7
He had devoured me.
He had seen every inch of my naked body.
So why, why did it feel embarrassingly intimate when he helped me get dressed? My cheeks burned, as he slid my foot into my boot.
He chuckled amused, and I bit my lower lip to withhold my defensive barking. When he was done lacing it, he rose to his feet, his eyes landing on my abdomen, observing the bruise that still lingered after yesterday’s hit. Something shimmered in his eyes and it made me snag my shirt and pull it over my head to hide it.
“We should get back,” I mumbled, fastening my harness on top of the shirt, before I began moving.
His hand gripped my wrist, pulling me back.
“What?” I asked, voice low, barely holding.
He turned my hand and placed something in my palm. “Take this.”
I looked down, and saw that small wooden carving of a cat. The very same that had saved his life from the deadly quartz bullet that hit him back at Rimefield. He had patched itup somehow, and given the figure tiny red eyes that…shimmered? Was it his magic?
“Are you sure?” I looked up at him again and he smiled, his eyes softening.
“It will protect you.”
I tightened my fingers around it and nodded, before slipping it into my pocket.
Malakai grabbed my chin and tilted it up towards him. “We should make time to train more.”
I furrowed my brows. “I’m sorry,what?”
“I’m saying, I can’t bear to live in a world that doesn’t have you in it… I don’t need saving, yet you keep putting yourself in danger for me. It drives me insane.”
“Well, too bad,” I said, slapping away his hand. “You’re stuck with me.”
A slow sneer spread across his lips. “That’s why we should train; to make sure we keep it that way.”
My heart fluttered and I cleared my throat in a sad attempt to gather enough time to calm it.
“Let’s head out, before I change my mind and keep you here all day,” Malakai said and turned to take the lead. I was relieved to see that the camp was still busy, not a soul near the tent we had spent… how long had we been in there? I wasn’t even sure.
“Hey,” I blurted and he turned his head slightly, enough to glance at me walking beside him.
“Does my magic… taste special?”
His eyes widened for a quick moment, before he burst into laughter.
Genuine, actual laughter, a smile so inviting I felt warm just looking at him.
“That… caught me off guard,” he confessed. “But yeah, it even smells different.”
I snorted. “So, you knew I was a mage the moment you saw me at Blackreach?”
“Obviously.”
“But if you knew…” I averted my eyes. “Why didn’t you simply use me as demon fodder?”
He curled his hand and knocked it gently against my head. It still hurt. “I told you, your blood is different, and I wanted to know why.”
“Different,” I echoed. “Like, finally getting carrot instead of potato different, forced to eat cat food kind of different, or…?”
