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I flick off the tv, my hands trembling as the temperature in the room drops. I fight to keep it under control, taking a few deep breaths before looking up at Nathaniel. His face is grim as he walks over to me.
"Don't you even think about it," he says fiercely, taking my hands. His eyes are blazing with passion as he crouches before me. "I'd kill him again in an instant for you."
Truth.
I lift my pained eyes to his face. "I wish you didn't have to,” I say.
"What's done is done," he replies. "Now, let's talk about Ice City."
We stay up late into the night, making a plan. Tomorrow, we will leave.
When our eyes are bleary, and exhaustion is a heavy blanket over us, Nathaniel grabs a pillow and blanket and lies in front of the door. He doesn’t trust these people, but I have spent so much time around evil people; I know them when I see them.
"Nathan," I say sleepily, blinking my eyes at him, "there's room on the bed for you. You don't need to sleep in the hall."
He smiles softly. A moment later, the mattress dips before the room goes dark. I can’t see anything, but I can sense him beside me. He leans over and presses a kiss on my forehead. "I'll see you in a few hours, darling. Sleep well."
You can’t let him come with you.The thought is so insistent I know I have to follow through.
Chapter33
The Lengths I’d Go To Keep You Safe
NATHANIEL
Elva is sleeping soundly, but I am still partially awake. There is a pit at the bottom of my stomach. The regret for killing Henrick never came, but the fear of the inevitable consequences certainly has. They are hunting me. If they find me, how far would their threats extend?
Would they go to the Summer Court and harm Cherie? Lucinda? The terrifying thought is that any of this is possible. It is not just Elva and I that are in danger.
When the first rays of sunlight break through the window, I know it is time to wake my Winter Fae and journey to her city, the one she will rule over one day. She stirs gently when I shake her shoulder and grumbles as she stretches her limbs. Her cheeks are flushed from our shared warmth, and her hair is a wild mess. When I glance at myself in the mirror, I see the bags under my eyes and the worry lines streaking across my forehead and between my brows. Instantly, I try to relax them and find they stay longer than I like.
In a dynamic where two people are together—which is very much what I am trying to do with Elva—if one partner is worried, this rubs off on the other. But if one panics, the other can become eerily calm to help solve the problem. I don’t want to put Elva in the position to be either one just yet. I am sure tensions will rise when we get to the Ice City.
After we pack up our meager belongings, Elva leads me down the stairs as she still rubs the sleep from her eyes. The Vampire, Calitha, and her human husband are nowhere to be seen. My stomach growls greedily when I see several frosted buns lining the main table. Neither of us conceals our excitement as we take several and head out the doors.
“I never thought I’d see a Vampire and a human happily married,” Elva says lightly. Yesterday she had told me that she trusted them. I’ve noticed how she spends so much time watching them.
I smile gently and say, “The more time I spend with you, the more I believe that opposites can work just fine. Fire and ice do not mix, yet, we are stronger together.”
She takes my hands and summons ice. It’s so cold that frost bites into my palm. I return her nudge with straight fire. The ice melts into water, which turns into steam. I laugh playfully as she jerks her hand away, feigning anger.
I pull her in and smile down at her. “My dear, I believe you’re smoking hot.”
Her face falls into a straight deadpan, and a lick of dread makes its way up my spine.
“Don’t think I will hesitate to freeze your shorts if you make joke as corny as that again.” Humor dances in her eyes, and I can hardly believe she is the same frosty Fae that avoided my gazes and touches over mountains of paperwork.
After we have finished walking and eating our breakfast in companionable silence, I busy myself brushing crumbs off the front of my shirt. The seal leathers were a dead giveaway for someone like me, and I was grateful that we had found extra clothes in the closet. These aren’t blue, but a deep grey, and they cover me nicely.
Elva is the first to shift into her owl, with me following closely behind. The trek will take us a few days if we fly most of it. I think I have mastered shifting well enough to make it work. Looking down below us, I see the beautiful variety of white, blue, deep emerald green, and black. I can’t help but feel attracted to its beauty. I never felt like I belonged in the vast valleys of the Summer Court, but somehow, despite the freezing cold and dangerous enemies, I feel at home in this place.
* * *
I amsurprised to find that the Ice City is literally made of ice. Thick blocks, similar to the igloo that Elva made for us when we first found each other, make up most of the buildings. The domed architecture is unassuming and beautiful as it stretches across the plain. It is unlike Port City, where the height of the sky-rises enabled the city planners to concentrate so many people in a relatively small space.
The white buildings almost blend into the ground, pebbling across the ground like some kind of Vampire Zen garden. The crowning element that makes this city incredible is the literal Ice Palace at its crest. It is completely opaque white, clearly frozen. It is larger than any other palace I have ever seen. The ice spikes sounding it tell me exactly what I need to know about how inviting it is.
Tension is lining Elva’s face, even as an owl. She circles toward the ground, and I follow close behind her. We touch down on the cold, powdery snow. It crunches beneath our feet as we return to our Fae forms, and the smell of intense cold hits the inside of my nostrils, freezing them. The worry is exacerbated on her face.
