It was even more uncomfortable sitting behind Ares on the flying alligator’s back. The seat was custom-made for him, and he was massive. I was squeezed into the back corner.

“Why are you bouncing around?” he asked. “You’re distracting Ventus, and he’s flying.”

“You’re taking up most of the space,” I said. “I don’t even know where to put my feet.”

“When I sat you in front of me to give you more space,” he said, “you complained plenty as well. Will you stop being so difficult?”

My eyes went wild. Was it going to be like this for the rest of the trip?

Ares grabbed my feet and lay them on his thick, firm thighs. “Happy now?”

“They’ll be sore soon,” I said. “I’m not used to sit like this.”

He pulled me forward and wrapped my legs around his waist. My crotch was almost pressed against his back. “Better?” he asked viciously.

My face flamed. “My butt hurts. I don’t like this position either.”

Ventus chortled.

Ares turned to look at me and noticed my flushing. Heat rose in his eyes. “I see, you have fragile buttocks.”

“At least they aren’t rocks like yours,” I said.

He grinned. “Was that a compliment or an insult?”

Why was he in such a good mood? We’d just spent the better part of the day fighting for our lives, and he’d just found out one of his brothers wanted him dead. And a bigger army of bounty hunters would meet us at every turn.

“Sure, I flattered you,” I said.

He twisted his torso, his hands seizing my waist and lifting me up.

“What are you doing?” Panic laced my voice.

“Relax, will you?” he said. “I’m not going to drop you. Don’t kick if you don’t want to fall.”

I stopped struggling. With one smooth swoop, Ares placed my ass on his lap. I couldn’t think of anyone else who could maneuver in the air like that.

My face burned hotter. “I don’t want to sit on your lap.” 

“Other females would cry with joy to have the chance,” he said.

“That’s not our deal!” 

“That’s not my plan either,” he said. “Even if you beg me to have you, I won’t do you. You aren’t my intended. I just want you to shut up for once and stop this incessant nagging.” He slid me off his legs and settled me in the space in front of him like before.

“But—”

He wasn’t aroused.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen again,” he said.

As I wiggled to make myself comfy, he found a blanket in the luggage behind our seat and inserted it between his groin and me.

“Now you can ease your mind,” he said.

I waved a hand at him dismissively. “Whatever.” 

No one, not even Commander North Darken, has ever dismissed our prince like that, Ventus chimed in. This thing with you is new for him.

I feel sorry for him that he has to put up with me, I said. Wait until I find the First Witch for him, and he’ll show his true face.

What kind of face is that? Ventus asked with keen interest.

All fangs, claws, and spikes, I said.

That’s my face, Ventus said. He’ll show you the opposite when he has his witch. Right now, you’re training him to get used to the idea of—Well, I’m confused here. You said wait until you find the First Witch, but you’ve already found her.

We’re not talking about this, I said sternly. We have a deal.

There was never a deal, just a bet, he huffed. Are we still going north?

That reminded me. I turned my head to look at Ares. “We need to go east instead of north, Your Highness.”

“We’ll go north as planned,” he said. “The Oracle said that the First Witch would appear in the north first.”

He’d found me in the northern forest.

“Did the Oracle say that you’d meet her in the north?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” he said unhappily.

“She appeared in the north,” I said, “but then she left. She isn’t a piece of furniture, right? She moves around. She happens to have her own legs, which aren’t carried by you, so she—”

“Just say the direction,” Ares said.

“That’s exactly what I was about to tell you before you rudely cut me off,” I said. “As we speak, she’s moving toward eastward and fast.” I wouldn’t tell him that we were going to the Twilight Realm. I would only tell him when we neared the immortal realm.

“How do I know you’re giving us the right direction?” Ares asked.

“What will I gain by delaying you?” I asked. “The sooner I help you find her, the sooner I can get out of here. Do you think I enjoy your company?”

That convinced him, yet he didn’t sound pleased. “How do you know she’s going east? And why is she moving toward that direction so fast?”

“If you constantly doubt me,” I said, “you should let me off and go find the witch yourself.”

“You’re not going anywhere until I see my witch standing in front of me.” 

“That’s what I thought,” I said wearily.

“But you insisted before you had no idea where the First Witch was,” he said.

“I lied.”

“How could you lie about such an important matter?” Ares hissed.

“Has it ever occurred to you what’s important to you isn’t that important to the whole world?” I asked.

“Talking to you is like talking to the walls,” he said. “Only walls don’t bite back.” But he barked at the guardians, “Let’s go east.”

The Guardian of Wind made a sharp ninety-degree turn and called to his brothers, and they followed suit. Their massive wings beat against the chilly current.

The landscape soon changed. It was patches of green, blue, and brown beneath us. 

“The quicker we find her,” Ares grumbled, “the sooner we won’t suffer each other.”

“Delightfully so,” I said. “However, you should know that the First Witch is a boring, old hag.”

“A vicious lie!” Ares said through gritted teeth. “She can’t be.”

It displeased me that he was so protective of the woman he hadn’t met yet. Then I realized that the mysterious, unknown witch was actually me.

“You said she was the opposite of me,” I said. “The opposite of me is below average in looks and intelligence, and old.”

“My earlier comment irked you, didn’t it?” Ares said in satisfaction. “I’m not surprised that you’re vindictive, but I didn’t expect you to be vain, particularly for a girl like you.”

“Your earlier comments really hurt my feelings,” I said. “I have such a low self-esteem that I now live and breathe on every compliment you can spare me.”

Ventus trembled from laughter.

Ventus, I called. Reward me.

He answered and we became an arrow in the wind. I spread my arms and wanted to roar out of my lungs, but then remembered how that had turned out for me—Ares’ unholy hard-on pressed against my back.

When Ventus dropped in altitude, I dozed off in the warm air, until he gently nudged in my mind. We’ve arrived, sleepy head. 

I jerked awake.

The sun was setting on the horizon; a palette of colors sprayed across the sky and rippled on the guardian’s wings. The rushing sound of a waterfall greeted me; the strong beat quickened in my ear. Then I registered where exactly I was. I had turned my face sideways and nestled against Ares’ hard chest, mistaking it for a pillow. The powerful, pounding heartbeats came from him.

Hearing strong heartbeats was a brand new experience for me. I usually didn’t inspire the heart to beat—I stopped it.

How could I have fallen asleep like this? It was dangerous for both Ares and me. My half-concealed face could have slipped onto his bare arm. If he died in the air, my life would end as well. Although my time was limited, I still wanted to keep breathing every second until I couldn’t.

I removed my face from his warm chest and released my gloved hand on his forearm with a grunt. “Why did Ventus slow down?” I murmured an excuse to cover up my embarrassment.

As I looked at the prince through my lashes, I caught a strange tenderness in his eyes. I adjusted my hood to cover more of my burning face.

“Have you ever slept in a proper bed?” he asked in my ear.

“Of course!” I hadn’t really. “I’m not a savage.” I usually slept on a hammock or on the boughs. I’d thought of building a tree house, but I was afraid of attracting the hunters.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said.

“Curious about me?” 

I expected him to deny it, but he said, “Yes. I want to know more about you.”

I spread my arms. “What you see is what you get.”

“I doubt that,” he said grimly. “The Oracle said I must find you first. I’ve been musing on why. Why didn’t she just lead me directly to the First Witch? And how can a wolf girl who’s been away from civilization know impossible things? Do you have foresight? Why did the Oracle focus more on you than the witch?”

Because I was the witch, idiot! I almost shouted at him. But I was also dying to know why the Oracle led the Dragonian prince to me without telling him I was actually the First Witch. She’d given me the reins instead of handing them over to him.

What did she want?

Just like the prince, I was in the dark, only my dark was a shade lighter.

“Can’t figure me out easily, can’t you?” I asked. “Do you expect me to roll over onto my soft belly and spell it all out for you?”

Soft belly, Ventus chimed in. Nice. The prince will probably give your belly a nice scratch. He would like that.

Like that would or could happen. I leaned over and flicked the guardian’s neck with my gloved hand. Knock it off.

Ventus only laughed. Did he know even he wasn’t immune to my lethal touch?

“I’ll find all the answers,” Ares said confidently.

I bet the prince always got what he wanted, but not this time. I would make sure of that.

Ventus announced, “Ottawa is down.”

I looked down. Beneath the guardian’s wings was a backwoods town. It had to be one of the human settlements. Advanced humans mostly lived in Babylon or more advanced coastal cities.

“We’ll spend the night there,” Ares announced.