Luka came out of the bathroom and smiled down at me tenderly. He looked healthy and hale; his face had regained all its color, and he held himself straight like he was no longer buckling under invisible pain.
I might be half-dead on my feet, but it was a relief that the twins were doing better.
Two more people weren’t suffering because of me.
“Ready to get out of here, Your Highness?” Luka asked, his lips turning down as he took in my disheveled appearance. “We need to get you home so you can sleep.”
I squinted because I wasn’t sure where home was.
“Thank fuck for that,” Vegar snarled as he walked across the room, packing his bag. “One more day in this blasted realm and I would have offed myself. Also—” He pointed to the still-destroyed bathroom. “If we get charged for that, I’m blaming all of you.”
I shrugged. “Blame it on Malum.”
“Oh, I will,” he said with a huff.
Zenith came up and gave the frowning Vegar a kiss on the cheek, then the demon turned to us and said, “It was a pleasure working with you.” He spoke with grave sincerity.
I saluted him weakly. “I hope we never have to go to war together, ever again.”
“Same, soldier.” Zenith smiled and saluted back.
Vegar shook his head in disgust. “The sun god better ensure we never have to do this shit again. Eighty soldiers dead. It’s sun-god-damned ridiculous we all survived.”
Eighty soldiers dead.
Ten sets of eight. Five sets of sixteen. Four sets of twenty.
The number was staggering.
I felt sick.
The door slammed open, and sun rays streamed into the barracks. The layer of snow was gone, and steam rose from the dirt as three towering men entered.
I squinted because the bright light burned.
I missed the storm.
Malum stomped inside and announced, “We’ve finished filling out the debriefing paperwork, so we’re all free to leave.” His smile fell, silver eyes narrowing with concern as he stared at me. “Should you be standing? You’re supposed to be recovering.”
Smoke curled off his tongue, and flames leaped along his fingers.
I sighed.
I can’t believe I’d voluntarily mated with a man who breathed fire.
What type of person did that?
I’d accepted the dragon all right, and what had that gotten me? Unimaginable power. Actually, Lyla had been onto something.
“I can stand,” I said in a duh tone. My knees trembled, and I clenched my ass to stay upright.
Malum frowned and opened his mouth （most likely to say something stupid）， but Orion put a hand on his chest, and Scorpius stepped between us.
“Let’s get you home, killer,” Scorpius said with a smirk.
Since I’d woken up—after accidentally on purpose slaughtering hundreds of people—he kept calling me “killer” in a proud tone.
It was 10 percent sweet and 90 percent terrifying.
I wasn’t sure if I should spiral or beam at his praise, which once again said a lot about my morals.
Self-discovery was disturbing.
Malum mumbled something under his breath and lifted the bag off John’s shoulders. “We ready to go?” he asked the twins.
Luka nodded. “Everyone’s stuff is packed. It wasn’t much.”
“I could have carried that,” John argued, and Malum looked down at him like he was stupid.
Scorpius laughed. “Okay, human.”
John crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ve already been over this. I’m the Prince of Darkness from the Olympus realm—I’m only half-human.”
Malum smirked. “Okay, prince, let a king handle the luggage.”
“Are you guys serious right now?” I asked. Orion and Luka rubbed at their temples like they were staving off headaches.
“What?” Malum asked innocently.
John frowned at me. “You know I’m strong enough to carry our bags, right?” He flexed. “Tell him I’m strong enough.”
“I refuse to answer that.” I yawned and swayed on my feet.
Scorpius lunged and caught me. Long fingers gripped me harshly like he was terrified of letting me go. “Let’s get her home,” he said.
I tried to push him off me. “I should say goodbye to Sadie and Jinx.”
He didn’t budge.
Malum looked at me with exasperation. “You already spent three hours with them this morning. If I remember correctly, there was hugging, wailing, and crying.” He shook his head. “You can visit each other whenever you want. You both have RJE devices.”