“Ohmagosh!” Jae said, holding out a piece of black, lace clothing to Raven. “This would look so cute on you!”
“I’m not wearing lingerie, Jae,” Raven stated.
“Wouldn’t be the first time I heard that,” she muttered, tossing it back on the shelf. “And now that you’ve got a boyfriend, you still don’t accept it.”
A sudden uneasiness cast over her. “What do you mean boyfriend?” Raven questioned. “I don’t like Malachi that way.”
Jae shot her a disbelieving look. “He seemed oddly close to you yesterday, and you didn’t push him off. So, I’m pretty sure you’re lying.”
Her cheeks burned. “We… we’re just friends.”
Jae almost choked. “Friends? More like friends with benefits.”
“I’m still a virgin,” Raven said.
“And he kissed you?” Jae questioned; brows raised. “Have you had the kissing yet?”
Raven cheeks burned. “Well….”
“That’s a ‘yes.’” She started shuffling through the bra rack. “I’m pretty sure you like him, Raven. And you know yourself pretty well. I’m surprised you haven’t accepted it yet.”
“What happened to the whole, ‘he gives me serial killer vibes’ thing?”
Jaelyn cast her an amused look. “He did, but now I’m not so sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way he acts around you shows that he cares.” Then she added, “In his own little way.”
Raven could feel her heart pounding wildly against her chest.
“You okay?” Jae said then, turning to her. “Your face is a little red.”
Raven nodded, a ghost of a smile creeping up in her expression despite her cheeks burning like fire. “Yeah.”
“Ray,” Jae said, “you got to pick at least something. C’mon. I’m dying here.”
Her brows arched. “You’re dying because I won’t pick out a lacy bra?”
She nodded despite it sounding ridiculous.
“Fine,” Raven said, “you pick it and I’ll buy it, okay? But you know my price range.”
Jaelyn shuffled through the rack. “Haha, yes.”
Half an hour later, Raven and Jae found themselves sitting in Kit-Cat Café, staring off into the rest of the mall outside the window.
“Here’s your chai,” a waitress said, placing a cup in front of Raven and Jae.
“Thanks,” Jae said sweetly.
She smiled, nodded, and walked off.
Jae looked to Raven who was staring off into her cup, clearly lost in thought.
“Rave,” Jae said, catching her attention. “How’s life?”
“Pretty good,” she responded. “Somewhat. Malachi’s kind of driving me crazy but that’s nothing new.”
Jae chuckled. “It sounds like him. Me—just being the supportive friend—constantly confronted him and he always found loopholes, trying to not answer my questions. I don’t honestly know how you deal with him.”
“I don’t either,” Raven responded. “I have this fear that he’d hurt me, and he just proceeds to continuously show otherwise. He’s saved me multiple times.”
“From those assassins?” Jae said.
Raven looked up. “How did you…?”
“I guessed it eventually.” She shrugged. “I found it quite odd that you constantly got attacked by muggers daily.”
Raven blinked. “Do you… know about the whole… secret world?”
Jae smiled. “Vampires, werewolves, and angels? Yeah.”
“How long have you known?” she questioned.
“When you vanished, Clay kinda let me in slowly, showing me little things until I finally got the hint. He didn’t want it to be a big shock.”
“Are you an enchanted?” Raven said then.
Jae nodded. “But I honestly don’t know what yet.”
Raven smiled. “You’re not alone in that. Mal won’t tell me what I am either.”
They both snickered at the connection.
And they sat in silence for a moment, Raven gazing out the window as Jae stared at her, wanting to say something but had to find the right words.
“Hey, uh… Sorry to ditch you and all, but… Clay has to go to work at two, so he’s taking me back… in like five minutes. Do you want us to drive you, too?”
“No,” Raven said, “Malachi said I could stay out until dark. I get very little freedom.”
They both laughed again.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Jae questioned then, laughter trailing off.
“Yeah,” Raven responded honestly. “Archer’s gone now. Mal told me this morning they’d take a break after losing him.”
Jae nodded. “Alright.”
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*****
It was two minutes till four in the evening, and Raven walked down the city streets, staring down at the sidewalk with her hands in her pockets.
The icy wind cut through her jacket, making her shiver at the chills running through her, so she pulled her hat more over her head, attempting to cover her ears so the tips would stop burning.
The sun hadn’t set yet, though there was still two hours until it would even start setting, but it felt bitterly cold still, like the air was filled with icicles.
She stopped on the side of a street, staring off into the sky where the clouds lightly passed the beaming sun.
A low, rumbling noise filled the air, like the growl of a bear, and Raven’s head shot up, scanning the area for the source.
Her eyes caught on a car speeding toward the streets, and she stepped back towards the wall of a building, pressing her back against it even though the car was in the middle of the road.
It’s probably nothing, she told herself. Maybe one of those jerks who speed through neighborhoods.
But the voice inside her, the one Malachi called her enchanted, was screaming at her, though it was so frantic she couldn’t hear what the hell it was saying.
The car sped towards her, though it was still on the road, so she knew whoever they were that they weren’t going to run her over.
But she noticed in the couple of seconds as it got closer that the paint was black, the windows tinted with that illegal shade.
A sudden thought came to her mind.
Malachi?
But it sped closer, the loud rumbling echoing off the walls of the buildings.
But wait...
It was a van, not an SUV.
Malachi didn’t have a van. He had a black SUV and a motorcycle.
It was at her now, though it was still on the street, but Raven winced when the brakes squealed, shattering her eardrums, and when she looked up when the car stopped, the doors rolled open.
Her eyes widened when a man in a black mask pulled out an automatic rifle, aiming toward her.
Everything slowed... a loud echo of the rifle went off, sounding millions of miles away, the three bullets the man fired making its way toward her in slow motion.
A sudden shockwave passed through her, like someone took possession of her body. Though not a demon...
A savior.
Raven ran past the frozen bullets, toward the car and jumped with inhuman strength, rising up to the top of the van and jumped again, denting the metal as she flew toward a top of a skyscraper, landing on the cement floor, kneeling, and collapsed under the roof’s wall, covering her ears.
The world snapped back into reality within seconds, and she heard the bullets pierce the wall of a building, bursting her eardrums even though she kept her ears covered.
She was gasping, tears welling up in her eyes when she heard the men yelling something inaudible, distant police sirens, and them speeding off.
And no one—other than her and the men who fired the shots—saw what happened.
Her lungs seized in panic, and she felt herself choking on the air when she struggled to breathe, warm tears falling from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks.
She took her hands away from her ears and shuffled through her pockets for her cellphone, pulling it out, the phone rattling with her tremors when she clicked Malachi’s profile from her messages, clicked call, and pressed her phone to her ear.
The ling rang once, then twice, then three times.
Raven listened numbly as her whole body shook like a live wire, feeling so bitterly cold.
The line clicked. “Yello?”
She almost sobbed in relief at the sound of his voice.
“Hello?” he said again.
“Malachi?” she whispered into the mic, grabbing the phone with both hands to offer a bit more comfort to herself.
“That’s me,” he said. “May I ask who this is?”
“R—r—raven...” she stuttered, the tremors getting harder.
“Oh, hey,” he said then, though his tone didn’t change so he probably didn’t hear her voice shaking. “What’s up? You on your way home?”
She breathed shakily into the mic. “No....”
He was silent for a moment. “Everything okay?”
“No...” she responded, voice shaking as sobs caught in her throat. “Can you pick me up?”
“Sure,” he said with no hesitation. “Where are you, Princess?”
“I’m on a roof...” she answered.
“You’re on a ‘roof?’” he clarified.
“Y—y—yes.”
“Which roof?” he said. “There’s like a million.”
“I think it’s the bank on twenty-first street. The skyscraper.”
“How the hell did you get up there?” he questioned. “You know what? Never mind. I’m on my way, okay? Don’t move. I’ll be there soon.”
And he hung up.
Raven pressed the phone to her chest, breathing shakily as she curled up, holding herself as sobs caught in her throat, choking her.
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*****
Raven was nestled up with herself on top of the roof when a sudden thud! burst through her eardrums, making her shoot her head up in a panic.
But it was only a blonde-haired boy with black eyes, wearing his usual black clothes.
“Relax,” Malachi said. “It’s only me.”
Did he jump up here like she did?
He could do that?
She eased into the wall, hugging herself tightly as he stepped over to her, kneeling down to her level.
“Why are you curled up like a kitten?” he said, tipping his head to the side. “You cold?”
A small nod.
“Also, where is your jacket?”
“I’m wearing a sweater,” she answered, voice shaking slightly but by the way his eyes shifted color, she could tell he noticed it.
He shook his head. “You need to look at the weather before you get out of the house.” And he shrugged off his leather jacket, pulling her arms through the sleeve's seconds later.
He caught her hands then. “Come on now. I’ll take you back.”
“How are we going to get down without being caught?” she wondered softly.
He smirked. “We’ll be very, very stealthy.”
He brought her up then, wrapping a single arm around her while he guided her to the door on the roof.
It flew open as they got closer, almost making her scream.
“Relax,” Mal said. “Telekinesis.”
“Oh.”
And they walked through the door together, making their way down the steps that led to the top floor of the building.
Malachi opened the door, shutting it behind them seconds later.
Raven’s eyes caught on a man who stood outside his office, staring at her with wide eyes.
“Mal—” she was about to warn.
He lightly touched her lips to shut her up, and when she looked up to him, surprised, he pressed his other finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.
Why? He could see them, couldn’t he?
She nodded then, looking to the man as he shook his head in disbelief, stepping into the office he was originally standing outside of.
Mal caught her hand then, guiding her to the elevator at the next intersection and clicked the button, tapping his shoe impatiently while he waited for it to come down.
Another man with more distinguished features walked up to them, looking to the elevator lit button and around the room curiously, but shrugged and stood next to them.
Raven waved a hand in front of his face, earning no reaction.
It was like he could see through her.
She looked to Malachi then, who gave her one of his knowing smirks before looking back to the elevator when it made that little ding!
All three of them stepped in, though Malachi and Raven stood in the very back while the older man stood in the front, clutching his briefcase as he pressed the “L” for “lobby.”
Oh, cool. At least he was going the same place she and Malachi were.
The elevator started moving, and Raven wanted to scream questions at Malachi because it was like he turned them into ghosts, but she couldn’t really see how, but she remembered he told her to keep quiet, so she did.
They were on the fifth floor, and the doors opened for another man, though he looked more in his forties whereas the other one has silver streaks in his hair, making him look sixty.
They both stood in awkward silence, while the two businessmen did as well.
The younger one started abnormally sniffing, making Raven look at Malachi curiously.
The business boy looked to the older man. “Do you smell that? It smells like strawberries in here.”
Raven stilled.
He was smelling her perfume.
When she looked to Malachi, he pressed his finger to his lips.
The look saying, quiet.
“I don’t smell anything anymore with my old nose,” the older one said. “But it could be their cleaning products they use. The youngsters that now own this place buy unreasonable stuff.”
The younger one nodded in response and stared off at the doors as the bell rang, and the entrance to the lobby opened.
The first man and the second stepped out first, Malachi pulling Raven out, as well.
They stepped silently to the front doors while the other two did. The security guard at the door nodding the two businessmen, communicating, Have a good day.
They both nodded back, You, too.
It honestly was fascinating how humans worked. How they could communicate with gestures.
Malachi and Raven made it to the spinning doors, making their way out.
Until finally, the icy wind hit her skin, reminding her of what happened with the man and his gun, and all curiosity vanished into fear, the frigid air cutting her skin like bullets.
She shivered at the thought.
Malachi pulled her to his black SUV that was parked on the sidewalk, and he guided her gently into the passenger seat, getting into the drivers seconds later.
And they drove off, leaving the abandoned city behind.
“Can you make us invisible?” Raven said.
“To humans,” he answered, “yes. One of the perks with my mind tricks.”
“What about with not humans?”
“I can change our looks, but they’d figure it out eventually.”
She looked down to her feet then, moving them to the sides like an energized child.
“What happened?” Mal said.
“Nothing,” she answered on impulse.
“Alright,” he said passive-aggressively. “So, you just got onto the roof of a skyscraper for ‘nothing.”
“Yep.”
He sighed in annoyance. “Why do you keep on lying to me? You know if you don’t tell me what happens, it could end up badly.”
She hugged herself. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay? Just give me time.”
He glanced in her direction but looked back out to the road. “Fine, but you will tell me later. You have no choice.”
She nodded in agreement.
“It’s a deal then.”
They were both silent for a moment.
“So,” Mal said, “I have a question.”
“Go for it,” she answered quietly.
“Do you want to go by Rowena or Raven?”
“Raven,” she answered. “I like it better.”
Mainly because Raven sounded like a powerful animal whereas Rowena sounded like she was a fragile, pretty girl.
“By the way,” he said then. “I wanted to thank you for saving me from Jae.”
She glanced at him. “What?”
“Last night,” he said, “she was like a tiger.”
Raven giggled softly. “Her bark is much worse than her bite, trust me.”
Malachi smiled slightly, amused.
They were silent for a moment, the rumbling of the car the only thing filling the air.
A sudden loud burst echoed among them, followed by the car tilting toward the bottom right.
Malachi cursed under his breath, swerving to the curbside.
Raven watched in confusion when he turned off the car, throwing his door open after making sure there were no cars coming from the rearview mirror and hopped out, going around to the right, rear wheel.
He walked up to her side of the door then, tapping the window.
She pushed down the window to find him not looking particularly happy.
“Bad news. The tire’s flat,” he said.
“Then get the spare,” she stated as if he were an idiot.
He leaned an arm on her open window and looked thoughtfully to the flat tire. “I can’t.”
“Why?” she questioned.
Mal looked at her, amused. “I don’t have a spare.”
“What do you mean you don’t have a spare?”
He shrugged. “I won this thing from a poker game. Didn’t come with a spare, I guess.”
She glanced out the window, watching clouds cover the sky. “On a scale of one to ten, how screwed are we?”
“Ten,” he said honestly, making her insides flip. “We have to walk back.”
She blinked. “It’s going to rain soon, and the passage is five miles away.”
“I know.”
“Call a goddamn mechanic,” she snapped.
“Once again,” he said, looking to her, “can’t.”
“WHY?”
“I told you, Ray. I won this thing from a poker game. No insurance.”
She slumped back in her chair like a pouting child. “So what? We’re leaving the car here?”
“Yeppers.”
She sighed. “I’m not fond of walking five miles in sleeting rain.”
“Then we’ll jog,” he said, starting to run in place. “Get some cardio in.”
She looked out the window then, lost in thought.
“Ravey Gravy,” he said, making her look to him curiously. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
Did he just call her… “Ravey Gravy?”
She bit her lip in a bit of a panic before saying, “Is it safe?”
He stopped then, looking her over. “You’re with me. What do you think?”
She opened her door then, hopping out of the car.
You would think her legs would be sore from jumping all the way to the roof of a skyscraper, but they weren’t.
“Fine,” she said.
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*****
After an agonizing hour of running in sleeting rain, Malachi and Raven found themselves walking into his townhome, soaking wet.
Raven was practically shivering, holding her arms to her clothes that clung heavily to her skin.
She was freezing, and yet her body was the closest source of warmth.
“M—M—M— Malachi,” she stuttered, body racking with tremors.
“W—w—w— what?” he mocked, making her glare.
“I d—d— don’t have a change of clothes,” she stated angrily. “A—a— and stop mocking me, y— you asshole.”
“You can wear one of my shirts,” he answered in amusement. “They’re like dresses to you anyway.”
“I d—d— don’t have leggings.”
“Does it matter?” His brows raised. “You’ll have my shirt. That’s all I can give you right now.”
She stuck her lip out in a pout.
He chuckled in amusement, nodding to the direction of the bathroom. “You’re soaked. Why don’t you go take a hot shower?”
A small nod, and she kicked off her drenched shoes and padded away, her socks squeaking with the water in them.
“Now I don’t have to read your mind,” Mal said as she made it to the steps. “I can just follow your tiny wet footprints.”
She shot him a glare before shutting the bathroom door behind her.
Raven immediately got to the shower and turned the water on hot, shivering still as she peeled off her socks.
“Raven,” Mal said from the doorway. “Before you get in, come here.”
She padded over to the door and cracked it open, seeing him standing there with one of his black T-shirts in his hand.
“Here,” he said, handing it to her.
She took it. “T—t— thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
And she shut the door, peeling off her last bits of clothing before stepping in the hot water, feeling her skin glow with the heat.
She softly scrubbed her hair to get the locks wet and stared up at the wall, bending her arms so they fit against her chest, letting the water warm them too.
Half an hour later, Raven stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself before ending up at the bathroom’s marble counter.
She shuffled through the drawers, pulling out Malachi’s thin-bristle hairbrush.
Well... it wouldn’t do wonders with her curly hair, but it was better than nothing.
She started running the brush through her tangled locks before pulling her hair into a lazy ponytail with the scrunchy she kept on her wrist.
After pulling on her damp underpants and Malachi’s T-shirt, she then shuffled through the cabinet on the right of the mirror, looking for some kind of deodorant.
She accidentally knocked the wall at the end, and the wood behind the shelves shifted.
Raven stared before looking back to the door of the bathroom, making sure Malachi wasn’t there and pushed the wood to the side, finding a secret compartment.
She shuffled through the contents, practically fitting her whole arm into the wood and smiled mischievously when her hand caught on something.
Seconds later, Raven pulled out a bundle of weird plastic things.
When she stared down at them, she squinted her eyes as if disbelieving what she found.
They were driver’s licenses... twenty of them, but they weren’t of Malachi.
They were all different girls.
A sudden knock broke through her confusion, and she almost jumped, looking to the door while hearing, “Raven? You decent?”
She shuffled the licenses into her bra, knowing it would take longer to put them back, so she just closed the cabinet.
“Yeah,” she said then, turning to the door and trying not to look guilty of snooping.
The knob rattled as he unlocked it and the metal turned, Malachi stepping in seconds later.
Raven looked down to his hand where he held one of those soft, feathery blankets, and then moved her eyes back to him. “What’s that for?”
He chuckled as if she just asked a stupid question. “You, silly.”
He made it to her then, wrapping the blanket around her warm form, somehow making her hotter.
He folded an arm around her then, smiling gently. “Come on, Sweetheart.”
They stepped out of the room together, Raven holding the soft blanket to her nose, loving the feeling it left on her cheeks.
Malachi guided her to the living room, sitting on the couch while she remained standing, holding the blanket above her nose while staring down at him curiously.
“You wanna sit on my lap?” he wondered casually.
Her cheeks reddened slightly, and she pushed her nose further into the blanket to hide it.
But she never denied it.
“C’mon,” he urged softly. “Don’t be shy.”
She took two careful steps toward him, as if she wasn’t able to decide.
He patted his thighs then; like he was talking to a scared puppy. “Come on.”
She then settled on his lap hesitantly, body hardened slightly against his due to embarrassment.
He caught her legs, making her yelp when he pulled them up quickly.
The next thing she knew, he was cradling her.
“Get cozy,” he said, nudging her face with his. “You’re stuck with me.”
She sank into him then. “Why are you acting like a cat today?”
He stared down at her random comment. “Huh?”
“You nudged my face with your nose,” she answered. “You’ve never done that before.”
He smiled down at her then. “Remember how I have my cravings?”
She nodded.
“Today’s werewolf day,” he explained. “I might seem a little clingy.”
She looked down to his chest then, wrapping the blanket around herself tighter.
“You’re shaking,” Malachi noted aloud. “Are you cold?”
She was silent.
“Are you scared?” he wondered then.
She still didn’t respond.
He smiled then, tucking some hair behind her ear. “It’s both, huh?”
She buried her face into the blanket to hide her expression.
“That’s a yes,” he stated, chuckling. “Get close, okay? I’ll warm you up.”
She rested her head on his shoulder then, relaxing into him.
Her eyes were aimed to something below the blanket, though, and he assumed she was staring at her hands again.
“Is Raven Magicae suddenly giving in?” he questioned, feigning disbelief.
“You saved me...” she whispered.
“Huh?”
She raised her face out of the blanket so he could hear her. “I called you because I was scared... and you dropped everything to come to my rescue.”
“Of course, I did,” he said almost hurtfully. “You were in danger, Angel.”
“Mal...” she said then, voice slightly hardening, “what do you want from me?”
He was quiet.
“Please answer the question.”
“I have answered that multiple times, Angel.”
“Yes,” she stated, “you have. And those times I felt like you were forcing the words out, and for some reason—suddenly after you woke up that morning to find me gone—your tone has changed. The way you act has changed. Before I thought you were trying to get into my head to get something from me. And I don’t understand what you want from me now.”
He watched her for a moment. “I don’t want anything from you,” he explained. “I want you.”
She went right out and asked it. “Do you want to kill me?”
“No,” he said sternly.
“Did you want to kill me?”
He hesitated, making her whole body chill.
She shoved herself off him, taking him off guard when she stood over him like a tower of betrayal.
“What do you want?” she questioned angrily.
“Raven...” he whispered.
“Tell me!” she almost screamed. “And don’t dodge the question!”
“Raven...” he said again; as if trying to reason with her.
“You were an assassin!” she explained, anger burning her inside along with an icy weight chilling her bones. “Did you want to kill me? All this time were you planning on it?” When he hesitated, she added harshly, “And don’t lie to me!”
“Yes...” he responded honestly.
She slapped him across the face with enough force to make her palm sting.
He looked to her then, hand covering the red mark forming on his cheek. “Raven.”
“Have you been playing with me?” she questioned, clenching her fist. “All this time?”
“What’s gotten into you?” he said then, eyes searching hers in concern.
She threw a piece of crumpled paper at him, taking him off guard.
“Open it,” she demanded.
He listened, un-crumpling it and took one look at the picture on it before his face paled.
It was a wanted poster, a picture of Raven staining the paper. It said:
Raven Magicae,
Age: 16
Dead NOT alive.
Payment: $1,000,000
Malachi looked at her then, eyes hardening. “How did you find this?”
“I’m NOT A GAME!” she screamed at him. “You can’t PLAY ME like you did THEM!”
His brows drew together in concern. “What are you talking about?”
She threw the drivers licenses she found at him, aiming for his face, but he blocked it; they instead hit his arm.
He stared down at them in horror, but when he looked at her, his previously warm eyes grew cold. “Where did you find these?”
“I found your secret stash in the bathroom,” she answered. “My wanted photo was hidden in between them. I looked at it while you were too busy focusing on my shaking.”
He was silent, lips thinning into a sharp line.
“You met all these girls at some high school, didn’t you?” she gestured to the licenses, “and all of them mysteriously went missing. I saw it on the news.” She took an angry step toward him. “Did you do to them what you’re doing to me?”
“Raven,” he warned in a cold tone.
“That’s what you have been planning all along? Did your entire pack want me dead, too? Have you been doing all these nice things to get my guard down so you can enjoy murdering me?”
When he didn’t answer, her lungs collapsed, and tears burned her eyes, mouth twisting in anger. “That’s what I thought. I should’ve never trusted you.” And she started toward the door, launching off her feet so she could escape but Malachi snagged her midair.
And the next thing she knew, she was on the ground, and he was on top of her, pressing his elbows on each side of her head.
She clipped him in the ribs, earning a grunt at the gesture but he moved to straddle her hips, eliminating the use of her legs.
She fought him, pushing her hands to his chest and writhing from under him but he didn’t budge.
“No!” she almost cried. “No!”
“Raven,” he warned, voice straining as she fought him, “don’t.”
“No!” she screamed. “Let me go! LET ME GO!”
“Stop fighting,” he said sternly. “Let me explain.”
She scraped her nails across his face, making him yell out in pain. “DON’T MANIPULATE ME!”
He immediately caught her wrists and pinned them on each side of her head, making her cry out in fear.
She stopped fighting then to give herself a break.
She stared up at the deep laceration she created on his cheek, watching blood well up behind the wound, filling it and sliding down his skin like red tears, dripping onto her face.
She could feel the warmth from them burn her skin like acid, and tears welled up in her eyes even though she knew he deserved it.
“You done yet?” Malachi said, breathing heavily.
“Let me go,” she said then.
“You know I can’t do that,” he responded in a low tone.
She tried writhing from under him and found he kept her whole body in place, so she decided to lay still to hopefully save her energy.
Her muscles hardened against him though. “LET ME GO.”
“Raven,” he responded almost sharply, “you have to calm down first.”
“How can I calm down when you’re going to kill me?” she questioned then. “Why? Why haven’t you yet?”
He sighed, bowing his head down to catch his breath.
She honestly was terrified, her whole body frozen, muscles tensing so hard she was afraid they’d snap... but she displayed it as anger, betrayal; because she didn’t want to die crying like a child would.
And if she stayed strong... she might’ve been able to fight him off.
“Let me go,” she snapped.
He shook his head, still panting.
Her anger peaked, and she couldn’t stop the words flying out of her mouth. “KILL ME! I HAVE NOTHING LEFT! YOU’VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME! YOU CAN’T FIX ME AND BREAK ME AGAIN! SO DO IT! KILL ME! LIKE YOU ALWAYS WANTED!”
His hands tightened their grip on her wrists. “No.”
She froze, breath shaking. “W— what...?”
“I said, no.”
She was silent, tremors racking through her.
“Raven...” he whispered, “yes, I wanted to kill you before... I wanted to watch you bleed, and yes, I was assigned to kill you, but that was ten months ago.”
She watched him carefully as he explained.
“I was supposed to kill you ten months ago,” he explained. “I tried so many times... I had to watch you first, find your schedule and break in when no one expected it, but that would’ve taken a couple weeks.” He drew in a breath and exhaled. “As I watched you... there were things about you that just... intrigued me. Who you were... why you did what you did... how you thought, what classes you liked... I just... I couldn’t do it. And so, for those ten months... I just watched you. You were so kind and mature... your style was so unique... but I told myself that I had to get to know you more before I’d strike. So, I moved you to my biology class.”
Her eyes widened at his words. “You were the one who moved me?”
“Yes… I got it in your counselor's head that your physics class was overcrowded, so he moved you to biology. And that’s when you met me. That whole time, yes, I wanted to kill you. When I showed up at your house and picked up that knife, I was planning on stabbing you. That second time with the steak knife, when that assassin gave me that gun, when you were sleeping in that house I borrowed, I would've killed you....” He paused. “I couldn’t... It was you... your smile, your eyes, your body, your personality. I just couldn’t. And that one night when you left to the pool room, my enchanted forced me to make a decision because I was still conflicted. He created an image of you who told me to kill you and she wasn’t even you.” He breathed softly. “I couldn’t do it, Raven. I just couldn’t do it. And that’s when I realized.”
He looked to her then, eyes brimming with unshed tears, and her breath caught at his sudden vulnerability.
“I realized,” he continued, “that I love you, Raven Magicae.”
Her eyes burned, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.
“Shhh...” he soothed then, though still held her down. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying,” she lied. “Allergies.”
He smiled then and leaned down to kiss her tears, drying her cheeks and pressed his forehead to hers. “You gonna run if I let you go?”
She looked to him then, though not angrily. “And if I do?”
He smiled playfully. “Then I’m going to be mean.”
Her eyes moved to his chest, and he could still see the amber glimmering with unshed tears, though she tried to blink them away.
He got off her then but scooped her up before she could get up and run.
After stepping to the couch, he sat down with her in his lap, picking up the blanket that crumpled on the ground and draped it over her.
She was shivering against him, feeling slightly uneasy.
“Shhh...” he cooed, brushing his fingers through her hair. “It’s okay.”
“Stop that,” she said.
“What?”
“Don’t calm me right now,” she said then. “Just... not right now.”
He smiled. “You wanna hug me then?”
She shook her head.
“Fine,” he said way too quickly, “then I’ll hug you.”
She gasped when he caught her arm, bringing her against him while wrapping his arms around her.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he said then. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“What about all those other people you’ve killed?”
“I’m being honest,” he said, “I never went the ‘girlfriend’ tactic. I was always cold, so they’d stay away.”
“Why am I okay with this?” she said more to herself.
“Because you love me, too.”
She looked down to her feet then only to find Malachi drawing the covers over her toes.
She then wrapped her arms around him, earning a little gasp.
He smiled.
“You better not be lying,” she stated. “Or I’ll haunt you when I’m dead.”
“I’ll never let death take you from me,” he responded, voice soft. “No one will hurt you ever again.”
She closed her eyes then, as if in pain.
He seemed to have noticed this, and he let go of her, knowing what she needed to see to make her understand.
“Raven,” he said, “can I show you something?”
She looked him over suspiciously for a moment, then nodded.
He pressed two fingers on each side of her head.
Before she could comprehend what was happening, the world fell out from under her, and she screamed as she fell into a dark void.
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