Page 70 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I leave without a care. Closing the door behind me, something clatters from inside the bathroom. A smile reaches my face, and I enter the bathroom again. My focus settles on the sink and the fucking butter knife. She left the window open a crack, which means she wedged the knife in there for a purpose. If an air elemny like Astin or Alad had tried to enter through the window, she would have been prepared for it.

I’m enjoying this hunt even more.

* * *

Not long after leaving the docks, we arrive at the Sweethearts Orphanage. The lady squirms despite maintaining eye contact; her focus darts towards the door on my right whenever I pretend to look around. It leads to the back of the orphanage.

When I pay attention to the air elemny again, her hands press against her side, twitching as if itching to find a weapon. I move around the side, near the knives slotted into the wood, and arch my brow, almost daring her to try anything on me.

“I caught wind that you brought another worker to help with the children. You wouldn’t know where she lives, would you?”

“No,” the lady says in an oblivious tone. “But I am sure that, with your expertise, you will locate her with ease.”

My dislike of dealing with air elemny knows no bounds.

They think they are top shit. They believe they can do anything without consequences, which disappoints me.

Air elemny are as weak as any other, and their intelligence holds no merit when dealing with me.

My lips cannot help but instinctively curl at the thought of male and female air elemny wanting something from me and knowing they can gain it if they comply.

I lean against the counter, fold my arms, and say, “What do you want from me?”

“I will give you everything you want about this worker if you leave immediately afterwards and don’t dig further into the dealings of Sweethearts Orphanage,” she declares.

I twitch a smirk. “Okay. You have my⁠—”

“I want a contract,” the lady says. “You know which one.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“They tell me you never are, but you still do your obligations if it means gathering information.”

I lift from the counter and move around the kitchen. The lady steps away from me and moves around the table until she realises where I am headed. Her eyes widen slightly, and she takes a step forward before catching herself. She doesn’t want me to leave the kitchen, and now I know why. This woman doesn’t want me near the back of the house.

Pandora’s still here.

“Do you mind if I look around…?”

“Maya. And no,” she says through a locked jaw. “But would you consider my offer?”

“Half,” I say without thinking. “I won’t delve deeper into your smuggler’s lifestyle until after my hunt.”

“And my life?”

“Won’t be on the line until then.”

“Give me a contract, then.”

I step outside the kitchen and look at the back door. Alad’s heading towards the door and opens the fly screen when I say, “Write up a contract for Maya. She wants protection until my hunt is over.”

“Of course, Prince Reen,” Alad says as he bows.

As Alad writes up a contract, I glance down a small hallway and notice two doors. When I open the side door, it leads to the basement. Soft light glows from the bottom of the stairs. I eye the lady and her tight-lipped stare before moving down the stairs. She follows, worried about what I might find.

My focus snaps to the open window and the drizzle of rain dripping down the ledge before soaking into everything else. Pandora’s not here, but it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t entertain myself before heading to the ships and figuring out which one she slipped into.

It looks like a smuggler’s den, in a way. There’s a kitchenette, and one of the two doors opens to a storage area with a TV on a compact unit and a few folded-up camping beds and sheets across the shelves at the top.