It pulsed with power in my hand, and I sucked in a breath. It felt… living. Or like it had been living before it’d been cut off.
But was it cut off from a plant? From a tree?
My eyes widened. Could it have been cut off from a living person?
The second I realized I was holding some kind of… living thing, I went to drop it on the ground and fling it away from me.
But I paused.
Not because I wasn’t grossed out—because I was; who the hell gave someone a piece of a living being, even if it was ice?—but because I didn’t think I could part with it.
It wasn’t stuck to my hand, but the second I thought about dropping it, my heart squeezed tight, like itwantedthis strange thing close.
What the actual fuck?
“Dain?” Anton’s voice snapped me to attention.
I stood up straight and faced him, holding the strange thing to my chest.
Anton took me in, his eyes lingering on the strange item for a long moment before his gaze met mine. “Are you alright?”
“I… I… I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m… it sort of felt… comforting. Like a big hug.”
Jed gasped, drawing my attention. He elbowed his father. “Is that what I think it is?”
Anton sighed. “If you think it’s a snow yeti’s icicle, then yes. It is.”
“Oh shit.” Jed huffed.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong?”
Jed grimaced. “Um… I think you might’ve just accepted an engagement.”
My eyes widened in horror. “What?”
Chapter Four
Lanche
My magic shot through me as I gripped my car, trying my best to stay upright so I didn’t fall on my ass.
My gasp was loud even as my heart sang with joy. I could feel Dain from here. I could feel his magic, feel his essence, and it was the most beautiful thing in the entire world.
He held a piece of me in his hands, and I… I could feel him.
My eyes watered with my joy.
“Are you alright?” a voice asked from behind.
I pulled myself together, closing my eyes, letting the magic settle in my bones, and turned around to face a stranger. A beautiful stranger with a shaved head, makeup on their pretty face, earrings glittering in the sunlight, and a big chain necklace around their neck. Their blouse was purple, their jeans were tight, and their pretty face was scrunched up in concern.
I said, “I’m fine.”
The stranger’s brow furrowed, and a man came up behind them, saying, “You don’t look fine. What’s going on here?”
