Page 100 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

Far from it.

A mirror leans against the wall in the room I’m staying in, but it’s covered by a towel I took from the closet. Turning away from it, my focus trails to the wrinkled burn marks slathered with lotion to stop the irritation from tingling across my skin. It plagues a part of me, and whenever I undress, it’s a constant reminder of what happened to me.

The grey T-shirt hanging on the bedhead conceals the burns when I shrug it over my head and smooth it down my chest. To keep Prince Reen from staring intensely at where they are, I wear high-waisted blue denim jeans and white-and-red skate shoes. When I’m ready, I leave and head towards Prince Reen’s room.

Darkness already consumes the sky, thickening with the layer of mist that overwhelms the air. As I head to his room, I wonder what I would do if I killed Prince Reen and gained my freedom.

I don’t have a family to bring me back in with open arms. They’re dead, either by my hands or another’s. Xavier is a plague I want to get rid of, but if I kill him, I doubt Sara and Kylie will still be my friends. There’s also nowhere for me to stay, and living in the apartment beside where Nancy died gives me the shivers.

What am I fighting for? What else is there outside this cat-and-mouse hunt between Prince Reen and me? Emptiness and loneliness? Do I still want to be alone? For a time, I thought I wanted everyone to leave me alone. But now…I’m not so sure.

I need more time to think about it. For now, let’s have some fun.

I knock on the door and wait. A moment later, Prince Reen opens the door…in a fucking towel. It’s wrapped around his waist, but even a towel leaves little to the imagination. Where the fuck does he put it when he wears jeans? Do they shrink? Under-tuck? Is that a fucking thing?

Whatever.

“You’re here early.”

I smile cheekily. “I couldn’t stop thinking about our date.”

Curling his lip, he swings the door open, invites me in, and heads to the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar. My focus drifts around his room, but it’s as simple as mine. So, my eyes linger on the door. Prince Reen takes off his towel. I should stop myself and gaze somewhere else, but it’s as if I’m glued to the crack.

I stare at the freakishly long dick for a moment before my sights snap to his chest. Beyond tense muscles and broad shoulders, scars riddle across his chest, and as he turns around, longer scars slice down his back.

Curiosity piques my interest in wondering where they came from and what happened to him to gain so many scars.

“Pandora, I can feel your intense gaze from here,” he says.

My eyes widen, and then I quickly avert my gaze as he leaves the room, dressed and tucking his necklace under his shirt. Heat flushes my cheeks, earning a dark, breathy laugh from Prince Reen as he walks past me and exits the room.

We make our way through the city after we leave the ship. Prince Reen seems more on edge. Red eyes dart left to right as if he’s waiting for an enemy to pop out at any moment. It’s different from when we roamed, almost carefree, around the Kingdom of Cloud. Without Astin and Alad, is he now more cautious in observing his surroundings?

I touch the necklace while looking around, wondering where we should go.

“That necklace,” Prince Reen says with a nudge of his chin. “It throbs like a heartbeat. If Kate is correct, does that mean you have someone’s heart on your chest?”

“Huh.” I hook my finger around the chain and grimace. “Funny if it were my sister’s.”

“Why?”

A tightness constricts my throat when I say, “I killed her.”

He eyes me, but he gives nothing away. “You keep surprising me, Pandora Hart.”

I smile. “And so are you.”

My hand tightens on the necklace, causing a sickly stir when I take it off and pocket it.

“Why did you take it off?” Reen asks.

“It feels weird wearing someone’s heart on my chest,” I say. “I will keep it somewhere safe instead.”

Loud voices overwhelm on the right side of the street. Bright neon lights and glowing stalls filled with clothes and handmade jewellery come into focus as we turn onto the street. Sweet, sour, and savoury smells cling to my nostrils, tantalising my taste buds with each open-mouthed breath I take.

Loud and animated music thumps through my eardrums with every enigmatic beat of my pounding, excited heart. Elemny dance to the music, and swarm the stalls with laughter on their faces.

“Night markets,” Prince Reen says.