Only an hour after the disastrous first training, still long before the slow sun would rise, we found Malachi lounging in a cafeteria, one leg draped over the arm of his chair, his head hanging a bit over the other, watching the mages like a cat looking out the window at birds he couldn't eat. No sign of the collar's first episode in his lazy sprawl and loose muscles.

"You're coming with us on an errand into the city."

James sounded very much like a leader as he told Malachi what was expected of him. Grayson walked into the mess hall halfway through James' order, reading, quickly scanning each page before it turned without being touched. Malachi's yellow eyes tracked him as a crooked grin curved one edge of his lips, a smile I had seen James wear before, one that promised his plans would only be fun for him.

"I'd rather not. Busy schedule today, you see. Thanks for asking though."

Malachi's reply was sugary sweet as he shifted his attention to bat his eyes at James before returning them to where Grayson now sat. He was still reading, apparently ignoring the warning bells I'm sure were going off within his hateful body that his pupils, both old and new, all of which despised him, were across the room.

"I'll let you kill things," James said simply in explanation.

Malachi stuck his lips out as if thinking, tapping his collar with his fingernail rhythmically before standing from his chair with a heavy sigh, and cracking his neck.

"I'll admit, you've piqued my interest. But what do I get for helping you? You know nothing is free, dear brother, everything has a cost. And though I'm usually accustomed to paying dearly for my actions, maybe I want to see how the other side lives."

James chuckled, but there was no joy in it. Instead, it made my skin prickle.

"You help me, dear brother, and I will help you."

James' eyes flashed black and after a moment to consider, Malachi smirked, clearly understanding some meaning I had missed.

What does that mean? How will you help him?

I asked as we walked down the hall, feeling the current of our connection run over my skin and fighting the shiver of pleasure it tried to bring.

It's better if you don't know.

I gave him a warning look, but something in the one he and Malachi had shared made me think maybe I really didn't want to know.

Kael and Nevaeh were still asleep when we left for Chi's warehouse, finally able to rest in a safe place. And we planned to be back before long anyway, so we didn't feel the need to wake them. Ailech joined us at Abby's request, in case we needed to stop Malachi from trying to escape or needed to be healed, but I seriously doubted either. In fact, Malachi had a rather disturbing smirk on his face for the whole ride, looking much too eager for some reason.

James broke the silence as we parked.

"What should we expect?"

Malachi had been quiet the whole drive, that smirk painting his lips the only sign that he knew something. He made a big show of straining his neck to look out the window at the sky before replying.

"Oh, I don't know, I'd say only about a forty-percent chance of snow flurries, maybe rain actually. It's getting warmer already. Short winter really, climate change is a-"

James rolled his eyes in an uncharacteristic way before cutting off Malachi's ramble.

"What's inside? What's coming for them?"

"Why, how ever should I know? I'm just your lowly prisoner, or I suppose I'm more of your attack dog today. Want me to bark for you?"

Malachi feigned innocence before his low voice teased momentarily, though his yellow eyes stayed sharp and his smirk sly throughout.

"Just tell me and I'll let you kill it. Otherwise, Ailech will knock you out and you can take a nap in the car while we have all the fun. We're walking out of there regardless, we won't lose, so you might as well get to play too."

Ailech and I shared a look, both clearly missing key pieces of information. But Malachi filled them a moment later.

"Skia and Shafes would be my bet. I'd guess dad's pretty mad at you and going after your soft underbellies with this weak Clan."

He closed his yellow-gold eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, cocking his head as if listening.

"And they'll be here soon."

He smiled when he opened his eyes again, even as my stomach sank. The Collector was going after Chi and her Clan because he knew it would tear me down, destroy me if they were killed. Who else would he go after?

"And do you want to sleep this one out or have some fun today? They'll see the collar and report back, think you didn't have a choice. You'll probably not get punished too harshly. At least, not more than the fun is worth. That is - if my father ever gets his claws into you again in the first place."

James' voice was teasing, goading as if he wasn't talking about torture and death and Malachi betraying the Collector, even if it was only for one fight.

"Oh, he will get me again, I have no doubts about that. And I'll pay dearly for this, but I do hate Skia. Cocky little Human pricks."

Malachi's grin was back, and James returned it in equal measure, looking like a couple of high school boys about to do something notably stupid to impress a girl, or their friends, or whoever teenage boys tried to impress.

"Abby's rules are modified here obviously. Don't hurt us, don't hurt the Clan inside. Besides that, you have your freedom. Enjoy."

"Carte blanche? Are you sure about that, abbas?" Malachi's smile tipped higher, something in it looking hungry, something about it unsettling me.

"Don't make me regret it, batnae," James answered seriously, though his lips quirked up and amusement sparked in his deep eyes.

Malachi's eyes flicked to black and the car filled with his power. James followed suit, making the air seem to sizzle like it was charged. Ailech and I shared another look. I didn't like the strange camaraderie that James and Malachi seemed to share.

We pulled back the rolling doors and were met with the exact scene I had woken up to for weeks. I felt a flash of annoyance that Chi hadn't moved her Clan, that they were bold enough to stay where they had been found and attacked already. But then I realized it wouldn't have mattered, clearly wherever they went they could be found.

Horn and Halo were half in bed still, just rolling out at the sound of the door, both mainly undressed with sleepy eyes and messed hair. Spade was in their modest kitchen, making breakfast. But Chi was training, her black eyes zeroed in on the intruders, us. She held a short glass dagger in one fist, across the room from a wall peppered with them, the same knives I had cleaned so many times - Syn's knives. I felt my stomach flip and then clench. My mouth began to water like I was going to throw up, but I swallowed it back. Chi's face hardened as her depthless eyes looked down the line from Ailech to James to Malachi, but when they landed on me, she hurled the knife from her white-knuckled hand.

She had clearly been practicing and it was a beautiful throw considering her distance and the slight weight of the weapon, but even so, I knew I could step out of the way. I had the time. But the anger on her face made me want to stay, to take the small injury, knowing I had dealt her and her family a much larger one. After all, the blade wasn't long enough to hit anything vital, and if it would give her a small measure of peace, of justice...

Inches before the glass hit, Malachi's hand shot out, and the small knife struck, just not me. I looked down to see his hand in front of my chest, a little too high and centered for my heart, the knife buried to its short hilt in his open palm. He closed his hand around the glass and looked at it like he was curious. Blood ran down his arm, soaking into his long sleeves, but he didn't seem to notice. Then he made a fist and squeezed, shattered the blade, letting it fall in pieces to the cement floor.

"Not very hospitable to your saviors, but I am new to this, maybe this is a customary hero's welcome."

Malachi's rolling, low voice seemed to fill the cavernous room and I thought Chi would try to launch another dagger just from the mocking in his words. But then James stepped forward, his hands out to his sides, diffusing the situation momentarily. She still respected James, or feared him, enough to listen.

"Something is coming for your Clan, Chimarah. Your association with Jordan, the danger I put you in, has you directly in my father's sights. If you leave with us now, then we can keep you safe, I promise. Let me try to make up for the mistakes I made with your Clan before, make up, at least in part, for Syn."

Even though James was still Shifted, he sounded sincere, though I wondered if anyone else would describe it that way.

The silence that followed, as Chi's Clan all looked to her for some answer, for a decision, was quickly broken again as Malachi casually strolled past James, patting him on the back as he sauntered by.

"Nope - too late. They're already here. Oh, shootskies."

He smiled at his last words, his pointed teeth catching a beam of the warehouse's weak-winter light as it filtered down from the high windows. He continued his casual walk until he was in the center of the room, his hand still dripping blood onto the floor. Every eye was on him and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention. But then James stiffened at the same time my Gift picked up multiple minds outside of the warehouse, circling, advancing.

"He's right. Skia and Shafes are coming this time. Let us help you, please."

Malachi turned to James at his 'please', his head cocked to one side, his eyebrows pulled together like he was puzzled by the word, but he stayed silent. It was Chi's high voice that spoke next, her eyes large, scared, the fear visible on her face even through her Shift.

"Ya, protect my boys."

James tipped his head down in acknowledgment, the shadow of a courtly bow, and then fire sprang up in a ring around Chi, so tall she disappeared within it completely. Similar circles appeared around Spade, Horn, and Halo, keeping each of them where they were, out of harm's way, and out of our way. Finally, my Pair turned to look at me where I stood next to Ailech. His mouth set in a thin line and I knew what he was planning. I dove to the side just as fire sprang up around Ailech and where I had previously stood, a barrier the Shafes wouldn't be able to cross, the best shield James could provide without an Earth Sign with us.

I glared at him for trying to sideline me before I let my eyes turn dark, just as the same haunting creatures that had distracted the Clan during Syn's murder materialized all around us.

» ✦ «

The Shafes were barely annoyances, burning touches, sharp bone fingers, but too weak to do real damage to us, to a Half, let alone three. The Skia were the main course. They weren't the unprepared chattel my master had been growing in other cities - these were trained, organized, and working in teams. He had been using them in this city for months, using them in secret to lure Gabriel's Clan last Fall, posing as little Darkling serial killers. But even their experience and training didn't matter and couldn't save them - not from me. There was nothing in this world that could stand against me, except my master and the few other Watchers still scattered across the globe.

Each time one group showed their hand, their puny powers, we adapted. Each time they went for the diluted little Darklings in their fire towers, we cut them down. Gabriel's fire was still stronger than mine, but I was quicker, more creative. I knew how to get the most out of each coal or lash of heat I created. He had always liked his fire all-consuming, I preferred subtleties.

We hadn't brought weapons, no need, it was more satisfying this way, following our training and true natures instead. I had so missed moving through an army with empty hands, leaving pieces and parts in my wake, feeling their hot life cover me, wash me clean of this world and it's weaknesses. Who needed a dagger when I could move my hand clean through their giving bodies? Who needed a blade when I could separate their head from their shoulders all on my own? The very smell made my mouth water, the sight made me shiver, and the taste of their panic and death made a manic smile curve my lips and a hungry, wanting groan climb my throat.

It was over much too quickly, my Shift digging into me more, wanting more, more blood, more pain, but it would have to be my own now, as there was nothing else to take my violence out on. Between James and I, the shrieking phantoms were quickly burned away back to Hell, and the Humans were unrecognizable heaps of horror and stringy meat within minutes. Jordan had stepped back after only the first opponent, watching us instead of joining, a mixture of awe, fascination, and apprehension on her face.

I pushed my hair back, slicking it with the blood that covered my hands, that covered every inch of me, and smiled at her, burying my Shift so it would stop tearing into me. I licked the salty victory from my lips and let out an appreciative low growl again as I winked and walked past her, back toward the door. I stood in its opening, waiting for us to leave with my hands clasped behind my back. I had done my job.

» ✦ «

It was a bloodbath, quite literally. James and Malachi were covered in red by the end of the short fight, the Skia not even having the shadow of a chance against the two Halves. I wasn't needed, not really, as Malachi and James took out each group, pairing, or individual like they were picking daisies. Sometimes Malachi was so quick I didn't even see the killing blow, just the aftermath, a spray of blood, a crumpling body, a head rolling away in an almost cartoon-like way.

They didn't even use weapons, just their bodies, their bare hands, with the occasional Sign thrown in either for the Shafes or to prevent the Skia from trying to break through James' shields and get to Chi and her Clan.

Malachi was a Fire Sign as well. And I wasn't surprised, it suited him. And though his Sign didn't seem as bottomless as James', as big, it was more brutal, more honed. He wouldn't engulf someone in his fire but burn their eyes out, boil the blood in their veins, send a rope of it to coil around their neck or wrist or chest. He used his Sign for fear and injury and pain even more than for death. In short - he played, and he enjoyed it.

I didn't know if I should be afraid or in awe of him, but I was suddenly very grateful for the collar, no matter how wrong I knew it was. Something told me he would play with anyone, that he enjoyed the act so much, no one was out of bounds. He had no lines he wouldn't cross, maybe not necessarily because he was evil but simply because he had no boundaries at all, no edges. Because he had never been shown or taught how to reign himself in, or why, how to hold back parts of his nature. He simply did what he wanted in any given moment.

I didn't like the attention he gave me, the rumbling noises he made, his winks, or the feeling of his eyes on me, regardless of if they were black or yellow and gold. He looked at the world like he wanted to devour it, myself included. And knowing that he was stronger than James in many ways, or at least better trained, more deadly, it meant I was just as much his prey as anyone. But even so, I still felt something coil deep in me when he looked at me, or when he was immersed in his nature, his violence. Some part of it, of him, was intoxicating, addictive. He was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. It drew me in, and I had the feeling he knew it.

I was sure it was my broken nature, some parallel to how I had felt drawn to the Collector even though I hated him. But I was still ashamed of my feelings, of the pull I felt to Malachi. I still felt like something must be wrong with me for feeling any connection to something so broken and twisted and dark.

The fires that had been protecting Chi's Clan and Ailech extinguished immediately after the last Skia fell. But as James walked toward their small leader, I walked back to Ailech and the bloodied Half standing next to him in the doorway.

When I reached them I pulled Malachi's hand forward and bobbed my chin at Ailech, who placed one finger on the bloody palm with exaggerated disgust and muttered a short heal. Ailech was getting better, and Malachi flexed his hand into a fist before raising his eyebrows, apparently impressed.

"Hands are complex, and you've fixed mine twice in under a day. Not bad for a Human. But we both know my master doesn't want you for your heals..." he gave another look, one eyebrow raised.

"Why did you catch that knife?" I blurted out, immediately regretting it.

"The devil's in the details, you should think more on your words before you speak them, hasn't Gabe taught you that?"

He shook his head in mock disappointment before continuing.

"Technically, I didn't catch it, I just let it hit me. And I didn't stop it out of the goodness of my heart, trust me, there is none there, so don't go falling for me, little Angel."

He winked again as his voice took on a husky tone.

"I actually imagine your blood smells quite divine, and I would love to be present the next time you spill some."

He came closer to me without seeming to move, and I could feel his breath on me, feel my own quicken with fear. He continued.

"But the rules clearly stated that I couldn't hurt you and I figured allowing you to get stabbed in my presence might constitute as hurting you. And, as I didn't want to immediately be whimpering on the floor like a kicked puppy, stopping your small hurt seemed smart. Label me cautious."

He gave a little bow at this, his arms spread to his sides as he bent forward. But when he straightened, he was only a fraction of an inch from me and I stepped back instinctively. His crooked grin widened. I glanced at Ailech for some sort of relief from my embarrassment just as I felt warm, slick fingers grip my chin, and turn it back to Malachi's bowed face. He rubbed his thumb over my lips, leaving them bloody, and bit his own, pulling his bottom through his teeth as I heard metal clicking in his mouth.

"My, my, he did choose a pretty little Angel."

Suddenly my unease around him solidified into something darker, anger at how he had been mocking me since our very first encounter. I was not some weak-blooded Darkling to be written off. He should be afraid of me, not the other way around.

I slapped his hand away, wrapping my other under his cursed black collar and yanking his face down to be even with mine. He never saw it coming and still had an arrogant smile on his face as I pulled my knee up between his legs.

He gasped and doubled over further, my lips now at his ear.

"He didn't choose me because I'm pretty."