Page 85 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

Astin eyes my hands and says, “What if we say she’s marked to you, and that’s why we’re protecting her?”

My jaw locks. “How will I explain how one of us will survive if tethered?”

“Girlfriend, then?” Alad says, smiling. “While you were caring for her, she won your heart, and you became infatuated.”

My sights narrow. “I see what you two are doing.” I exhale. “It’s not a bad idea, though. And if I kill her, I can then claim that she annoyed me after a while, and I wanted to get rid of her.”

Alad’s smile strains while mine upturns cruelly.

“Of course.” He looks away. “Who shall we kill?”

I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table. “We don’t kill anyone. At least not yet. But spread the word that there is an ice elemny in Eraminia somewhere and that we need as much privacy as possible to hunt him down.”

Alad rises. “I will contact King Walkyer and tell him of these plans.”

“No. Get Astin to do it.” I stand and head to the door as well. “Alad, you can bribe the news stations to fuck off someplace else, considering you’re good at persuasive threats. It will buy us some time until we figure out what we’re doing.”

We go our separate ways when we leave the conference room.

While Astin and Alad move down to the deck and towards their sleeping quarters, my focus shifts to the door three doors down.

If anything, I should tell Pandora about the plan so the news that we’re fucking dating doesn’t blindside her.

My gut tells me she won’t take the information lightly.

After knocking, she takes a moment to answer the door.

She opens it and peers out. Her bright brown eyes snap towards me and then away. She takes a minute to consider whether she wants me to enter, but she ultimately makes the right choice and swings the door open for me to enter.

It’s cold in her room. The fan circulates cold air while the open windows allow a chilly breeze to bite my skin. We are close to the Kingdom of Cloud, so it’s expected. Besides, she is an ice elemny. The cold welcomes her while irritating me enough to circulate warmth across my skin.

Pandora goes to the vanity near the bed, sits on the chair, and crosses her legs. Her hands press against her thighs, and her fingers dig into her flesh. This makes me aware of what she’s wearing. We lack women’s clothes on the ship, so Pandora has attempted to dress. She wears my T-shirt and boy-leg underwear, and she doesn’t care who notices.

“What do you want?”

Hostility thickens around her words. Since I called her an insufferable annoyance last night, she’s had an edge in her tone—but it’s only towards me. Whenever she sees Astin, she smiles as if they’re old friends. She’s a little standoffish with Alad, but she’s still polite. With me, however, it’s as if she can’t help but spit acid in my face and flay my flesh with her intense gaze.

It amuses me.

“We have to tell Eraminia that we spotted an ice elemny,” I begin. “But we’re telling them they’re male and that you just got in the way. So, we took you back to the ship to care for you.”

“Oh.” Pandora turns away from me and stares at her mirror covered with a towel, but it’s only a second before she rises and sits on the bed. “It’s better news than I expected.”

“You’re also my partner.”

Brown eyes grow wide, turning wild, and her jaw drops, stunned into silence as no words escape. I turn away from the ludicrous look on her face as if she cannot fathom the story herself. It means that if she cannot believe it, how the fuck are we going to make the entire world accept our story?

“Wow. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are relationship material, Prince Reen,” she laughs acidly. “What does your idea of a relationship entail? Choking someone out and calling them an insufferable annoyance?”

I twitch a smile. So, I did hit a nerve last night.

Ice elemny. They seem like touchy creatures of the night who take everything to heart.

She’s a fucking Hart, after all. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

“We won’t have to do anything, considering we aren’t leaving the ship,” I say. “There’s no need to act on pretence unless we are seen together outside your room or until we get to Oceanview Harbour.”

She crosses her legs, and the baggy shirt lifts. My eyes narrow on her thigh and the white, lumpy scars as she tugs down the shirt and tucks it underneath her arse. Trailing my focus on her face, she arches her brow and nudges her head towards the door, wondering if I’m finished talking to her.