A thick emotion filled his throat, and his eyes burned. “I don’t know what happened to me, but I need to find her.”
Another voice rose in a shout. “No!” The sound of running steps, then a tall blond man stood in front of him, mouth gaping. “No, I saw you die.”
“Maxim,” the dark-haired one said. “Are you sure?”
“How can you even ask me that?” he cried. “We all saw him die, Rhys. You saw her grieve. This is something… This is not our brother!”
She grieved… For him?Fear and shock and anger wrestled within him. Malachi said, “I don’t know who your brother is, I just need to find her. Where is she?”
“You will not hurt her!” the blond man yelled. “Whatever thing you are, you’ll keep away from—”
“But Max”—the dark-haired man named Rhys stepped between his friend and Malachi—“if it is him—”
“It can’t be!”
“What if it is?” He held the blond man back by the shoulders. “What if some miracle—”
“Miracle? Is this the time of the ancients? This is evil. Evil wearing the face of our—”
“I need to find my wife!” Malachi roared. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who I am. But I know I heard her. Heard her calling me to come back to her. I just need to—”
“What?” Rhys had frozen, turning to look at Malachi, even as he continued to hold Maxim back. “What did she say?”
“I said, I need to find—”
“No,” he hissed. “What did she say?”
“I don’t—”
“When you heard her”—Rhys stepped closer, looking Malachi in the eye—“what did she say?”
Malachi tried to calm his racing heart. “Vashama canem. She said, ‘Come back to me.’”
All the color drained from Rhys’s face. “Heaven above.”