Page 112 of Winter Gods & Serpents

“Snowlin,” I spoke onto nothing. “Snow.” The sound of her name in my mouth forbidding and…wrong.

“Shhh, so loud,” she murmured asleep, patting my chest.

“Do you want me to die, I can’t make it stop.”

“Hm? Die…yes, die.” And then she was gone again, this time a slight snore accompanied the previous silence.

I smiled to myself for a while before it slowly begun dying on my lips. I rested my forehead on her flower scented head. “As you wish, princess, as you wish.”

Chapter 22

Scars and Lies

Snowlin

My neck had frozen stiff. Muscles cramped so hard that my whole body ached at the slightest movement I made. It took a moment of struggle to open my mated eyes. I groaned, attempting to lift my body up and ended up being smacked back down in place, completely restricted. Was I still dreaming?

I wiggled furiously trying to shake the restrained feel away, panic seeping in my bones when I heard a groan above me.

“Stop going feral, you are still attached to me,” Kilian said, blindly running a hand down my back and unbuttoning his jacket.

The moment the last button snapped open my body moved away from him, half in panic from lingering feel of restraint.

“You move like mad when you sleep, you know that? What tongue was that you blabbered away all night long?” He lifted his body up rubbing his eyes tired, voice deeper heavy with sleep. “And for someone who thoroughly dislikes me you got pretty handsy. There was not a spot front or back you have not run with your hands,” he said lastly, clicking his tongue and buttoning his jacket shut.

If I didn’t feel so cold, the heat of embarrassment would fuel a second sun on Numengarth and burn this realm to ash.

“I bet you hated it,” I said, balling snow and hitting him with it.

“I was stating facts, not criticizing or complaining. The attack was uncalled for.” He flickered the white flakes from his hair and threw a studying glance over me. “How is your wound?”

How was my wound? Did he not hear himself a second ago?

“Fine.” Not fine, it was pounding and sore. Every time I straightened my back it pierced and stabbed. But it had been part of my salvation, I was thankful for it.

He got on his feet and approached me. Naturally I backed away once he got too close, but he grabbed onto the front of my jacket holding me still. The brute, how dare he? “That dirty four-letter word does not fool me. Take your jacket off.”

“The beguiling worked.”

“The wound, heathen.”

“No need, we return to Tenebrose soon.”

He reeled me back in place when I made to move away from him. “I need to see if you have a fever.” He put a hand on my forehead, dragging it down behind my neck and I hissed shrugging at the contact. He stilled, almost worried. “What is it?”

“Cold hands.”

He took me in for a moment before gathering my face in his hands, tilting my head up to him. Was this a habit of his? Did he not know who he was doing it to?

He studied my eyes intently searching to uncover something. Tension gradually built in his features, probably coming to some realization. “You lied, didn’t you? The pain the Empath inflicted didn’t go away. What did you do?” His voice louder and angrier than usual.

“Nothing.”

“Princess!” he demanded sternly. “I can barely see amber anymore, they are almost black. What did you do?”

“Good, not keen on my eyes much.”

His stare turned threatening and broiling in anger, he neared close enough it felt like we were in Hanai, circled with the stink of spring. He didn’t back down, tugging on my jacket tighter and it made my eyes roll back.