I’m sorry, Nana.
“Agreed.”
The Queen swirls her hand. The snow bees form an hourglass shape. Every few seconds, one slips through the thin section into the bottom like sand.
“You have three days. Once this runs out, you and Kai will be mine forever.”
I flee, leaving the dishes, the cart, and everything behind.
Chapter 16
“Kai.”My knuckles ache from knocking urgently on door after door. Everything is so cold here. My nose drips and my ears ache. I can’t get warm. “Kai, are you in there?”
It takes me a long time to find the right one. Once I do, he yanks it open irritably, then softens when he sees it’s me. The speck in his eye glints, and his scowl returns. “Get in here.”
I shiver. His room is just as cold as the hallway. “Kai, I’m freezing. I need warmth.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“Let me light a fire,” I beg.
“I’ll roast.”
“Would you rather I freeze?” My teeth chatter. “Be a gentleman.”
Grumbling, he throws dusty logs of wood into a grate. “Why do you have those, anyway?”
“When I first arrived, I liked a roaring blaze.” He keeps his back to me as he crouches to strike sparks to life in the kindling. Light licks up the walls, shimmering as the surface melts. “Before I got used to the cold.”
Kai tugs off his shirt.
Bare-chested and barefoot, he faces me. A smile plays over his lips when he finds me staring. Embarrassed, I jerk my gaze away.
“I’ve never seen you like this before.” Watching him spar with the other knights in the training yard at Montrace Castle feels like an eternity ago. I was never this close to him when he was in a state of undress. We were hemmed in by propriety, by social expectations, by the vast gulf between our social statuses. Here, none of that matters anymore.
“It’s hot in here,” he says, shrugging.
“Objectively, sir, it is not.” Suddenly, however, I’m not quite so cold. Still, I tug my cloak around my shoulders and curl up as close to the fire as I can without setting myself alight. Warmth slowly creeps back into my limbs. “Kai, has The Snow Queen asked you to play a game?”
“We play games all the time.” He’s seated in an ice chair several feet away, out of reach of the fire. “Chess. Card games. She loves word games in particular.”
“I suppose she cheats to win,” I mutter sourly, forgetting that he can hear me with his witch-heightened senses.
“She is scrupulously honest. The fae cannot lie and they cannot go back on their word.”
I stare into the flames, thinking. “You shouldn’t kiss her hand or cheek anymore. Try to avoid touching her.”
“Why, Gwen? Are you jealous?” He smirks.
Yes, but I’m not admitting that to him. “Haven’t you noticed the way her cheeks turn a shade pinker and her lips redder every time you touch her? She’s stealing your warmth, bit by bit. Feeding on you. Drawing it out.” Savoring his life force like it’s a rare treat. I shudder with revulsion. “You shouldn’t eat anymore of her ice food, either.”
“Her nourishment protects me from the cold.”
“Kai?”
“Gwen.”
“Try it my way for one day. Eat nothing she gives you. Avoid touching her. I will give you the coldest food I can make. Let’s see if eating ordinary human food changes you back the way you were.”
