Page 16 of Malachai
I held him there.
Made him look at me.
Watched life leave him.
His grip loosened first.
Then his body.
He slid out of the chair and hit the floor hard, like something already empty.
The room went quiet.
I stood there, breathing steady.
Feeling nothing.
I wiped the knife on his shirt, grabbed my duffel bag, and tucked it away. I wouldn’t leave any evidence behind.
The Greyhound station was twelve blocks away.
And I had a bus to catch.
Chapter 5
Malachai
Kael let himself in without knocking. I could hear his boots loud against the floorboards—as he made his way up the stairs.
I didn't look up. I’d been standing at the window for four hours. Maybe five. Time had started doing that shit again — stretching and folding in on itself like it had since the night she drove that knife between my ribs and walked out.
"You need to sit down for this," Kael said without a hi or hello. Just straight to the point.
I didn't turn around. I kept my eyes anchored to the horizon. "Just say it."
"I found her."
The words hit me like a fist to the chest, knocking the breath straight out of my lungs. I turned slowly, my hand gripping the wooden window frame so tightly my knuckles turned white.
"What?" I breathed, the word getting stuck in my throat.
"Indigo. I found her."
Three years.
Three years without knowing if she was dead or alive. Three years of endless searching that always turned up empty leads and dead ends.
"Talk," I said. My voice came out rough.
Kael moved further into the room.
"She's been in New York the last two years," he started, crossing his arms. "Dancing under the name Midnight at a strip club in Manhattan. Kept her head down, stayed off the radar. Would've stayed hidden too, but then she got fucked over by her boss."
I frowned, a cold, dangerous knot tightening in my stomach. "Fucked over how?"
"She got caught up with one of the Volkov brothers. He sold her."
I remembered the name instantly. Russian family out of New York. Brutal, messy, and loud. They'd come to me with a job a while back—wanted some competition removed in the city, offered a massive payout. Easy money. I'd said no after she left. I hadn't taken a single job since the day she walked out.
