“You could at least make that look a tad more challenging for you,” I argued, attempting to mask the discomfort burning in my shoulders from wing use.
Jack only grinned, those sparkling, ice-blue eyes reeling me in like an impending avalanche. “And you should watch out for that tree.” He poked his thumb behind him, darting out of the way.
A wide birch tree appeared out of nowhere from the blurred, snowy drifts, and I yelped, turning in time to avoid impaling myself on its trunk. The sudden change of direction and my inexperience with flying had me in a frantic spin of barrel rolls until I plummeted headfirst into a snow bank.
Huffing, I pulled my face from the powdery flakes and glared at Jack through my disheveled, wet hair. He wassmirkingat me. “Think you could’ve given more notice?”
“I honestly thought you’d avoid it without issue given—” Jack turned his hands into little wings, hooking his thumbs together and flapping. “—have you not used them in a while? At all? I get why you hid them in public, but?—”
I shook the flakes from my hair and shoulders, my wings bristling to rid themselves of the snow weighing them down. “Doyou get it? Do you?” Sighing, I sulked in defeat on the ground, my shoulders slumping. Even the cold wetness from the snow seeping through my pants wasn’t enough to jar me from my pity party. “This was a bad idea.”
“Which part, faerie?” Jack’s hand extended to me. “You ending up on your ass in a snow bank, or giving us a chance?”
It was a simple gesture—an outstretched palm to help me stand. Some would have even referred to it as gentlemanly, butwith us, so much rested in that act of his. He knew what would happen if our skin touched. Surely, how I made him feel was as euphoric for him as it was for me. Had he wanted to experience it again, or was he genuinely offering his assistance?
“I never said I was necessarily giving us a chance.” Deciding to ignore his hand, for now, I hoisted myself up and brushed off my butt. “You wanted to show me your powers, and here I am. Was the Iceman routine it? Are we done?”
Jack frowned, a deep scowl following, and his hands coiled into fists. “Iceman? Who is that? I don’t like him already.”
Holding up a hand in a halting gesture, I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek to hide my grin. “Before you go freezing him to death in some form of icy pissing contest, he’s a fictional character fromX-Men.”
Jack’s glare softened, but he still stood rigid like he had zero idea what I was talking about.
“Never mind. Anyway, are we done?” My wings folded back as if to tell mewewere not going anywhere.
“Sit down,” Jack commanded, his hands loosening, but a steely, animalistic glint flashed in his gaze.
My body wasn’t sure whether to slap him or kiss him with a tone like that.
“Excuse me?” My voice came out far raspier than I would have preferred. There wasn’t nearly enough anger in it either.
“Sit down,” he repeated, dropping his voice, gravel coating the words now.
Something hit the back of my thighs, forcing me to sit, and I gasped at the sight of two armrests made out of ice appearing beneath me. Gulping, I softly settled into the ice throne he’d created. My heart raced at the implication of it—try it on for size, see how it feels,faerie.
“There we are. I ask for five minutes without talking and with an open mind. Think you can handle that?” A sparkle flickered in his right eye, his ears perking, awaiting my answer.
“Can you?” I replied like a brat, haughtily folding my arms and bouncing in my seat.
Jack didn’t seem annoyed by my antics. Instead, he chuckled and scratched his chin through his beard. “Five minutes starting fromnow.”
Crossing my legs at the ankle, I gulped down the sand coating my throat at the sight of him waiting for me to be quiet, to pay attention. Keeping my word, I gave a soft nod.
Jack’s eyes went from inhumanly blue to pure ice, a devious smile cresting his lips before a spiraling snow flurry started at his feet and worked its way to his head. He disappeared. Sitting up straight, I gripped the armrests and looked for him.
Was this a joke?
It started subtly at first, the rhythmic sound of hooves pounding the frozen soil. I willed myself to stay put, to show Jack I wasn’t weak or vulnerable simply because I’d grown used to hiding myself. Ice horses plunged through the trees in a stampede, their breaths huffing from their snouts in white vapors. Nerves prickled my spine, but I cemented myself to the seat. The equines charged toward me, splitting like a seam when they neared the throne, running past. Jack rode one horse, his hair and beard glistening with ice crystals now, a white cloak with fur draping over his shoulders, intricate silver-twig embroidery sewn through it.
That same confident and satisfied smile graced his lips. The sight of it made my stomach tighten, and it swooshed into my core, my grip tightening on the throne, cracking the ice. Now several feet in front of me, Jack back-flipped from the horse, the stampede turning into sparkling silver trails of magic and snow. When Jack landed, he swooped his arm first left then right,raising icy spires from the ground, zooming past the trees and into the grey clouds. They morphed into pillars one would see outfitting a castle. He swiveled on his heel, the skin on his hands replaced with smoking ice. Jack’s power conjured in his palm, spiraling ivory magic with a never-ending cascade of snowflakes. He flicked his hand at a birch tree between us, dozens of icy spikes launching into it like throwing knives.
Jack shot his palms forward, an ice trail forming over the blades of frosty grass, leading under my chair. He circled his hands around the other, magic curling around the throne’s base, my legs, and arms. His power lifted me until he, too, rose, his head in line with my knees. I pinned my calves against the seat, not daring to look down at how high we’d gotten. When the seat stopped, it towered over the tree line, and all of Arcane Cove was in full view.
Jack slowly appeared before me, crackles and twinkles sparking from his wintry magic, surrounding us, supporting us. One arm draped across his back, and he bent forward, a rose made of ice appearing between two fingers, shimmering with bright blue flakes. Grinning, his canines somehow looking larger and sharper now, he held it out to me.
My throat tightened, sinuses stinging, and I couldn’t be certain why straight away, but tearswelledin my eyes. I swallowed, trying to force them back, but they weren’t having it, one escaping and rolling down my cheek, freezing against my skin.
Jack frowned, and his gaze snapped to the iced teardrop. “What did I do, Sylvie?”
