Konstantin?I rasp into the bond.
Silence.
What feels like a whole hour ticks by before a ripple forms on the surface of the Cauldron.
Then another. And another.
And then the source of all magic is buoying my father and mate up. I scour them for physical alterations, but their features are unchanged—my father, still all dark, rugged angles; my mate, still all pale, bladed ones.
Remembering that I share a bond with Konstantin, I all but scream into his mind:What gift did you receive?
The corners of his mouth edge upward into a smile that catches on his lashes and sinks past his pupils, giving his stare the patina of polished silver.
At least he can still hear me. I think.Right, you can?—
Yes, Little Witch. I can still hear you.
Relief swerves through me but so does curiosity.Please tell me before I expire!
You’re immortal. You will never expire.
This is not the time for?—
So am I now.Immortal.He speaks the word with great reverence.
“What?” I whisper-croak-shout, tearing my hands out of Izolda and my mother’s to cover my mouth.
“What?” Izolda hisses, complexion rivaling Konstantin’s upon hearing about his summons for an enchanted dip.
My mother’s mouth rounds around a trembling, “Oh.”
“What?” Izolda repeats, shrilly this time.
My father nods to Konstantin. “Why don’t you show them?”
My heart beats out of my chest as I picture him asking one of the Crows to try and behead him with an iron talon.
“No! Please! N-N-No demonstration.” Dread coils around my neck, suffocating me. “I d-don’t think my heart c-can…”
The contours of Konstantin’s body begin to glimmer, to blur. And then like a snowball tossed at a glass wall, he explodes into a million flurries that swirl toward me before reshaping.
Intohim.
“Holy Gods, Kostya!” Izolda gasps. “What—what was—The Cauldron transformed you into a…a…a yeti?”
He cocks a black eyebrow. “Ayeti?”
Phoeppa coughs a chuckle into his fist that wins him Zia Syb’s elbow in the ribs and a hissed, “This is a solemn moment.”
Instead of quieting him, his head falls back on booming laughter that Lachlano and Agrippina reciprocate.
“Just so we’re clear”—Konstantin spins on himself to make eye contact with all—“I amnota yeti. I am a literal Ice King. I can now freeze someone’s internal organs and carve them up—no chisel required. I can also stream through the air for as long as I wish influrry-form.” He slides one of his fingers beneath my jaw until it’s aligned with my chin and bops it.
He can freeze people! Freaking freeze internal organs!I am a trillion percent certain that if he lets go, my mouth will go slack once more.Does it kill them?
If they’re human and half-blood, yes.
And the others?
