I trail off, trying to figure out the right word. Because it isn’t that my connection to any of them is stronger than to the others. Just different, as if their personalities and the way they intersect with mine form a special bond that’s unique to each man. Equal to each other but for different reasons.
Still unsure of the exact right word, I settle for, “It was simple. My connection to Frost has always been easiest. Now, that’s gone. He wants to kill me.” My voice cracks. “He doesn’t even know me.”
Malix hums low in his throat and gathers me into his arms. I sink against his chest and inhale deeply, letting his fresh scent drown me and chase away the churning emotions inside me. I’m cold inside, but Malix is sunshine and warmth, and he chases away the coldest places in my soul.
“Frost was always the best of us all,” he says, the rumble of his voice vibrating my hands on his chest. He holds me tightly, but not so tightly that I couldn’t pull away if I wanted to.
It’s a small thing, but it shows me how much he understands me. I need the room to back away if necessary. I need the space to breathe and be my own person.
For now, though… I don’t want him to let me go.
“But,” Malix adds softly, strain coloring his voice, “we do have to consider that the darkness inside him might be too much to overcome. We’re not good people, Amora. We’re made of darkness. We’re made of shadows from another plane that thrive on violence and chaos. Pain and destruction. We aren’t made to love.”
I draw back enough to look up into his shining violet eyes, my gaze bouncing back and forth between them.
There are so many things contained in their depths, so many different emotions, and that fact alone convinces me that he and his brothers are more than the monsters they see themselves as.
They’re complex. They contain conflicting parts that should be at odds with each other, but which somehow manage to exist side by side.
They’re flawed.
But sometimes they’re wonderful too.
I shake my head stubbornly, pressing my lips together.
“No. You’re wrong, Malix. I don’t believe that.”