I threw again, this time a little closer to the target, and waited for another blade as he continued.
“Somehow, Tristan was able to break it. It took a while, but he figured it out. He didn’thaveto help me. Hewantedto help me. And then, we found the others… Each and every one of them. He made sure that not a single alpha had been left in pain. I decided at that moment, I would follow him anywhere. Into anything.”
My heart cracked a little. Everything I had ever been told about our gods… Nothing had ever pointed to such cruelty. They had carefully placed this lie, hidden behind every false accusation and treasonous secret.
“They used you all, and blamed Rosina for it,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. Then, anger seeped in, and I felt the burning in my fingers. “And every one of them got away with it.”
I threw the blade harder than I had anticipated, and just as it left my fingers, a small line of fire traced the edges. Then, it slammed into the tree, hard enough that the entire blade forced its way through the wood. I gasped, feeling the heat in my core sizzle back down, and realized thatIhad done that.
“You’d be surprised by the secrets that those you hold close to you hide in plain sight, princess,” Mara said somewhere behind me.
I startled when I felt Malakai’s hand on my shoulder. “I just wanted you to know… every single one of us here… we know what it’s like to hurt. We know what it’s like to be kicked aside. We know pain.” When I turned my head to look up at him, his lips were curled up in a small smile.
Rejected. That’s what they were. I didn’t know Mara’s story, but I could only imagine it was somewhat similar. Tristan, torn from his mother… Malakai, tossed out like he was no more than a pet for them to control… And Andonia’s tarnished “princess.” I had at least twenty scars on my back that proved just how similar we all were in different ways.
“We should make this a part of your routine,” Malakai said, taking a step away from me. “You’re quite the natural, and it might be good for you to know how to defend yourself without your magic.”
“Wow!” Azrael yelled, running over and leaning into my side. “You have to show me how to do that!”
I hugged him with one arm and looked back at the castle to see my mother standing on her bedroom balcony, smiling down at us.
You don’t belong here,I tried convincing myself. But with each day that passed, the line between which place felt more like home had begun to blur, and I couldn’t seem to piece it together anymore.
I looked back at Malakai and nodded, smiling. “Yeah… I think I’d like that.”
Chapter 20
MORRIGAN
The days were becoming brutal
Eat, occlude, eat, train, eat, sleep. Tristan insisted that I take a day of rest, but I couldn’t afford to. The longer I stayed here, the more confused I felt. I stopped drinking the lotus tea, hoping it would end the dreams that twisted into filthy fantasies of Tristan, but that didn’t stop it. And now, even Tristan was acting weirder than before.
“You’re distracted,” Malakai said, showing off his sharp canines as he smiled like he knew something. “Am I boring you, princess?”
I gasped as his sword swung dangerously close to my face, and dodged just in time. When I stood back up, I shot him an angry glare. “Getting a little presumptuous with your swings there, Malakai.”
He shrugged and backed up, circling me as he waited to go again. “You won’t get better without a little tough love.”
I had started dedicating a little free time to training with Malakai. We would alter between knives and one-on-one combat. Hand me a bow or a throwing knife, and I learned like it was second nature. But, gods, I hated swords.
“If you cut off my head, I’m not going to grow another one.” I rolled my shoulders and tried to keep my eyes on his feet. Malakai almost always stepped forward with the foot opposite of the hand that would swing, but I had a feeling that he was catching onto my suspicion. He had been switching it up lately, but I could at least rely on that first step to indicate when he would make a move.
“Should we test it and find out?” he laughed, stepping forward and bringing the sword down overhead.
I quickly brought mine up to block it and felt the shock of the blades striking my arms, bringing me down to one knee. The metal clanged, and my elbows locked from the force. “I have a lot… on my… mind,” I groaned, pushing every ounce of strength into my sword to shove him off.
But just as I lifted my knee to stand, I felt the sweep of his foot against my ankle, and I twisted, falling flat on my back to the ground. Malakai came with me, landing on top, and drew one of his knives, pressing it just beneath my chin.
“All you do is hold yourself back. I see it.Everyonesees it,” he said as he hovered above me.
I tried shimmying myself out from under him, but his knees kept my legs locked between them. “No they don’t,” I argued.
“I see how you look at Tristan.” He began to smirk, and my eyes widened in shock and embarrassment.
“You don’tseeanything,” I hissed before wiggling to give myself just enough room to lift my knee and jam it right into his balls.
“Fuck, princess,” he cried out, and I shoved him off of me, pushing him to the ground and swiping my sword before standing. “If you wanted foreplay, you could have just asked.”
