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He needed to trust me on this.

“She’s sick, Mal. She can’t stay here. She doesn't even deserve to be here in the first place.”

“Doesn’t deserve to be here?” he repeated. His tone was cold and harsh. A chill ran down my spine.

“No,” I said carefully. “She doesn’t.”

After what happened during the tithe earlier, I knew Malachi expected better from me. Better and worse.

He expected me to be stronger than this.

I had shown Malachi that I was strong. I had shown him I was on his side. How could I make him see that Sadie was innocent? She was not a threat to me. She never would be.

Malachi’s laughter filled the dungeons. “Tell me, Jade. What would you have me do? Let her go free?”

“She had nothing to do with the attack.”

“You’re too trusting,” Malachi spat. “You look at her as an ally because she’s a human. If she were fae, would you even blink an eye? Would you care at all?”

I didn’t say a word. After the tithe, I knew my behavior shocked Mal. He expected me to stand by his side after all of this. But Sadie was myfriend. Her breath shallowed beside me.

“Nothing to say now, Jade? No bullshit excuse to why you’re helping this human escape? Don’t stop there. Why don’t I unlock Isaiah’s chains for you, too?”

Panic grew in my chest. “Malachi, I–”

“Now that I think about it, that’s a great idea. Why don’t we all go get your friendIsaiah. Let’s see what he thinks about you saving his precious friend Sadie. Shall we?”

My blood ran cold.

Malachi pushed past us, barging deep into the dungeons. Leaving us no choice but to stumble after him.

“You need to calm down,” I yelled to him. But he was walking much faster than I could carry Sadie. “I was just trying to get Sadie medical treatment. That’s it.”

“I think you’ll need to get a lot more than medical treatment when you see this,” he yelled.

Sadie tried to talk, but I quickly shushed her. “Stay quiet. I’ll do the talking. He just needs to blow off steam.”

“I can hear everything you say,” he yelled back. By the time we rounded the last corner of the dungeon, Sadie nearly fell out of my arms.

Isaiah sat in chains, head hanging down onto his chest. His shirt was gone, and his skin was covered in blood. Some dry, some glistening against the dim lighting.

“Saints, Mal,” I mumbled. “Is he–”

“Dead? Unfortunately for him, not yet. I didn’t want to end all the fun too soon.”

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “What’s the point, Mal? How does this possibly help you?”

“It doesn’t help me, Jade. Don’t you understand that? He tried tohurt you. He nearly got you killed. He nearly got me killed, too. This isn’t for helping me, Jade. Isaiah is paying for what he’s done.”

“What about me?” I asked. My breathing came in short pants. “What about my revenge? What about my justice?” Malachi eyed me carefully. I lifted Sadie’s arm off my shoulder and slowly lowered her to the ground before standing again and facing Mal. “What aboutme?”

“What about you, Jade?” he asked. “You want revenge?”

“Yes,” I whispered, although it was mostly just a breath. Years of pain, betrayal, and hurt came rushing forward, acknowledging those words as he spoke them. “Yes, I want revenge.”

Malachi held his hands out on either side of him. “Then take it,” he said, words harsh and blunt. “If you want revenge so badly, Jade, go after it. It’s yours.”

“I can’t,” I said, feeling all of those emotions slip away, back to the depths where they belonged. “If I tried getting revenge on everyone who has hurt me, or on everyone who hastriedto hurt me, I would have nobody left. Nobody.”