“Not exactly smart to shoot at your prince,” I hissed. “Then again, poor judgment seems to be a theme with you these days.”
“Want to say that again?” she spat, nocking another arrow into place.
A searing pain shot through my arm as her arrow grazed my skin. I blinked, watching blood trickle down my arm, my skin already knitting itself back together. A bit stunned, I looked back up at her, one eyebrow slightly raised. “You shot at me!?”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?” Aria said indifferently, her voice floating down like silk. She dropped from her perch in the trees to a lower branch just above me, slinging her bow across her back with lazy ease. She straddled the weathered branch, legs dangling, and began picking at her nails, a smug little smile tugging at her lips. Her hair hung loose around hershoulders, catching the wind and blending into the horizon, which was still setting behind her. The red of the sky matched the red of her hair, wild and untamed. A loose white shirt clung to her frame, tucked into tight black pants that hugged her thighs.
My gaze dragged down her body, unable to stop myself. She was beautiful. I always thought she was beautiful. My eyes lingered on her full lips, and she noticed, her smile vanishing as it pressed into a tight line.
“What do you want, Jaxon?”
Ignoring her ire, I pulled my lips into a cocky smirk that I knew she hated. “That’s a tough question. I want many things.”
“Well, you made it clear you don’t want one thing,” Aria snapped, her eyes flashing as if she were surprised she had said it as well. My smirk fell away.
“I'm not here to talk about that, that is, unless you finally want to.” Hope bloomed in my chest, but it quickly vanished.
“We have nothing to discuss on that matter,” she said with blatant distaste. “What are you doing here, Jaxon?” Aria swung her leg over the branch so that both legs now dangled off one side. We stared at each other in silence for a moment before she pushed herself off the branch, landing with a thump on the ground in front of me.
“You are becoming a problem,” I stepped closer, jaw clenching, “and I was ordered to come here and talk to you about it.”
Aria’s eyes blazed and she let out a strangled noise from her throat before hitting me in the shoulder and striding away.
I grabbed her arm before she could get far and turned her back around to face me. “We have enough problems to dealwith without adding your ire to them. You are putting your soldiers, this kingdom at risk. Is that what you want? To see this realm go up in flames?”
Aria barked a laugh and ripped her arm out of my grasp. “Coming from theboywho wanted to find his mother so badly that he opened up the goddamn realm that started all of this!”
A growl tore from my lips. “You know that’s not what started all of this. They were already here.”
Aria took a step back. “So, what? Your brother doesn’t have the balls to come talk to me himself? Had to send his little brother to fix his mess?”
“His mess?” My eyebrows shot up. “My brother has better things to do than come and fix your adolescent ego. Everything isn’t always about you, Aria,” I snapped, my hands balling into fists at my sides.
Aria scoffed, turning away again and storming for the camp.
“Aria!” I yelled, hurrying after her into the thick woods. She had picked a good location for their camp. The trees were so dense around us, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to approach without being noticed. We emerged into a wide clearing, where dingy, gray canvas tents were scattered throughout. Her griffins, Agatha, Tria, and Dimitri, were in the middle of the camp, lounging lazily at its center.
Golden fur flashed and I watched as Agatha's massive paw padded lightly at a butterfly; her beak chirped as her honey colored eyes tracked its movements.
Agatha abruptly stopped as she heard us approach. Flipping onto her feet, she crouched low, growling menacingly as she tucked her massive golden-brown wings into her side. Her eyes landed on me and her growl seemed to intensify.
By the fates, she was vicious.
The other two griffins didn’t pay us any mind. Tria, the smallest of the griffins, yawned and rolled over on the ground, putting her back to us as if she were bored. Dimitri, whose feathers and fur were spotted with black, had been sleeping and merely huffed in our direction, cracking one eye before closing it again in annoyance.
Agatha tracked my every step as she watched me follow Aria into her tent. I stuck my tongue out at her before the tent flaps closed around me, and a snarl echoed throughout the camp, making me chuckle.
“Agatha, stop,” Aria ordered, and silence fell over the camp once more. Aria glowered in my direction. “Don’t antagonize her.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Shrugging, I flashed my teeth at her before scanning her tent. I glanced at the maps spread openly on the desk beside Aria’s bed and frowned.
Aria noticed where I was looking. “They're fake,” she said, walking over to a basin and splashing water on her face. “I don't leave anything important out in our camps. They're decoys. Each tent has something different. Nobody knows what the decoys are, so if anything goes missing, I'll know we have a traitor in our camp or an intruder.”
Slightly impressed, I nodded. “Smart.” Stretching out across her cot, I leaned back with my hands behind my head and wiggled to get comfortable.
“Get out.” Aria turned fully toward me, her hand lit with flames, and I only shook my head at her.
“I'm not leaving until this is resolved,” I retorted, flashing her my teeth. She growled again, but her flames died down.
