“This way.” Kai bumps me with his shoulder. Payback for the way I pushed him earlier. It reminds me of when we were children, constantly jostling in a pointless tit-for-tat. My heart shatters into jagged pieces. Memories crowd into my mind. Playing in the dirt. Sun on our faces. Balancing on fences or rails. Daring one another to jump.
We descend a flight of stairs into a less-grand portion of the castle. This section is made of stone, not ice, though with no fires in the hearth it’s just as freezing as the rest of the castle. My teeth chatter.
Kai remains unaffected.
“What do you want me t-to make?” I ask.
“Whatever you like. You’ll find anything you need in here.” He taps a long row of cabinets. “When it’s ready, pull this bell. I’ll show you to the dining hall.”
I unsling my pack and drop it on the heavy oak table with a thud. Kai watches me put flint to steel and shower sparks on the wood in the fire pit until it catches. Heat unfurls through the room. I remove Christabel’s cloak and replace it with an apron. So quotidian, this kitchen. Nothing magical about it. Odd, for a powerful fae witch not to have an entire staff.
Maybe she froze them all to death.
Kai’s watchful gaze burns into my back. The witch departed when I struck the first spark shower, but he stands there uselessly observing my every action.
“You’re still here,” I say over my shoulder when the tension hits a breaking point. Kai catches my wrist and tugs me close. His skin is freezing. I gasp at the contact, but he brings one hand to the base of my skull and backs me up several steps until my bottom bumps into the table. He bends to kiss me, hard and harsh, like kissing a winter storm. A candle of warmth flickers. I chase it. He groans and angles his hips between my knees.
I let him.
“My troublesome girl,” he whispers, almost affectionately. I sink my teeth into his bottom lip.
“Don’t call me that.”
“You like it.”
I ball my fist and punch his shoulder, hating that it’s true. He kisses me harder. Unrelenting. Kai pushes up the hem of my shirt. His fingertips are like icicles. I flinch. “You’re so cold.”
“You’re not,” he declares. “The opposite. So hot I can hardly stand touching you.”
“No one is making you do this, Kai.”
“You are.” Another kiss. His thumb glides along the underside of my breast. I straighten, torn between wanting more of his touch and avoiding his coldness. Yet a flame flickers in his one good eye, reflected without heat in the silver one. “You shouldn’t have come here, little shadow. Following me all this way, for all this time.”
“I came because I care about you, Kai. We were friends.”
“This isn’t friendship,” he growls.
“No, it’s not.” I sink my teeth into his lower lip. His low moan and the shift of his hips against mine bring that hard ridge into contact with my aching core. I gasp against his mouth. “It hasn’t been friendship from my side in a long time.”
His lips curve into a satisfied smile.
“I was foolishly noble when we were young.” He strokes my cheek almost lovingly. “I should have savored you when I had the chance.”
“You’re still wasting the opportunity,” I remind him. His touch is ice on my skin. A shiver courses down my arms. Droplets bead along his temple.
He pushes me away. I stumble against the table. A small bowl topples and rolls over the edge, crashing onto the floor. Kai’s boots crunch the pottery underfoot, pulverizing the shards into a powder that will be a pain to clean up.
“If you mean that, come to my bed tonight, Gwen. Show me. Prove how badly you want me.”
“I left my grandmother behind and chased you across Montrace for over two years. Isn’t that proof enough?”
The echo of his low chuckle is my only answer.
Chapter 15
I raidthe well-stocked larder to create a feast for the queen and Kai. Roasted meat so tender and savory the aroma alone makes my mouth water. Vegetables cooked with spices and glazed with honey. A soup course, which only reminds me of the reason I won’t be partaking in this meal.
For myself, I make a simple stew from my own supplies. I’ll never touch fae food again. I count out the rations I have left. I can make it a few days, perhaps a full week, if I stretch what little I have left in my pack.
