Chapter 146

MALACHI Despair. Desolation. Black and shadowy and all-consuming, it creeps into every cell of my body, solidifying inside until I am no longer made of flesh and bone, but of only darkness and anguish. There is nothing worth living for. Not even her. I screw my eyes closed and try to curl myself into a ball, but I realize I’m hog-tied with my ankles and wrists bound together. Even being here, in the cellar in our basement where we brought Ophelia all those months ago, is not enough to bolster any strength of feeling other than abject misery. I know the creature that took me. I’ve read enough of wraiths to know this darkness swallowing me whole is its doing. It should have taken my soul but for some reason has not. But I didn’t know they existed until today, and I have no idea why I’ve never come across one before. Surely a being with such powerful dark magic would not have to hide itself. “Happy to be home, Malachi?” Giorgios asks, his tone mocking. I don’t care where I am. I want to b