Into the Wild Dark

CHAPTER 33 - MAL

Ch. 33: Mal's Maybe

September 11 | Day

"How long have I been in this house?" Yalina patrolled a square of the room.

I stroked hair from her face, but she flinched. "Two years." I tucked my lips together. It would take time for her to accept I wasn't on the side of her kidnapper. We were victims together. Survivors.

Surrounded by the jungle in my office, the untame aura of the she-wolf was at home. Behind her, cases of reptiles and spiders reflected her profile. She wore a satin house robe loaned by Cherie whenever she was uncollared. Jack had left the facsimile mirror for the key.

Yalina could only be free in spurts. The vampire had been unpredictably in and out all Monday and Tuesday due to Distefano's reluctance to comply with his requests. Eventually, the corrupt council members had done Darcy's bidding. Their capitulation had allowed Jack and Sunny to go on their mission to find the map. I tried not to watch the clock, but they should have been back by now.

"Come," I summoned. "We have to get you in your collar before Darcy makes another appearance."

Yalina's eyes dulled, and her expression toughened. "What if I say no?"

I looked to my sisters for help. "You have to, but it's temporary." Ava swooped in to guide her to a chair. She went, albeit dragging her feet. "As soon as we get the map, Mal will leverage it to buy our freedom."

"Yes, I promise we won't leave you behind, and when we're free, we'll get you to that art school in Paris for real."

"To think, my family has been fooled by that madman," the Luna muttered.

"Darcy's gifted at controlling a narrative, which is why we have to outsmart him. Finalize the paperwork, Ava. No loopholes," I said. The paralegal settled at my desk and I took her place beside Yalina. Cherie plopped down on the opposite side of her. "Cherie, darling, you get in contact with Ajit and put him on the task of finding Jack's parents."

Yalina gave my little sister a timorous smile. "You've been such a sweet companion to me," she said diffidently. Cherie nodded. The Luna had been as loving to my sister, a boon in this awful, haunted mansion. I appreciated the she-wolf more than she knew. I gave her more time unchained.

The Ravanis would never forgive Darcy for what he had done to her. The vampire had made a lot of people upset with him. I wondered how long he thought he'd get away with his crimes. Once he ascended to power, he'd never have to worry about the little people he had hurt, but I didn't plan to let him get there. I licked my lips, thinking Darcy's would be the blackest heart I had ever consumed. Blood-rich, meaty, and heavy with sins.

Cherie placed a coded landline call to Ajit, the familiar that Zyr Ravani thought of as his loyal dog. Knowing the detective was miles away from home meant Ajit might be free to answer, although there was a college kid who routinely checked on him in Zyr's absence.

When the line connected, my sister coaxed him to come retrieve the oracle card he needed to let himself into the bunker where Darcy was keeping the Slobodniks. We knew if he ran into guards, everyone on the vampire's team considered him faithful. In truth, Ajit was beholden to no one but the flaxen-haired dream, Cherie.

My thoughts turned to Sunny and Jack. Nights spent with them in the house but out ofreach had been a special kind of torment. I had lain awake, remembering the silken glide of Jack's tongue, the velvet of Sunny's healing touch, their muscular bodies, faces to make the gods envious, hearts meant for poetry and war.

I checked the time again.

That the three of us belonged to one other was beyond my wildest dreams. In spite of feeling I was less than a woman because I couldn't have children, I had fallen, and they had fallen, and the ways I had found myself lacking had evaporated like condensation on the outside of a glass.