My pulse stuttered along with my magic.
“Tell me, little flame. What happens when he remembers who he is? When he stops pretending he can live beside you?”
My breath came sharp and uneven. The being knew all of our inner thoughts and worries.
“He’ll choose his blood, his kin. He’ll go home, and you’ll be left here, human and hollow. He’ll look at you like he’s never seen you before.”
“No,” I breathed out.
“He’ll love you until it’s inconvenient. Until the day you need saving more than he wants you.”
Something in me twisted, the words sinking in like hooks under my ribs.
Ashley’s hand caught mine, tight, grounding. Her voice was a whisper, shaking but alive. “Don’t listen. It’s not real, none of it’s real.”
But my fear was real, the words it spoke had been lingering in my mind. I glanced over at Ashley, who reached for Eve next, taking her hand as well.
“Take Faelin too,” she instructed Eve, who weirdly enough didn’t argue.
The forest exhaled, and for a second, the mist almost sounded like laughter.
“It must be a demon, right?” I exhaled.
We walked closely together, as if preparing for an ambush.
“Yes,” Faelin breathed out. “They prey on fear and greed, do they not?”
“Well, no one can bring the dead back,” Ashley mumbled. “So there’s no way it can get me.”
My hand twitched around hers, a gentle squeeze.
“Don’t wander off,” Eve ordered.
“Pfft, this temptation demon or whatever isn’t tempting enough.” Ashley shrugged, and her expression seemed to relax a bit.
The forest’s voice snickered. “Who says I’m temptation? I might just be a better version ofyou.”
— The Boy Squad —
Malakai
We walked in single file through the woods, Nate cracked jokes under his breath, Jaden threw in half a grin now and then, Caleb kept his distance as though my shadow might stain him, and Lionel did what he does best, quietly holding the group together while pretending to not notice the cracks forming.
The air was different here, thick and still. The kind that ate all sound.
“So,” Nate began, twirling his gun around his finger, while I hoped for it to accidentally go off into his foot. “If a demon and a squirrel had a baby—”
“Don’t,” Caleb complained.
“Would it steal nuts or souls?”
I sighed heavily, not sure if his jokes were lightening the mood or making it worse.
Jaden shook his head, a grin playing at his lips. “That one’s so bad it might actually kill morale.”
“Morale’s overrated,” Nate shrugged while grinning. “If we die laughing, we’ll die at least with a smile on our faces.”
“Not funny,” Caleb muttered bitterly.
