"Annie!" he barked, whirling through the crowd. "ANNIE!"
He appeared at the bar in a blink, his face tight, eyes glowing with volatile divine energy.
The bartender, the same androgynous beauty who had flirted so easily earlier, startled at the sight of him.
"You!" Malvor snapped. "Where is she? The woman I was with."
The bartender blinked. "She… she was at the table near the edge—"
"When?" His voice cracked like a whip.
"Ten minutes ago?" the bartender said, uncertain. "Maybe? She had a drink… but then I got busy, Malvor, I did not—"
"She is. GONE," Malvor hissed, the rage in his chest roaring like a wildfire. "And you did not even notice." He sneered. The temptation to attack the being was growing.
Blue lightning sparked from his fingertips, arcing over the bar top. Bottles shattered.
Yara appeared behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Mal, Malvor, hey. Relax. You probably just lost track of her in the crowd. It is really loud. It is a party—"
"Don't," he growled, whirling on her. "Do not try to calm me. She is not here. And I cannot feel her."
Yara's expression faltered.
Just then, Luxor materialized beside them in a flash of golden light. His gaze took in the scene: Malvor's panicked stance, the scorch marks on the bar, the startled crowd slowly beginning to whisper and watch.
"What is going on?" Luxor asked, voice steady.
"She is gone!" Malvor exploded. "She was right there. Now she is gone. I cannot sense her. I cannot feel her. Someone blocked me, Luxor. That does not just happen."
Luxor's golden eyes narrowed. "That is not possible. Not here."
"Clearly, it is!" Malvor snapped. "You are the one who rigged this place with all your shiny divine locks, how is she gone?"
He turned back to the bartender. "You saw her at the table. Then what?"
The bartender shook their head. "She was sipping her drink. Looked calm. Then… nothing. I swear. I did not see her leave."
Malvor's hands trembled. The lights above them flickered in protest. "She would not just leave. Not without me. Not like this."
He looked around again. Frantic. Desperate.
He dropped to his knees and pressed his palm to the floor. Closed his eyes.
Tried again.
Still nothing.
No whisper of her laughter. No warmth of her bond. No pulse in his chest where her feelings should be.
Just silence.
Luxor stepped forward. "We will search the area. I'll have my guards lock the realm, no one leaves, no one enters until she is found."
"Not good enough," Malvor whispered. His voice was soft now. Too soft. The kind of quiet that came right before the scream. "If someone took her… if someone dared lay a hand on her—"
He did not finish the thought.
He did not need to.
The room, the air, the realm knew.
Malvor was not playing anymore.
And this party was over.
He didn't walk. He vanished in blinks of light and sound, flashing from group to group, corner to corner. Sparks exploded at his heels. Tables overturned in his wake. The music stuttered, then died completely.
"Where is she?!" Malvor roared, his voice ricocheting off the sapphire walls like a thunderclap.
Gasps. Silence.
He stalked through the VIP lounge, eyes wild and burning.
"Leyla," he snapped, appearing beside her table, "tell me you saw her."
Leyla, dark and regal as ever, looked startled. "Anastasia? No, I have not—"
"She did not leave." Malvor's voice trembled. "She would not."
He spun, teleporting again.
"Maximus!" His voice cracked the air. "Where. Is. She?"
Maximus blinked, holding a cocktail shaped like a clam. "Who?"
Malvor grabbed him by the front of his golden tunic. "Do not play dumb, you spoiled lust-bloated party favor. Annie. The woman I brought here. The woman I need."
Maximus paled. "I have not seen her, Mal. I swear—"
"Then what are you good for?!" Malvor snarled, shoving him back.
On and on it went. Every god. Every guest.
No one had seen her.
Malvor's world tilted. Something snapped.
He lifted his hand. The entire club trembled. The water outside the dome surged as if answering a divine command. Lightning danced across the air.
And still, he could not feel her.
Then came the thought. Quiet, sickening, vile:
Where is Aerion?
He turned. Eyes scanning the room.
Yara stepped in his way. "Mal, you need to calm down—"
He bared his teeth. "Where is Aerion?"
Yara hesitated.
"I said. WHERE IS HE?!"
When no answer came, he screamed, the sound so loud the lights shattered above. Glass rained down. None of it touched him.
A single orb of blue hovered in his palm, spinning fast. His magic. His wrath. His heartbreak.
"Someone took her," he whispered, almost too softly to hear.
But everyone did.
"Someone took my Annie."
His magic cracked like thunder.
"AND I WILL BURN THIS REALM AND EVERY REALM TO FIND HER."
Yara flinched.
Luxor appeared again, holding up a glowing sigil. "We are scanning the entire realm now. No one will leave."
"Too late," Malvor spat. "Too late. He is gone."
"Who?" Luxor demanded.
Malvor's chest heaved. His expression twisted in agony.
"Aerion."
A hush spread through the room like frost.
Malvor lifted his hand.
"Call every god. Every god. Now."
He turned in a slow circle, eyes glowing bright as wildfire. "Because if I find out any of you knew, any of you helped him—"
He clenched his fist.
"Then you will beg for his fate instead of yours."
The final desperate scan of the club returned nothing.
No flicker. No heartbeat. No warmth.
Just a void where she should have been.
Malvor's scream ripped through the underwater club like a crack of divine thunder. The music shattered. Glass exploded. The ceiling trembled. People screamed and ducked for cover. Lights flickered. The ocean itself seemed to recoil.
He did not care who heard. He did not care who burned.
His mind was already cracking, chaos leaking at the edges. Memories blurred and spun through him in jagged flashes, her eyes catching the light across the dance floor, the soft laughter she gave when he called her my sea sprite, the way her hand fit perfectly in his as they walked beneath artificial starlight. The sweetness of her last kiss. The promise in her smile.
Gone.
She was gone.
"Malvor!" Luxor's voice rose above the chaos, concern cutting through the club's sirens and shattered glamour. "Wait, we will help you look!"
"I saw her by the bar ten minutes ago!" Calavera cried out, clutching her dark drink. "She was just sitting there!"
Yara appeared in a swirl of water and magic, eyes wide, skin still flushed from their dance. "Mal, wait, let's search the security wards—"
But it was too late.
The wild flick of his fingers sent a crack of misfiring magic tearing through the room, cutting the club in half, collapsing one of the floating lounges into a wave of crashing crystal.
"Malvor!" Luxor shouted again, stepping forward, hand raised.
Malvor turned, eyes glowing with pure divine madness. "If any of you had been watching, if you saw something, speak now or vanish from my sight."
They froze.
No one spoke.
Malvor snarled, the heat of a rising storm tightening around him.
And then, he vanished.
Gone in a plume of shadow and fire.
And the world would learn what it meant to steal from the God of Chaos.