M A L L O R Y

Chicago, USA

I'd often wonder what freedom felt like, and right now, as I stood on the edge of the rooftop, I felt it. I felt it in the wind that whipped past me, my hair flying with it. There's something malevolent about the night, it's when the foreboding twilight falls over, and the quietude becomes an unforgiven souvenir for people like me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, enjoying the cold bite of the air even as goose bumps broke on my skin.

I flinched, losing my balance, when I turned around instantly as the door to the rooftop opened with a loud bang. I couldn't see who had opened the door yet, but I was hoping it wasn't one of my father's men. He wouldn't be happy if he found out that I was sneaking up here, but then again, he was hardly ever satisfied with my achievements; a blithe acknowledgment was all I'd ever gotten from him. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it wasn't anyone I knew. Rather, it was a blond man stumbling towards the edge with his head hanging down. Somewhere at the back of my head, I knew I should've been wary; however, I couldn't find it in myself to bring my guard up just yet. Negligence is the fall of even the most vigilant of men, father's words rang in my ears, and I straightened, my eyes trained on the strangers who were oblivious to my presence.

It felt like he'd heard the echoes of my thoughts because, in the next second, his eyes met mine, and I gasped, not realizing that I'd taken a step back and was now standing on the edge. His eyes, holy shit, were softly woven with a chorus of green threads as a malevolent tenebrosity eclipsed the most bewitching eyes I'd ever seen.

"If you're looking for death, this isn't a good way to die," His raspy voice cut through the silence. Despite the softness in his voice and his apparent state of intoxication, he had an aura around him that forced you in his orbit almost like he was the Sun, desirable as just enough of him was a promise of warmth, but too much of that warmth would only leave burns behind.

"I'm not trying to kill myself," His lips curled into a lazy smirk as he looked me up and down, making a point to stare at where I was standing. To a stranger, I could see it looked bad, but I was here for the serenity the silence around me promised.

"Sure," He nodded and walked to where I was standing, then turned around and sat down on the floor, his back to the barrier I was standing on. "Though if you were going to put an end to yourself, I wouldn't stop you,"

"And why is that?" I felt shocked by his words, and I wasn't sure what I could make of him. Maybe it was insane of me to entertain him and his assumptions, but then again, I'd often found myself inclined towards insanity. There was liberty in being so chaotic that the inconsequential opinions of people vanished in that mayhem.

"Why would I stop you if I haven't lived a day in your life?" He tilted his head to look at me, and once again, I found myself breathless at the intensity of his gaze, "I can sit here and fabricate tales about how it's going to get better; however, I'm not the one fighting what's in your head. So, by all means, don't let me interrupt you, but normally it's not our existence we want to wipe. It's what lives inside," He pointed his fingers towards his head, then leaned his head back against the small wall, his eyes closed as he swallowed, his Adam's apple moving oh so enticingly. I ran my tongue across my lips, then sat down, my feet hanging off the edge.

"You seem to know a lot about this," He smiled, his eyes still closed, but there was something so haunting about that smile I didn't realize that it'd be one to haunt my dreams for decades to come.

"One does not get hammered for no reason," He chuckled, "Often, it's not a lost flame people drink to forget, but rather the atrocities they committed."

"That's awfully presumptuous," I found my eyes narrowing at him, slightly irritated at his obliviousness to danger. He closed his eyes around someone he didn't even know so comfortably. Maybe men didn't have to worry about all the fears constantly screaming and tearing at the walls of a woman's mind.

"Is it?" He ran his hand through his hair, pushing the blond locks away from his eyes, and that's when I noticed a scar across his eyebrow and another one running across his hairline. His angry scars should have scared me away; instead, they made his mysterious allure call out to me like a siren. Maybe it wasn't the sirens that lured the sailors. Maybe they sank to their certain death themselves, for their liability was the lust pumping in their veins like blood.

"It is." I nodded, swinging my feet as I bit my lip. "Though I suppose getting wasted is just waiting for the demons to catch up with you."

"It's naïve to think that you can survive if you keep running against time. Sometimes it's better to hide to stay alive. The reality of the truth doesn't always set you free." He sighed, his shoulders falling as he opened his eyes, suddenly too sober for a drunk person, "The ghosts are enough to kill you," He spoke as if he'd seen an eternity of misery. His soul seemed too tired for a man his age.

"Continuing to stow your grief will kill eventually kill you," I whispered.

"Dead men don't die again, saint."

"Saint?" I arched my brow, amused at this name he'd called me.

"You look too virtuous to sin after dawn, yet devious enough to do it after nightfall,"

"For a dead man, you seem to have a lot of opinions," He laughed, and this time his face actually brightened with joy.

"So if you hide periodically what brought you here...." I paused, not knowing what to call him.

"Haides," His cool voice made me look up from my lap towards his face, "You can call me that,"

"Is that your name or something you made up?" I didn't remember the last time I'd actually enjoyed talking to someone, and I didn't even know him. Maybe it was the sweet misery clinging to him like a second skin that drove me to him, or maybe it was just the comfort that he was a stranger. He didn't know who my father was, and he had no malicious intentions for accidentally seeking my company when he stumbled up here.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're shitting me,"

"I could be." He nodded, tracing his bottom lip with his forefinger, "I'm a diabolical liar, and you shouldn't trust a word I say,"

"No liar would ever admit to being one," I gave him a pointed look, in response to which he shrugged, feigning innocence.

"I don't hide from people, saint." He palmed his face, then stood up to sit beside me, both our feet hanging from the roof. His shoulder touched mine as he stared ahead into the night, brightened by street lights, "I only have to hide from myself from time to time, and I'm here to track someone, but as it seems I just lost them," It wasn't hard to miss the vicious anger in his voice, it was loud enough that it made me shiver.

"Are you a detective?" I didn't even know why, but I heard my heart cracking at the sheer possibility of him being someone on the opposite side of the law than me.

"No, but something like that," He looked at me again. He did a lot of that, and I didn't know if it was because he was cautious or he truly couldn't keep his eyes off me like I couldn't keep mine off him. I didn't know what he saw when he met my empty blue eyes or my plain features, but I knew what I saw. He was beautiful in a way all unattainable things were, but it was his darkness that kept calling to me as I'd always belonged in its embrace.

For the first time, I felt like I understood the urge of the women I'd read countless fables about to fix a broken man, even if it was a futile attempt.

"That's not a denial,"

"It's not affirmation either," He countered, and for some reason, I felt some of the air coming back inside my lungs.

"One day, you'll need to stop drowning intentionally to stop feeling helpless," He sighed as I finished. I didn't explain my words, and he didn't push for more. The wind swallowed my words, flying away like it knew exactly what to do with them. But he ignored them like most men did the reality and turned away from me, his obsidian gaze fixed on the mass of buildings in front of us, conveniently ignoring the street below us that was still buzzing with life. It was then that I realized he was afraid of heights and was trying his best not to let the fear show by looking down.

I hadn't realized when I'd dozed off on the edge of a rooftop with a stranger sitting beside me, but as I jerked, nearly falling over I recognized a set of arms that belonged to him were tightly wrapped around me, holding me steady. Our eyes met in the dark like magnets seeking each other through a force unknown to everyone, "I think that's enough adventure for one day," He smiled, and I could've sworn there were stars in his eyes, "how about we sit there where there's less chance for you to fall off?"

"Okay," He jumped back down, still keeping his arm around me as he pulled me down, and we sat side by side, our backs to the small wall we were just sitting over.

"You're afraid of heights," I whispered, shivering a little from how cold that night had gotten. Haides, or whatever his name was, didn't seem to be affected. I liked to think it was the leather jacket over his shoulder.

He turned to me, giving me his full attention as he took my hands in his and blew warm air in them, "observant little thing aren't you?"

"Not my fault you refused to look at the street when I couldn't look away," He chuckled, still holding my cold hands between his shockingly warm ones.

"I'm shit scared of not having my feet on solid ground, and as you just witnessed, I don't prefer observing how insignificant life is." Another gust of wind blew past, and my hair flew in every direction as I shivered uncontrollably. "I can keep you warm," He leaned back, pointing at his lap, and I covered my face with my hands laughing unbelievably.

"How chivalrous,"

"What can I say? I'm a gentleman" He smiled, taking my hand as he positioned me on his lap, and when he wrapped his arms around me to bring me closer to his chest, I shivered; however, this time, it wasn't from the cold, it was the unfamiliar feelings he'd coerced out of me with his charm and subtle darkness. A kaleidoscope of butterflies was fluttering in my stomach as I placed my head on his shoulder,

"What're you afraid of?" He whispered against my ear, and Goosebumps broke on my skin. A part of me knew this couldn't be right, he was a stranger, but I'd never felt an imperturbable tranquillity like this one ever before. Maybe for one night, I could pretend I was happy,

"Drowning," I whispered against the warm skin of his neck.

"I thought it'd be something trivial like spiders,"

I giggled, and I could've sworn I felt him quiver beneath my weight, "I mean, I probably won't pet one," I pulled away from him, wanting to see his face so I could save all of his bewitching features in the depths of my memory. The thought of having to leave soon had an ache developing deep inside my bones, almost like some invisible string had tied me to him, and my heart was protesting against breaking it.

He kept his arms around me as we talked, more like I talked, and he hummed or scoffed; it seemed like the exhaustion from the day had caught up to him. This time when my phone buzzed in my back pocket, I got up, and he stood up too, dusting his clothes as he did so.

"I should go now,"

"You should," he agreed, rubbing his jaw as he started zipping up his jacket to leave. Not wanting to leave like this, I stood on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his cheek. I didn't wait for his reaction, too embarrassed at my impulsiveness, and turned to walk away. Before I could even take a step away, a firm hand caught my wrist, and in the next second, warm lips had captured mine in an all-consuming kiss. It lit me up on fire, and I found myself wishing I could have a little bit of this poison every day. His lips slid against mine effortlessly, and he pulled me closer as his grip on my jaw tightened, leaving barely any space between our bodies. When he nipped my lips, I moaned, and when he shoved his tongue inside me as if it'd always belonged there, I melted. The kiss was vanilla, innocent. However, the feelings it elicited from me were anything but. It seemed like he'd lit me up on fire, and the only one turning to ashes was me, so I took just as much as he thieved from me. I clutched his jacket tighter, fighting every stroke of his tongue against mine with a passion I didn't even think was mine. Haides pulled away just as suddenly as he'd taken me down with him. His breaths came out short, but he didn't drop my hand from his or show any sign of moving away.

"What was that for?" I whispered raspily, too scared to voice it out loud.

"I felt like I'd regret it if I let you walk away just like that, and I happen to not like wondering about the what if's," he softened, moving his thumb over my lips like he was capturing them in his memory. Then he dropped his hand and motioned for me to go, and as I turned to walk away, the pain in my chest wasn't the only reminder that he'd cursed us both with this kiss.

And I just knew that he'd haunt all of my dreams for as long as I'd live.

* * *

Fair warning, this book isn't as light as the prologue, though, but if you still choose to read, welcome to the madness.

I hope you enjoy Kyzer and Mallory's story. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I hope it won't be long.

Also,, for everyone, before you fall for Kyzer, please remember that kingkatewrites   has already claimed him and doesn't share ;P

Thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to vote and comment! I would love to hear what you think!