It only took a moment before Ailech reacted, before Malachi's eyes widened and he leaped away from me like I had burned him. He stumbled back and fell to the forest floor again as his strength fled him.

He bared his teeth like an animal and then gritted them, trying to stay quiet, unlike the first time when Ailech's ability had taken him by surprise. Something about seeing him like that, bearing it, refusing to give in even when he knew he had lost, when he thought he was fighting capture, especially now when I couldn't help but see the parallels to my Pair - it made my chest constrict. I knew what it felt like to be caught, trapped, I knew the panic he was surely feeling.

Despite his silence, and staying more composed than the last time, his curved eyes were wide with fear as he glared up at my healer. And somehow that hurt somewhere in my chest too. Something in me, probably the part that connected him with James, wanted to run to him, to cover him. My instincts or Shift or something else entirely was pulling to protect him, demanding it. He had been through enough abuse and I didn't want to heap any more hurts onto him.

"Stop!" My voice rang out and to Ailech's credit, he obeyed.

Malachi sagged, catching himself on all fours and gasping in panted breathes before his eyes rose to mine, unshifted for the first time. Pure hatred glared up at me, so dark it stirred a spark of fear. His look was a promise, one of wrath and revenge, and something else - deep set resentment. But even more than the dark emotions in his stare, his eyes' color held my rapt attention, ensnaring me. They were yellow-gold and near glowing like a cat, amber like a wolf, as unnatural a hue as his white hair. And with the slant of their curved shape, they looked about as far from Human as the rest of him, Shifted or not.

"Stay down, just stay there and he won't have to hurt you."

I didn't even know why I was speaking so pleadingly to the feral creature before me. But somehow using Ailech's power against Malachi felt wrong, too similar to torture. And he had clearly had enough of that for any number of lifetimes.

"Hurt? It doesn't fucking hurt. Your Human can't possibly hurt me. It...what even is he? What are you doing to me?" Malachi spat the words at us. His animal eyes shifting between Ailech and me, ignoring Nevaeh and Kael completely, apparently not seeing them as true threats. And after witnessing how evenly matched to James Malachi was, I was inclined to agree.

"I'm taking your power, and it feels damn good." Ailech's eyes were darker again, his voice lilting lower, deeper, colder. He wasn't shaking with rage this time, but his demeanor still made a shiver run my spine and I was suddenly relieved for both him and Malachi that I had stopped him from using his ability any longer.

Malachi nodded slowly like he was mulling over the information as he regained his composure. He readjusted himself on the ground, sitting back and clasping his hands around his knees casually. I could see the wheels turning behind his pale eyes, trying to find an escape or a way to take Ailech out. I put a shield of air between them, just in case.

Malachi's otherworldly gaze roved over me then, as if he could sense my Gift. He grinned like the animal he resembled, like he had just found his next meal, and licked his lips before slowly cocked his head to the side, making my chest tighten further.

"What now then? You babysit me until Gabriel returns? Pull my power until I can feel something, then torture me? Hm, smart. I've never felt a power like that before, never been tested without at least some of my nature giving me strength. Maybe I underestimated my old cohort, maybe he can make me beg after all. Mmh, just like old times. How I do love continuity. But regardless, you won't get any useful information out of me. Give me fear, take my power, take my strength - it doesn't fucking matter. I still won't break."

Malachi had a cocky tone like he was bragging, like withstanding torture was a trait he was proud of, but his eyes shifted to Ailech often, and I saw wariness veiled there. I hated how convinced he was that we were going to hurt him. It made me feel sorry for him. It made me want to help him. It made me understand just a little of how James must be feeling. I tried to reply calmly and clearly, keeping the sadness from my voice the best I could.

"Just like James said, we are not going to hurt you or kill you. Ailech will only take your strength if we have to restrain you...like if you try to strangle me again. But our goal isn't to use his power on you. You're coming with us somewhere that the Collector can't get to you. We only want to help."

As soon as I said the words I knew my mistake. Malachi's eyes hardened and the despise in them doubled as he glared up at me from his forest-floor seat. I could almost feel the weight of his stare, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. I just wished James would hurry up and get back so he could deal with his old partner.

"If you want to help me, to save me," Malachi spoke mockingly, enunciating each word with care, still watching me with his hate-filled, sunset eyes, "then take out my heart, right here, right now. Better yet, put a bullet between my fucking eyes. Because there is no help for things like us, not in this life. And probably not in the next one either. You can't even help yourselves, let alone anyone else. The best I can want for is oblivion. No one can help me and no matter where you take me, he will come for me, he will get me back. I'm his favorite," he said the last words with a bitter smile, but there was more in his voice, contempt, and something else, deeper still...

"You hate him," I spoke flatly, knowing it was true, knowing that his anger wasn't just at my Pair for leaving, but for so much more; his life, his lot in this world, but above all, the Collector. But he knew there was nothing he could do against him, so he moved that hatred to others, convinced himself he hated James or me or the Collector's enemies, anyone else, everyone else, in order to make his thoughts match his actions.

He had transferred his hatred to someone he was allowed to hate, someone he could do something against. Someone he wasn't powerless next to. I couldn't imagine how awful feeling so helpless for so long must be. Like I had been with Jevin, but at least that had only been a thin version of me, watered down and distant, and it hadn't been for my entire life. I fought the cringe that tried to pass over my face at the memories playing behind my eyes. My scars itched, burning beneath my clothes, but I ignored them.

"Don't we all hate our gods, at least a little bit? Regardless, I hate everything. It's kinda my thing."

Malachi dropped his chin, looking up through his lashes seductively, his deep, ocean-tide voice sounding inviting.

But it was too late, I saw him clearer already. Saw that he had been standing behind his anger for so long, using it as a shield, his armor. Because if he didn't, all he would have is despair and fear and hopelessness. If he didn't, he would fall apart. I had a feeling that his anger and hate were the only things keeping him going, keeping him strong, but he was festering away underneath, rotting. And that's what James wanted to save, whatever was under his hatred, whatever it was feeding on. He wanted to see if there was anything still living at his core, or if his fear and hate had consumed him completely.

"We can work with that. Hate isn't always bad. Someone once told me that our power is rooted in hatred, in our darkness. Hating something evil isn't evil, it's good. And I think you hate James' father more than anything else. Which means we're on the same side."

I had barely finished when Malachi spit at me, actually spit. His eyes alight with new rage, burning like golden flames lived within him, making him look deranged.

"I don't have a side as you do, a choice as you do. I don't have anything but my hate, my power, and I'll use it to destroy you. Your game won't work on me, you fucking wisp, this little act you all have held up. So either kill me now or I swear I'll be the last thing you ever see. I know my purpose, and not your faked kindness and offered redemption or your blades and flames can change my path. My fate was decided long ago."

Even though I knew he didn't trust us, his words somehow still stung. Seeing that he was just waiting for the hammer to fall, expecting us to hurt him, to trick him, as if that's the only reality he had ever known. He reminded me of a beaten animal used to being struck, attacking even those who tried to help it. I wondered if James was wrong and there wasn't anything left to save, if the Collector had stripped it all away, tore it from him piece by piece in the years since James' escape. I pushed away that thought as I sensed James rejoin us in the clearing.

"Do I have to knock you out again or will you play nice with my Pair?" James' smooth voice appeared as he did, dropping his glamour and our bags. By the time I turned, Nevaeh was already rifling through hers.

"I'm simply informing her that I'm not falling for any of this," he waved a hand theatrically. "There is no 'out' for me, no running away like you did. Your father owns me, body, mind, and soul, and he will have you all too. There's nowhere any of you can run to escape him. Not for long, at least, as you know."

Malachi's voice again didn't match his words, as his reply was casual and relaxed, flippant even. James however, sounded sad as he looked at the ghost of his childhood companion and replied, shaking his head, his too-long, too-dark hair hanging in front of his too-thin face.

"We're bringing you somewhere I've been before, somewhere he can't get into, otherwise he would have already. If nothing else, you can trust me on that. Jordan and I, Ailech, and many others he wants are there, but he hasn't come for us because he can't. And I bet he hasn't told you about it because that would only breed hope, a potential refuge for you if you ever tried to escape. That was his mistake with me, he didn't stomp out my hope, not completely. And now, I'm going to help grow that very same hope in you-"

"Dear god, please just fucking kill me, carve me up, I don't care - anything sounds much less painful than having to listen to you blather on about refuge and hope. You said you wouldn't torture me, you goddamn liar."

Malachi wore a sly smirk and though it was sharp at the edges, his eyes looked teasing, and James actually chuckled.

During our short talk, Nevaeh had found three whips and handed them over to Kael for him to choose between. She frowned a little as he picked one, knowing her beloved weapon was about to be dismantled. And though her frown wasn't quite the pout she used to so often wear, it was close.

"Mmh, better use them all, pretty little seraph," Malachi said as held his wrists together, nodding to the two discarded whips. He looked up at her through his long ashen lashes with another enticing grin, his tongue and the hint of silver darting out between his teeth. Nevaeh grimaced.

So, this was written in LA actually as I was there for a whirlwind couple of days. Might trash this chapter in the future though. I'm still trying to figure out how to connect the previous arc with this next one. I know the endpoints, and main plot scenes...but those connectors are tricky sometimes...

I just want them to get to the Vault already...and beyond (;