Like personal guards, Scorpius and Orion fell into protective positions in front of me. Malum walked behind me, his flames shedding warmth that fought against the icy wind.
They formed a wall of protection.
When we got back to the sleeping barracks, Scorpius dusted snow off my hair while Orion helped me out of my coat.
Malum knelt at my feet and pulled off my combat boots, and I opened my mouth to complain that I could do it myself, but he gave me a death glare. “Let me serve you. Your leg is still healing.”
“It’s healed.” I smacked my leg to demonstrate and nearly threw up. It burned with agony.
Malum grabbed my wrist. “What the fuck? Don’t hurt yourself.” His eyes widened like he was panicking.
“Let me clarify,” I said calmly. “It’s almost healed.”
“No. It’s not.” He dragged his hand over his shaved head and breathed shallowly.
I accidentally （on purpose） kicked off my combat boot straight into his gut to show him how well it worked.
“Don’t hurt yourself!” Malum barked with concern as he caught my boot.
Yet again, he missed the point.
The twins grabbed the blanket off my bed and wrapped it around my shoulders.
When they were content that I was warm, the men stepped back.
Malum raked his hands down his face and paced. “Fuck, what are we going to do? Arabella fell asleep every time we tried to have her stop us. The ungodly seem mostly immune to fire, and there’s still a chance we could kill the angels and assassins.”
He was spiraling.
“Or they might be fine and we’re worrying for nothing,” Orion whispered. “At least the infected would die.”
Luka played with one of my curls. His attention was fully on me, and he acted like the other men didn’t exist.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the same.
“We could always just kill them all,” Scorpius said dispassionately. “Who cares if the angels or assassins die?” He smirked like the idea excited him.
I grimaced. Sometimes I forgot how cavalier he was about other people’s deaths.
It was creepy that I didn’t find it disturbing.
The men looked around like they were waiting for someone to come up with a solution, and my stomach plummeted as I thought about everything I’d learned.
“I’m missing a piece of my soul,” I blurted because apparently, I was in the mood to trauma dump.
“What?” Luka asked as he stared at me. “We told you we don’t thin—”
“I confirmed it. I have sources,” I said quickly before I lost my courage. “I’m missing a piece of my soul. The High Court took it from me when I was fourteen.”
I left out the part about Jinx taking it and giving it to Sadie, because some things in life were personal.
Knowing the men, they’d probably get jealous.
There was a long pause, then Malum went up in flames. “Who did this to you? I want names. Now.” Scarlet exploded from his mouth.
I pushed my pipe between my lips and closed my eyes as the first drag of enchanted drugs calmed me. “I’m not sure,” I lied. “We can worry about that later.” It was partially the truth because I didn’t know who the other leader was.
Luka moved closer, his features contorted in pain.
All the men stared at me like they were grieving for me.
I shrugged because I honestly wasn’t that upset about it. A part of me had always known something wasn’t right.
I no longer felt crazy.
Chuckling awkwardly, I said, “I always had a feeling I was a soulless bitch.”
No one laughed.
Tough crowd.
“We’re the lost princes from the Olympus realm,” John blurted, and darkness glittered around him and expanded. “We kept our identities a secret from the realms because we struggle with our—people skills.” He glanced over at Luka. “Our powers form a portal to the underworld, the maximum-security prison run by our father, King Hades. We’re not supposed to tell anyone. Ever. It’s a family secret.”
I blew out a puff of smoke. “I know. You already told me you were the Princes of Darkness?”
John frowned. “But we didn’t tell you we were from the Olympus realm. We didn’t explain who we were—or what we could do.”
It hit me. “Oh my sun god!” I exclaimed. “Is that where our truth journals are from?”
“What?” Luka asked.
Orion nodded and whispered, “I think so.”
John flashed his dimples and punched my arm. “Really. That’s all you have to say?” My bicep went numb, and I lost feeling in my fingers.