Page 102 of She Who Holds My Wrath

“And yet,” Maelkar says, climbing into bed and patting the spot beside him. “Here you are.”

Lucifer points at me as he heads for the door. “If you steal my side of the bed, I will declare war.”

“You don’t have a side,” Maelkar calls after him.

“Tell that to the ruined sheets covered in my scent and sweat.” The door slams behind him.

Silence falls for half a heartbeat. Then Maelkar and I both burst out laughing.

I crawl into bed beside him, clutching the covers to my chest. His room smells like dark cedar, smoke, and something rich and spiced that is entirely him, layered with traces of Lucifer’s expensive cologne. The scent is strangely comforting, warm, and grounding, wrapping around me as I settle against him.

“What’s wrong, Hellflower?” he asks softly.

“He feels wrong,” I mutter, getting straight to the point.

He tilts his head. “Korithax?”

I nod, letting my head fall against the headboard. “I don’t understand it. He just feels⁠—”

“Void,” Maelkar says, cutting me off.

My breath leaves me. “What is it?”

He takes my hand, squeezing gently, his thumb brushing slow circles over my knuckles. “Literally, The Void. It’s in him now, it lives inside. But he’s still Korithax.”

My heart thuds in my chest. I rest my head on Maelkar’s shoulder, tears slipping free before I can stop them. “What does it do?”

Maelkar hushes me gentle, stroking a hand through my hair as he eases us both down onto the pillows. His shadows curl lazily around the bedposts.

“We’ll speak about properly when we’re all together. We’re researching. But don’t let fear ruin this,” he murmurs, tucking me closer to his side. “You have your man back, Hellflower. V sacrificed herself for this. Don’t let change poison what she gave you.

I nod against his chest, the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek slowly untangling the panic inside me. At some point in all of this, Maelkar became my safe space. He started out as some scary otherworldly creature who fed off others’ pain. And now he’s become my soul person. Not in the way Korithax and I are. But in a way that feels like we were always meant to be the bestest of friends. He feels like the brother I always wanted.

Wrapped in Maelkar’s warmth and safety, exhaustion finally drags me under, the scent of cedar and smoke, and the comfort of being held as the storm inside me quiets at last.

The doors explode open.

The sound alone rips me out of my sleep, my body jerking upright as power slams through the room like a shockwave. The candles gutter, shadows snapping violently against the walls. Smoke pours through the doorway. Black flame coils along the stone like a living thing, hissing and crackling as it eats the air itself.

Korithax stands in the threshold. Not the man who held me hours ago. Not the one who shook in the shower, broken and grieving. This is something else entirely.

His armour has re-formed around him in jagged plates of obsidian shadow, etched with writhing veins of fire so black it’s like a void. Smoke curls from his shoulders and horns, his eyes burning so dark they swallow the light entirely. The bond screams. But it’s sharp, panicking, and entirely wrong.

I scramble backwards, my spine hitting the headboard as my heart slams against my ribs. “Kori⁠—”

His gaze snaps to me for half a second, but there’s no recognition. Then his eyes slide to Maelkar and the temperature in the room drops.

“Really, Shadowtongue?” Korithax growls. His voice is layered and distorted, like something evil and ancient is speaking through him. “My fucking woman?”

Maelkar blinks once, then bursts out laughing. “Oh yeah,” he says lazily, stretching his arms behind his head. “Absolutely. I’m totally fucking your girl, Child of Ruin.”

I suck in a sharp breath. “Maelkar—don’t⁠—”

Korithax doesn’t hesitate. He moves faster than I can track—one moment he’s at the door, and the next, he’s crossing the room in a blur of black fire. Maelkar’s shadows whip up instinctively, lashing towards Korithax—and vanish. Just... gone.

Maelkar’s smirk drops. “Oh shit,” he manages before Korithax’s hand closes around his throat and slams him into the stone floor with enough force, the entire chamber shudders. Cracks spiderweb beneath Maelkar’s back as the impact knocks the air from his lungs.

I scream, “Korithax, STOP!”