“Just to play devil’s advocate—” I chuckled at the double entendre. “—he doesn’t seem in control to me.”
Malum growled like a wild animal.
Never forget three weeks ago at the end of the Legionnaire Games when Malum said he was going to cherish and take care of me and promised it would be different.
Baby girl needs to focus on what he’s manifesting because it’s not working. I opened my mouth to tell him so, but— “I can’t do this!” Malum screamed, and flames shot out of his mouth like a dragon. “I can’t watch you hang all over other men and call them your husbands without reacting. You’re mine.”
Eh, I’ll tell him later.
He fell to his knees.
My headache intensified.
I kicked off my heavy combat boots, lay down in my narrow bunk bed, and pulled the blankets up to my chin.
John kissed my forehead and climbed up to the top bunk. Luka gave me a soft kiss on the cheek and climbed into the bed above mine. A zip of pain traveled down my spine.
Fondness spread through me.
All three of us sighed.
Our new bedroom was low, narrow, and sparse, with a single window that had a view of the trees. A sliver of mountain was visible if you pressed your face against the glass and looked to the left.
Yes, my cheek print was still on the glass from looking.
The space also had matching three-person bunk beds on the walls going longways and a two-person bunk that framed the window. A narrow dresser in the corner had eight drawers, one for each of us, and a laughably small bathroom with barely any room to move.
Overall, it was sufficient.
Better than a wall in front of a toilet and a broken cot.
“You can’t be with them.” Flames swallowed Malum whole in the center of the room, and Scorpius grimaced as he held on to his crazed mate.
Orion glared at the twins like it was their fault.
The room sizzled with heat.
I snuggled deeper into bed and enjoyed the cozy warmth as my chilly skin thawed. Malum made a nice bonfire.
I’d been surprised by how accepting the kings had been of the twins over these last few weeks. I’d gaslit myself into thinking just maybe they weren’t totally insane.
Glad we’d cleared that up.
Malum having a total meltdown felt right. The failed therapy sessions and close proximity didn’t help. Neither did a looming war.
From what I’d gathered, the kings were desperate to prove to the sun god that they were worthy kings, and they were devastated that they wouldn’t have an army to back them.
I also would have been depressed if I was passionate about winning.
Good thing I was depressed for other reasons.
“You should probably cry about it more,” I said to Malum, who was still fully on fire. “That will definitely help the situation.”
Yes, I was being a raging bitch to the kings whenever I could, which objectively wasn’t helping the situation; however, subjectively, it was making me feel better.
A win-win.
Flames roared.
“He’s not wrong,” Scorpius sneered as he gripped his lunatic of a mate. “At the end of the day, you’re our Revered. You’re fated to be with us—not them. You need to grow up and stop pretending. You’re already one of us.”
Orion nodded in agreement, and light pink petals drifted across his neck as captivating brown eyes glinted with anger.
I yawned sleepily.
Who was going to tell them I was way too fashionable to be one of them? Our lifestyles had a fundamental conflict—I wanted to lie in the sun all day and do nothing, and they wanted to kill things for fun. I wanted to nap under a tree as a warm breeze rustled my hair, and Malum wanted to set the tree on fire and scream at it.
I shuddered.
We were never going to work.
Luka draped his hand down over the side of the bunk, and I threaded my fingers through his. The only good thing about the suffocatingly close bunks was we could easily reach one another.
I’d gotten used to waking up with a numb arm.
I needed Luka’s touch because nightmares stalked me when I closed my eyes, and his grip was my only tether to reality.
“As your Ignis, I order you to break off your engagement,” Malum snarled harshly.
A callused thumb brushed back and forth against the back of my hand comfortingly.
I snuggled deeper into my covers and said, “As the hole in the room—I order you to stop ordering me around.”
Sleep pulled me under, because unlike the plush beds at Elite Academy, my mattress was hard as a rock. I loved it.
“You’re not just a hole,” Malum snapped.