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Dagny

I don’t know how he managed to retrieve it, or when, but the beating, golden artifact sitting in the center of Malice’s palm is unmistakably a heart. Abaddon’s heart. My mouth opens in a silent scream as Malice draws the organ to the hole in his chest, depositing the pulsing heart deep within his shattered rib cage, sealing his fate.

Before Slaine can react, a violent light explodes from the center of Malice’s chest, the force of it enough to blow Slaine backward and send his body crashing into a trunk at the far end of the clearing. All of the soldiers who were holding my other mates are vaporized on the spot—evaporating into black puffs of vapor in the next heartbeat—their souls torn apart by the incredible surge of energy. In the wake of the carnage and chaos, the demon king slumps to the ground, his eyes rolling and limbs splayed at awkward angles—but I only give him my attention for a moment before my gaze is drawn back to Malice and that strange light radiating from his chest.

Malice’s back arches, his mouth open wide in a silent scream as raw magic pulses through the air, filling the forest with charged beams of energy that travel to the furthest corners of the land, shaking the earth and staining the canopy above with a dazzling sheen of gold. Another cry of pain draws my attention to the side, and my stomach flips as I take in the sight of my five other mates writhing on the ground, their faces twisted in agony. That same brilliant golden light is beaming from their pores, heating their skin past boiling point and vaporizing the surrounding air.

A heavy blanket of panic settles over my mind as I push onto my hands and knees, crawling toward Malice as the ground tilts and shudders, threatening to swallow me whole. With each painful movement—every excruciating second it takes me to close the distance—Malice’s outline fades into the surrounding air, the threads of his soul unwinding and causing him to disappear as if he’d never been in the first place.

“Malice!” I choke, collapsing on the ice a few inches from his body. “Malice, wait!”

Unable to move anymore, I turn my head, searching the ground for my five other mates—but they’re gone. “Kaebl? Cyprien? Lir?” Hot, salty tears stream down my face and into my open mouth as I scream for my mates, unable to believe they’re truly gone. “Fenryr! Roark! Come back! You can’t… don’t leave me. Not yet ,” I whisper, my heart fracturing into a million tiny pieces. “ Please… ”

“ Dag…ny…”

I whip my head toward Malice, all the air leaving my lungs as I take in his fading smirk. “ Malice…”

“Come… here… I want to… tell you something.”

With the last of my strength, I pull my body across the ice, placing my ear just above Malice’s mouth to listen. His palm connects with my chest, pushing me back so he can look into my eyes—and I’m struck by just how sad he looks.

“What is it?” I whisper, trying to cup his cheek in my palm only for it to connect with air. A frustrated scream echoes up my throat, but I choke it down, needing to hear what Malice has to say. Because this is the last time I’ll get to hear him speak. “What did you want to tell me?”

“I just…” He blinks, the molten red glow of his iris fading along with the rest of him. Too soon. It’s too soon.

“It’s not,” he murmurs, a sad little smirk tugging at his mouth. “This was meant to be, little one. It only… only took so long because I was too stubborn to admit it. Too selfish.” He shakes his head, his eyes glinting with a desperate sheen as he stares deep into my soul. “I regret everything, Dagny. All my actions, my cruelty and cunningness. If I only knew that you existed and were a possibility, I would have been good. I would have been so good, my darling wildfire. I would have waited for you and struggled every single day to become the man you deserve.” Malice smiles, but it holds no happiness. “I’m sorry I could not be that for you. I’m sorry I’m not anything other than what I am. I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye. I’m sorry for being me. I’m sorry for being rotten. I’m sorry… sorry that I tainted you with my love. Because I love you , Dagny. I love you more than air, more than life. More, so much more than some stupid fucking notion of power. I love you. I love you, and I always have, and I always— always —will.”

Malice lays his head back against the ice, and the smile that graces his face is sincere—the first one since I first laid eyes on him. And I’m not sure why, but the sight causes tears to well in my eyes, makes my chest ache, and fills my bones with lead.

I love you too, Malice. I love you. Please don’t go.

A laugh shakes his chest. “Didn’t I tell you… the truth… will get you killed in this place… I mean… just look at me…” He takes a ragged breath, his eyes finding mine. “Still… I’m so… so very thankful I got to hear it… to know that for once in my life, I was wanted… that I was… that I was loved… and by someone so… so utterly spectacular…”

His eyes close, a whisper of “Thank you” falling from his lips with his last breath, and the demon I knew as Malice disappears entirely. Leaving me alone.

At that moment of great loss, a scream of agony explodes from my throat, shooting into the vast chasm of The Far Place. I don’t expect anyone to listen, or to care—but despite that, they do . And my power— my power— ruptures the very fabric of the realm.