Page 60 of Mated to the Mad Marquess

“Unfinished business. I couldn’t go just yet,” she said softly, lashes low. “You were being stubborn. I promised myself I wouldn’t interfere unless you needed me. I had to see this through, had to know you were all right, so I waited.”

“And I needed you,” Malcolm noted. “Thank you for saving me.” He wobbled again and Hrafn braced him.

He stared at the place where their hands were clasped. He could pull her in. Hold her. Kiss her. Thank her properly.

Do it,Solis begged.

Malcolm sighed. It would only make the second inevitable goodbye that much harder.

Sensing his struggle, Hrafn dropped his arm. “I’ll watch your back,” she vowed. “Go rip apart that damn monster like the shadow god you are.”

Malcolm moved through the trees with renewed purpose. The darkness stopped retreating. It was wounded, he sensed, first by him stripping away those shadows and reforming them, then further injured by the attack of trees. Wary, he motioned for Hrafn to stay back.

It’s talking to me,Solis said, and he separated from Malcolm, casting his shade across the grass and the raised tree roots.

Phantoms only want to whisper madness, Malcolm warned. “Come here,” he commanded the darkness, and the first tendrils moved in reach. He ripped it apart, handful by handful.

Solis grew and thickened into his wraith-like form.Wait, he said, but Malcolm ignored him. He plucked and tore at the shadows.

Wait!Solis shouted, swooping in beside him.The monster is willing to return to its cage!

Malcolm’s nostrils flared. With a flustered grunt, he continued to pull the darkness in around him and claw through them with his fingers, dropping tiny little base shadows onto the forest floor.

Stop, Solis screamed in his ear. Then he grabbed Malcolm’s hand at the wrist.If it returns to its cage, Hrafn will have to stay too.

Malcolm snarled at his soul, lip curled. “I want a partner, a lover, not a prisoner.”

Solis roared in his face and clung to his arm, and Malcolm slowed.

“Hrafn,” Malcolm rasped, straining against his soul, and he heard her sidling closer. “You have to run. You have to run now, and you cannot let Solis catch you this time. Fly fast.”

She didn’t ask questions. They were mates—trust and affection would burn between them always. Hrafn’s wings unfurled, and she shot into the air.

No,Solis begged, tearing after her.

Malcolm picked and plucked and ripped and tore at the darkness until there was nothing left on the forest floor but dozens of baby shadows, and a glowing piece of soul in the palm of his hand. The bit of god soul was hard and shaped like a tear drop. He tucked it into his pocket beside the brass button Clapa gifted him.

Then he sat down on the ground, resting his back against a tree trunk, and the shadow babies gathered around him, seeking reassurance, because they were hurting and scared. He held them and waited.

* * *

Hrafn

Leaving the fortress, knowing she wouldn’t return, had made Hrafn feel like she’d been torn in two. A part of her, a crucial part, like her very own heart, had been left behind with Malcolm. She and Ezra made it as far as their old home before they took to the ground.

They spent the day hunting animals touched by the monster, and then the trees shook and screamed and they’d run for their lives. Malcolm had told her stories of the Queen of Night during training and when they ate together. The trees battled for the Seelie witch. Hrafn had watched her work from a distance, clearing the forest in moments with magic that made her jaw drop.

At midday, Malcolm had come into the forest. She’d sensed him in the bond as he’d drawn near, and even though it hadn’t been long at all since they’d seen each other last, it felt as if they’d been separated for ages.

“I want a partner, a lover, not a prisoner,”he’d said to his soul.

She loved him for that, for freeing her despite the misery it caused him. For his strength and his selflessness, he was a worthy mate.

Hrafn flew fast and hard, Solis just behind her. She could hear him whispering at her but still couldn’t make out what he was saying. He’d grown louder in their time together. The bond fluttered in her chest, a compelling sensation.

Hrafn rose above the tree canopy and gained a new burst of speed in the open air. Ezra tried to help, flying at Solis to slow him, but his efforts would simply pass straight through the shadowy form.

They circled the forest and headed toward Reedlet. Hrafn wound a wide path back toward the River Eventide. She wouldn’t be able to keep up this speed forever. Malcolm needed to work fast. In the distance, the river rushed over rocks, and then Solis locked his soft satiny grip around her ankle.

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