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“Sadie hardly deserves this. Torture Isaiah all you want, but Sadie did nothing to earn this fate.”

Malachi clicked his tongue. “You know the rules, princess,” he started. His voice had changed. It was colder now. Distant. “They almost got you killed. And you know just as well as anybody that I don’t like people touching my things.”

I stepped forward, now standing just inches from him in the darkness. “I’m alive, Malachi. And in case you have forgotten, Isaiah wasn’t the only one who nearly killed me.”

His breath hit my cheek as silence filled the tunnels around us.

I knew Malachi was in agony over what happened in Trithen. Not a day went by where I didn’t think about it.

Malachi’s blade to my throat haunted my dreams every night. I woke up screaming, drenched in sweat more nights than not.

He had made his choice then. He was protecting himself, I knew that. But I couldn’t get myself to forget about the panic in my body. The hatred in his voice.

Malachi was a powerful fae creature, one of the most powerful fae in existence.

Only a fool would think otherwise. Even if that fool was his wife.

“Fine,” I said eventually. “I’ll leave Sadie alone.” Malachi didn’t say a word. “At least let me bring her a blanket or more water.”

Malachi shook his head. His dark eyes reflected the tiny lantern light ahead of us. “You’re too good, Jade Weyland. This world doesn’t deserve you.”

Weyland.

I didn’t correct him, but hearing that name from his lips sent a chill down my spine.

“You don’t like your name anymore?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I suppose Iamstill your wife, aren’t I?”

Malachi stepped forward, a wicked grin spread across his face. “Until my dying breath, princess.”

My stomach flipped, but I stepped back. “I should go,” I muttered. “Adeline will be waiting for me.”

“Wait,” he said, grabbing my wrist. “Have dinner with me tonight.”

My heart raced in my chest. I hadn’t had dinner with him since the day after we had returned from Trithen, and even then, we barely spoke.

“Why?” I asked.

Malachi lifted a gentle finger and tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear. His skin touched mine, just barely, and sent a spark of electricity through me. “Because I miss you,” he whispered.

I would have ignored him…if it weren’t for the way his voice cracked in hidden emotion.

I let a second pass between us before answering. “I’ll think about it,” I said to him.

His brows raised in surprise. “Okay,” he stuttered. “Okay, great. I’ll meet you in my dining room, then.”

“And Mal?” I called to him as I walked toward the entrance of the dungeon. “Take a shower.”

His soft laughter made me miss him, too. Even though I hated it.

I missed who Mal used to be. I couldn’t deny that.

But that wasn’t him.Thiswas him.Thiswas the new Mal, splattered in blood and torturing my old friends in the dungeons of his castle.

Yet he had touched me more than once and I hadn’t flinched away.

Did he notice, too? Did he notice the way I allowed him to be close to me?