Page 93 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

Her trembling fingers wrap around her waist, and there’s a guarded look, tight shoulders, and a stiff-backed demeanour rippling from her now. “Okay,” she says, but breathy air leaves her lungs. “If I win, you must show me around the Kingdom of Cloud.”

I arch a brow. “Why?”

“If I am dying soon, I want to at least experience life.”

I smile crookedly, “With the enemy?”

“Do I have anyone else?”

I dip my head in agreement.

I prolong the game because I enjoy her furrowed-brow look of utter seriousness. Compared to the other games, she takes her time with this one and examines each piece before slipping her coin into the slot. Unfortunately, as a beginner, she doesn’t yet have the experience.

The red coin moves across the slot, and I’m ready to checkmate her, but as I look up, I pinch the coin tighter, preventing it from slipping through my fingertips. Pandora glares at her lap, her long, manicured fingernails burrowing into her flesh until her pasty skin throbs a brilliant red. She bites her bottom lip, scraping both lipstick and skin. A blob of blood splits from her lip, and she licks away the iron taste.

Her wavering brown eyes glisten on the verge of tears, and her body jolts in a panic.

I move the coin over one space and slip it into the one beside my checkmate.

Pandora goes next, scanning them until the weary look vanishes and excitement brims across her enchanting face. She slides the coin chip into the slot I left vacant and looks happy—no, it’s a look of relief.

“I win!”

I smile. “I owe you that experience.”

Her hands tighten on her shirt, protecting her insecurities. “Yep! You owe me a date.”

My lip curls, and my eyes widen. “I’d rather fucking choke myself.”

She places the chips back in, and I pack up the game. “I’m thinking you have a choking kink.”

“I do. It’s the most intimate form of death you can give someone.”

“Hah! Is that why you want to choke me? You’re in love with me or something?”

I sigh. “You’re so…I don’t even fucking know anymore, but you’re becoming a hindrance that I want to set free so you can stop irritating me.”

When I look up, her face flushes pink, and she tilts her head to the side, beaming a grin over her victory. It’s hard to look away when she’s like this. Carefree, authentic, arrogant…a beautiful nightmare. One where she will rip my heart out, and I would enjoy every fucking moment of it.

“Goodnight, Pandora.”

Pandora yawns, “See you for our date tomorrow, Prince Reen.”

I’d like to kill her now. At least smother her until she’s knocked out for a few days. She seems like the only one that burrows under my skin, and now she fucking knows it.

Chapter 40

Pandora Hart, July 20th

The Kingdom of Cloud floats in the sky. It’s hard to believe until seen in the flesh. A layer of mist swims with the ocean, caressing the ship as it parts the clouds beneath us—at least, that’s what it looks like. Astin reassures me we aren’t flying, much to my disappointment.

Alad gave me clothes he had got when he ensured tourists and fans didn’t follow our every move. He suspects we will have smooth sailing until we near the Toshiharu estate, but he also says the family warned the fans to keep their distance—Prince Reen is in a testy mood.

Heat, thick and swarming with decay, smoke and hunger, rippled from his clothes whenever we walked past each other. Alad mentioned giving Prince Reen a mission to satisfy his thirst for death. The fucking guy is a damn walking red flag, but they work around it to keep him happy. It’s weird. Lock him up and be done with him if he’s this bloodthirsty all the time.

Whatever.

I dress in high-waisted black denim jeans and a long-sleeved red turtleneck crop top. Alad wanted to style me in a way that’s fashionable within the Kingdom of Cloud. Not only that, but he wanted me to match with Prince Reen so that elemny could make assumptions about our relationship.