Lina’s POV
The warehouse looked like a war zone.
Broken crates were scattered across the floor, splintered wood crunching beneath boots, dust hanging thick in the air like smoke after an explosion. The entire place smelled of blood, sweat, and rusted metal.
And standing in the middle of it all was Malder.
My breathing came unevenly as I stared at him looming over Kailen’s body. Without the mask, he looked even more dangerous.
Not because he was monstrous.
Because he was human. Painfully human.
Scars cut across pale skin like old memories carved into flesh. Some faded. Some fresh. His jaw flexed tightly, veins visible beneath his neck, and the hatred radiating from him felt so intense it almost seemed alive. This wasn’t simple anger. It was an obsession.
The kind that had lived insi
