Page 138 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

“She killed your parents,” I say. “Aren’t you a little mad at her?”

“And now she’s marked to you, and you are my brother, whether you like it or not. I will not lose another family member.”

My tense shoulders ease. “Very well. She can stay in the cells until I figure out what I want done with her.”

Walkyer’s eyes widen, and he says incredulously, “Why don’t you get to know her? From what Alad tells me, you two are made for one another. I’d shower her with everything she desires if she were mine.”

“I bet,” I mutter. “You would have proposed to her the moment you saw her.”

Walkyer looks wounded. “Give me a little credit. At least a day…”

I sigh with irritation. “I enjoy Pandora’s company; she was everything I needed…until we tethered.”

“Why?”

“Because marking is a curse. Her feelings can conflict with mine, and the same can happen to her. I would consistently wonder if what I feel is for her or because the tether forces us to be together. She will be nothing but my downfall, and being around her reminds me of a leech sucking away at my skin. Pandora Hart is a liability. If you want her to live, house her with the other one in the cells.” I eye Emmerton and those piercing green eyes before focusing on Walkyer again. “At least until I can figure out how we can exist without her running away from me.”

Walkyer smiles, and it softens his features. “I never heard you speak like this about a woman before. You must really care for her.”

I throw him a sharp look. “Not you, too.”

He straightens up on his throne. “I am sure that time will make you grow closer. But until then, remove Pandora from the cells. I will get Ri to make up a room for her beside yours, where she cannot escape from until she warms up to the idea that we are not the enemy. We just want to make her safe.”

“She’s not going to listen to me. The last time I saw her, every second word that came out of her mouth was ‘fuck’.”

“It’s because you threw her in a room that resembled a cell and then, as soon as we got to the castle, threw her into another cell,” Alad says.

As I fucking said earlier. Everyone around me is on Team Pandora, justifying everything she does because she acts cute and innocent around them.

“Get her to listen,” Walkyer says. “Uh…bring her something she loves to break the ice and lure her into a conversation where she understands we’re here to help her.”

Something she likes? I never had to bargain—no, I was never underneath another to feel as if I needed to sway them to an agreement. This is new to me to do because I can’t fucking kill Pandora Hart.

“All right,” I say. “I will give your way a go, Walkyer.”

“Wonderful! It would be best if you went right now. And be nice.”

With a roll of my eyes, I turn away from them, thinking deeply about what to do. What does Pandora love? A kitten? She can get to know some animal—no, not for the first time. Something small…a taste…taste…food?

There was a conversation not long ago about food that we talked about. She loves burgers, but we’ve had burgers before. The only other one she’s never tried, so what if she fucking hates it? What do I do then? Go back and order a fucking burger for her?

I don’t know how to interrogate someone I can’t hurt.

Far out. Why is this so fucking hard?

Chapter 59

Deal Too Irresistible to Refuse: Pandora Hart, August 5th

It’s dark down here. Therefore, it heightens my senses until every sound sends me on edge—the scurrying of rats, a cough from someone close to where I am caged. The flame flickering on the torch flickers, causing sounds when the cinders burn and crackle.

I am also confused. Tethering to Reen should have been the best outcome for me. For one, I don’t die—we don’t die. But when I looked into his eyes, it hurt. I knew what he was thinking and realised that he wouldn’t ever let me out of his sight.

I’m no princess who needs coddling, and to see him see me as someone he needs to protect consistently irritated me. We spent too much time together for him to start treating me as if I were fragile.

An exasperated sigh escapes parted lips. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I dip my head and rest my chin on my knees.

I wish to return to the careless days on the ship a few days ago. The days were calm, and his hands moved across my body, nurturing me when he slathered lotion on the burns plaguing me. Please take me back to when we were in the pool or in the mornings, playing a different game and getting to know each other.