76. Malkar

76

Malkar

I knew that would get them moving.

The others are arguing and calling me names, united in their anger toward me.

Not Kami though. She looks stunned.

"Now, my sexy little dryad, go look for our enemies while we wait here for you. Use your trees." I nod toward the thick oak standing over us all.

She blinks and hurries to the tree, scurrying up like a squirrel into its upper branches. Then I watch her merge into it, becoming a part of the thick trunk.

Fascinating.

My treasures are so different. Powerful. Exotic.

Mine.

"Look, you white-haired freak, I've told you this before…" Crash is ranting, and I'm ignoring him.

The merman and water mage, a royal prince, studies me with caution. He knows what I am, and he's likely heard the stories of my kind from his family. We used to be very close to the water fae before a few unfortunate disagreements caused some bloody consequences.

And then there's Oz, who's seen the real me.

Yet he doesn't look alarmed as much as offended. "Now hold on, Malkar. I'm not opposed to staying friends, but I'm into Kami. "

I smile and say nothing.

"For fuck's sake, he's not into you sexually," Crash snarls. "He thinks he's keeping us, like you're some giant piece of gold or something. Dragons hoard, remember?"

"I'm not a dragon," I tell him. "I'm your Better." Dragon is such a pedestrian word for what I am. I'm nothing so common as a giant lizard—a term I loathe.

"Not this better shit again." Ries rolls his eyes.

"I'm not sorry, because it's true." I appreciate his sense of humor. Ries is a fine addition to my collection.

At first, I thought I would just be keeping Crash. His life is mine and has been since he stole Sambora's life-debt. Sambora, that trash-talking goblin. But then Kami attracted my interest.

My First. Such a beauty. I knotted for the first time ever, an experience I'll never forget.

To reassure the orc, I explain, "Oz, while you're a strapping monster, I only mate with females. And only one female. Kami." Saying it out loud decides that for me. "She's mine. As you are mine." I nod to Crash and Ries. "As he is mine, and he is also mine."

"What exactly does that mean?" Ries frowns.

"First intelligent question I've heard." I ignore the insulting gesture Crash shoots at me and do my best not to laugh at his antics. "Because I've allowed you to know what I am, my choices are either to accept you or kill you. And since you've proven yourselves battle-worthy, it's my honor to keep you. "

"Like a pet," Oz says, his voice flat.

"Exactly." Good. At least one of them understands.

"No." Oz crosses his arms over his massive chest. "Your friend, sure. A bonded family? I'd have to think about it, but probably okay. Not a pet. "

"I'm no one's pet either." Ries glances at Crash. "But since you already own him, that makes sense."

"What?" Crash blinks. "He doesn't own me."

Oz bites back a grin. "He's said he owns you since the beginning of the trials. It's kind of obvious you belong to him."

I nod to the intelligent giant. "Thank you."

"Very funny." Crash is building to a rage.

It's interesting, because each time his fury erupts, I feel like the magic separating him from his power thins.

Oz meets my gaze and nods, realizing the same. I need to readjust my assumptions about the orc. Yes, he did fail to kill his mother when he had the chance, but sentimentality among the fae is a well-known defect.

It's not really his fault he failed to kill her.

"We need to end Folas." Crash leans his back against the tree Kami is in. "I need my power back. If we're going to take out Rilitar and the monarchy and his militia, we need all our assets."

"Including our necromancer." Ries folds his arms over his chest. "Kami is the huge boost we all need. We can't use you, Malkar. No one can know what you are."

I sigh because he's right.

It's a double-edged sword, my existence.

My kind is more powerful than any other species in this plane. Yet we're also the most vulnerable because everyone wants us dead. They use our parts in their magic. Just as Folas uses my sister against me .

If others know what I truly am, they will hunt me and my pets down as well. I can't allow that.

"You're right, Ries."

He looks surprised by my admission.

"But you're also wrong. I can join us as we're meant." Before Oz can object, I add, "Not sexually. Though we'll certainly bond through our dryad that way." The way most fae families used to bond—three or more male mates to every female.

My clan also discovered the unifying aspect of such familial relationships. And though it pains me to think of them, it hurts less, knowing I will now have a family of my own.

"What do you mean, ‘as we're meant'?" Crash wants to know.

He's eyeing me with distrust. Adorable.

I smile at him.

He scowls at me.

"I mean you'll get more power than you've ever known. As the Kept often do."

"Kept?" Ries moves forward. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Oz gazes at me with interest. "The Kept are those blessed by ancient gods."

"You say gods, I say Betters." I try to appear modest, but it's difficult because we really are better than everyone in the merged realm.

Oz continues, "Powered with gifts of mind sharing, extra strength, enhanced dexterity, and other favors. If what you say is true, we need to get ‘kept' now. We need that power to win this fight. An army of fae is bad enough. We're also up against a monarch and his archdemon."

"Don't forget your mom and the war god," Crash adds. Unhelpfully .

A wild idea comes to me, a solution to all our problems once we're victorious.

"What's that smile for?" Crash asks and takes a step away from me.

"An idea for our future. For After," I add and feel a resounding Yes from deep inside me.

One that comes from something more powerful than a Better.

Shit. Are the Evers paying attention to all of us?

Kami suddenly appears and steps out of the tree, which startles us because we've been waiting for her to climb down.

"They're coming tonight," she says, breathless.

Tonight is maybe a few hours off, by the position of the sun.

"Who's coming?" Oz asks.

"Folas?" Ries gives a mean grin, eager for that one's death. Not that I blame him.

"Rilitar?" Crash adds.

Kami shakes her head, her eyes wild. "All of them. They're all coming tonight. To wipe us out and bring a new reign of terror for their god of war, to finally bring him over."