Colden sends a sharp glance over his shoulder. “Nephele, do as I say.”
I sling my shield over my back and finally catch up to his long strides. “I’m not leaving you. That was not the deal.”
Colden rubs his chest, digging his fingers in deep, as if an ache lives there and he can’t make it go away. He’s been doing it all day.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Why is that happening? It’s not normal.”
“It’s nothing. And stop trying to derail my anger.” Abruptly, he pauses and levels me with a look as he aims a deadly finger toward the castle. “Nephele Bloodgood.Get to the safe house.Now.”
“Why should I? You want me to hide, and yet you’re willing to place yourself in imminent danger.”
He recently confessed that he doesn’t think Fia will care if he’s delivered as a bargaining chip for the keys to her city. They were in love a long time ago. The City of Ruin and its Grove of the Gods means far more to the Fire Queen than Colden. How can I let him risk capture and that sort of demise? Turning to dust on Summerland soil, all because he blames himself for all of this?
Resolute, I grab the front of his coat, pressing my hand over his heart as his coldness radiates through me more bitterly than any winter wind. “I’m fightingwithyou. If you want me gone, you’re going to have tocarryme from this courtyard.”
He leans close. “That’spreciselymy fear. That I will have to pick up your broken and bleeding body when this is over.” He grips my arms. “I’m begging you. Go.”
Horns sound again, and Colden and I turn toward the nearest watch tower. With one last look, he grabs my hand, and we run.
Then we’re climbing. I go first, and the world spins beneath me, my arms quivering from the effort. Colden pushes me up the last rung and onto the landing before hauling himself up behind me.
Brittle with irritation, he yanks me against him and kisses me like he might never kiss me again. “We’re going to fight about this later,” he promises.
“And you’ll have much groveling to do,” I add.
He just shakes his head and moves to the railing, taking in the band of warriors approaching in the near distance. They carry lit torches and are armed with bows and arrows. A dark cloud of what looks like crows screeches above their heads.
In the last of the day’s golden light, I can make out their bronze leathers and their flag, and the malevolent grins on each of their faces. There aren’t many. A few dozen, perhaps.
Surely we can take them.
Colden flings out both hands, sending shards of ice flying down the road. I watch with bated breath. Could it be this easy?
The rider at the front holds his fist to the sky, and a circle of fire forms mid-air—a flaming all-seeing eye. It doesn’t so much as wink when Colden’s icy daggers strike its center, exploding against the flames in a hiss of steam.
We look at one another.
“What the fuck is that?” I say.
The muscles in Colden’s strong jaws leap. “That would be Summerland fire magick, I do believe.”
“What? But…how?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, love.” He glances east to west. Unfazed, he lifts his hands, summoning the power of ice and frost into the cradle of his palms.
Shivering, I blink, and in that instant, a wall begins to rise betweenWinterhold and the enemy. There’s a resonating hum as blue-white energy coalesces from the frost and snow, filling the air. It creates a crystalline barrier of quickly forming translucent ice that races along the village wall for as far as the eye can see and surges skyward, high as the castle's tallest spires.
By the time the prince and his warriors reach Winterhold’s main gate, there’s no way in.
Voices fill the air, cheers erupting across the courtyard and along the ramparts. The men with us in the watchtower slap Colden on the back, elated by this feat of sheer domination from our king. Though mesmerized, I even start to smile.
Colden shrugs off the praise, narrows his gaze on the ice, and shouts, “Protect the gate!” He rushes to the western side of the tower, looking down over villagers celebrating with their swords and shields raised in the air. “Do you hear me? Protect the gate!”
Gripping one of the posts, I try to see beyond the ice. What can only be a ball of fire slams into the frigid wall with athudI feel in my bones. The ice rocks and creaks, then a terrible sound echoes across the courtyard.
Cracking.
Colden spins around and pushes me toward the ladder. “We have to get out of here. Now.”
