My nose crinkles. He tried to eat her?

A chuckle rumbles Malice’s chest. Don’t act so shocked. Besides, it’s not like he was going to kill her. Just… nibble on her soul, if you will.

My stomach churns at the thought that I may soon have to consume something similar. Gross. In all regards.

Malice stifles a laugh, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. I suppose it does sound strange to someone who consumes… crackers and peanut butter…

I smack his chest lightly, suppressing my own laughter. We sit in comfortable silence for a few moments, breathing in each other’s presence and pretending the outside world doesn’t exist.

My fingertips swirl on his chest absentmindedly as I process everything he just told me, my mind turning to dark places it hasn’t gone since I was locked in Kaebl’s dungeon, alone and in the dark and trapped with my thoughts. Malice?

Yes, wildfire?

I tease my lip between my teeth, considering whether it’s worth it to ask him. Do the other pieces… do they remember my mom, too?

He looks off into the distance, nodding. They hold different memories, but yes. We were all greatly saddened to hear of her passing. But the fact she held on so long after the passing of her mate just goes to show how much she treasured you.

My mind turns to the last image I have of my mother—finding her in the forest, her face bloated and purple, the squeal of the oak branch attempting to support her weight as she swung lifelessly in the breeze.

Malice frowns, no doubt having seen flashes of that moment—or at the very least, felt the rush of emotion down the bond. I never knew… you were the one to find her…

Tears well in my eyes, but I force them back, not willing to let him see me crumple. It was a long time ago.

And still just as painful. Don’t you dare mitigate it. His arms curl tighter around me as he lowers his head, pushing his face deep into the crease of my neck. My sweet, sweet wildfire. To go through such pain and still be so kind and good… what a rare treasure you are. What a brilliant, lovely creature.

I close my eyes, focusing on the rush of my pulse and the pounding in my temples—anything other than that place, that feeling. I can’t go back there. If I do, I’ll be lost for good. The shadows are growing, closing in, and I can’t, I can’t, I can’t⁠—

“If you can fear, you can also be brave,” Malice whispers, folding his wings around us, blocking me from sight and the shadowed figures roaming on the wall. “It doesn’t just apply to outside threats, wildfire. The monsters within us are just as terrifying.”