Page 133 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I swallow the acid burning inside me and the shuddering pain ripping at my heart, organs, veins, flesh…my everything.

“I was ten, and some kids would bully me at school. One of them got me good with a pocketknife. He cut at me, infecting the wound because it was rusty.”

“What happened to him?”

“I beat him over the head with a metal baseball bat,” I say.

She sighs. “You’re turning me on a little.”

“Fucking psychopath.”

Pandora yawns. “This one?”

I tell her about them all. Every scar that plagues me, I answer and give her another piece of me until my throat aches, my eyes find it hard to stay open, and the numbness crawls over me.

She falls asleep before me, giving me time to watch her chest rise and fall, and her even, unsteady breathing slip through parted lips. My hand moves across her temple, pushing her dark hair back and curling it behind her ear. She moves in her sleep, grumbling.

I press my finger against her forehead and strain a smile. “To think I can kill you, idiot.”

Chapter 56

Seasons [Rival & Cadmium feat. Harley Bird]

Eden Island: Pandora Hart

Light slithers into the room, dripping me in warmth through this sense of bitter coldness. Through groggy vision, I sit upright, push dark hair away from my face, and groan.

“Reen,” I yawn. “Reen, the poison didn’t work.”

I slap my hand down on him, only for it to feel like stone, cold to the touch and with no sense of warmth. My eyes widen, and the hand on his chest tightens when the bite of tears slips down my cheeks. Slowly, I turn my body to look at him. A bite of pain shreds down my lungs, and my nose flares when I see him lying so still.

“Reen?” I whisper.

“He’s dead,” a voice comes from the entrance.

I snap a look in that direction and notice Alad, his eyes red, raw, and burning, staring at Reen lying lifeless on the bed. His nostrils flare with every uneven breath he takes, and I know, like me, he’s struggling to breathe, too.

“Prince Reen knew that no matter how much he cared for you, unless it was under strict circumstances, he wouldn’t be able to resist killing you. So, he took himself out of the equation.”

My lip curls. “But I don’t want to live without him!”

“And that’s why I am here.” Alad takes a cautious step forward. “By the law of King Walkyer, I am to prevent anything from happening to you, by your hands or another's. Prince Reen ensured it was put in place.”

I slam my hands down on Reen’s chest. “Idiot! Idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot, fucking idiot!”

Nothing happens. Nothing moves. Not even a stir that I could latch onto in desperation. I want this to be a sick game—one of the many games he has played with me. At any moment, the colour will flush his cheeks, the warmth will prickle stone-cold skin, and those vibrant red eyes will open and greet me.

I bow my head, pressing it against his chest. My shoulders tremble, and horrendous sobbing cries rip through my lungs.

Every aching memory fills my mind: the laughter in his eyes when they crinkled, a smirk that caused my heart to flutter, lips that pressed against his hips, tenderly brushing against burns from another time.

His fingers, and whenever they poked me, were for a reason: to keep his distance from me and to stop himself from falling. The way he made me love myself, but in the end, he was the one who needed to love himself. How could I be so fucking stupid in not seeing it?! I should have cared for him more and opened him up until he could look in the mirror and see someone worth loving!

Snot sucks up my throat when I sniff. Rising, I wipe the tears, the ache, and the burning regret.

“What do I do now?” I say, and my lip trembles. “Where do I go if it’s not with him, Alad?”

He smiles, but a tear slips down his cheek. “I don’t know.”