Arthur paled.
Jinx continued mercilessly, “Or perhaps you wanted to talk to them when they’re being ripped in half?” Her fake smile dropped. “No—I get it. You want to wait to talk to the crustacean-esque creatures who each have an exoskeleton mask for a face and six legs with pincers. The ones who rip the people in two and emerge from their desiccated carcasses. The ones that bleed green and are expanding through the realms.”
No one spoke.
Arthur put down his teacup with a loud clatter.
“Any other inane suggestions that anyone wants to waste our time with?” Jinx spread her arms wide to the rest of the room.
“Someone did not read the informational packet,” Sadie muttered loudly. “Stupid airers.”
Scorpius chuckled and sat back down.
It took me a moment to realize that my best friend had come up with a derogatory slur for the angels because they called people grounders.
I pinched the top of my nose.
I no longer supported women’s rights.
Jinx turned back around and rapped her pointer against the board next to my face. “Concentrate. We still have a stealth problem.”
I banged my head gently (as hard as I could) against the board.
Infected with enchanted weapons, ungodly, a compound full of both. We had to kill them all quickly and efficiently without giving them enough time to flee.
How?
I rolled the elements around in my head and considered different tactics.
Malum spoke up and sounded assured. “Orion entrances everyone with his voice, then we eliminate them while they’re unconscious.” He nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
I hit my head harder against the board and said, “Except we don’t know if you would entrance and kill all our soldiers.” Like you did with Jinx, was left unsaid as I continued, “We’ve been over this. Murdering the few soldiers we have aside, we also don’t know if I can stop you again.”
“You’re our Revered, and you’ve stopped me before,” Malum replied forcefully. “It should have been impossible, but you did it. You’re ice for a reason—you’re destined to put out my fire when I lose control. It makes perfect sense.”
I cracked my forehead against the blackboard.
“Stop hurting yourself,” Malum snarled.
I hit my head harder.
A flaming hand yanked me away from the board. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Did he want a list?
“Don’t touch me.” I shoved at him, and for a second, we wrestled with each other. His muscles bunched as they tensed, and I pretended not to notice pain streaking across my back.
He smirked down at me as he easily countered my movements, since he was built like a tank and at least had one hundred pounds of muscle over me.
His fire was momentarily doused by the ice that radiated off me.
Silver eyes flashed with mirth.
He loved that it was easy to overpower me.
Sun god, he was such a bully.
I kicked him in the shin with all my force, and he squinted with pain. When he released me, I brushed my shoulders off with as much decorum as I could muster.
Which unfortunately, was none.
Malum winked at me. “If you wanted to put your mark on me, all you had to do was say so. I’d get a tattoo for you any day, ice princess.” His voice was gravelly as he stared down at the blue streaks of ice I’d left across his sweatshirt where I’d touched him.
I pretended not to notice that he adjusted his belt.
Instead, I pressed my legs together and rubbed at my temples as I took a deep, calming breath. “First, I’m a queen, not a princess. Second, my life’s purpose is not to put out your messes.” Ice crackled as it spread up my forearms.
He mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like, “You can be my princess.”
I choked on spit.
He slapped his hand on my back and said, “Careful. Go slow. Take your time swallowing.” His expression was wicked.
Pain exploded down my spine as I realized his double entendre.
Malum trying to be seductive was a dangerous thing.
My face flamed with heat.
“She’s right,” Jinx said, and both of us snapped our attention toward her. “If you use your powers, you could wipe out our soldiers.”
We sighed with relief.
She continued, “We can’t afford to lose people because of your carelessness. Also, all four of you passed out after she stopped you from attacking me. You can’t risk unconsciousness in the middle of a battle.”
Malum raked his hands down his face.
Flames danced across his fingers.
“Exactly.” I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest protectively.
His plan was stupid, and I was smarter; it was confirmed.
Jinx continued, “Aran, you’ll have to find time to practice so you can eventually unleash your abilities in battle.” She tapped distractedly at her tablet. “We’ll need your skills as the war continues.”
“Excuse me?” I whirled around to glare at her, but she refused to look up from her tablet.
I huffed and said sarcastically, “I’ll just pencil in stopping psychotic devils in between flying lessons and fighting the ungodly.”
“Good.” Jinx kept tapping.
Malum looked smug as he grabbed a piece of chalk and walked back to his list of strategies. “Don’t worry, we’ll practice.”
“I’m not practicing anything with you,” I snarled back.
He smirked but didn’t elaborate.
My lips tingled.
We both knew what would happen if we were stuck spending more time together. There was no avoiding it.
I hadn’t felt this sick since I’d learned fifty-one was divisible by seventeen.
Jinx rotated the structure on the tablet, and it spun on the board. “If we don’t contain the perimeter, potentially hundreds or thousands could flee to the portals. One hundred to one million people could be living in the valley.”
My jaw dropped. “One fucking million? Are you serious?”
Jinx pushed her sunglasses up. “The structure could continue underground for miles for all we know. I’m being realistic.”
She wanted us to die.
There was no other explanation.
“No,” Malum countered. “We know this planet’s core has a unique high temperature. It is unlikely life could be sustained underground.”
“He’s right.” I stood up straight.
Jinx mumbled under her breath, “The civilization could have adapted to higher temperatures. But fine, probably four thousand people.” The edge of her mouth curled up in a smirk.
I gaped.
Had she been making a joke?
We’d been working for so many hours that delirium was setting in, and I honestly couldn’t tell.
Movement in the back of the room caught my eye, and suddenly I wasn’t tired. My jaw clicked shut, and I said, “I know what we need to do.”
A good strategist always had multiple iterations of a plan. They also used their best assets strategically to accomplish the hardest tasks the most efficiently.
“We’re going to enslave the ungodly,” I whispered, and Jinx sat up straighter.
“Fuck. You’re right,” Malum said softly, and the air beside me warmed as he walked over beside me.