Page 8

Malachi smiled wickedly. “Unfortunately for us, we’re never that lucky.”

Luck.Such bullshit.

“You’re telling me you haven’t talked to your mother since we’ve arrived back here? Too busy with Isaiah?”

“Isaiah deserves to die. Let’s not get into this again, Jade. Esther will be handled when the time is right.”

My name rolling off his lips evoked an emotion I had been burying deep down.

“Then kill him and be done with it,” I spat. “He was looking out for himself and he chose the wrong side. Where does torturing him get you?”

Malachi leaned back, once again lazily draped over the chair. He picked up his porcelain cup and took a sip of liquid before setting it down again. The cup clinked against the saucer before he replied. “Let me ask you something, princess. What do you suppose the others think when they hear Isaiah’s screams echoing through the dungeons? What do you suppose they would have thought if I had shown him mercy and killed him?”

I clenched my jaw and stayed silent. A bead of sweat began to form on the back of my neck.

“I am the new King of Rewyth. People will challenge me. People will try to undermine me. People will threaten my rule, Jade. They will threaten the people I care about. They will threaten you.”

“So you torture Isaiah to send a message? A warning?”

“You almost died because of him. Why do you care? Why are you protecting him?” His mask cracked as his temper flared. I saw the wild emotion growing behind his eyes.

“He’s a human being,” I pleaded.

“He is a traitor! He is a snake!”

I bit my tongue. Isaiah wasn’t the only snake.

“And what about the others?” I asked. “What of Sadie? Of Esther?”

“I don’t know yet. But I do know one thing. Anyone who threatens you will die, Jade Weyland. They will die by my hand, and it will not be swift. If Isaiah must be the messenger for that, then so be it.”

I set my fork down and leaned back, matching his body language. “I can fight my own battles, you know.”

Enlightenment flickered across his features. “After what happened with your power back in Trithen, I think it’s safe to say that you’re going to become one terrifying woman.”

“Becomeone?”

Malachi gave me a teasing wink. “All in due time.”

I rolled my eyes again and continued eating. After a few minutes of silence in the room, Malachi leaned forward and placed both elbows on the table. “You disintegrated a cage made of bone, Jade. That deadling melted to ash. I should be lucky I wasn’t roasted with it.”

I shook my head. “It all happened so fast, I don’t even know what I did to make that happen.”

“You were desperate. Your power saved you.”

“Is that what your power does?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Saves you when you’re desperate?”

Malachi’s gaze shifted into the space behind me as he thought. “It started off that way, yes,” he answered. “But over the decades, the darkness has become a part of me. It’s right here with me every second of the day. It acts on its own, but never without my permission. It’s second nature.”

I nodded, wanting him to continue.

“It took a long time to get to this point, though,” he said. “There were times when I lost control. There were times when my power became a burden instead of a tool. It was destructive and brutal, but I was the one paying the price.”

“What price?” I asked.

His eyes snapped back to mine. “Sanity.”

Something dark within me stirred. “You think that will happen to me?” I asked in a whisper.