Page 12 of Thorn of Sorrow

Once everything was back the way it had been, Malachi unfroze the humans.

“Foster, go grab the two from holding,” Whitmore said then eyed Harrington. “You can’t arrest someone over a nervous joke. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly.” Harrington’s upper lip curled as he looked our way. “But we still haven’t solved how the evidence went missing.”

I kept my expression neutral as he continued to glare at me. Would he still act the same way if he knew what I was? Knowing Harrington? Probably. He should consider himself lucky he was still breathing.

But if he touched Kyson again, he would face the monster dwelling deep inside of me.

Chapter Three

Kyson

The creak of metal when the cell door opened felt more ominous then when it had slammed shut behind me. With a shaky breath, I stepped out then glanced at Dane, our eyes meeting. His expression mirrored how I felt.

We’d heard the destruction, the yelling, and then the thunderous silence down the hall. Malachi and Giovanni had arrived, dragging with them centuries of baggage they’d finally unpacked in what had sounded like complete devastation.

“Shit,” I muttered as the deputy led us toward the front of the building. Not once had I gotten into this kind of trouble while living at Winterhaven. It wouldn’t be shocking if Malachi told me to pack my crap and leave, especially since I’d dragged his boyfriend along for the ride.

“How upset do you think they are?” Dane whispered, his gaze bouncing several times between me and the hallway ahead.

My brows rose high enough to blend with my hairline. “Dude, they just tried to kill each other.” I shook my head in disbelief. “They don’t get ‘upset’. They’re a walking apocalypse with a grudge.”

“You could have lied to me!” Dane hissed in a low tone, the skin around his eyes wrinkling as he narrowed them.

“Fine, I think they’re just mildly peeved. They’ll probably give us a strongly worded lecture. Feel better?”

He opened his mouth but snapped his head around when the deputy stepped aside, leaving us face-to-face with Malachi and Giovanni.

I placed my hand on Dane’s back when he instinctively tried to retreat, only to feel the violent tremor running through him. It was enough to make my chest tighten. My jaw clenched as I glanced at the brothers, then a gasp slipped from me at the raw heartache etched into Malachi’s dark eyes.

Dane’s fear was gutting him.

Malachi approached slowly, his hands splayed open in a gesture of surrender. “Are you okay, little warrior?”

It was like watching a warlord kneel before the battlefield’s last survivor. I’d seen him enraged, surly, and lost in the stillness of his own dark mind, but this… This was something else. The man before me wasn’t the prince who’d crushed armies or left entire legacies trembling in his wake. This was Malachi stripped bare, his pride discarded, his power meaningless in the face of Dane’s terror.

And he didn’t care who saw him.

The weight of it hit me like a blow. A dark prince who struck fear in the hearts of his enemies was now humbled, reduced to nothing but a man desperate to erase the tremors in the person he loved. My throat tightened as I watched the way he looked at Dane, like nothing else mattered, not even those witnessing such an intimate moment.

For the first time, I realized Malachi wasn’t invincible. And for the first time, I wondered what it would feel like to be seen the way he saw Dane.

My gaze tried to stray to Giovanni, but I forced them to stare at the floor. The scars littering my body were a stark reminder that I would never know that feeling.

“Are we free to go, Sheriff Whitmore?” I asked, focusing on a small piece of paper that seemed to be stuck halfway inside the wall.

“Yes.” His deep voice was thick with emotion, as if moved by Malachi’s display.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I headed straight for the exit, then moved swiftly to the side of the building, where I used the shimmer to try and escape the pain burrowing deep inside my soul.

* * * *

I’d dodged everyone for a week, but oddly enough, I’d hung out with Dick in the kitchen, enjoying his company. It should’ve been the last room I wanted to visit since it was where I’d been possessed. But it was better than being alone in my bedroom, and I wasn’t ready to face anyone.

Giovanni. Admit it. He’s the one you’re avoiding.

Twice he’d knocked on my door since Harrington’s bullshit arrest, and both times I’d pretended I wasn’t in there.

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