I open my mouth to politely decline, but she lifts a gloved hand before I can get a word out.
“Ah, ah,” she tsks, tilting her head. “That wasn’t a request, my dear.”
Shit.
“Respectfully, we are in a bit of a hurry,” Nash says, stepping slightly in front of me.
“Yes, and so am I,” the Snow Queen replies, a slow, amused smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “So, let’s make this simple, shall we?” She lifts her hand and snaps her fingers.
The ice groans beneath us, and figures molded from frost and magic appear, their forms shimmering like glass, weapons already drawn. What are they? Ice warriors? Shamelessly, my gaze drops to check if their genitalia is one, covered, or two, lively. They are neither; they don’t have them. How do they pee?
“Yeah, okay, this is excessive,” Malachi mutters, glancing between them. “A simple ‘please’ would have sufficed.”
“You misunderstand.” The Snow Queen’s gaze locks onto mine, the amusement in her expression shifting into something darker, something sharper. “I have waited far too long for a proper dinner guest.” She glances at Gwyneth. “And now I have two.”
Then, with a flick of her wrist, the ice warriors surge forward.
One slams into Nash, sending him skidding across the ice with a grunt, while another snatches Gwyneth’s arm, twisting her forward with impossible strength. Malachi and Theo fight back, but the frozen creatures swiftly overpower them.
I don’t even get a chance to react before one of them seizes me by the waist and hoists me into the air.
“I swear to Idols, if your hand strays—” I don’t get to finish my threat, because the damn thing hurls me onto the back of the sleigh like I’m a sack of potatoes. A very disgruntled sack of potatoes. Guards toss the others in beside me in a series of graceless landings—except for Gwyneth, who somehow lands with all the elegance of a queen.
Show-off.
The moment we’re secured, the Snow Queen climbs into the sleigh, settling into her seat as if she isn’t a complete lunatic who just kidnapped an entire group of people. She waves a hand, and the wolves snarl before launching forward, the sleigh jolting into motion. Nash clasps his hands around my stomach and holds me tight against him.
“Perfect,” she purrs, clasping her hands together in satisfaction. “We shall have such fun.”
I highly doubt her version of fun and mine align.
Mr. Yak wriggles his way to the top of the pile.Don’t look. Don’t look.Ugh, clearly people piles also make him happy. “Remember what I told you,” he whispers before hurling himself over the side of the sleigh and skidding over the ice. The queen glances over her shoulder and sniffs.
“What did he tell us?” I whisper.
“Don’t eat the food,” Nash murmurs in my ear.
Right. My stomach growls low.
Malachi runs a hand down his face. “We’re fucked.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
For half a tempo, I consider following Mr. Yak over the side of the sleigh, but Nash must sense my intentions, because his arms stiffen around my waist.
“No escaping,” he says with a nip on my earlobe.
“You aren’t worried that we’ve been kidnapped by a winter queen who serves magical food?” I ask.
“I’m always worried when it comes to you. But I have faith in whatever journey we are on, and if this is part of the quest, I will be at your side every step of the way.” My heart swells, the beating organ flushing out the rising fear and replacing it with the Stirling’s love and acceptance.
“Now that’s a castle,” Gwyneth breathes as she hangs her head over the edge of the fast moving sleigh. Snow swirls around the glittering ice palace, like it’s trapped inside an invisible sphere. I suck in a breath as something presses against my skin, and then we are through the barrier and safe from the snow.
“That’s unusual,” Theo says.
The sleigh screeches to a stop at the foot of a steep set of sleek steps. The arched doors are wide open and flanked by ice warriors, their soulless eyes glinting as they study us.
