Page 61 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

Fucking nothing.

I face the couch after turning away from the closet, and a cruel smile reaches my lips as I stare at the hollow part of the lounge.

My hands press against it, hitting something hard. Cushions fly away with every careless toss, and then I grip the metal handle and pull out the fold-out bed until it clunks against the wooden floorboards.

Afterwards, I circle the back and glance through the gaps, noting that the couch’s fabric lifts slightly near the side of the hollow cushion.

When I apply pressure, the bed frame bends easily, and I pull out the metal box built into the couch.

I smile as the key slides in, and the lid pops open.

Documents and passports with different names, fake IDs, and birth certificates riddle the inside of the metal box. I shuffle through them when a document catches my eye. It’s not a birth certificate but a contract of sale to Nancy Drake. She’s the sole proprietor of Sweethearts Orphanage.

Makes sense now. Pandora’s birth certificate states she’s an orphan housed in that orphanage. I disregarded it. Any hacker can botch a certificate, especially if they are a well-known smuggler known as the Old Wolf. I didn’t think to question them. Walkyer goes there infrequently, but enough to tell me it’s a lovely orphanage, and the staff are very engaging.

Why the fuck did I listen to an oblivious Walkyer? The benefit of the doubt, I fucking guess.

My phone vibrates. Answering, I say, “Alad, that was quick. Anything?”

Alad sighs. “Her name is Pandora Hart.”

I breathe a laugh at the hitched beating of my erratic heart. “I didn’t think you would tell me this early in the investigation. What made you?”

“In the hopes you won’t kill her,” Alad says.

“Why?”

“Because she’s the last ice elemny and the commander’s daughter.”

“Means nothing to me,” I reply flatly. “She can have her head next to her father.”

“I know you’re saying cruel words hoping to gain a rise from me, Prince Reen,” Alad sighs. “Yet, I know you better than anyone else, and the reason you still roam the walls is not for pleasure but out of pain. Remember that before you plunge your fist into the heart of the last living ice elemental.”

My lip curls, and flames lick across my shoulders. “You’re lucky I need you, or else you’ll be another fucking head on the wall.”

“It’s why I can speak so openly with you in the hope you will think about it more before killing her.”

“She dies. Nothing else matters to me besides her fate. No one harms my family and gets away with it. I do not care for her. She started this hunt, and I will ensure I end it with bloodshed. Now get the fuck back here because we are going to the Kingdom of Storm.”

“Why there?”

My lips twitch. “You know why. Withhold information from me again, and I will kill Astin.”

Chapter 28

Pandora Hart, July 12th

Sweethearts Orphanage has a barrier away from the homes without fences beside it. In a cosy—but fucking wet—part of the Kingdom of Storm, tall, spearheaded gates hide the home away from everyone else.

It’s a nice-looking place if you ignore the rushing rain and thick black clouds covering the silver stars. When a spark of lightning illuminates the orphanage, it’s nothing but menacing—a tall, two-story home with curved, blue-stained windows adorned with doves.

Doves hold a sense of freedom, but the bars they contain are too cold and firm to flee from when it comes to me. Every waking day, I realise I’m alone in a world that wants to hate me. And to make matters even worse, I’m the reason I’m all alone.

My lip trembles, and the tightness in my throat releases for a second. No matter how much I want to hate my past and everything they put me through, my brain can’t help but flood with loving memories instead.

Revenge. It’s a fucking double-edged sword. Even after I killed King Ragan, I still think of when I killed the Queen. No matter how far I want to run, someone’s death haunts me.

The mother who made me help bury elemny in our backyard. The father who controlled me. And the sister who betrayed me.