Page 30 of Unholy

No, he didn’t have to wonder. Luke had gone to HQ today. Something must’ve happened there, and now he had cold feet.

Malachi rolled out of bed and dressed mechanically, fury slowly building within him. He knew Luke felt how perfect they were together. Heknewit. He couldn’t let him end things like this without fighting for what was his. Luke surrendered to him yesterday, and Malachi wasn’t giving him up. Luke washis. How dare they try to take him away? How dare they make Luke doubt him? Howdare. They tried to turn Luke against him. He would not stand idly by and let Luke push him away again. He couldn’t go back to skulking in the shadows and watching from a distance. Luke needed him. He neededLuke.

He tried to call, but true to his word, Luke had blocked his number. Snarling under his breath, he slammed the door on his way out of his apartment.

He broke several speed limits on his way across town, skidding into the parking lot outside Luke’s building and stomping across the street. Luke couldn’t just end things with him over a text. How dare he let them get inside his head, make him doubt what they’d both felt? This wasn’t Luke’s doing, it was the guild’s, and Malachi wasn’t giving Luke up without a fight.

He didn’t knock, knowing Luke would just refuse to let him in. The door was unlocked—which likely said a lot about Luke’s state of mind—so he shouldered into it as he forced his way inside the apartment and sent it slamming into the wall.

Luke was sitting despondently on the sofa, one hand inhis hair. His phone rested on the coffee table in front of him. At Malachi’s entrance, he jerked to his feet, his honey brown eyes blowing wide. “Malachi—” he croaked.

“You can’t see me again?” he demanded, slamming the door shut behind him and stalking into the room. “Just like that? After everything we said to each other? After everything we felt?”

Luke deflated, his face twisting with anguish. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters.”

“Howcan you say that?” he snarled. “Of course it matters! You’re all that matters to me! I won’t let you just throw this away.”

“You told me I have a choice in this,” Luke said, his voice ragged with desperation. “You can’t just force me to be with you if I don’t want to.”

Anger burned through Malachi. “Then tell me!” he snapped. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to be with me.”

Luke’s breath hitched, his eyes pooling with unshed tears. “Malachi…”

Malachi refused to soften in the face of Luke’s vulnerable state. He was pissed, goddammit, and a sad Luke wasn’t going to sway him. “No texts, no hiding, and no lies. Tell me the truth. Do you want to be with me?”

Luke scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “Wecan’t.”

“We can. You’re just scared.”

“Of course I’m scared!” Luke exploded. “Somebody saw us in the diner together! If they find out about what we did yesterday, they’ll banish me. I’ll have nothing. The guild is all I’ve known since I wastwo years old. I have nothing if I don’t have them.” He ducked his head, scrubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“You’d have me,” he said quietly. “There’s nothing you could say or do to make me leave, Luke. You tell me you don’t want to see me again? Fine. You won’t see me. But I’ll still be there, keeping an eye on you.”

“Mal, dammit,” Luke said, scrubbing a hand over his face. It was the first time Malachi had ever heard him curse. But he used the nickname. That had to mean there was still hope.

He pressed closer, not touching yet. “I told you, Luke. You’remine. You think I’m willing to give up what you gave me a glimpse of? How perfect we are together?”

“Mal, wecan’t,” he sobbed, his body quivering with the attempt to stifle it. He knew Luke felt the same gravitational pull that Malachi did, but he was fighting itso hard. “The guild?—”

“I don’t give a fuck about them!” Malachi grabbed the front of Luke’s shirt, hauling him closer. One hand went to Luke’s jaw, forcing him to meet his eyes. “You’re all I see, treasure, and I’m not going anywhere. Because guess what?”

“What?” Luke asked, his chest heaving against Malachi’s.

Their breaths mingled. “You didn’t tell me to go. You didn’t tell me you don’t want me. You’re only doing this because they have you running scared.” His grip softened, his fingers sliding up into Luke’s hair. “I’ll never make you feel scared like that. I’ll never make you feel unwanted or unsafe.”

“Mal, please,” he whimpered, curling toward him.

“I’m here.” And then they were kissing, open-mouthed and hungry.

Malachi was too raw to take it slow and easy, his teethscraping possessively, biting Luke’s lip until he tasted blood. Luke groaned, his brow furrowing at the pain.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Malachi said. He knew his precious human didn’t like pain, had more scars than he could count and hated them, but he couldn’t help it right now. He felt like a live wire, snapping and dangerous.

“Kiss it better,” Luke said, dragging him back in, and the heady taste of copper filled his mouth.

He wrapped both arms around Luke’s trunk-like waist and lifted him off his feet. A sputtered laugh left Luke as Malachi turned and carried him toward the bedroom.

“No one’s ever pickedmeup before,” he said, leaving a smattering of kisses across Malachi’s jaw and neck. When teeth scraped against his neck, Malachi purred.

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