Blessed by Night

Chapter 39: Match Made in Night

"So Mal what do you say? Do you like Luna?" Emilia asked with a glimmer in her bright green eyes.

In college she was the designated matchmaker for all of her friends. She'd never failed to spot the potential of a couple before and she wouldn't start now!

Malachi was still reeling from Sei's sudden permission and was completely at a loss for what to say.

He already had one super hot older girlfriend and now she was telling him he could have two?

Just the thought alone was enough to make him cream his jeans.

Suddenly he saw Luna staring at him out of the corner of her eyes and got a first hand reminder of just how beautiful the woman was.

With a red blush on her soft white cheeks, she was even cuter and Malachi found her practically irresistible.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that she was every man's dream woman.

Strong, dependable, gorgeous and accomplished.

And even though she hardly showed it, Malachi knew that she hid some softer sides deep inside as well.

Plus she was older than him!

She was checking all of his boxes!

Other than Sei, he could not imagine a more perfect woman for him!

From the moment he first laid eyes on her he'd been drawn to her.

Only now was he realizing that what he felt was romantic interest.

"I do." Malachi said after much internal debate.

His words seemed to send Luna into a spiral as her face finally reached an unhealthy shade of red.

Morgan and his wives all had satisfied smiles before they turned to Luna.

"And you? Do you hold any special feelings for Malachi?" Crystal asked Luna.

For the first time in a long time, Luna began to panic internally.

She'd just come to eat barbecue and make conversation!

Now she was under interrogation about her love life!

She felt like she was right back at her parents house!

Feeling like she was rapidly losing control of the situation, Luna did several mental calculations and finally found a light at the end of the tunnel.

Her cold, business like demeanor had returned and she had a sudden air of indifference about her.

"Honestly, I don't know what you think but unlike your husband I don't see my subordinates as potential romantic suitors."

She rose up from her seat and prepared to walk away. "I don't have any interest in Malachi whatsoever."

She turned to leave, and was about halfway towards the door when she felt Malachi suddenly grab her wrist.

"Are those your true feelings, Luna?"

Whether it was his blessing from Bast, or the fact that he'd called her by her name for the first time, who can say?

All Luna knew was that in front of this man who was almost half her age, she found herself completely unwilling and unable to lie.

"No..they aren't." Luna's voice contained an untouched tenderness that led Morgan to believe he'd drank too much.

Was this truly the guild master of immortal moon? Sounding like some frail maiden in love?

What the fuck was happening in his dining room?

Luna's eyes widened when she realized that she'd accidentally said her true feelings out loud.

Something inside of Luna broke and she suddenly ripped her hand away from Malachi before turning tail and running out of the door.

Malachi of course wanted to chase her, but there was something about that look of fear in her eyes that left his feet firmly planted in the ground.

Sei's eyes held a mysterious knowing light as she watched Luna run out of the door, seemingly understanding everything and yet saying nothing.

-

After that night, Luna had taken great care to avoid Malachi to the best of her ability.

Even when the guild just so happened to have meetings, she never allowed him to get close to her for even a moment.

Currently, Malachi was in class absentmindedly listening to his professors lecture.

After Malachi's dungeon raid aired on tv, he never bothered to say anything about Malachi's glasses again.

'I guess I should go visit Rowan after I leave here.'

He hadn't seen the old man in a few days and he was quite curious whether he could help him master more of his abilities.

He hadn't forgotten Raijin's warning about their being worse things to come so he wanted to be prepared for the inevitable struggle.

'I wonder… were others warned as well?' He wondered before his exhaustion caught up to him and he slowly dozed off.

Malachi eventually woke up to the gentle sensation of someone nudging his shoulder.

Before he'd even opened his eyes, he knew exactly who was in front of him.

"Hey, just because you get straight As doesn't mean you can fall asleep in class."

Malachi looked up to see Melanie standing above him with a sympathetic expression.

"This isn't like you, are you alright?" She asked.

Malachi groggily looked around and saw that they were the only ones present in the classroom. "Yea I'm…fine."

Melanie correctly guessed what he was looking at and immediately explained. "I think everyone else might've been too scared to wake you."

"Scared?" Mal muttered.

He soon remembered that the entire world had seen him turning into a giant seven foot beast and figured that explained the sudden apprehension of his classmates.

"Well I should be going, Take care of yourself."

Mal watched her walk away and head towards the door.

He prepared to call out to her and thank her for waking him when he saw something that made his blood run cold.

Brief flashes of dark black bruises could be seen on Melanie's slender, pale arms.

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