“I know.”
“Because your mate is awesome.”
She grinned.“Yeah, he sure is.And sexy too.”
“Second in comparison to you, sweetheart.I’m glad you’re with me, even though it was a fucking dangerous way to have a meet-cute.”
She chuckled and leaned against him with a sigh.They stood in the silence for a little while, and then they started walking again, the snow crunching under their boots.
Suddenly, his wolf started to prowl under his skin, restless.
“Wait, do you see that?”Emberlin asked with a low voice.
She pointed out into the distance where a faint, flickering glow pulsed weakly against the darkness.He stared intently, thinking it might be a reflection on some ice from the Northern Lights, but the longer he looked, the more it became clear it was a small figure curled up in the snow.The lights shimmered overhead, growing a little brighter and illuminating the area in muted yellows and greens, and that’s when he saw the wings: translucent, delicate, and twitching in the wind.
“A fairy?”he asked.He looked around for danger.How the hell had a fairy wound up outside Northernmost?They used portals to come into Northernmost and replenish their magic at the Well, just like any other magical creature.
“It’s like me,” she said.“Her magic is almost gone.”Her voice was filled with doubt and Sebastian agreed.
Using the walkie, he called for backup.Within minutes, the Guardians and security team arrived and they filled them in.
The fairy shivered violently in the cold, and his protective instincts were screaming, but not as loudly as the part of him that wondered if it was a trap.
“We’ve got your back,” Declan said and the other Guardians nodded.They left the elves inside the perimeter to keep guard, and the five available Guardians walked with him and Emberlin through the perimeter and toward the figure in the snow.
The closer they got, the more suspicious he grew.But he didn’t sense anyone around them, just this small fairy.
He crouched next to the shivering fairy and reached for her.
Emberlin’s magic flared bright red, and she said, “Wait!”
The fairy’s body shimmered and exploded in a blast of icy wind, revealing one of Frost’s evil followers, grinning with black eyes and sharp teeth.The male lunged for Sebastian, and he shoved Emberlin back as he throttled the male, trading punches with him in the snow.
A crackle echoed, and Frost and his followers appeared.They’d hidden behind some kind of magical wall.
“About time you left the safety of Northernmost, little phoenix,” he drawled.His gaze was locked onto Emberlin like a predator.“This was too easy.You Guardians always want to help others.To your own detriment.”
Sebastian tossed the follower to the side and stepped in front of his mate, letting out his claws and fangs.
The fight erupted around them as the followers attacked the Guardians.Frost lifted his hands and sent razor-sharp ice shards flying toward them.Keeping Emberlin behind him, he dodged the ice, shielding her from the worst of the assault.
But he could feel Frost getting closer, the ice nearly blinding him in its intensity.
“Emberlin!Run!”he yelled.
* * *
Emberlin barely had time to react to Sebastian’s call for her to run to safety before Frost was nearly on top of her.His magic swirled like a snowstorm, freezing the ground beneath her feet and forcing her away from the safety of Northernmost.
No!He would not get her magic.
Summoning her fire magic, she thrust her hands forward and blasted the snow under Frost with molten energy.The ground hissed as the ice melted, and then—before he could leap away—she clenched her fists and sent her healing magic into the ground, solidifying the water instantly and trapping his feet in place.
His eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in fury.“You bitch!”
“Takes one to know one!”she taunted.
She didn’t wait a second longer.Lifting her hands outward, her magic surged as she called on her power to cast the binding spell.
