Page 80 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I roll my eyes until they settle on the postal boxes. A desperate, fame-hungry element behind the cameras flashes his camera across my vision, causing it to blur as they snap pictures of a prince roaming freely. This won’t work. They’re causing too much of a distraction. Pandora’s smart. She would see signs of us before getting to the postal box.

“We need a better vantage point, Alad,” I say. “We should overlook the area from the rooftops. Tell Astin to monitor the rear of the post office while we watch ahead. I’ll give it twenty-four hours.”

“And if she doesn’t come?”

“We will lure her into the Kingdom of Cloud…”

“How?”

“Put a passport to the Kingdom of Cloud in the postal locker, Alad. I want to continue this hunt for as long as I can.”

“Out of all of you, you seem to worry me the most, Prince Reen.”

“Good,” I state before I walk off on him.

As a hunter, I hate to think about my prey. Will she wait until we leave to make a move? If that’s the case and she wants a cat-and-mouse game, I will play it with her. Hide and Seek is one of my favourite games to play, and if she’s too frightened to face me head-on, I will make her fear every corner she walks by to the brink of utter fright, penetrating her until she’s stun-locked in my presence.

My muscles relax when I’m away from the chaotic crowd and on a rooftop with nothing but music thumping below. Leaning against the ledge, I fold my arms across my chest and scan the crowd. Does she still have the wigs? Would she use them? The thought makes me contemplate how she would do things, but it doesn’t matter. We will stop any elemny that goes to the postal locker.

Alad slides the letter into the postal locker and appears a moment later behind me. Only a brush of wind drifts in my direction until his feet settle on the ground.

We wait until dusk falls, and orange sparks streak through the sky, mingling with pastel pink and yellow. The crowd of spectators in the streets thins out, and neon-bright lights flicker on in shops while stall owners pack up their businesses and leave for the night. A calm wind seeps through the air, and the heat of the sun fades, causing disappointment to linger on my skin as the warmth departs.

When Astin calls, the stars hang in the sky, and the bright moon seeps silver light across the rooftops. Alad hands me the binoculars, and when Astin calls, I keep my eyes peeled on the postbox.

“Anything?” I ask Astin.

“Nothing here, sir. Should I move to another post or slum it on the ground—what the fuck?”

I snap a look at where Astin’s watching from the rooftop to see a blur move toward him, gripping an AK-47 sniper rifle—the same sniper rifle the man I killed was using. She must have taken the rifle and thought her best option was to attack.

She slams the end of the rifle into Astin’s head, causing him to fall unconscious from the blow. Then, as if she knows where I am located, she turns in my direction, resting her gaze against the scope and easily pulling the trigger. My head snaps to the side, and my eye twitches at the sound of the bullet breezing past and sinking into the wall that leads into the building I stand on.

“Prince Reen!” Alad exclaims.

I move the binoculars back and notice the rifle resting against Astin’s head. My smile broadens, and I feel…excited by the prospect of Pandora doing the unexpected.

“Hey!” a voice snaps through the receiver.

Alad hands me the phone I dropped, and I press it against my ear. “Pandora,” I say.

“Hey, Fucker,” she says.

Such a vulgar attitude. A mouth worth watching crimson spool from.

“How did you know we were here?”

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know when you see it all over the news,” she replies. “I knew you wouldn’t give me the opening I needed to get to the postal locker, so I had to take matters into my own hands.”

“And you have,” I drawl. “What do you want?”

“Whatever is in the postal locker,” she says. “I’m going to get it, and you will not do shit until I am out of this city.”

“And if I don’t do as you say?”

She digs the gun into Astin’s head and says, “I will blow his fucking brains out.”

“Do it,” I say.