Page 39 of Unholy Vows

Malachai

A pain-filled scream rent the air, and every muscle in my body coiled tight, ready to jump into the fray.

“Layla!” I roared as I sprinted down the path.

She didn’t respond to my call, and I forced myself to remain calm, my ears straining as I tried to pinpoint her location.

But the maze was working against me. Each turn looked like the last, and my pulse spiked as the sounds of a struggle reached me.

“I am not dying in a fucking corn maze, you asshole!” Layla screamed, and I darted right, following the sound.

That’s my girl.

I charged forward, my heart slamming against my ribcage, only to hit a dead end.

“Fuck!”

I dragged both hands through my hair in a futile effort to calm myself.

Pivoting, I backtracked, taking the next left. Another cry reached me, muffled this time, and I spun, trying to zero in on the direction.

“Layla!” I shouted again, my voice thick with frustration and panic.

I pumped my legs, forcing myself to move faster, barreling through the narrow paths with no regard for where I was going. My pulse pounded in my ears, my blood singing with adrenaline and fear.

I hated this feeling.

This helplessness.

I was always in control.

Always.

The panic crawling up my throat was new and unwelcome. I wanted to tear my skin off. Rip away the part of me that had become vulnerable. But that would mean carving Layla out of my flesh, and she’d already seeped into my bones.

A fierce battle cry sounded up ahead, and I thrashed through the tall stalks until I finally broke free.

What I saw before me stopped me dead in my tracks.

Layla was straddling Reece, her knees on either side of his hips, one arm pressing him into the ground, the other raised in the air holding a... was that a shoe?

With a feral snarl, Layla slammed the heel of her shoe into the side of Reece’s neck. Again and again, she raised the bloodied instrument, only to drive it back down with her next breath. Blood coated her face, her arms, her… everywhere.

Reece lay motionless beneath her, not so much as blinking while Layla laid siege to his jugular. I slowed my approach, lifting my hands in the air and curving my posture inward, making myself appear smaller. Less of a threat.

“Layla.”

She whipped her head in my direction. Her chest heaved with every breath, and her eyes were wild and shining like obsidian — terrified and furious and alive .

Blood stained her cheeks and dripped from her fingertips. She looked like vengeance. An artwork carved from violence.

Then she growled at me. She fucking growled at me.

I swallowed a groan and resisted the urge to readjust myself in my slacks.

She was fucking breathtaking.

“It’s alright, Little Sinner. It’s only me.”

Layla’s eyes widened, and she blinked as recognition settled over her.

“M-Malachai?”

“Yeah, baby, it’s me. I’m here.”

She glanced down at the mangled corpse beneath her, and a look of pure horror contorted her features. She scrambled back, kicking frantically as her hands scraped against the dirt.

“Oh, my God! What have I done?”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she raised a bloodied hand to her mouth. I rushed forward, needing to feel the warmth of her body pressed against mine to reassure myself she was alive and unharmed.

Scooping her up from the ground, I clutched her tiny form in my arms as I tucked her head under my chin.

Her whole body shook violently, and I rubbed circles over the base of her spine in an effort to comfort her.

Broken sobs racked her frame, and I rocked her back and forth as she let the tears fall.

Every pained cry, every shaky inhale made me wish Reece were still alive just so I could kill him again for hurting her. When the tears finally subsided, Layla lifted her head and stared up at me with glittery eyes.

“I killed him.”

She didn’t just kill him… she obliterated him.

And I was so turned on, it was indecent.

“You did, baby, and I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Layla snorted. “Of course you are.”

Then she sobered.

“It was him.”

“What was him?”

“He broke into my apartment. He was the one stalking me.”

Layla’s brows furrowed as if she were considering something.

“I mean, the other stalker.”

She gave me a pointed look, and I smirked, unashamed of my actions.

Wait.

Reece was BeastMode458, and her stalker? That made little sense. Their online behavior had been completely at odds with each other.

“He was also behind the BeastMode458 account on The Wild Hunt forum,” she said as if reading my thoughts. “Although he said he made it look like his brother’s profile. Something about throwing a tantrum.”

So, it was a decoy then. A little misdirection to throw us off his trail.

And I fucking fell for it.

Anger twisted my gut, and I tightened my hold on Layla.

“What’s going to happen to me?”

The way her voice sounded so frail, so unsure, made me grind my teeth together.

Fucking Reece.

“Nothing is going to happen to you, baby. I’m going to take care of it.”

Layla glanced over her shoulder, taking in the rivers of blood and brutalized corpse. Her gaze swept down her frame, noting her torn dress that was now crimson.

“You’re good, Malachai, but you’re not that good.”

My grin turned downright sinful. “Are you doubting me, Little Sinner?”

She raised a shoulder in a half-shrug, but said nothing.

As gently as I could, I lowered her to the ground and pulled my phone from my pocket. Layla’s eyes tracked my movements as I punched in the number and raised the phone to my ear.

It connected on the second ring.

“As I live and breathe,” Noah said, his broad grin discernible in his tone. “Two calls in one night. I’m honored.”

“It’s one call. The first one doesn’t count because you called me.”

Noah let out a raucous laugh, and I drew in a slow, measured breath to keep my irritation in check.

“Seriously, though, what do you need?” he asked when he pulled himself together.

“How good is your cleaning crew?”

“The best. Why?”

“I’m going to drop you a pin of my location. I need you to send me a crew of no more than three men. And I want the very best, Noah. If you give me the B team, I’ll kill you.”

“Aww, that hurt my feelings.”

“You said you don’t have any feelings.”

“True, but still.”

I lowered the phone from my ear and sent Noah the pin.

“Did you get it?” I asked when I lifted the device back to my ear.

“Yup,” he said, popping the p.

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

“And Noah…”

“Yes, Malachai?”

“Be fucking discreet.”

I hung up to the sound of his laughter as I pulled Layla back into my arms.