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I opened my mouth to reply, stopping short when his brow furrowed, and he drew close. Frowning for a moment and studying me a little too intensely.
“You haven’t fed since then, have you?”
Any potential lie caught in my throat. I’d never been a good liar. And he was the only person in this world that I loved. Despite all my unforgivable transgressions, I didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to be dishonest with him.
“I’m fine… I don’t need to feed that often.”
Apparently, lying was not beneath me.
Malekai's nostrils flared to discover the answer for himself. He had an exceptional sense of smell, and apparently, he could scent when I'd gone too long without feeding.
"Mareina," he growled.
I heaved a sigh, ignoring that pinching feeling in my back, as I pressed a palm to his heated chest in an attempt to assuage his frustration andmyguilt.
"Look—
The sound of a door opening had both our heads snapping towards the training room. I stepped back, returning my hand to my side. A few heartbeats later, a royal guard appeared.
"General Theikos. Irae Kalini. Apologies for the interruption. Her Majesty requests your presence in her private garden."
Malekai gave him a sharp nod. "Thank you, Sekhat. We'll be right there."
At that, the guard brought a fist to his chest before returning the way he came, leaving us to our heavy silence. As much as I normally avoidedHer Majesty,I was grateful for the interruption.
"Let's go see what it is precisely that has caused her to crawl out of her harem, shall we?"
Zurie rarely found reason to leave it, and when she did, it was only begrudgingly.
I gave Malekai a pat on one of his impressive, golden pectorals before attempting to turn on my heel —
"Mareina, we aren't through with this discussion," he ground out, grasping my arm firmly and pulling me back towards him. I looked down at the offending hand before returning his gaze, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll feed. Obviously. It's not like I have a choice in the matter."
"When? You can't keep throwing yourself into the jaws of death when you're not at peak performance. You aren't invincible. And if you think I'm going to let you, you're gravely mistaken."
A frown sank its way onto my face.
Malekai shook his head at me with growing impatience.
"Would you allow me to do the same?"
My shoulders sagged in defeat. It was a rhetorical question, obviously. He already knew the answer. It didn't feel so long ago that the tables were turned. And Malekai no longer drank because of it. We'd nearly lost the war despite the Kahlohani's dismal odds.
Most of his family had died long before Malekai's parents migrated from Hades, like my father, centuries ago. The only living relative Malekai had by the time the war started was his mother. They'd shared a deep bond. When she was raped and murdered during a raid in their village, he'd blamed himself for not having been there to protect her.
He'd left his mother to fight the war to protect her along with the rest of their family, but now he felt certain it was because he left that she, along with the rest of their family, had died.
It was then that he had taken on a nihilistic way of living. He still did in many ways, but at least now he didn't drink and wasn't actively trying to get himself killed. Trying to help him recover from that had nearly destroyed our friendship.
"I promise I'll feed tonight. So long as it doesn't interfere with whatever Zurie needs me to do."
Malekai narrowed his eyes at me, and I swore I saw a flame spark somewhere within the depths of them.
"If you think I won't tie you down and force you to feed, you clearly underestimate me."
I bit my cheek, suppressing my grin and my gut reaction.
