Page 72 of Malicent (Seven Devils #1)

Cage

I CAN’T STAND ANOTHER MOMENT near this man.

I speak directly into Felix’s mind, standing stiff at his side while he schmoozes with the duke this entire gathering is meant to honor. Felix only smiles in response, sipping his wine with a smug face. He enjoys my discomfort far too much.

My eyes continuously sweep the crowd, always alert for threats, while my mind drifts between thoughts. I brush against those present to monitor for any spark of rebellion or violence.

At least Millicent offers some entertainment.

She moves like a storm cloud through the crowd.

While everyone else is draped in jeweled gowns and gold accents to flatter Felix’s vanity, she’s wrapped in black lace.

Her hair isn’t pinned like the others’. It spills down her back like a waterfall of night.

Her dress clings to her skin, the lace sleeves revealing the witch marks beneath, a corseted bodice cinching her waist, and twin embroidered gold snakes rising from her hips over her chest.

She doesn’t speak much. I catch her glancing through the crowd repeatedly, likely searching for Iris. She will not find her anytime soon.

Kalix is undoubtedly hovering close, as he always does when Iris is ovulating, something I unfortunately know firsthand from his outrageously loud thoughts earlier during a command meeting. I checked in briefly, only to be assaulted by a mental montage of lust and possessiveness. Typical Kalix.

Gods above, give me strength to not tie this woman down.

I smirk as Kalix’s frustration radiates off him in waves.

Curious, I shift to Iris’s mind instead.

I can wear whatever I want. Who is he to dictate what’s too revealing?

Oh, she’s livid. No surprise there. Their arguments can stretch for hours. I pull back from their squabble. Besides, Millicent is far more captivating prey tonight.

Luca comes to her rescue, stepping up to her side. I slide into his mind next, needing to know what stirs beneath the surface. Nothing but friendship. No flicker of lust. Good. The darkness clawing up my spine settles slightly.

He’d be a fool to desire her. He wouldn’t survive it. She’d slit his throat mid-ecstasy and leave his blood staining silk sheets.

No, the little devil and her violent delights demand a firmer hand.

A hand like mine.

I roll my neck and press the rising hunger back down. Her darkness calls to mine, like oil drawn to flame. Even when I detest what she represents, she’s…delicious.

Millicent excuses herself, slipping through the crowd until she vanishes into the hallway.

I reach out mentally, brushing against her mind.

The wall is there—predictable—but she doesn’t retaliate.

I’d hoped my intrusion would get her back into my view so I can look at her more closely, even if she’d spit venomously at me. She doesn’t return, either.

Goosebumps race up my arms. The magic in the room thickens, electric. My eyes scan the crowd.

Fuck.

What if she lost control again?

Felix. I cast the thought to him. Something’s off. I need to check on Millicent.

He nods to me, understanding passing between us.

I motion a nearby guard over. “Protect the king in my absence.”

“Of course, Lord Black,” the man replies, taking position at Felix’s side.

The crowd parts for me, and I stride into the hallway. No sign of her.

I pick up my pace, magic prickling at my senses. It’s strong, but it’s all around me, bleeding through the walls and humming through the floors.

I search the halls, cut through the garden, checking the corners I know she prefers. No sign of her. Growing impatient, I shut my eyes and tune into the wards.

Her signature pulses inside her chamber.

I don’t knock. Surprise is my ally if she’s lost in that dark pit again.

She turns at the sound of the door. Millicent stands framed in the balcony’s light. “Um? Hello?”

My eyes rake over her—sharp, precise, checking for the predator. “What are you doing in here, little witch?”

“I felt claustrophobic,” she responds a little too quickly.

Liar.

“I thought we were going to start being honest?” I close the distance slowly.

“Since when?” she snaps, folding her arms.

My gaze flicks past her to the owl perched in the shadows of the balcony. Familiar eyes. Nora’s eyes. She’s watching. I noticed the owl when Millicent was in stasis, and I’ll never forget those eyes.

I already figured Nora is keeping tabs on Millicent. “Talking to your mock mommy?” My voice drips with malice.

Her expression turns venomous. “Something like that.”

I step closer, letting my size and presence tower over her, but she doesn’t flinch.

Intriguing.

“Why is there a surge in magic, Millicent?” I watch closely for a break in her mask.

Her grin widens like a challenge. “Maybe it’s me. No collar, remember?” She drags her fingers along her bare neck.

My eyes track the movement. No scars. No sign of the Carnium Edax, no residue of the collar that once chewed its way into her flesh.

How many scars have been bestowed upon her skin, only to be erased?

“Do you think that makes you free?”

I close the last inch between us. Her aura pulses against mine. My hand lifts to her throat, fingers wrapping slowly, deliberately around the delicate column.

“I’m not a prisoner here, remember?” she asks, tone just shy of flirtatious.

“Free of your collar, perhaps. Not of me. I am your executioner, my little witch.” I pull her against my chest, tightening my grip on her throat in warning. “I could snap your neck right now.”

Her eyes glint with something unreadable. “Break me then,” she whispers, her voice dipping into a soft velvet sound that pulls the beast inside me from its cage.

I push her backward, step by step, toward the balcony where Nora’s owl watches silently from its perch.

I lean down to her ear, keeping my eyes locked on the bird. “How do you think Nora will feel, seeing her heir bent over this railing, fucked by the monster she helped forge?”

She turns, meeting my eyes with lethal calm. “How do you think I will feel when you fill me?”

Her lip slips between her teeth, and I grow instantly envious of the attention.

“Like sweet sin,” I mumble, hoarsely.

I press my lips to hers. She resists at first, until I squeeze her throat tighter. Her lips part to suck in air, and I claim her. My tongue invades, stealing her delicious taste, taking her breath and replacing it with mine. I’m inside her mouth, but it isn’t enough. I need more.

She reciprocates with heat. Hands slip in my hair, tugging on strands as her teeth tug at my bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth. When she moans against me, my restraint crumbles.

My pants grow tighter as I grind against her, letting her feel my desire. And the sound she makes in response damn near breaks me.

My hands drop from her throat to her gown. I pull forcibly until I hear fabric tear under my grip.

“Cage,” she whines, panting against my lips. It’s the most perfect sound I’ve ever heard. I want to claim every inch of her skin.

“Keep saying my name,” I breathe. “Just like that.”

No, her skin is not enough. I need to infect her soul.

My hands are beneath the hem, ready to lift her and press her thighs to the railing—

The world tilts.

Her hands are on me. She eases me to the floor.

“Are you all right?” she whispers.

No. Something is wrong. Strength seeps out of me like spilling blood. I blink, trying to sit up.

“Millicent, what did you do?”

The devil itself smiles back at me. She caresses my head, stroking my hair in a parody of tenderness.

“Somnex.” A sedative. The exact one we used on her before.

The little bitch . I should have known she was up to something the moment she kissed me like that. “I’m going to wake up,” I growl, struggling to focus, “and rid us of you.”

She laughs bright and full. I’ve never heard her sound so vibrant.

“Please. No one even notices what I’m doing.

What do you all think I am? A troubled girl with a soft heart?

” She twirls a lock of my hair around her finger, treating me like a toy.

“It’s just my nature, right? Isn’t that what Luca says? ”

I see it now, the wolf beneath her soft skin, its sharpened teeth and hunting skills honed from years of practice. “I always saw you for what you are. A Le Strange. One we should burn first the second this war has ended.”

She smiles wider. Her eyes sparkle with something lethal. “I’ll take you down with me, but not today. I hope you sleep well, little shadow. And I hope you know the darkness coming is me. Everyone dies tonight, but don’t worry.” Her voice hardens. “It’ll all be self-defense .”

Her words cut like poisoned glass. My limbs begin growing cold, and I can no longer control them.

“Millicent, listen to me. I’m sorry about your mother,” I force out. She’s not lying. The sedative is pulling me under, but panic drags me up by the throat. “My family is here. Millicent, please. You saw my memory. I was tor—”

“Enough!”

She looms over me, voice thunderous. “You are pathetic, weak. Tortured? I’ve lived what you’ve lived and came out stronger. You bleed your weakness onto others like a stain!”

“It’s not an excuse!” My voice slurs. My vision splinters, triple-layered and dimming. “You’ve been…brainwashed.”

I fight the sedative. I have to .

No. No, I need to save them —

I CAN SAVE THEM.

My hands tremble as I pull the spike from my mother’s chest.

“Mama, please wake up,” I whisper, rocking her limp body against mine. Her blood coats me, seeping through my clothes until it clings like a second skin.

I can save them.

I rock, holding her to me. Her last words, a lie. It is my fault.

I reach over, fumbling for my father’s cold hand, curling my fingers around his.

But—but I can save them.

I rock faster.

I can save them...

HER RAGE RADIATES OFF HER in waves. She shoves my head from her lap, and my skull cracks against the stone. The pain splits behind my eyes, and a shrill ringing floods my ears.

When my vision clears, she is towering over me.

“I wish I had a heart to care about the awful things I’m about to do to you,” she whispers. Her voice trembles, tears trailing down her cheeks. “But you ripped it from my chest.”

“Millie,” I choke out. My chest rises and falls rapidly, panic consuming what strength I have left. “Vyraxis will come. You’ll die.” A truth.

“I am not living. This is not living, Cage. I’m a vessel. You don’t understand what I am.”

More tears fall, and I start to hallucinate. Her adult face, morphing, melting into a child’s, then back again. The sedative is dragging me under. I see the five-year-old girl I loved. My only friend.

This is the cycle, isn’t it?

I took from her. And now she’s here to take everything from me. Even when I have lost so much, there’s always more left for her to destroy.

“ Lie with me…just for a while,” I whisper. It’s a phrase I used to say when we were kids.

The child version of her sits beside me, just like she did the day I left her behind, covered in bloodstains with tears down her cheeks.

She is going to die. I need to hold her just one more time.

I try to reach for her. My arm gives out and slaps the floor. “My star came to guide me home to rest.”

Her hand slips into mine. Our fingers weave together.

“Let me in.” My voice barely escapes.

She shakes her head.

I feel something wet slide down my cheek from my eye as her rejection stings.

In her death, I grieved the loss of what little I had. In her life, I grieve her refusal to let me back in.

“You promised you’d never block me out.”

My eyelids fall. Darkness licks at the edges of my vision.

“You promised.”