And it caused a new rune to appear.
Though my heart sinks when I realize it isn’t one of the ones on Laufey’s note.
“You know,” I say, folding my arms, trying to break the sizzling tension between us, “I’ve heard the lore. Giants, frost, all that. But honestly? Is causing runes to appear your only party trick? I’ve only seen lame little flecks of frost.” I arch a brow. “You misfiring? Shooting blanks?”
For a second, he just stares, silent. Then, in one smooth motion, he pulls me against him. The air leaves my lungs. His breath brushes across my lips, cool and sharp, and they go instantly numb—ice threading across them like glass. I gasp, and his thumb follows, slow, deliberate, warming me again.
“Neat trick,” I whisper.
I might die in his arms, right here, in this moment.
“Do it again.”
His mouth tilts into something dangerously close to a smile. When he speaks, his voice carries that low resonance I’ve felt before but never this strong—it vibrates through me, each word landing like a drumbeat in my chest, a cadence that lures me closer even when I know I should run the other way. “I can do more. Much more.”
He holds out his hand and flicks his wrist. Snow starts dumping from the sky around us. The flakes are huge. It feels like a fairy tale. I let out a disbelieving laugh.
All thoughts of Mjölnir disappear for one brief moment. It’s only Aric and his ice, and I want to exist here, with him in this place, just like this.
“So…you wanna build a snowman?” I ask.
For the first time since I’ve known him, he laughs. Really laughs. It rumbles through him, deep and raw, and the sound steals my breath more than the ice ever could. “At least you didn’t sing it.”
Then the sound of branches cracking echoes from behind us.
Are we being followed again?
Even out here? What about the rune wards?
With a sweep of Aric’s arm, walls of ice surge up around us, carving a cave from nothing. He pulls me inside, chest heaving, frost clinging to his skin.
We watch and wait as two deer slowly make their way to the frozen lake, looking for water. Aric swears under his breath, eyes glowing. They’re white—it’s his Giant form truly pushing through. Oh Gods.
“I think they’re gone,” he mutters, listening. His voice vibrates through the ice itself, the cadence so deep and steady it nearly lulls me into forgetting we’re hiding.
I tilt my head up at him, light bouncing off the crystalline walls. “Your eyes.”
Our breaths mingle, the air steaming between us. The white in his eyes softens, and he doesn’t look like a monster. He’s gorgeous, like lightning trapped under ice. I lift my hand, press it against his, and his grip tightens like he can’t let go.
“This is the part where I warn you,” he says, voice vibrating straight into my bones. “I don’t think I can control much beyond this as we unlock more runes. From here on out…”
I shrug, my voice steadier than my heartbeat. “Try not to get in the way, and I won’t get killed.”
His forehead lowers to mine, heat and cold colliding betweenus. “Runes are powerful, Rey. They’re the only thing keeping the monster asleep. Who knows what I’ll become the second they stop suppressing me.”
I swallow hard, the truth burning in my throat. “Sometimes I think…I was meant more for the likes of a monster than a man.”
His lips part, and I catch the glint in his eyes, something feral wanting to break free. My pulse jumps, but I don’t move.
A storm builds behind those eyes.
I lift my face like I want to be trapped in them.
And then I surrender, crashing my mouth to his.
Chapter Fifty-One
Aric
