Malum wet his lips and said softly, “I like your plan.” For a second, as he stared down at me, harsh bronze features softened. Silver eyes seemed pleading.
His mood swings were giving me whiplash.
The energy between us was volatile.
An ache pounded in my sternum.
“Let’s draw it up.” Malum nodded at the blackboard, and I followed his gaze as if I was in a trance.
We moved at the same time to the list, and he stepped back to let me pass. A palm splayed across my entire lower back as he guided me to the board.
I forgot to shove him away.
His fingers burned with heat.
Goose bumps exploded across my body, and streaks of agony shot down my spine as I stumbled away from his touch.
I expected him to get angry, but Malum stood still beside me, staring down at his hands as he flexed and unflexed them like he was confused.
His features sharpened, and something dark flashed in his eyes. He took a step closer and crowded into my space so he was centimeters away from touching me. He never made contact.
“Write out your plan on the board, Arabella—now,” he whispered darkly. The or else hung in the air between us.
I gulped, unsure of what was happening between us.
The reflection of flames burned in his eyes as he stared down at me, and his bronze cheekbones flushed red.
My stomach fluttered.
The next minutes passed with horrible tension as my chalk scratched in the mostly silent room.
Malum pointed out a few corrections, but for the most part, he loomed over me. Every few seconds, he’d look down at the hand that had touched my lower back and flex it.
Was he fantasizing about lighting me on fire?
I never knew where I stood with the leader of the kings, and he never failed to put my teeth on edge.
There was no way around the truth: he was terrifying.
“It makes sense, but the leviathans are better suited to guard the perimeter,” Jinx said as she tapped her pointer stick against my plan, and Malum stepped away casually like he hadn’t been seconds away from losing control in a crowded room.
I shivered and wrote down the change of personnel, too frazzled to argue with Jinx.
Whiskey and tobacco filled my senses.
Little streaks of pain shot down my spine with each breath.
When the three of us turned to the room to present our plan, I flushed, embarrassed that they’d seen me acting like a simpering fool around Malum.
Surprisingly, no one was paying us any attention.
The angels, shifters, and demons were all talking among themselves.
Only four men noticed.
Luka and John were both staring at me, but neither seemed annoyed, because their expressions could only be described as adoring.
Enraptured.
Loving.
In contrast, Orion sat next to them with his stunning brown eyes narrowed as he whispered into Scorpius’s ear. The quiet king also stared, but his expression wasn’t soft and loving like the twins’; it was harsh and obsessive. He stalked me with his eyes.
I shivered.
Orion had chased me down the marble corridor.
My exhaustion ran bone-deep.
The room’s temperature became oppressive as Malum shifted so his forearm was pressed against mine.
It was an innocent touch, yet I burned alive.
“Listen up, everyone,” Malum said loudly, and his baritone voice reverberated through my bones. “We have a plan.”
Everyone in the room stopped talking.
Malum nodded down at me like he was letting me take charge.
I grimaced back, pressed my pipe between my lips, and inhaled greedily. I’d never loved being the center of attention; that was more Sadie’s thing. I’d rather fade into the background. Disappear.
Public speaking was onerous, and I was already tired enough.
“This is what you’re going to do,” Jinx said with authority, and I stopped paying attention to my surroundings.
No, I didn’t care that a child had more leadership skills than I did. I was too busy enjoying my smoke.
A few minutes later, alarms were blaring inside the buildings of the war camp. “Jinx, you stay at the camp, and Warren, you guard her,” Jax ordered as we left the room.
We reassembled in the cafeteria.
John and Luka were frantically patting over my body, pulling at my weapons and holsters to make sure I had everything.
I rolled my shoulders and tried to ignore the persistent ache beneath my skin where my unused wings lay.
I pretended the floor wasn’t growing icy beneath my feet.
As far as I could tell, none of the other angels radiated ice. They wielded it expertly in the controlled form of their swords.
Jinx was tight-lipped about the whole affair, but she’d revealed the Angel Consciousness had removed the blocks on my power because I’d proven myself selfless enough with control over my temper.