It almost looked like pity.
I shifted back and forth uncomfortably as I shivered because whoever had decided that our uniforms didn’t need gloves deserved to be shot.
Repeatedly.
Scorpius grabbed my right hand.
“I’m warming you up.” He gave no other explanation.
Orion grabbed my other hand and held tight.
It was nice to hold hands.
Comforting.
That was how I found myself walking for miles through a quiet, snowy forest holding hands with my enemies.
I tried to swing my arm dramatically and skip to make fun of them, but they flexed and I couldn’t move my arms an inch.
“Boring,” I mumbled.
Only once did the kings try to make small talk, and it wasn’t what I ever would have expected. Orion mumbled something about Luka putting on quite a show, and Scorpius asked me if John had always had such a side to him.
I gaped at them in disbelief, unsure how to handle the fact that they were intrigued by the Princes.
Malum just grunted, like he was used to their antics.
Then I ruined the small talk by bringing up how Luka’s piercing felt in my mouth. Apparently, that was too far. All the men glared at me （they were jealous of how good I was at sucking dick）。
As we left the valley and climbed up one of the towering mountains, we were able to speak at full volume. The wind howled with so much force that our voices didn’t carry up in the higher elevation.
As the air thinned, I got more annoyed that I’d left the comfort of my bed. The weather mimicked my mood. Tiny snowflakes transformed into thick, wet flakes and the snow-covered dirt was replaced with icy rocks.
I slipped on black ice.
Arms flailing, I tipped forward toward the edge.
Malum grabbed me and barked, “Be careful.” Orion and Scorpius also scrambled to hold my arms.
They pulled me to safety and let me go.
Silver eyes narrowed. “You need to watch where you’re going. Do you ever pay attention? What is wrong with you?”
I closed my eyes. Three. Seven. Nine. Eleven. Thirteen.
Nope, counting didn’t work.
I whirled on him. “How about you watch where you’re going, Mitch?”
“Don’t call me that.” Flames exploded across his arms, and I leaned toward the warmth. His sleeves must have been fireproof, because his clothes didn’t melt away.
“Then don’t act like a Mitch and I won’t,” I countered.
He glowered. “Well, don’t almost fall off the mountain like an idiot, and I won’t act that way.”
“Maybe I wanted to fall off,” I countered.
Silver eyes sharpened into steel. “Try it and see what happens.”
I gasped with fake outrage. “Are you threatening me?”
“Maybe I am.” Flames climbed up his head. “What are you going to do about it?”
I pointed at his chest. “Don’t you dare tempt me.”
“You’re all talk.” He smirked cruelly.
“Move it along,” Scorpius ordered as he grabbed Malum by the back of the neck and dragged him up the side of the mountain. Orion motioned for me to walk forward like a gentleman, and we resumed our hike.
Malum shot dirty glares back at me over his shoulder.
I mimed snapping his neck.
His eyes widened, and it was my turn to smirk.
“Watch out, baby girl,” I mouthed, and he shook his head like I disturbed him.
Mission accomplished. Slay （in the celebratory sense）。
Thirty minutes later, huffing on thin air, I asked, “Why again do we have to go so far away to train?”
“For the tenth time,” Scorpius said impatiently, “so we don’t accidentally hypnotize our fellow soldiers and murder them. We don’t know exactly how far Orion’s voice projects, but in our experience, it travels much further than normal sound.”
I sighed and kept climbing. “Well, I’m willing to risk it.”
“We know,” Orion said loudly.
Scorpius and Malum stopped moving on the side of the mountain. They were entranced. Frozen. Eyes glazed over.
“That shut them up,” I snickered, and Orion narrowed his eyes like I was ridiculous, but I didn’t miss the way the corner of his mouth turned up.
We had a secret.
It was nice to have something over the other kings, something only the two of us knew.
Unfortunately, they reanimated a second later and resumed climbing up the mountainside, none the wiser that Orion had temporarily frozen them with his voice.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Malum stopped climbing and pointed at a low boulder. “Here will work.”