Malum: Part 1 (The Elite King's Club 4)

“Hurt?” I almost screech. The mere thought of anyone coming near this baby with ill intent has my claws rearing to the surface.

Tinker shoots a look at Daemon.

Daemon grabs my hand. “I have a plan, Puella.”

My eyes zap around the room, unconsciously looking for any exit. One door that leads to the main hallway that is most likely heavily guarded as is every sector in this shitty big house.

“There’s no other option, Tillie. Hear Daemon out, okay?” The door opens and the nurse from earlier comes back in, clutching a phone. I tense, but Daemon rests his hand on my shoulder.

“Trust me, Puella?” he asks, his eyes searching mine. His endless black pits that I have no doubt hide some of the most disturbing secrets known to man.

I swallow and then nod. “Yes. I trust you.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead and reaches for the phone the nurse is handing to him. She clears her throat. “You have roughly around five minutes before they ask why I’m back in here. Please hurry, Daemon.”

I tilt my head, examining her. Was she a good one too? Seems there was only Tinker and Daemon, but maybe I was wrong. My attention falls to her name badge. J E S S I C A is sprawled out in black block letters.

Jessica.

“He’s not answering his phone.” Daemon hangs up, his eyes going to Tinker nervously.

“We have to buy time.” Tinker’s attention goes to the nurse. “Can you buy us some time?”

The nurse looks reluctantly at us all, so I take this moment to get her attention. “Jessica? Please. If there is anything that I can ever do for you, I will be forever in your favor.”

“Okay,” she exhales. “I’ll say that you haven’t had the baby yet and there are complications, but you should know, that I do have to deliver the baby to one of the Lost Boys after birth. Me not taking her already has put me and my family in grave danger, Tinker.”

“I promise you, Jessica. You and your family will be protected through this,” Tinker reminds her confidently. I know we have her when the corners of Jessica’s eyes relax.

“Okay.” I look around my room again. The room I’ve been hidden and kept in for the past months. I didn’t really care before when it was just me. Even though I was pregnant, the reality of having a child wasn’t real—now it is, and I will undoubtedly do what I have to do to get us out of this situation.

“Okay, what are we going to do. She has to take her to a Lost Boy. Then what?”

Daemon looks up at Tinker, then back to me. “You don’t have to worry about that part, Puella. It will be me that she will come to. I will make sure no harm comes to her and that she is returned to you safely, but we need to keep her quiet and still until The Kings arrive. Do you understand?” He runs his fingers through his hair, his eyebrows pulling together in stress.

I reach for his hand, stopping his movement. “I understand, Daemon. I will do anything you need me to do, okay?”

He nods and then drops his hand. The phone he’s holding lights up and he quickly answers it, speaking in Latin.

Tinker comes closer to me. “Nate is going to be angry, Tillie, but only because he doesn’t know how to harness his feelings. There’s so much that you don’t know about yourself and your lineage of family. So much you have to learn, even train in, things that if you allow it, Nate could train you in. You can’t fight this lifestyle, Tillie. Don’t do what Madison did and ignore the signs, or not ask the questions. You, your family, you hold power in this world. Take that power by the balls and own it.”

“What are you talking about, Tinker?” Maybe she has finally lost the screws that were loose inside of her head.

She offers me an apologetic smile, though I’m not sure what she’s apologizing for. “It’s not my place, but truth is coming and when you reign, it’s going to cripple the system.”

Before I can ask what she is talking about, Daemon cuts in. “It’s done. They will gear up.” Daemon’s eyes come to mine, and my grip around my baby intensifies. He notices. “I promise, Tillie. I won’t let harm come to her.”

My throat swells as a single tear falls from my eye and rolls down my cheek, falling to my chest. “Promise?”

Daemon nods. “I promise.”

Daemon leans down, kissing my head. “Have you named her?”

I shake my head, swiping the tear. His hand comes to her cheek as he whispers. “Micaela.”

When the syllables fall from his mouth, I knew instantly that it was done. “Micaela,” I repeat, smiling. I look up to Daemon out of the corner of my eye, my heart thundering in my chest. Daemon and I have had a strange relationship since I’ve been on Perdita. Not sexual, just connected. On a deep level, a level I haven’t felt since—for a very long time. Where Nate and I had an intense deep connection, it was also sexual, fire, explosions and a mixture of hate. Don’t let Nate’s pretty face fool you, though. The devil furnishes his darkest souls with the prettiest smiles. Daemon and I, it’s pure, tame, calm. It was something more than friendship, but less than lovers, though I loved him dearly.