“No,” I panted, breathless.
The Demon King moved to intervene, but Malakai’s power shielded us, his magic blazing in defiance. The crimson threads lashed out again, driving the King back with a snarl of surprise.
The chamber shook.
“Now!” I heard someone scream in the background, but I couldn’t focus, couldn’t register all that happened, only bits and pieces.
My vision blurred at the edges, heat fading into cold. Through it all, Malakai’s arms stayed around me, tight, desperate and trembling.
Even as the strength drained from me, I smiled.
Because he wasn’t losing himself. He was fighting for me. I knew that; I trusted him.
Still, he didn’t stop.
The world throbbed in my ears, every heartbeat weaker than the last. I felt it, the fire leaving me, drained from every vein, every spark that made me who I was. My body trembled against him, weightless, hollow.
“Malakai,” I tried to speak, but my voice broke into a gasp. “I lo—”
He pressed his fingers harder into my skin, his grip hard, not ready to let go. The glow in his eyes burned fierce and tender all at once. His breath trembled against my skin as he whispered, barely audible over the chaos around us.
“Iloveyou. I’ll always loveyou. If your heart stops,” he murmured, quietly, broken. “Mine will carry it.”
I didn’t understand, my head was too far gone.
“Malakai—” His name echoed, was it from my lips or merely in my mind, I wasn’t sure anymore.
Crimson light ripped through the room, painting every surface in blood and fire. Shapes danced along the walls, flames, silhouettes. Slowly my eyes adjusted, taking in what looked like hellfire.
I was dizzy, but I fought against it. Trying to stay alert, trying to not slip away as my sight slipped back and forth between darkness and my friends.
The Demon King barely raised his arm, readying to strike me down once and for all, but before he was able to, Malakai’s blood burned a path through the air and struck him, clean, unstoppable, divine in its fury.
The flames exploded on impact, the blast cracking the marble, tearing through the walls behind him, and for the first time, I saw it. Fear flooded the King’s eyes. He staggered, dark blood pouring from a gash that refused to close.
Malakai held me in his arms amid the wreckage, shaking, his teeth once again buried in my neck, his marks glowing crimson red like a God carved out of ruin. He was combining our powers, blood and fire to fight the King off.
Wielding hellfire itself.
The strength in my body was gone. My heartbeat stumbled, weak, unsteady, each breath shallower than the last.
It was too late. Darkness was crawling into my vision. I couldn’t tell where anyone was. I couldn’t find my friends. I couldn’t find him.
I heard a roar that was inhuman, felt a surge of power that didn’t belong to me.
The noise faded, the shouts, the crashing, the hiss of broken fire, all gone. Only Malakai’s voice remained, soft and breaking.
“Please stay.Live,” he murmured. His hand brushed my cheek, gentle, trembling.
Was he crying?
“I love you. I’ll give you anything, just…” He continued pleading. “Please stay with me, sweetie. I can’t handle being alone anymore.”
Then the world wentcompletely dark.
CHAPTER
36
