Page 13 of Avidian
I scowl, shoving his chest this time, trying to force him closer to the door. “Get. Out.” My voice rises, not quite a yell but sharp enough to cut through his playful demeanor.
He freezes, his expression shifting. His eyes darken, and he tilts his head, studying me with unsettling intensity. When he reaches out to brush a strand of hair back from my face, I don’t move. The look in his eyes leaves me frozen for a moment.
“Who did this to you?” he asks quietly, his warm fingers grazing the bruises on my neck.
I flinch, stepping back as the memory of that room and those hands on me resurfaces. “No one living,” I say simply.
He doesn’t look away, his gaze lingering on my neck like he’s trying to piece together the truth. The tension between us stretches thin, and I shove him again, weaker this time, more to regain control than to actually move him. “Now go. I need to sleep.”
Malachi’s eyes finally lift to mine, and something flickers in them—a momentary softness—before he steps back toward the door.
“Fine,” he says, pulling it open, but he pauses in the doorway, his hand on the edge of the frame. “This isn’t over.”
I move to close the door behind him, but at the last second he stops it with his hand, leaning in with that infuriating smirk. “Don’t forget, Kat—you still owe me that kiss.” He winks, and before I can retort, he’s gone, disappearing into the dimly lit hall.
I glare after him, my chest tightening in annoyance. My eyes flick down the hall, but it’s not because of him—I’m checking for the guard. Sure enough, Gary is a couple of doors down, leaning against the wall. His presence reassures me, though I’d never admit it aloud. But the fact that Marco is making his son keep watch instead of one of the guards does put me a little on edge. He must be worried—or suspicious of something.
Quickly, I retreat into my room and shut the door firmly behind me. The last thing I want is for Malachi to think I’m lingering out here for his sake. Let him think whatever he wants—I don’t care.
I trudge over to the bed, exhausted. Climbing under the covers, I let out a long breath, the tension of the night slowly starting to unravel.
Sleep isn’t going to come easy tonight. My thoughts are too tangled, too heavy. I close my eyes and think of Mischka. Within a minute, she’s there, curling up at my side, her ghostly warmth giving me a sliver of comfort after the day I’ve had. Her presence grounds me, but it doesn’t quiet my mind completely.
What did Malachi even come here to talk about? He said this changed nothing, but that’s not true. This changes everything. Not only is he a liar, but his family owns me. I shake my head, biting back the bitterness creeping into my throat. It had been a nice fantasy, daydreaming about some mysterious man in the park, thinking he was genuine, thinking he had good intentions. But that illusion is gone now—shattered.
It’s not like I could ever have a relationship with anyone. Not ever. My life is this…coasting through each day, waiting for Marco to summon me for a job. That’s all I am here for, all I’ll ever be.
Most of my time is spent reading. Books are my only escape, since vacations and friendships are luxuries I’ll never have. Sure, I talk to the other Avids, the servants, and even the guards from time to time, but to call any of them friends would be a lie. Getting too close to anyone is dangerous. Trusting anyone is impossible. That’s the reality I’ve accepted, the life I’ve resigned myself to.
I didn’t always feel this way. Early on, I tried to escape—a few times actually. But severe punishment, paired with failure after failure, taught me quickly that freedom wasn’t an option. The scars of those lessons run deep, though they’ve faded with time. Now, I don’t fight it and don’t dream of something better.
This is my life. Marco’s tool. His property. His little demon.
And I have to keep doing the job he brought me here to do, or else.
Chapter Six
RULE 6 OF THE NEW ORDER: EVERY GHOST HAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS—SOME ARE BETTER LEFT UNRESOLVED.
“Good morning, sunshine,”Malachi’s voice drawls from beside my bed. I jolt upright, brushing hair out of my face as I blink at him in disbelief.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask, groggy and rubbing at my eyes.
He crosses his arms, looking far too comfortable for someone invading my space.
“Turns out Dad has a lot of catching up to do with my uncle, and I’ve been tasked with supervising you while you solve this case for him.”
Fantastic. I didn’t think this situation could get worse, but apparently it can.
“Usually, a knock on the door will suffice for a wake-up call,” I mutter, pushing the blankets off and trudging toward the bathroom. My annoyance radiates off me, but I tamp it down. I’ve dealt with being supervised before—I can handle Malachi. He’s no different from the others Marco’s assigned to babysit me.
“So what’s the plan for today?” he asks, following me as I grab my toothbrush and squeeze a dollop of toothpaste onto it.
I glance at him briefly in the mirror. “Isn’t it your job to tell me what the plan is?” I say before shoving the toothbrush into my mouth.
He sighs dramatically, moving to sit on the edge of my bed like he owns the place. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot last night,” he says gently. “Maybe we can be friends. I’m not here to make your life miserable. I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. And for the record, not everything I told you at the park that night was a lie.”
I spit into the sink, rinse my mouth, and pop my head out of the bathroom to glare at him. “Friends? That is something we will never be.” I pause, leveling him with a pointed look. “And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s literally your job now to make me do the things I don’t want to do.”
