Oliver crouched. “Lucy, calm your mind. It’s okay. I bet your mom’s just fine. Right, General?”
When the general didn’t answer, the needles pushed at my Glory, flaring onto my hands. His shadows whipped out. Before I could pull back, they brushed my skin and—and—soothed away my flames. They quieted my fear and settled my breath.
My brows drew together. “What did you do?” I asked, staring at my lightless hands.
The general stood, silent and brooding. Fine. I didn’t need to know what he did, but I did need to know about my mom.
“Is she okay?” I demanded.
He left the room, calling back, “Follow me and find out.”
My Infernus called to me, enjoying the quick switch of emotions. I wanted to shove ice so far down his throat it pushed the stick out of his arrogant, controlling ass. But that’d get me nowhere, and I had no energy to use.
“I may murder him, Oliver.”
He helped me off the floor. “My money’s on you. So wait until I gather a big enough crowd to place my bet. I’ll be rich.”
“Think he’s still waiting for us?”
Oliver nodded to Rune, whose eyes were glowing. “I’m sure he hasn’t gone far.”
“Right.” It’d probably benefit us to figure out what the glowing eyes entail. But that was a later problem.
Despite Rune’s whining, I gripped Oliver’s arm to steady myself as we walked down a hall with red carpet and floor-length windows. I almost stopped when we hit the hallway. A foot of ice coated the outer black walls of the castle, bringing to mind part of Miriam’s prophecy:
There once was a palace of crystallized ice awaiting the daughter to sacrifice. Unbalanced and sorrowful. Hopeless with no tomorrow.
Maybe it wasn’t wise to meet the king—but I had to find my mom. And if he was going to sacrifice me, wouldn’t he have done it while I was unconscious?
“How we’re not freezing our asses off beats me,” Oliver exclaimed.
“Magic?” I mumbled, shaking off my creeping apprehension.
“Probably.”
We continued past the windows and followed Rune and the general to a staircase.
Shit.
“Need me to carry your scrawny butt down?” Oliver asked.
The general stopped at the bottom of the first set of stairs. Rune stayed beside me, whimpering and nudging me to use her before I descended. Maybe in a different circumstance, I would’ve takenOliver up on his offer. But with the general looking at me like I was worthless and couldn’t do it, I didn’t want to lean on Oliver or Rune.
Challenging the general to say a word, I stepped down. Again. My heart picked up speed. On the third step, I was about ready to smile in his condescending face when black dots stole my vision and weakened my legs.
I fell.
Teeth nipped into my back, catching my hoodie at the same time a chest barreled into me, gripping my shoulders.
I gazed up into piercing golden eyes, falling into the alluring molten depths. They held me captive with their intensity, as though they could see straight through me, tugging at something deep in my chest. I couldn’t name the sensation—only that it felt unsettling and magnetic, drawing me in despite the sharp edge of his demeanor. Warmth smoldered there too, a quiet heat that contrasted with the coldness in his gaze, and I found myself wanting to explore it.
“Are you done trying to show off in your weakened state?” the general growled. His harsh words snapped me out of my captivation. I wasn’t sure why I’d been so absorbed in him. He never smiled, his personality remained as dour as a storm cloud, and he seemed to have some vendetta against me I couldn’t figure out.
“Only if you’re done being an a—” I stopped myself.
His lips tightened. He knew what I was about to say—it wasn’t hard to figure out. His golden eyes taunted me with their unnerving color, and I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to look away.
Instead, I focused on the disdain flattening his lips. Not that it was any better. The sight made me almost as angry as the strange pullI’d felt before. There was only one male I wanted to affect me, and it wasn’t the one staring at me like I was a pebble in his boot.
