AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ELVA
My heart plummets the moment that Nathan tumbles into the room. He shifts as he falls, his clothing still mercifully in place. His landing is awkward, though, and if I weren’t scared for his life, I probably would have laughed.
I don’t laugh. I do nothing but stare at him as he dusts himself off.
Damn, Summer Fae, who can’t do what he’s told.
I fight against every instinct that tells me to run to him. My heart is beating so fast that I am certain my mother can hear it. My only hope is that she might think it’s out of fear of her and not fear for Nathaniel.
I’m running a million scenarios through my head, each one worse than the last. I only have one thought, one goal. Maybe I can still find a way for him to get out of here safely.
I will do anything to get him out of here.
My mother stares at him and arches a brow. “Why hello, pet,” she says as her lips grow into a terrifying predatory smile. Her voice is bitingly cold. “It’s been ages since a Summer Fae came to my court. Who, pray tell, are you?”
I turn towards him, trying to will my face into blandness as I barely shake my head.
He ignores me. His gaze is locked on my mother. I see his fingers flicking almost imperceptibly against his side as he observes her, keeping her in sight at all times.
At least he realizes she’s dangerous.
Blinking rapidly, I try to make him notice me. To see me one last time.
Leave, Nathaniel. Just get up and fly out of here, please.
Finally, he looks at me. His gaze is piercing as it penetrates my soul. Entire lifetimes of emotions pass between us in the blink of an eye. I warm as he holds my gaze.
For a moment, I think he might listen to me. Fly out of here before she can stop him.
Then he shakes his head. Devastation slams into me, and I can’t help the reaction pouring out of me.
“No,” I gasp. My heart is pounding, and ice begins to crawl up the sides of the room again. I see Nathaniel shiver, but he stands his ground. I’m losing the grip on the magic binding my mother as panic sets in.
A crack rings through the air, and I know it’s the ice holding her. It won’t stay for much longer.
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” he says, staring at my mother. “I’m here for her.”
My mother looks between us. She seems to grow, her back straightening, as her gaze flicks from Nathaniel and then back to me.
I watch as she bares her teeth before clapping her hands together, seeming to forget that I’ve bound her in ice. She looks almost giddy as her gaze flits between us.
“Isn’t this just perfect?” She croons. “Elva, child, when you mentioned that you found someone who loves you, you seemed to have left out the most important part. I arranged the perfect marriage with the Crown Prince of the Ice Mer, and instead of being grateful, you go and whore yourself out to a Summer Fae male, of all things?”
I fall apart at her words. They hit me in my core, pushing apart the last hold I have on my magic. The ice restraining her shatters into a million pieces, covering the floor. I sob, sagging against the couch as defeat washes over me.
Nathan clenches his jaw, his fists furling at his side.
“Elva isn’t a whore,” he says, his words sharp with anger as he approaches my mother. “How dare you speak to your daughter that way?”
The Queen bristles before flicking a hand and freezing over the window Nathaniel had flown through.
The scent of her magic fills the room as ice so thick that it becomes white and fills the space where the glass used to be.
My heart sinks, and a moan escapes me.
There’s no way he can get out now. I see him trying to figure out what we will do. His eyes are darting back and forth. He summons a ball of fire, but my mother sends a gust of wind to extinguish it so fast it’s as if it never existed.
His face falls, and she laughs, the sound mirthless. “You see you worthless male. You are not worthy of breathing in the Winter Court's air.”
