Chapter 37
Speedboats and persistent parasite helicopters pursue us, causing me to lose control in this situation. Since the incident in the Fountain of Silver, where the fight between Pandora and me got out of hand, and the crystallised ice, everyone is now curious about where it came from.
News stations appear more often, mentioning an ice elemny and wondering if we have them contained on the ship. Others speculate where they came from, or if there are more, and when King Walkyer will kill them. Figuring out how to stop the rumours from spreading is a consistent, irritating hassle.
Alad, Astin, and I sit in the conference room three doors down from where Pandora is staying. I doubt she will try anything stupid, especially on a ship with nowhere to go. Moreover, her words rang true when she said she wouldn’t try to run.
For now, at least, I can trust them.
Her unfiltered mouth, though, grates on my nerves. Pandora’s vulgarity knows no bounds, and her words turn to pure filth because she has no filter. It seems she’s in her uncaring era now that she doesn’t have to maintain the pretence of being “cute”, “innocent”, and “meek” unawakened elemny.
“Why are you smiling?” Alad says with a broad smile himself.
I lean back in my chair, fold my arms across my chest, and pull my smile into a grimace. “Nothing of importance.” I wave my hand dismissively so we can move on to the topic. “Now, what will we do about the news of an ice elemny?”
Astin says in his dull, lack-thereof tone, “Report them as false. And if anyone persists, I can kill them.”
As I eye him, my eyes narrow, and a hint of suspicion works its way into my gut at what he’s saying.
Alad briefed me that Astin saw something horrific about Pandora, but Astin hasn’t mentioned knowing her.
He keeps his mouth shut, and sometimes, when I walk the deck and have a smoke, he guards her door.
There’s some bond between them tied to Pandora’s trauma.
He reminds me of an older, protective brother.
I huff a breath. Similar to how I protect Walkyer and Emmerton whenever it’s required.
“It will reflect poorly on Walkyer if there are dismissive rumours that many will know are lies. We can’t have Walkyer dealing with major falsehoods that could cause a stir with the other kingdoms. He doesn’t even know where he stands with them, and now we’re putting lies on him.
” I shake my head. “No. Think of something else.”
Alad, while scrolling on his phone, says, “We can do a dummy setup. Put someone else in Pandora’s place, claim they’re an ice elemny, and kill them where they will televise it.”
“Did anyone see Pandora at the Fountain of Silver?” I say.
“Yes,” Alad says. “She was hanging off your shoulder. However, we can claim that she was in the way of this supposed ice elemny and King Walkyer—because he’s caring—instructed you to care for this elemny until she’s well.”
I shake my head. “The vermin news stations will spot Pandora roaming the ship during this trip. The first part isn’t a bad idea, but we can’t say she’s a stranger we’re caring for and that we will set her free.”
Astin eyes my hands and says, “What if we say she’s marked to you, and that’s why we’re protecting her?”
My jaw locks. “How will I explain how one of us will survive if tethered?”
“Girlfriend, then?” Alad says, smiling. “While you were caring for her, she won your heart, and you became infatuated.”
My sights narrow. “I see what you two are doing.” I exhale. “It’s not a bad idea, though. And if I kill her, I can then claim that she annoyed me after a while, and I wanted to get rid of her.”
Alad’s smile strains while mine upturns cruelly.
“Of course.” He looks away. “Who shall we kill?”
I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table. “We don’t kill anyone. At least not yet. But spread the word that there is an ice elemny in Eraminia somewhere and that we need as much privacy as possible to hunt him down.”
Alad rises. “I will contact King Walkyer and tell him of these plans.”
“No. Get Astin to do it.” I stand and head to the door as well. “Alad, you can bribe the news stations to fuck off someplace else, considering you’re good at persuasive threats. It will buy us some time until we figure out what we’re doing.”
We go our separate ways when we leave the conference room.
While Astin and Alad move down to the deck and towards their sleeping quarters, my focus shifts to the door three doors down.
If anything, I should tell Pandora about the plan so the news that we’re fucking dating doesn’t blindside her.
My gut tells me she won’t take the information lightly.
After knocking, she takes a moment to answer the door.
She opens it and peers out. Her bright brown eyes snap towards me and then away. She takes a minute to consider whether she wants me to enter, but she ultimately makes the right choice and swings the door open for me to enter.
It’s cold in her room. The fan circulates cold air while the open windows allow a chilly breeze to bite my skin. We are close to the Kingdom of Cloud, so it’s expected. Besides, she is an ice elemny. The cold welcomes her while irritating me enough to circulate warmth across my skin.
Pandora goes to the vanity near the bed, sits on the chair, and crosses her legs.
Her hands press against her thighs, and her fingers dig into her flesh.
This makes me aware of what she’s wearing.
We lack women’s clothes on the ship, so Pandora has attempted to dress.
She wears my T-shirt and boy-leg underwear, and she doesn’t care who notices.
“What do you want?”
Hostility thickens around her words. Since I called her an insufferable annoyance last night, she’s had an edge in her tone—but it’s only towards me.
Whenever she sees Astin, she smiles as if they’re old friends.
She’s a little standoffish with Alad, but she’s still polite.
With me, however, it’s as if she can’t help but spit acid in my face and flay my flesh with her intense gaze.
It amuses me.
“We have to tell Eraminia that we spotted an ice elemny,” I begin. “But we’re telling them they’re male and that you just got in the way. So, we took you back to the ship to care for you.”
“Oh.” Pandora turns away from me and stares at her mirror covered with a towel, but it’s only a second before she rises and sits on the bed. “It’s better news than I expected.”
“You’re also my partner.”
Brown eyes grow wide, turning wild, and her jaw drops, stunned into silence as no words escape. I turn away from the ludicrous look on her face as if she cannot fathom the story herself. It means that if she cannot believe it, how the fuck are we going to make the entire world accept our story?
“Wow. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are relationship material, Prince Reen,” she laughs acidly. “What does your idea of a relationship entail? Choking someone out and calling them an insufferable annoyance?”
I twitch a smile. So, I did hit a nerve last night.
Ice elemny. They seem like touchy creatures of the night who take everything to heart.
She’s a fucking Hart, after all. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“We won’t have to do anything, considering we aren’t leaving the ship,” I say. “There’s no need to act on pretence unless we are seen together outside your room or until we get to Oceanview Harbour.”
She crosses her legs, and the baggy shirt lifts. My eyes narrow on her thigh and the white, lumpy scars as she tugs down the shirt and tucks it underneath her arse. Trailing my focus on her face, she arches her brow and nudges her head towards the door, wondering if I’m finished talking to her.
My finger taps against my arm with annoyance. “What made you combust into ice the day my hands were about to tighten around your throat?”
Pandora’s eyes narrow, her hands gripping the end of the shirt tighten, and she squirms uncomfortably at my question. “Why do you want to know?”
“It can answer questions about why it happened there and how,” I say.
“I was afraid,” she says.
“Why?”
She shrugs and says, “You were going to kill me. Who wouldn’t be?”
“Liar,” I say, and I point at her hands. “You give away a lot through body language, even if your voice is steady and unwavering.”
“I’ll show you what you want to see. I’m a puppet taught on different strings. It’s what makes me dangerous, Prince Reen.” She smirks. “I thought you would want to see vulnerability, but if you want something different, I can…”
Pandora leans forward and looks at me through her thick lashes. The demeanour she held a second ago changes swiftly, and a look of persuasion flourishes. Except, there’s one issue challenging me to look away from.
“You are the most fucking flat-chested woman I’ve ever seen in my life, Pandora,” I drawl.
She heaves an irritable sigh, flops on the bed, raises her hands above her head, flips me the bird, and says, “Fuck off, Monster Dick!”
Monster dick?
It’s funny that her insecurities make her sound like a petulant child when someone triggers them.
Her flat-as-a-fucking-board chest must get on her nerves and become a sensitive subject for her.
It’s good to know, for when she pisses me off, I will tease her, and she will probably storm off like a raging blizzard.
I shake my head and turn away from her. Never mind. It doesn’t fucking matter when. As soon as we step into Oceanview Harbour, I will wring her neck.
I lean against the railing and overlook the ocean after I leave the room. Dark clouds are coming in from the east. We’re nearing the barrier protecting the islands and the Kingdom of Cloud. Thick clouds will soon swarm the ship if we don’t steer away from them.
Astin makes his way up the stairs. I look at the stitches on his forehead from the blow and realise I have never mentioned his well-being since capturing Pandora. She got him good and didn’t hesitate, even though she knew Astin. The ice elemny makes a statement, that’s for sure.
“How’s your head?” I say.
He touches the stitches and says, “She didn’t hold back.”
“I’d be disappointed if she did.” I push away from the railing and fold my arms across my chest. “What did Walkyer say?”
“King Walkyer has new orders for us,” he says. I arch a brow, and he keeps going when I don’t speak. “The Toshiharu family spoke to him not long ago and wanted to know if you could do a job for them.”
I huff a breath. “I have my hands full.”
“King Walkyer agreed. Alad’s steering the ship toward the Kingdom of Cloud.”
I grit my teeth. “What’s the chance that Walkyer is prolonging my trip to Oceanview Harbour and settling things with Pandora?”
Astin stares blankly out at the ocean, uninterested in the view. “He did say that, yes.”
“Un-fucking-believable,” I say, pushing my hair away from my face. “But orders are orders. What’s the mission?”
“Senri Toshiharu will provide you with the information. I contacted them after getting off the phone with King Walkyer. However, we cannot stay for the duration.”
“Why not?”
“They’re housing Kate Grant,” Astin says.
I breathe an acidic laugh. What a menace of a fucking air elemny.
Every time she looked at me, it was as if she wanted me dead.
Silver, unsettling eyes regarded me as something she wanted to break whenever I was near King Ragan.
Despite being in the same vicinity for five years, Kate’s hatred for me has remained constant since our first meeting.
“Why?”
“Senri doesn’t know much, only that her business in Oceanview Harbour lacked sustenance.”
The door opens behind us. “Oceanview Harbour?”
Of course, she was overhearing our conversation.
“Can we question her?” Pandora continues, intriguing me. “There’s a memory from my past she can enlighten me about. So…”
“Pandora—” Astin says, but I cut him off.
“Tell Senri Toshiharu to place her in their cells,” I say, and a smirk settles on my face. “I am curious, too. But I will interrogate her.”
Pandora steps back into her room. “Whatever. I’m fucking bad at interrogations unless I’m using my body.”
What?
I eye Astin, but he’s too busy staring vacantly at the closed door. He is not the only one curious about Pandora and her life before meeting me.