“You’re not even in danger,ungiftedone,” Faelin snapped at him, glaring.
“Enough,” I said coldly.
Caleb’s gaze met mine, hard and unflinching. “You would defend him even if he tore us apart.”
“I defend him because hehasn’t,” I snapped. “Because he’s fighting it. Something you’ve never had to do.”
The silence that followed was heavy and alive, stretching between us.
“I won’t break,” Malakai said, cutting through the thickening tension.
“Oh, how reassuring,” Caleb snorted.
“Pure curiosity, Malakai; are you just an arrogant bastard who refuses to have flaws?” Eve finally spoke up. “After all, their worries are valid, in this world people lie all the time and you have no proof that you won’t go mad and lose control…”
“Iwon’tbreak,” Malakai said, his voice firmer and sharp. “It’s because I’m flawed, it’s because of my mistakes that I know that I won’t allow it to happen again.”
I pressed my lips together.
Ashley shifted abruptly. “Hey, Ethalyn? Pinch me, I think I’m dreaming. Demon-boy is admitting to having flaws? Even his annoying hair refuses such things.”
“‘Again’?” Caleb furrowed his brows. “Meaning, you’ve already lost control once.”
“Just like what happened to my friend,” Faelin said cautiously, watching Malakai with worried eyes.
“It’s nothing like that,” Malakai said through his teeth, his eyes sparking into a glow as they set on Faelin. She jolted in return.
“People make bargains with demons to become stronger, to survive in when facing oblivion, right?” Malakai continued, his voice lower. “I was born this way; I’ve never feared disappearing… No, I would’ve happily died if it meant keeping loved ones alive instead.” His eyes lowered to the ground, body shifting slightly. “But someone forced me to make a promise to live at any cost. And I intend to keep it without turning into a monster, however selfish that might be.”
“We all know it’s Ethalyn—” Nate began, with a low chuckle.
“It’s not,” Malakai huffed.
“Youhave a secret friend?” Nate practically shouted in disbelief. Malakai shot him an annoyed eye roll, clearly telling him that he guessed wrong.
Ashley gasped. “Oh my Gods, did you have another lover before my girl?”
“Ashley!” Lionel and I echoed accusing. Me mostly because I didn’t want to know the answer.
“What? I just wanted to join the guessing game too,” she pouted and crossed her arms.
“Sorry to disappoint,” Malakai sneered. “It was my mother.”
I remembered what he had told me in the cell in Runora, and how she had helped him kill mages so he could feed. But I didn’t know the details of how she had died… and by the sound of this, I wasn’t sure I wanted to either.
Caleb snorted again, clearly not convinced and I was ready to start a physical fight, but Eve spoke up, quiet but firm. “Let’s all just… eat something before anyone gets gutted.”
Nate coughed. “Yeah, can’t fight on an empty stomach, right? Even demons.”
Ashley threw a piece of bread at him. “Read the room, genius.”
“I am reading it. It’s just… foggy.”
“Has he always been this witty?” Faelin complainedwith a low voice.
Ashley snorted despite herself and the tension cracked enough for the air to move again.
By the time the stew was bubbling, the fog had thinned to reveal the gnarled silhouettes of trees around us, their shapes leaning inward, like they were listening.
