The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts-Chapter 652: Suspicious Sky Fire

Cyrus glanced up at her. "Then should I massage your back after this too?"

The way he asked it, so soft and so willing, made her heart stumble in the most embarrassing way.

She coughed and looked away. "That depends on your performance."

He lowered his eyes again, hiding the smile that was beginning to show.

For a few warm, quiet moments, the room was filled with nothing but the crackle of fire, the soft movement of his hands, and Isabella’s occasional tiny huffs whenever he found the exact right place to press.

Outside, winter still held the village tightly.

Inside, however, there was warmth, soft light, and a very obedient red snake finally doing the correct kind of training.

That night, the sky did something strange.

At first, the villagers thought they were seeing falling stars.

Thin streaks of light crossed the dark above the snow, fast and sharp, burning pale white with a faint red line at the center.

One streak might have been beautiful. Two might have been impressive. But when several crossed the sky one after another, too fast and too deliberate, even the dullest person in the village understood that something was wrong.

Natural things did not look like that.

The children were the first to point.

"Look!"

"There’s light!"

"Are the stars fighting?"

One little boy even shouted that maybe the sky had cracked open and spiritual chickens were escaping.

Honestly, that was not the worst theory a child had ever come up with.

Near the main courtyard, several adults had also stepped outside to stare. The lights disappeared quickly, but the feeling they left behind was uncomfortable, like the sky had blinked in a strange way.

Isabella was standing under the shelter of the palace roof, wrapped properly in thick furs. One hand rested under her belly, the other held a warm cup of herb water. Her breath fogged lightly in the air as she looked upward.

She had not gone far outside. Everyone in this village had become very annoying lately, and if she took more than seven steps out in the cold, one of the males would appear immediately to ask whether she was tired, hungry, thirsty, cold, warm, dizzy, upset, or in need of being carried.

Honestly, it was enough to make a person scream.

Still, when the strange lights cut across the sky, even she forgot to be irritated for a moment.

"That is not normal," she said quietly.

Not far from her, Osiris had also stepped into the courtyard.

The moment the first streak appeared, all the laziness vanished from his face.

He went completely completely still.

His eyes followed the streaks with a sharpness he did not usually show unless something had truly caught his attention. The playful idiot expression was gone. In its place was something older and more alert.

Osiris knew immediately that those lights were not natural.

He had seen sky fire before.

Not ordinary fire.

Not stars.

Ritual fire.

The kind summoned when long-distance workings were done with high-value blood or an old altar.

His phoenix brand gave one faint, angry pulse under his skin, much weaker than earlier, but enough to confirm his fear.

Someone was trying something.

Somewhere far away.

And it involved phoenix blood.

Osiris’s jaw tightened.

He wanted very badly to pretend he had seen nothing. He wanted very badly to laugh, say it was probably some stupid mountain spirit setting itself on fire, and go inside before Isabella noticed his face.

Unfortunately, Isabella noticed everything.

She turned her head and stared at him.

Osiris felt that stare immediately and regretted existing.

"What?" he asked.

His tone was too casual.

Too quick.

Too suspicious.

Isabella narrowed her eyes. "Why are you looking at the sky like that."

Osiris crossed his arms at once. "Like what."

"Like you know something."

He blinked. "I always know something. I am naturally wise."

Isabella stared at him for one long second.

Then another.

Then she said, very flatly, "That was a terrible lie."

Osiris drew himself up. "It was actually one of my better lies."

"No," Isabella said, taking a sip from her cup. "It was weak. Embarrassing, even. If I were grading it, I would fail you."

Osiris looked offended. "You are so harsh. Has pregnancy made you cruel."

Isabella almost laughed.

Almost.

Instead, she set the cup down and shifted her weight slightly, giving him the kind of look that usually made even shameless men rethink their life decisions.

"Tell me the truth."

Osiris lifted his chin. "I do not know anything."

"You do."

"I do not."

"You do."

"I do not."

"Do you want me to call Kian for you?" Isabella asked sweetly. "He is in a bad mood."

The effect was immediate.

Osiris’s shoulders dropped.

His face changed so fast it was almost impressive.

For a male who loved running his mouth, there were still a few natural disasters in this world he preferred to avoid. One of them was an irritated lion king. Especially one who had not been sleeping enough.

"Why do you always threaten me with him," Osiris muttered bitterly.

"Because it works," Isabella replied.

Honestly speaking, this man really was the easiest idiot to manage once she found the right pressure point.

Osiris scowled at the snow for a second, then sighed dramatically. "I only think it looks strange."

"That is still not the truth."

"It is part of the truth."

"Osiris."

He rubbed his face with both hands. "I do not like your voice when you say my name like that. It makes me feel like a naughty child."

Isabella folded her arms. "Maybe that is because you behave like one."

The nearby guard on duty suddenly found the wall very interesting and looked away quickly so he would not laugh.

Osiris noticed and glared at him.

Then, because he could not win against Isabella head-on, he tried changing the topic entirely. "Fine. I will go cook for you."

Isabella looked at him in horror.

"No."