning brighter. “Wouldn’t I?”
He touched my chin with a sharp nail, just enough to lift it. The contact was ice. “You think affection makes him different from me. But affection rots, it’s an emotion we demons learn to mimic in order to lure. Desire consumes. So tell me, little flame, has he begun having trouble keeping his fangs away from you?”
I jerked my head away. “You talk too much for someone who barely knew of his own kin’s existence.”
For a moment, there was silence. Then that faint smile again, a shadow of amusement and something colder.
“It begins with fear,” he said. “An emotion for those who can lose. And he will lose the war against his hunger, eventually.”
I swallowed, remembering how Malakai had refused to bite me back in the Whispering Woods… Did he fear his hunger would take over? No, he would never put me in that kind of danger…
“Why are you doing this?” I asked firmly, hatred coating my voice.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he drawled on the words. “Your world has an excitement to it that my own lacks, and I wish to claim it for my own entertainment. The thrill of the hunt, the bloodlust of a kill and I needallflame-wielders to take it.”
“We won’t fight our own for you!” I spat.
His eyes began glowing and he chuckled darkly. “I don’t needyouto fight my battles, little flame. Humans have ruled these lands long enough, treating animals like their livestock… How about we spice things up and treat the humans as livestock now?”
I opened my mouth, but no words left me. I was horrified. We were merely food for them, not even a threat.
He turned, letting his gaze sweep the cracked walls, the dying candlelight.
“Rest. My son will come for you; he won’t be able to stop himself. And when he does…” He looked back at me, red eyes gleaming like the sun. “We’ll both learn what he truly inherited.”
He left with no more sound than a breath.
Only when the latch clicked did I realise I’d been holding my fire tight inside me, like a secret I was no longer sure I couldtrust.
CHAPTER
29
