Before I could answer, a figure stepped from the shadows ahead—tall, golden-brown hair catching the faint light, eyes gleaming with mischief and something dangerously close to delight.
“Brother,” Kaelith said, voice like steel dragged through frost.
Kael smiled. “You look terrible.”
“I should have known you’d be here.”
“You should have.” His eyes slid to me, warmth sparking there. “And there’s the little mortal who’s turned my brother into a legend already.”
I opened my mouth, unsure whether to thank him or argue. “Ididn’t—”
Kael’s grin widened. “Save it. I like you better when you don’t apologize.”
Kaelith stepped slightly between us, his tone razor-thin. “Why are you here?”
“Because, dear brother, you’re bleeding power across the border and rattling every Court from here to the Dreaming Sea.” Kael’s gaze flicked toward me again, softer this time. “And because she shouldn’t be out here alone.”
“She isn’t alone,” Kaelith said.
Kael’s grin didn’t fade. “Then why does she look so cold?”
I blinked at him, thrown by the warmth in his voice. It was disarming—like standing too close to a fire after weeks of frost.
“Come,” Kael said, extending a hand toward me. “Let’s get you both somewhere safe before the next storm finds us.”
Kaelith didn’t move. Neither did I.
The aurora shifted above, streaking the Frostwood in gold and red, as if the sky itself held its breath.
And somewhere in the dark behind us, the wraiths began to whisper again.
The Frostwood deepened around us, swallowing the aurora’s light until only stray ribbons of red shimmered through the trees. Each one clung to Kael’s hair as he walked ahead, his warmth a strange contrast to Kaelith’s cold presence behind me.
Kael moved easily through the snow, unbothered by the cold. “You know,” he said, glancing over his shoulder, “most mortals don’t survive five minutes in Winter’s heart. And yet here you are, defying reason—and my brother.”
“I’m beginning to think those two are the same thing,” I murmured.
Kael laughed, the sound rich and bright, like sunlight cracking the frost. “She’s quick, Kaelith. I can see why you kept her.”
Kaelith’s voice cut through the air, low and sharp. “She’s notkept.”
“Oh?” Kael stopped, turning just enough for the aurora’s light to catch his grin. “Then what is she?”
Silence. The wind filled it. I looked at Kaelith, but his expression was unreadable again—every trace of heat sealed behind that calm mask.
“She’s under my protection,” he said finally.
“Right,” Kael drawled. “Protection. That’s what we’re calling it now.”
I felt Kaelith stiffen behind me, tension rolling off him in waves. “Enough.”
But Kael didn’t stop. “You could at least thank me for saving her from your assassins. A little gratitude between brothers wouldn’t freeze you.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“You never do. That’s what makes it fun.”
I watched them trade words like blades, each strike faster, subtler. Kael’s grin held mischief, but there was something dangerous beneath it—something almost territorial.
