TRAINING
Matutine (adjective): rising in or just before the dawn.
DAY 10, HOUR 5
“Wake up. It’s time to train.”
I cracked open an eyelid to find Malum shaking my shoulder. Excessive drug use at the party last night made my skin feel clammy.
My head throbbed.
The bronze king glared down at me, silver eyes glinting eerily in the darkness. Scorpius and Orion flanked him on either side.
The clock on the wall read 5:00 a.m.
We’d returned home from the party at 4:00 a.m.—I was going to kill them.
Who did this to a person?
“No.” I turned over. “Go away.” Closing my eyes, I burrowed deeper into the warmth.
A hangover pounded through my skull and made me regret ever trying to find a will to live.
Fingers tangled in my curls and pulled as Malum whispered fiercely, “It’s crucial to the war effort that we master our powers. Every day we waste could be another soldier’s death. The High Court is waiting for us to be able to perform.”
I rolled my eyes. “You just want to force me to mate. Don’t act like it’s any other reason.”
There was an awkward pause.
Malum dragged his hands over his face like he was tired. “I don’t care about that—”
“Please,” I said sarcastically.
Who did he think he was fooling?
He sighed loudly and, sounding defeated, said, “I just want you to be safe and…well. If that means you won’t bond—so be it. But we still need to try to master our powers. One thing I won’t do is put you in needless danger.”
I took a moment to let his words sink in.
Then I shrugged.
“If it’s just about training, then let the soldiers die,” I mumbled. “I hope the ungodly win.” I squeezed my eyes tight and wished everyone around me would stop trying so hard to save everyone else.
Every man for themself was my life motto.
I’d always said this.
“You don’t mean that.” Malum’s voice was rough from sleep, and I shivered.
“I really do.”
The covers were ripped away, and I shrieked with horror as the cold became crippling.
“Shut the fuck up,” Vegar shouted sleepily from across the room.
I whispered, “Sorry,” as I grabbed the covers back from his hands. Frost marks covered the fabric where I grabbed, and I repositioned the blankets so the ice wouldn’t touch my skin.
The warmth from the bed was a harsh contrast to the freezing air.
I shivered miserably.
Malum whispered back angrily, “So you’re fine with the ungodly murdering our soldiers because you wanted to sleep? Or you’re fine with us unleashing our powers and killing them anyway?”
“Both,” I mumbled.
“Just wake up,” Scorpius said tiredly, like he didn’t want to have this conversation. “Please.”
I buried my face in the warm body laying beneath me. “I hate you three so much,” I mumbled. “But especially Malum.”
“I know,” Malum said darkly. “Let’s go.”
I groaned.
Once again, I wished I weren’t such a good person, because it was hard being so sun-god-damned magnanimous. I should get an award for how much I gave to others. It was exhausting being the backbone of society.
Also why was everyone so obsessed with me?
With a hangover pounding in my skull, I pushed myself out of John’s warm embrace and stumbled over Luka’s sleeping figure sprawled partially on the floor and leaning against the lower bunk so he could be close to us.
The twins mumbled in their sleep.
“I’ll be back.” I ruffled their messy hair and gave them both a smacking kiss on the forehead. Icy blue outlines of my lips lingered on their foreheads, and I admired my work.
“Bye, love,” Luka murmured, and my heart hurt because he was just so adorable all rumpled on the floor with his arms wrapped around his twin.
Cuteness aggression made me want to bite him.
Malum swore, and I was 99 percent sure he purposely tripped over Luka and kicked him in the stomach.
“Don’t hurt him,” I snarled. Normal aggression made me want to stab him.
The kings made noises of annoyance.
I scoffed back at them as I fumbled through my drawer and got dressed.
So much for them prostrating themselves before me and swearing to be my hounds. Watching them pretend to be remorseful was giving me whiplash.
So much for Malum crawling.
It was like they could only pretend to be meek and repentant for a few hours before they overloaded with aggression.
I zipped up my jacket and shivered as I followed the harbingers of doom out into the chilly morning where an ice storm raged. Another gray day.
Being mated to them was proof that sexuality was not a choice.
As we left the sleeping barracks, instead of walking ahead of me like I expected, Malum fell into step behind me. Scorpius and Orion flanked my sides.
“With all due respect,” I whispered to them, “which by the way, is none—why do we have to train at the ass crack of dawn?”
They didn’t respond.
As we walked through the snowy forest further away from the camp, Orion kept looking down at me with a strange expression.
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.”
Sun god help whoever had to purchase property with him, if this was the extent of his judgment.
“Oh yes,” I said sarcastically. “Thank the sun god we’ve found this rock in particular.” I patted the top. “I like the poop-brown color.”
We were halfway up the side of the jagged cliff face surrounded by nothing but snow and icy wind.
The visibility was shit.
Malum snarled, “That is not funny.”
Scorpius snickered, and I pointed at him with satisfaction. Malum looked like he was having an aneurysm.
“You sure about that?” I asked as I kicked a rock, and it tumbled off the mountain’s sheer cliff face. I admired the steep incline; you could really do some damage if you fell off. All your bones would be easily broken.
“Oooh, I’m going to fall.” I flailed my arms and pretended to stumble.
Faster than my eyes could track, Malum grabbed me around the waist and threw us both away from the edge.
I landed on top of him.
For a long moment, we lay in stunned silence.
“You’re an idiot. It was just a joke,” I said haughtily as Orion and Scorpius yanked me to my feet.
Malum exploded into angry scarlet flames as he stood. His expression was pure violence.
“Sadie would have laughed,” I pointed out as I pursed my lips and rubbed my hands together. They were frozen solid.
Men truly had no sense of humor.
“Don’t mention that whore in front of us,” Scorpius sneered.
I gaped at him. Sadie wasn’t exaggerating when she’d said the men were still jealous of her for having fake shower sex with me.
“Oh my sun god,” I exclaimed. “Is it hard?”
The three of them straightened and looked around for danger. “Is what hard?”
“Being so stupid?” I asked at the same time Scorpius asked, “My cock?”
I ignored him.
Flames sizzled as they shot higher off Malum’s arms, and I smirked with triumph. It was too easy to rile him up. I might have even called it a hobby.
Their ire was even more satisfying because they thought I was their precious Revered. They were all, you’re our mate, we’ll kill everyone and cherish you forever. They were so into me.
It was so cringy.
I pitied them.
They couldn’t handle me—few could. I had the body of a large bird, mind of a lunatic, and personality of a divorced middle-aged woman with a shopping addiction.
I was perfect.
“Deep breaths,” Scorpius barked at Malum and grabbed his neck in a tight grip.
I covered my mouth to hide my laughter, and Orion looked over at me with exasperation.
“Is Mitch seriously going to kill us all right now with his fire?” I asked between gasps.
Somehow I’d gone from sleeping in the warm embrace of John to being halfway up a mountainside while Malum struggled not to burn us all to death.
Emotionally, this was too much for me.
Delirium was setting in. Also, I was 99 percent sure I was still intoxicated.
No one responded, because they were too busy trying to help Malum get control of himself.
To help the situation, I pointed at the flaming king and said, “You need therapy.”
A muscle in Malum’s jaw ticked, and when he spoke, flames shot out of his mouth. “We are literally in therapy with you.” He roared and painted the cold air in shades of scarlet.
I grimaced.
Some people didn’t get sarcasm.
I sat down on the ugly boulder and blew into my cupped hands. “How long is this going to take?” Tucking my pipe between my lips, I closed my eyes with relief as I inhaled drugs. “Can we hurry this up? I want to go back and cuddle the twins.”
Malum screamed out more fire.
“You sound like a dying cow,” I said as I held my arms out to get some of the warmth from his fire. I exhaled with relief as I defrosted. At least he was good for something.
Malum fell to his knees, still screaming, and the scene was reminiscent of when he’d lost control on the shore of Elite Academy. Back then I’d been concerned about him and had stepped in to help.
That was before he’d chosen me for the last competition.
Now, I didn’t care.
I studied my abused nails and made a mental list of products. Cuticle softener wasn’t a need; it was a must. A clear coat would do me wonders, and what did a woman have to do around here to get some vanilla-scented lotion?
My fictional lover would have given me a basket with nail care on the first day of being in this hostile environment.
A good man would protect my cuticles.
I grimaced as I looked at the kings—these weren’t good men.
Flames burned hotter as they rolled off Malum and his mates tried desperately to calm him down.
At least I had Sadie because she would definitely have a miniature spa day with me. She was always down.
“Are you even listening to me? What did I just say?” Malum asked loudly, and I realized he’d been speaking.
I gnawed on my lower lip and narrowed my eyes.
“Yes?” I asked slowly.
Malum chucked a boulder—different from the boulder—off the side of the mountain and screamed louder. Scorpius tackled him and started whispering frantically in his ear.
Orion stared at me and mouthed, “Are you doing okay?”
His eyes were haunted, and I had a strange feeling he wanted to ask me something else but didn’t know how to say it.
I was going to ask what he meant, but Malum bellowed and slammed his fist into another rock. It shattered into pieces, and when he stood up, his knuckles were swollen and coated in blood.
The memory of when I’d thrown myself fruitlessly at the wall haunted me.
How come it was the men who had all the power? How come I was just the stupid, useless Revered that needed to be taken care of and stop their murderous rampages?
I wanted to punch rocks and smash them.
I wanted to rampage.
Sun god, the things I would do to people with that type of strength.
I rubbed at my temples and announced, “I’m bringing this up to Dr. Palmer next session. Frankly, your flames are giving me a migraine. Can you turn it down?”
I wasn’t kidding.
The bright flames were blinding on my corneas, and a headache throbbed more intensely.
I closed my eyes.
“You’re hurting her!” Scorpius shouted, then whispered into his ear, “You know what…” His voice dropped lower, and I couldn’t hear.
“Know what?” I asked.
No one answered.
Malum’s flames slowly extinguished, and he looked dejected, sitting on the ground with his head cradled in his hands. Scorpius rubbed his back while Orion patted his head.
I would have felt bad.
But I didn’t.
What could I say—bitches were harsh like that. For context, I was bitches.
“Break’s over team.” I clapped my hands. “Let’s hurry this up.”
Malum stumbled to his feet, and all three kings turned their attention toward me.
I took a step back.
Their expressions were mournful.
I glanced behind my shoulder to see if they were looking at someone else, because the energy radiating off them put my teeth on edge. Apparently giving the twins a blow job in front of them had broken their spirits.
If I’d known that was all it would take, I would have done it sooner.
Sun god, I hadn’t known oral sex was such a big deal to them.
“So how do we want to do this?” I asked.
“Take off your coat and shirt,” Scorpius ordered.
I rolled my eyes and spat at his feet. “You’re a pig.”
“What did I say about spitting?” he asked in a mocking, cruel voice, and all of a sudden, I was struggling to breathe.
He stalked across the rocks and leaned close to me. “I said—that I’d spit in your pretty little mouth if you ever spat at me again.”
His breath mixed with snowflakes and fanned against the side of my face. “Did you forget, Arabella? Or are you purposefully being a brat?”
I forgot how to swallow.
“Um?” I asked eloquently.
He arched his brow and sneered, “Open up.”
My jaw unhinged, and his eyes widened with surprise, then I snapped it closed. “You gotta be quick,” I taunted—opening and closing it repeatedly.
He looked down at me with pity.
Yep, I was 100 percent still intoxicated.
Scorpius rolled his milky eyes and took a step back. Apparently, I’d killed the mood. Oh darn.
He explained, “You need to reveal your wings. That’s why you need to take off your clothes.”
“Fine.” I ripped off my coat and pulled my long-sleeved thermal over my head so I was in nothing but a sports bra. The Necklace of Death and diamond bracelet were warm against my skin even though they were exposed to the elements.
The kings stared at me hungrily.
Their hooded eyes were locked on my sports-bra-covered chest, and I looked down.
I crossed my arms over my chest. It wasn’t like I was well endowed in that department, so I didn’t understand why they were acting obsessed.
Instead of wondering about the inner workings of deranged men, I took a deep breath and focused on unused muscles.
Appendages exploded from my back.
Blue crystal feathers clattered together in my peripheral vision, and I twisted my torso back and forth, making them shimmer in the sunlight.
They were stunning.
The beauty lost its appeal ten seconds later as I panted and struggled to stand up straight under their weight. The wings were heavy, and it felt like someone had tied boulders to my shoulder blades.
I leaned forward to stop myself from tipping backward.
Sweat dripped uncomfortably down my sides from the strain even though it was freezing.
“Now what?” I asked.
Molten silver eyes melted me where I stood. “Now you stop us.” Malum nodded to his mates.
Orion opened his mouth.
And we walked together into hell.
