Page 23

Dante

An hour ago, I was brooding in my regular spot at Sinner’s Notch, trying to figure out why Selene had been dodging my questions all day. Her voice had been all sugar on the phone, swearing she’s fine, but I know better. The worst part is that Malik was out all night only to tell me that she looked very pretty dancing around in her living room. And now he’s gone AWOL again tonight.

I mean, I guess she’s at least safe with him watching her. But I can’t trust that he won’t do something to terrify her.

And it’s why I’m now sitting in my car a street over from a seedy little motel after following Malik’s location from his phone. I had set up an alarm on our front door to be alerted whenever Malik left which would give me enough time to follow his ass.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him. Either he’s already inside or he’s out in one of the shadows watching into her window. He’s the least likely to pull a one-night stand, not because he can’t but because he doesn’t play well with strangers. I’m his only real lover, the one who gets his unhinged shit, so him being here makes no fucking sense.

My thumb hovers over his number, ready to call his crazy ass, when I spot him waltzing down the sidewalk, his hood up, his grin all teeth and terrifying beneath the streetlight. An amateur wouldn’t notice, but I can see that his clothes are soaked in blood. He doesn’t usually do public kills, not unless something is bothering him which just sets my alarm bells off. I’m out of the car in seconds, striding toward him. “What the fuck is going on? What did you do?”

That’s when I see that godawful dollar store masquerade mask on his face, Malik slowly pulling it off to reveal his crazed expression. I have to reach down and adjust myself at the thought of Malik fucking me while he wears that or chasing me down until he pins me against the wall and goes to town on my ass. Things to remember for later, I guess.

Malik’s grin widens as he stuffs the mask into the pocket of his hoodie, his eyes glinting with that feral spark that’s never a good sign. “Sparrow, let me inside,” he purrs, obviously still coming down from the high of whatever happened in that room.

As seedy as this place is, someone will eventually notice Malik so I drag him back to the truck and stuff him in the front seat. I don’t say anything until I’m behind the wheel again and peeling out of the lot. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Malik doesn’t answer and I don’t push him until we’re miles away and I’m able to pull off onto the side of the road. “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Malik lets out a little sigh as he pulls down his hood, his fingers stained with blood as well. I’m thinking the worst possible scenario until he turns to me and offers me a smile that doesn’t belong on a devil like him. “She had another target. I couldn’t stay back anymore. I had to see how she makes her art. And then I had to touch. Told her I wanted to see her art while I fucked her. But I couldn’t let her see me so I found a mask. The same color as her hair. It’s pretty. She’s pretty. ”

That dreamy expression on his face makes more sense now but fucking Selene while she’s killing someone… “Seriously?” I growl out, a mixture of jealousy and anger spreading through my chest. I want to fuck her like that, in the blood of her victims but I also know that Malik sometimes forgets to fucking ask before he takes. “Babe, please tell me you…”

He cuts me off, his eyes lighting up. “She screamed but I asked. She liked it. I made sure. I asked!” His voice rises, his tone defensive, like he’s proud of himself for remembering. I can’t help the laugh that escapes, because this is Malik. Unhinged, devoted, and somehow still trying to play by the rules.

I can’t even be mad about that. We already know what happens when she doesn’t want something. Letting out a heavy sigh as relief replaces the slight terror, I reach across the console and pull his forehead against mine, squeezing the back of his neck in steady pulses. “It’s okay, babe. She was okay, though? She’s safe?”

Malik nods, reaching for more, his fingers curling into my shirt. “Yeah, she bleeds so prettily.” His words are so soft, almost not even there that I have to remember that this is my crazy demon who’s talking and not the medical student who sometimes volunteers at the clinic.

The fact that Selene let him cut her means that she’s no longer just an obsession. She’ll be his new toy to play with, to break, to mend, and to mold.

And here I am, holding Malik against me, cock straining in my jeans at the thought of watching them together the next time this happens. Because it will happen again. It’s just a matter of when. I finally pull back, searching those deep blue eyes as they continue to sparkle from his time with her. “What you’d do, Malik? I want to know what happened in that room.”

“She was carving him, taunting him and I just had to be inside of her. I only went to give her back her hammer but then I fucked her, Dante. Fucked her while she killed. She came, squeezing me so tight. She bled for me. You’re the only other one that’s done that for me.” His hand brushes his thigh, where her knife stabbed him, the man practically glowing, like the wound is a badge of honor. “While she stole his soul, I filled her and tasted her to make him understand who she belongs to.”

“Wait, who is he?” I sit back farther in my seat, trying to understand this man’s mind. “The guy she was killing?” I also don’t know who she took into that motel room but that’s a question for later.

“Oh no, she’s not his,” he cackles. “That would’ve never happened. I mean the one watching her. Thinks she’s his, but she isn’t. She’s my sparrow. And yours. I don’t know who he is, but I don’t like him. He was watching tonight, too. I think so but it doesn’t matter.”

Malik mentioned someone else before but I wouldn’t even know where to start. However, added with the information someone is out to get her, I’m getting a little more nervous about her wellbeing. Just a little.

Malik pulls away from me completely, digging out his phone and then flipping the screen toward me. “It’s okay. I claimed her. See?”

Desire slams through me as I stare at the photo he took. Selene’s there, her dress rucked up past her ass, bunched around her hips, blood soaking into her side from the dead guy beside her, her long gray hair stained crimson. She’s the perfect vision of depravity. Swiping, I catch a second picture. It’s blurry but it’s clear she’s pissed, probably because she loved it and hates herself for it. I wish I had been there, wish I’d seen her break like that, wish I’d been the one to ruin her. “Fuuuuuuuuck.”

Malik’s eyes dance, his grin never fading as he takes the phone back from me. “She’d be pretty between us,” he purrs and I can tell he’s already fantasizing about how he’d take her apart again. Hell, I’m thinking about it now too.

It takes me a few moments not to do something stupid like dragging Malik’s pants down and sucking his cock so that I can gorge myself on their combined deliciousness. By the time I’ve controlled my breathing and willed my cock to deflate, I head back onto the road toward home. “Selene needs to process and as much as I’d love to watch you go back over and claim her again, the more hands involved in this shit, the more likely it’s gonna go south. I’ll make sure she’s okay, but you stay the fuck home.”

Malik cackles as he leans back in his chair, staring down at his hands. “You’re just jealous.” His lips quirk a little wider before he sucks one of those digits into his mouth, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. I know for a fact that it’s not Selene’s blood, which means he’s imagining that it is. I’m not sure what’s worse at this moment.

And I’m still fucking hard for it.

“Yeah, I’m jealous,” I push out, forcing myself to focus on the road as he starts cleaning off the next finger. “Been fantasizing about doing that same damn thing for years. But I also know if I show up to help with you in tow, she’s gonna rip our throats out. She needs time to process.”

“Process what?” he asks.

“Process the way you just consumed her.” Because it’s true. I know how Malik fucks and he fucks like a wild man, he fucks to devour and to mark. It’s a lot for anyone to digest, even for Selene. “I’m not sure how I can keep everything I know from her much longer, either. Harley’s getting a little too close and our girl needs to know she’s got someone in her corner.”

Malik hums as he sucks on the last finger and then licks his palm. “My sparrow is ours, isn’t she?”

She is and I love it. The hard part will be making her see that. Correction, the hard part will be making her understand that we’re not going anywhere. For once in my life, I want to be more than a fuck. I want to be her home base.