Greys III - Revelations

Chapter 46 - Rising, Rising

I wasn't surprised by Malachi's answer, which was the true surprise to me. Somehow I knew he would agree, just like I somehow knew him, even though I really didn't, or shouldn't, couldn't possibly. But whatever Gifts I had weren't warning me that he was lying, and even James' mind felt calmer when it touched mine. Only Ailech continued to look like he thought we were all crazy as we walked to our rooms. But with the amount of time he had spent piecing Malachi back together, I could understand his hesitation.

Regardless of how it looked to any outsider, I knew Malachi was with us. I might have even known it before he did himself. I didn't look at him as an enemy, or a prisoner, or a project. I saw him as an ally, if a reluctant one, a scared one, though he tried to hide it. Something in me trusted him, at least in some situations, and though it sounded crazy to my conscious mind, something deeper knew, something deeper was leading me. And that was exactly what I followed.

He hated the Collector. And I knew in his own twisted way he loved James. He wanted to be free and he had taken our side over the Collector's at every opportunity, though he still paid lip service to being against us. But whenever he had a choice, a real choice, he had chosen us.

He hadn't told us about the ambush his master had planned, but he had been so obvious, so visibly guilty, it was almost like he made sure we would figure it out. He had kept Ailech with him so when we came to gather him, when we prepared to leave, he would be there. That same deep place in me that whispered he should join, would join, also whispered that he had painstakingly planned this entire night out, manipulated even Ailech to stay and drink with him, until we came to call.

I didn't know if I should be afraid or angry by how thoroughly he could manipulate those around him. But it didn't matter, not when I knew he was on our side, that his plays and plans were laid for our gain. At least that's how I justified the fact that I wasn't wary, not at all - I was impressed.

"How long has this been your plan?"

I broke the silence in our room, lightly startling Malachi where he sat on the foot of his bed, his head leaned into his hands as he watched the floor. He hadn't moved from that position since our group dispersed to our perspective rooms.

James had gone to Kael and Nevaeh's room to wake them and tell them our plan, to ask them to stay behind. Which left Malachi and myself in our room alone. He wasn't pushing emotions out, but I could still sense his anxiety, his growing fear and disbelief at what he had agreed to. It was one thing to fantasize rebellion, to play it out like a scene in your mind, but it was a very different thing to actually go through with it, to go against a being who had shaped you, controlled you, owned you for your entire life.

"The wolves at the manor? Ever since he learned that James had scurried here to reunite with you. Then he waited for your inevitable departure, to find your Clan, which he had already located, and sent a team of his Skia out for. They were supposed to die actually. But when that failed, he sent me to find you, be captured, to be his eyes and ears, though you trounced that pretty damn quickly as well. But the end plan was always this, though I'm sure he thought he would have more intel from me before going through with it."

Malachi's voice was trailing, quiet and distant like he still couldn't believe what he was about to do. He laid back, making his arms a pillow under his head as he watched the ceiling blankly, just like he had been staring at the floor moments earlier, a vacant look covering his pretty features.

"No, not that plan. When did you decide to join us, really?"

There was a pause and I wondered if he would ignore me and the question. But then he shrugged, a stilted movement from the way he was laying.