And when I look at the window again, all the frost is gone. There’s no handprint, no shadow, no icy winter wonderland outside.
I need to go to bed before I start seeing Sasquatch outside, too.
Chapter 10
North
What an intriguingdelight.
When my brother said he’d become involved with another human, I’d shaken my head. The last time this happened, he was beaten to the brink of never returning. Imprisoned for having an affair with a mortal, revealing magic to a mortal, for sharing secrets about and bringing her to the Nether realm, and, as far as our mother is concerned, for just being an overall disappointment.
The prison sentence dwindled his fire and nearly broke him entirely.
Mother has never allowed him to live it down, hence the fucking sprites hovering around the island.
I’ve missed my brother—the dark one who was the order to my chaos. Who took my ideas and morphed them into something unbreakable. He knew the rules and loopholes like the back of his hand, memorized the Codex and studied it while I played with icicles and fucked with mortal’s heads for centuries.
Hearing him so desperate on the phone made my heart hurt and, weirdly, gave me hope. If he’s willing to bend for this girl, maybe he isn’t lost. Maybe he’s still in there, his power andrage growing into something none of our mother’s minions can control.
Staring through the frosted window at this woman overnight… evenmymouth is dry. She’s stunning, I’ll give him that.
Toying with her was a bonus, and she fell for my tricks perfectly.
I stalked her yard, watched her through the windows, and kept an eye out for any surprises on her street. Nothing so far, though it doesn’t mean there isn’t something hiding in plain sight.
After a while, you learn even the trees on this island are gossipers, Nether beings who were trapped on this side as punishment long ago. They’re all trying to get back.
I don’t know why.
This world is so much more fun to play with.
As the sun’s light dares to break, I hear rumbling inside the house. Her alarm goes off. Her dog barks. I can see her moving around in the kitchen and the bathroom.
“I hear you. I know we’re late. Give me a minute,” I hear her tell her dog.
Late? For what?
My brows knit as I walk around to her steps and wait for her to come outside. I’m entirely hidden from her. Even if she walks directly into me, she’ll only feel an extra chill or taste peppermint on the air.
My brother’s mark on the front door flickers, making my jaw tighten.
The light within it is weak, barely hanging on. Centuries ago, his mark would have kept other creatures and legends off the entire street. It would have glowed so bright, anything in the sky would have regarded it as aNo Trespassingsign.
I press my hand to the space beneath it. Ice cuts through the first layer of wood and burns blue. A breeze encircles me as cold flame curls around my fingertips, and when the freeze subsides, I take my hand away.
An ice crystal mark glows blue in its wake.
Invisible to any human and clear as the night to anyone from our world.
Until Blaze gets his full powers back, I’ll gladly take the fall.
The front door opens. I quickly move off the pavers by her steps and watch her come outside, dog on a leash at her side.
No fucking wonder my brother is smitten. She’s even more gorgeous on this side of the glass.
She’s wearing leggings, an oversized metal band hoodie, and a black beanie on her head. No makeup this early in the morning. Her hair unkempt and laying messily over her shoulders. Her eyes are puffy from sleep, and she’s barely paying attention to her surroundings. I watch her place her spare key in a fake plant on the screened-in porch before proceeding outside, and my expression flattens.
I guess there being little crime on the island is the reason she’s so cavalier about her safety.
