Page 58 of War and his Queen

They scramble into the box, desperate for rest.

We follow not long after, and I can feel Halen’s slow steps echoing from behind. As much as I want to address the fucking elephant in the room, I can’t have a distraction. That’s what she is—a fucking distraction.

Once we’re all inside, the doors slowly close and silence settles around us.

Stella clears her throat. Always the first one. “What’s the second game?”

I circle my finger and gesture to the other wall when it parts, opening out into darkness. Twigs snap beneath my boots when I step forward, following the radiance of the full moon that beacons through the forest.

Flames from a nearby bonfire caresses my skin, where Katsia waits by a stray tree trunk with a Lost Boy on each side. Her long dress splits on either side, the material tight around her waist before relaxing around her feet.

“You took long enough.” She pretends to observe her nails.

I circle the confined blaze as everyone filters around behind me.

Katsia’s heavy-lined eyes roam my body, stopping at my unbuckled jeans. She’s always been a woman of habit. Too bad not even she would be able to satiate the hunger tonight.

“Game two,” Priest addresses everyone in a flat tone. The wind swoops around us as the embers from the fire glitter the air. “It’s simple, really.” He lowers himself down onto a log.

Vaden closes in behind them. “Run.”

They all jerk forward, their nude bodies disappearing through the condensed trees.

Stella and Halen remove their masks and make their distaste for Katsia obvious by staying as far away from her as possible.

My phone vibrates against my thigh, and I reach inside, seeing Bishop’s name flash over the screen.

I force my mask off and answer. “B…”

It’s silent for a moment. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re all having too much fun tonight?”

I don’t bother fighting the grin on my face. “Yeah, we may have got a little carried away.”

“Son…” I know that whatever he’s about to say isn’t gonna be good. “We’ve got a problem. The girls there?”

I make my way to Priest and Vaden. “Yeah.” I side-eye them both. “Why?”

Silence.

“Good. Don’t let them out of your sight. I didn’t want this shit happening so close to the ritual, but the same people you chased down could be connected to a group that we’ve been chasing.”

I shuffle on my feet. “Bakers? Yeah, they are.”

Bishop grunts through the phone. “Kill them.”

Priest and Vaden both glower.

“We planned to. Is there a special reason why you want us to?”

The parents haven’t had anything to do with this group since they have only just resurfaced.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know once I do. And tell my son to turn his fucking phone on.”

I hang up when the line goes dead.

“Dad?” Halen creeps up from behind us and I almost forgot that she was here.

“Mmhmm…” Priest eyes her suspiciously. It’s a habit, keeping shit from the three of them as much as we can. A habit I’m aware we all need to break. “You ready for the ritual?”

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