“You still don’t understand? There was no way to get to Captain Malachi, until you came along. His love for you made him careless. To him, you were everything, so it was easy for him to believe you’d be everything to us, too. The more we threatened you, the more single-minded he became, until he did not give his own safety—or importance—a moment of thought. And now that we have Malachi’s mind and his body, the Guards of the Shadowlands are nothing. We will wipe you from this realm and make it ours.”

It took him only a second to roll me over. He held my wrists over my head in a punishing grip while he settled himself on top of me. I jerked my head up to try to smash his nose, but he caught my hair and pulled me back down; then he licked at the bite wound he’d left on my throat, sending waves of painful buzzing electricity along my limbs.

Of course the Mazikin hadn’t wanted me. Because who was I next to Malachi? A stupid girl, pretending to be in charge. Malachi had been a Guard for seventy years. And for all those years, he had been merciless, efficient, and deadly. Inside his head, he carried knowledge of the Guard, of Raphael and his powers, of Michael and his weaponry, of the Judge. Of our strategies. Our backgrounds. Our weaknesses. And the Mazikin now controlling him was one of the most vicious and dominant in existence. The combination would be unstoppable.

And meanwhile, Malachi’s soul was at the mercy of these creatures, trapped forever in a place of fire and death. The broken, enraged scream that came from my throat startled Juri, and he raised his head and lowered his guard just enough. I jerked my hips up and bucked him off me; then I scrambled to my feet and darted across the room.

“Jim! Henry!” I shrieked.

Juri hit me like a freight train, flattening me against the wall. “Don’t be like that, Lela. Don’t you want to know the animal side of Malachi? I can show you.”

“Get off me!” I screeched, driving my elbow back into his stomach.

He huffed and took a few lazy steps back, but then caught my wrist and spun me into the wall of his body. “He always enjoyed fighting with you, and I can see why. It’s rather … stimulating.”

He ducked his head to kiss me, but I hit him with a knee strike to the thigh. His grip on me loosened, and he growled, baring his teeth. For the first time, he didn’t look like Malachi at all.

Which made it easier to smash my fist into his face. My knuckles split on his teeth, and he roared, throwing me to the ground. Outside the door, a man called my name.