He stared at me for a long moment. “You could really feel it when I touched it?”
I nodded. “Yep. But I haven’t felt anything since before our date. So… clearly, I can’t feel this person’s touch in the same way.”
“Unless they’re using gloves or something.”
I held in a sigh. “Dain, you’re my viramore. It makes a difference.”
He bit his cheek for a long moment before shrugging, and I figured I wasn’t going to convince him right now anyway, so I might as well change the subject.
“If I… if I end up… if this person ends up controlling my magic, can you… make sure they throw me in a holding cell or something? I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
But I also didn’t want to be taken down by dragons or king’s guards or something either because I was out of control.
The thought made me shiver.
This whole thing made my belly sour, and my heart feel like it was ready to pound out of my chest. Sweat pooled at the base of my back the more I thought about it.
This was my literal worst nightmare.
Someone I didn’t know, someone I didn’t trust, had my icicle. They had a piece of my soul.
The piece of my soul that was supposed to belong to Dain.
“Hey.” Dain’s voice was quiet, and he was looking at me with worry written all over his face. “It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”
I knew he meant it, but that just wasn’t possible.
I sent him a sad smile. “Sweetheart, I don’t think there’s anything either of us can do to stop it.”
He blew out a breath and hung his head for a few seconds. “I’m so damn sorry, Avalanche.”
“It’s not your fault.”
He surprised me by lifting my hand and kissing my wrist. “I will do everything in my power to find your icicle and keep you safe.”
I knew he meant that too. “Thank you.” I cleared my throat. “Maybe I should ask the king to lock me up in a holding cell until we find it. If I’m locked up, I can’t hurt anyone, right?”
“What if it takes days? Or weeks? Or fuck, months to find it? We’re not locking you up, babe. No way in hell.”
“But—”
“Do you really think anyone would agree to that?”
I shrugged since I didn’t really know the king or any of the higher-ups.
“I know them, and I know that they won’t be willing to lock up an innocent man. There’s no way.”
“Okay, then… I guess we wait.”
He sent me another sad smile. “First, we eat breakfast, then we can meet with my friends to keep searching. Sound good?”
“No. First we eat, then you get some sleep, andthenwe can meet with your friends to search.”
He sighed. “Fine, fine. Your plan works too.”
I sent him a sad smile, gave his hand a squeeze, and prayed we’d find my icicle before anything bad happened.
There really wasn’t anything else to do.
