Page 29 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I nod, grip Typha’s arm, and creep out from behind the reception area—sticky blood like peeling tape lifts at the bottom of my shoes as we move to the side wall and press our backs against it. I steal a peek down the hallway and at the open door. Three…no, four elemny rummage around in the office, ripping everything apart.

I take a deep breath before heading down the hallway and into the room on the right. As Typha stands there with her arms wrapped around herself, I scramble onto the table, reach into my pocket, grab the lighter I nicked from the fire elemental, and hold it up to the sprinkler system. My thumb grazes the lighter until a flame flickers to life. Water bursts out, soaking my hair and face, and the lights plunge to a deep red, and the emergency signal blares.

Four figures sprint down the hallway, attracted by the noise. Recognising this as our opportunity, I grab Typha’s arm once more and rush into the office. Typha searches through the drawers while my hands slide across the floor, eventually snagging a loose tile.

Fuck, I know Dad’s hiding spots so well!

I give the key to Typha and say, “Get the door open. I’m going back for her.”

“Wait, no,” Typha says, grabbing my arm as I’m about to leave. “Forget her. Let’s just go.”

“I promised her safety.” I shrug my arm away from her. “Get the door open. I’ll be back in a moment.”

As I creep down the hallway, shadows flicker across the flashing red lights. I step into the room on the right when I see them approaching the entrance. Yellow light spills in as the electronic doors slide open.

Exiting the hallway, I quicken my pace behind the reception desk and knock on the cabinet door thrice. It swings open, and relief washes over the woman’s face.

“Hurry,” I hiss, but it’s too late. As we rise, the four fire elemny outside notice us through flashing red lights and blaring noises. “Run!”

I leap over the counter as the woman circles it. Glass shatters, and she screams as flames erupt through the Winter Nova Hotel. The sprinklers kick in, dousing the fireballs before they can reach us.

I sprint into the office and slam the door after the woman dashes through. A flutter rises in my chest, but as I turn to enter, the flutter fades as swiftly as it appeared. Typha isn’t here, and the entrance to Elden Keep remains shut.

“What?” I breathe.

“Where did she go?” the woman demands. “Did something happen to her?”

I shake my head in disbelief. When Typha and I entered the room earlier, the entrance was not visible like it is now. Typha must have smashed through the plaster wall, used the key, and locked it behind her.

“She left me,” I say, lacking emotion as I recall Typha’s threat earlier. But I didn’t think she would…

The door bursts open, and a fire elemny steps through with blazing, hungry eyes. My finger curls around the dagger, and I hurl it at him until it sinks into the centre of his head. He stumbles back, and the three other fire elementals step forward.

I raise my hand to the woman and say, “Stay behind me.”

“And who might you be?” the burly elemny who stands before the other two says.

“None of your⁠—”

“That’s Commander Hart’s daughter,” the woman shouts.

Fuck. Why did she say that? I cast her a glance, but she cowers in the corner, the flashing red light revealing the fear etched on her face. She says it, hoping for a bargain. I see.

“Really?” he asks. “Is that true?”

Through clenched teeth, I say, “Yes.”

“All right. Auden, kill the woman over there while I call King Ragan and tell him the news.”

I step toward the woman and raise my hands to him. “Don’t fucking think about it.”

He eyes the woman and then me. In the blink of an eye, he’s got me by the hair. I lean into the pain, move my hand toward his neck, and slap my fingers across a pressure point. He lets go of me, and I shove my palm into his nose and claw at his eyes when more hands grab me. My body crashes against the office desk as they pin me down. Froth and water spittle from my mouth as the fire elemny bends my arms until they’re behind my back.

“Feisty little fucker,” the scrawny fire elemny laughs.

“Fuck off!”

The woman squeals. My shoulders slacken as the burly fire elemny grabs her by the throat. The sprinklers have died down, letting the flames erupt through the moisture drenching her, and he burns her alive. My eyes widen as her body falls away from her head.