Luned, Jack, and I moved on from the Hartland Ruins where we'd been hiding for the past few days. Knowing my fellow Aces, they'd think to seek me out in my territory first, and I'd warned my companions of this when we settled in our remote cabin.

Luned obeyed me without argument, but Jack...

Well, Jack couldn't seem to shut up long enough to listen to my plans.

"We should head to the other side," he kept saying as we packed up what little we had grabbed on the run—Luned's dresses, Jack's gear, my potions.

"Other side?" Luned squinted at me, shoulders raised. "What is he talking about?"

The topic Jack attempted to bring up was one I'd concealed from Luned for a long, long time. And his bringing it up now, of all times, would be treacherous to his health if he wasn't careful.

I knew what he was doing. Trying to corner me into a situation where I'd owe Luned explanations. Where I'd have to barter for her forgiveness. Where we'd argue and our loyalties would be tested. He wanted to cause a rift between us, take advantage of Luned's sorrow, her pain from my omissions, and swoop in to take her for himself.

Over my dead body.

I wasn't easy to kill.

"No," I said, as we departed the ramshackle cabin, breathing in the humid air of Hartland's jungle ruins. I knew we'd be safe here temporarily, at least; most didn't dare venture here, wary they'd get lost. My namesake's forests of chunky trees and marshes were perilous to those who didn't know their way.

"We'll head north. Sunflower Steppes," I ordered, glancing up at the blue sky and finding our location through the clouds. I pointed behind the cabin. "That way."

"North?" Jack cringed. "The Steppes are deeper and harder to navigate. And they're closer to Ossenna's territory. Don't you think she'd sense us?"

I scoffed as I set my fingers between Luned's, keeping her close. "That's not how our magic works, you dimwitted boy." We paraded around the cabin and broke through the line of trees, treading into the depths of the jungle.

I wasn't afraid; I'd grown up here, familiar with the bark and the dirt-passages and the sounds echoing in the background. Every creature hiding in tree-trunks or within berry bushes was known to me. And they wouldn't attack unless I urged them to.

Though I had to admit that the thought of them attacking Jack became more appealing by the minute.

"She won't know where we are unless she actively searches. And that kind of power..." I snorted. "She doesn't have it."

"Arden did," said Luned softly, wincing as we traipsed over enormous roots and side-stepped puddles of moisture dripping from hanging branches. "Arden could track. And since Arden is gone..."

"Precisely, my love," I said, proud that Luned wasn't as aloof and ignorant as she pretended to be. Everyone underestimated her, thought her mermaid genes made her stupid.

In fact, such magic made her more powerful and knowledgeable than anyone could imagine.

And she was on my team. Working for me, with me. She was mine.

"We should probably split up," said Jack, reluctantly following me through the maze of ferns and twigs and ancient sculptures caked in dirt. "That'd make it harder to find us."

"But easier to capture us," I said, shaking my head. "No, we stick together for now. We'll be returning to Hartland soon enough. Something tells me that's where it'll all unfold."

"The war?" Luned's voice peaked, her interest showing how much she anticipated fighting her sisters. She was thirsty for the throne, and the only one truly in her way was Gwenore.

Oh, how I longed to watch her shred the flesh from her older sibling's body, piece by bloody piece. And we'd then make love in the remains of her sister's demise. Gruesome as the notion was, it was what fueled me, kept me going.

Victory.

"Not the war itself," I said, hunching to avoid a low-hanging branch of white lilies. "But a confrontation that I expect will lead to the war. One that will show exactly how strong we are, how serious our claims are."

I wasn't gifted with premonitions and visions like Ossenna and Arden, but I had hunches. I sensed shifts in the atmosphere and detected things to come; especially things that would change the balance, the mood of the population.

A confrontation between quarreling sisters was one such thing, and I knew it was coming. I'd known for a long, long time. I tasted it on my tongue, smelled the intoxicating aspect of a battle. It was so pleasant it nearly turned me on; but this wasn't the moment nor the place to have my way with Luned to satisfy my urge.

We'd have time later.

"You may know the other Aces," said Jack, snarling at a snake as it swished out from a bush, hissing. He whacked at it once with his razor-sharp dagger, slicing it in two perfect halves. Not a flinch, not a hesitation from him; he really was a skilled swordsman and adept weapon-wielder. Just not when facing me. "But I know the royals. I know Gwenore, her other sisters."

"And?" Strong and agile as he may have been, Jack was still nothing but a bug whizzing around me, wanting to take what was mine. His every word curdled my blood, and his presence made me nauseous.

I hadn't hated anyone this deeply since I'd first grown sick of Ossenna and Sym and their poisonous love for one another.

A love they thought they'd hidden well.

"And," Jack drew up to me, standing as tall as he could, but still not tall enough to rival my brute body, "they'll want her, first." He jutted his chin at Luned, who'd moved ahead to enchant a deer, hopefully kill it for our meal needs. When I heard the crack of bones, I knew she'd done her due diligence. "Luned. They'll crave her blood before ours."

He was right, but I'd never give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Never would he hear from me that he sometimes had sound ideas and harbored a modicum of logic.

I didn't need him to be boastful on top of his annoying pompousness, his ridiculous smugness.

He irritated me by breathing.

Why did we enlist him? I wondered often how we might have avoided bringing someone like him in on our plans. He knew too much, of course, but there were ways around that. I'd have slit his throat without a bat of an eyelash, and we'd be alone, Luned and I, as outcasts to the world, our eyes on the prize: the throne.

But Luned cared for the idiot, for some reason. We didn't need him, and I'd told her as much many times while we plotted, but she insisted. She begged me, and I couldn't resist her when she begged.

He didn't contribute much except for mild, blunt force, a few good directional skills, and secret knowledge of ways in and out of Acewood.

Even Ysac's peppiness was less annoying, and I'd have preferred having him as a travel companion.

"I need to reach the mountains north of the Steppes," said Luned, hauling her dead deer over and magically dicing it up to fit in our packs, for later.

Jack studied her every move, lingering for too long on some of her curves. My fists bunched at my sides. The number of times I nearly struck him dead for looking at Luned, my Luned...I'd lost count.

He was ever-so-lucky to be alive, and he had no idea.

"Why?" I motioned for us to continue our trek. The Steppes were about half a day's walk from where we'd settled, but I'd rather get there before dark. Using magic to travel was out of the question; that was something Sym and Ossenna would be able to track.

"There should be allies up there, in the bay. Mother told me once, as a child; go to the Sea of Kings should you ever need guidance. One of the last times she visited me in my dreams before leaving me to live fully human, under my father's rule." She snickered; she hated talking of memories of when she was a simple princess of Acewood, hiding her true self under layers of frilly dresses.

She still wore dresses, but ones meant for movement, less restricting. And much more revealing, too. I quite enjoyed how the fabric dipped between her plump breasts and hugged her beautiful body enough to make me want to rip everything off her.

"Allies." My lip curled.

"Mermaids," said Jack, his deepened tone showcasing his disgust.

This was the one thing he and I agreed on: our distaste for mermaids.

They were vile, slippery beings who took advantage and promised strength they didn't have. Sure, they had their powers, but compared to us mages, such abilities were far from impressive.

Neither Jack nor I would never admit this to Luned, though. Docile as she was on the exterior, she had a boiling temper beneath the surface, and took great offense whenever mermaids were insulted. While she never formally lived underwater as one such creature, she still identified with them.

She still yearned to reunite with her mother one day.

I loved her, sincerely and deeply, but her mermaid half was something I struggled to accept. I closed my eyes on her tail when she sucked me off and looked away when she met with other mermaids to inform them of our schemes. This aspect of her grossed me out and also terrified me.

Because what if her power was more heightened, more elaborate? Rumor had it she was the daughter of the queen of all mermaids, after all. She'd have inherited some extra juice, I presumed.

And if for some reason she was ever peeved with me, would she turn her powers on me? Would she eradicate me if I pressed the wrong button or said the wrong thing?

I wouldn't be the one to test that theory. So far, I'd kept her moods under control. I'd pleasured her with my mouth and tongue when I sensed her on the brink of an explosion. I'd held her tight when I detected a sobbing fit about to occur.

But those times with Jack, whenever I felt the need to insult him, to express my hatred towards him, she grew frustrated.

If he'd quit being so frustrating, perhaps there'd be no conflict.

"So that's two against one," I said, shrugging my golden curls into a ponytail to keep them out of my face. Despite the magic in me, and my perfect physique, I wasn't immune to the sun's hot waves, or to sweat dripping down my temples. The heat lessened the farther we walked, but I preferred air to flow over my neck and soothe its soreness.

Traveling was unpleasant to me. My choice was to sit on my throne and eat fruit all day while interfering in city-wide affairs that didn't concern me. But all this walking, stooping, crawling, hopping over things, and sleeping in straw beds or on pallets on the floor; it wasn't like me.

It wasn't like any of us, except perhaps for Jack, who'd grown up poor and knew the lack of luxury quite well.

"Whatever," mumbled Jack, trudging ahead as he grumbled to himself.

Luned nudged me. "Go easy on him, would you?"

"Why?" I felt the need to bark my irritation but caught the hint of annoyance in Luned's gaze. "He's just so...ugh, I can't stand him."

"Do it for me, please?" Her tender touch on my arm cut off my speech, sympathy thickening in my throat.

If I didn't know better, I'd think she was using hypnotic powers on me. But I was immune to them, and she knew that well enough. Still, her voice was a flutter of butterflies in my mind, and it was hard to turn her down, to go against her wishes.

"I'm trying," I said, gritting my teeth. "But he triggers me on purpose."

"That may be," she slid her hand to my backside and groped my behind, "but it's only because he's jealous. Poor thing, look at him."

I did as she said, and for a second, I did indeed pity the poor man. While he wasn't bad to look at, he was nothing compared to me. He was tall, muscular; I was more muscular, my veins and muscles charged with energy, with powers beyond his comprehension.

His face was handsome, though marred by a deep scar that gave him a haunted air; my face was smooth and unblemished, perfect to behold. God-like.

I was light and air, like a deity; he was scum, and he knew it. A rat found in the Acewood sewers, raised as a knave, but instead a deadly assassin with a flair for women he couldn't have.

Luned's grip on my ass tightened. "He sees how wonderful you are, Otho. How he can't compete with you. And it stings. So give him a break, okay? He'll never attain your level of sexiness, and it hurts him."

I licked my lips, tempted to shove her against a tree, pull her skirts up, and fuck her right there. Surrounded by chirping birds, sun blaring over us. Her thighs parted and her center welcomed my erection with thirst, with need.

But Jack had seen enough of our nudity in the past few days, and if we stopped and fucked here, I had no doubt he'd watch. Like Luned said, he was jealous.

And I wouldn't put it past him to get out his dagger and chop up my cock the same way he'd chopped up that snake.

So I'd keep it in my pants. For now.

♥♦♣♠