Alone

EZRA

I shouldn't have left my room. I knew that, yet my body moved before my mind could stop it. Six days had passed since I last saw malachai , and I hated how much that mattered to me.

He wasn't mine, nor did I even know where I stood with him, but the absence of his presence weighed on me like a sickness I couldn't shake.

I told myself it was nothing. That I was only looking for some fresh air, stretching my legs after being confined to my room for days. But I knew better.

I was looking for him.

The hallway was dimly lit, the flickering chandelier casting shifting shadows along the walls. It felt eerie, but that was nothing new. This entire place was a haunted house, and I was its ghost.

My fingers trailed against the cold stone wall as I walked, my heartbeat louder than my footsteps. The silence in this house was unnatural, only broken by the occasional distant murmur of voices I couldn't make out. But I didn't care about them.

I cared about finding him.

Then I saw him….or so I thought.

Tall, broad shoulders, commanding presence. His figure was the only thing I had been longing to see, and for a split second, I exhaled in relief.

"Malachai," I whispered, stepping forward, reaching.

But the moment those piercing eyes landed on me, I froze. My stomach twisted violently, and my breath hitched in realization.

It wasn't Malachai.

Lucius.

A cruel smirk pulled at his lips, but his eyes were anything but amused. My chest constricted. I had made a mistake. A terrible, irreversible mistake.

"Malachai?" Lucius repeated, tasting the name as if it was poison on his tongue. He took a slow step forward, and my body tensed, every muscle in me screaming at me to run. But I couldn't. Not under his gaze.

"You know my men's names now?" he continued, tilting his head. "How interesting. I didn't think you ever cared to."

I swallowed thickly, realizing how much I had messed up. Lucius was possessive, obsessive, and unhinged. He didn't like the idea of me knowing anyone else, acknowledging anyone else. To him, I was his and his alone.

His voice dropped lower, but the menace in it only grew. "Tell me, Ezra. How long have you been paying attention to Malachai?"

I couldn't answer. No excuse would be good enough.

Lucius stepped closer, his fingers grazing my jaw, tilting my chin up so I had no choice but to meet his gaze. "You've been looking for him, haven't you?"

I flinched at his touch but didn't respond. It wasn't needed. My silence was answer enough.

A slow chuckle escaped him before his grip tightened painfully. "I see. So that's how it is."

Panic clawed at my chest. I knew that look. That terrifying, calculating gleam in his eyes. Lucius was connecting dots in his mind, and I had just painted a target on Malachai's back.

"Lucius, please…." I started, but the sharp yank of my hair cut me off, dragging me onto my toes as I gasped in pain.

"You don't get to say his name again," he growled, his breath hot against my ear. "But don't worry, baby. I'll remind him where he stands. I'll remind you too."

Dread flooded my veins.

I had just gotten Malakai in trouble.

And there was nothing I could do to stop it.