“Bryna. It’s over. Give it up now, and I will make this painless for you,” I growled, blasting open yet another door only to be greeted with emptiness. “The longer you delay, the worse it’s going to get.”
I’d never been to this particular property of Bryna’s before, so the layout was unfamiliar to me. But as I neared another set of stairs leading into a basement, I knew my search was coming to an end.
Ice flowed down the stairs ahead of me. I walked down each step, my bare feet having no trouble finding grip on ice of my own making. The cold didn’t bother me either, despite my nudity.
It was like a comfortable blanket. Or would be, if I could share it with my love.
Corridors spread out in three directions from me as I reached the bottom of the stairs. Three options. One correct. Two wrong.
“I’m done playing games,” I said to the empty air as I sucked in a breath and all the power that made me who I was.
The ice tyrant was here.
With Anna at the front of my mind, I let forth a tremendous bellow. Ice and alpha power rolled out from me in a visible wave, slamming down doors and coating every surface in an inches-thick layer of ice.
Two feet short of the double doors at the end of the hallway to my right, the ice simply stopped. The leading edge vibrated rapidly, trying to push on, but it could go no further. Something was holding it back.
Someone else’s power.
“Bryna. Let her go before this gets ugly!” I shouted, crafting a spear of pure ice in my hands as I slowly walked toward that barrier. I infused it with my power, creating something more than just the physical weapon.
If she had harmed a single hair on Anna’s head, I was going to kill her. Crucify her to the walls of her own house.
Hauling back, I flung the powerful ice spear straight down the hallway. It hit the barrier and drove it back a good foot.
Someone behind the doors cried out. Hopefully in pain. I doubted that sort of impact could have felt good.
Reaching the barrier, I clenched a fist, coating it with ice, and slammed it into the frosty edge. Again, the barrier retreated, and my ice surged forward once more, creeping up the corners of the doors themselves now, though the center remained clear.
Not that it mattered. A silent thought, and the ice under my command found the hinges to the doors, freezing them solid. A simple command then shattered everything.
The doors groaned and fell inward with a tremendous clash to reveal a tallish woman standing in the middle of the room. Half a dozen humanoid shapes were buried in ice, three on either side of her.
I panicked, thinking she had frozen Anna, but movement behind Bryna showed me the truth instead. Anna was curled up on the floor next to another very frail woman, whom she was sheltering with her body. Both women had ice over their mouths and more pinning their handsto the ground. Anna’s eyes were wide with fright, and she kept looking all around, everywhere but at me.
Fury surged through me when I saw the silver collar around her neck, but I fought it back. Composure was key. I had to get Anna free first. If Bryna was alive, she could release the women without harming them. I would not wish Ella’s struggle on anyone. Especially my mate. It was my job to shield her from such things. If that meant holding on to my own anger … so be it.
For now.
“It’s over,” I said as Bryna wiped away a trickle blood from her nose, courtesy of my blows to her shield, I was certain. “Stand down.”
“Over?” Bryna chuckled, standing up tall and shaking the short brown hair free from her face. “How ironic of you to say that, Casimir. Because itisover. For you.”
“You cannot defeat me,” I rumbled. “You cannot be that insane to think so, Bryna. Give it up. Release them and come peacefully.”
A wild light entered Bryna’s eyes. “You’re right. I cannot defeat you alone.”
Alarm bells went off in my head at the tone of her voice. It was not the tone of a defeated woman.
“But then, I’m not alone,” she hissed, gesturing at the walls.
The ice fell away, and the six shapes frozenbeneath stirred, moving to encircle me.
I sniffed the air. “Weres? Come now, Bryna. You’re just murdering them.”
In response, six balls of fire simultaneously appeared in front of the men.
“No. The only one getting murdered isyou,” she spat angrily.
