The potent scent of tobacco and whiskey flooded my senses, and I swayed closer to the intoxicating aroma.
Bronze cheeks blushed scarlet.
A dagger glinted as he swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing.
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.
I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood.
My gut churned.
I had a feeling it wasn’t normal for an angel to radiate ice. I had a bad feeling that I wasn’t in control at all.
Good thing I was an expert at coping—I ignored my problems and pretended they didn’t exist.
“You need to be alert,” Orion mouthed as he shoved a cup full of cold liquid into my hands. “It’s—”
I threw the contents back and gulped it down before he could explain.
“Iced coffee.” He narrowed his eyes, long dark lashes fluttering, as he whispered angrily, “You shouldn’t consume any substance without knowing what’s in it. It’s not safe.”
John and Luka continued checking my holsters diligently, like they were terrified they’d missed something.
I rolled my eyes at Orion.
The coffee was strong, and already I could feel the caffeine waking me up. I took a long inhale from my pipe and let the combination of drugs revive my will to live.
Jitters replaced my exhaustion, and I bounced back and forth on the balls of my feet.
Jax and Malum shouted the plan’s directions to all the soldiers.
“Can I have a second coffee?” I held out the empty cup to Orion as Luka checked my earpiece.
“No.” Scorpius seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Take that pipe out of your mouth or I’ll rip it out.”
Sometimes I thought the blind king was calmer and more approachable than Malum. Other times, he was abrasive and cruel. Scathing.
Like a bad trip.
Luka moved with a blur and pushed me behind him, darkness glimmering around him.
“Don’t speak to her like that,” John said in an annoyed tone as he checked my bullet cartridges. “But he’s not wrong, Aran. Put the pipe away.”
Scorpius smirked maliciously and sized up John like he was seeing him for the first time. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
John glared and drove his shoulder into Scorpius’s side. “Oops,” he said sarcastically.
A muscle in Scorpius’s jaw ticked. “Be careful, human. You don’t want to mess with me.”
Instead of backing down from the devil, who was half a head taller than him, John scoffed. “I’ll do what I want.”