Arianna lifted her hands from the ground, ice cracking to release its hold, and settled them on her knees. She tilted her head back, determined to preserve this shred of paradise.
The vibrations continued. Pounding, she realized. They were pounding against her frozen structure. No, they were doing far more than that. They were chipping away at it. Or trying to.
Fire and ice pelted against the thick sides but had little effect. Talon called her name again, his voice muffled. Desperate. He wouldn’t give up until he knew beyond a doubt that she was safe. She’d always admired his determination.
Arianna stared at the icy wall to her front. It was so thick she couldn’t even see their silhouettes beyond it. Part of her never wanted to leave. Perhaps she’d simply remain here for the rest of the evening.
Talon called her name again and Arianna sighed in resignation. So much for her sanctuary. She could only imagine what her friend had witnessed. He’d seen her lose control before.
Reluctantly, Arianna reached one hand out, ready to melt a doorway through the ice when a shivering exhale from behind drew her up short. Warm breath hit her next, cascading down her spine as if he were running his fingertips over each and every vertebra. She swore, in this moment, that she knew exactly what that felt like.
Arianna twisted her head around slowly. He was there. This Rion. The male the world feared. The Demon. Her gaze traveled over his body. Nearly every inch of his skin was covered in a light layer of frost, the lower portion notably thicker, as if some unconscious part of her had rooted his body to the ground.
It should have frozen him entirely.
Arianna couldn’t help but enjoy his vulnerable state. For once, he was completely at her mercy.
She blinked at him. Unafraid. In control. He appeared nearly ethereal with the bluish hue to his skin. Like a statue carved to tell the world about innocence and surrender. So strange, given his gruesome history.
Aside from his labored breathing, the male didn’t move. Curious. Parts of her were so curious about him now. She longed to reach out and see for herself if his skin felt just as fragile as it looked. Would he bleed the way his victims had? Would he scream? Would this male beg for his life if she began pulling the fluid from his body one extremity at a time?
Arianna turned around to face him, the icicles that had formed around her thighs cracking as she broke their comfortingembrace. The Demon, Rion, stared at her unmoving. She hated the way he drank her in, yet relished in the way his gaze traveled over her body. Something about the way those lethal eyes lingered on her throat, her chest, her lips.
She’d seen that carnal look before.
Arianna studied the way he knelt. An awkward position. His legs weren’t quite under him, as if he’d been reaching forward. Or fighting not to be pushed back. She was reminded of the hand on her shoulder. Had he been the one squeezing so hard, or had that merely been a figment created by the shattered remnants in her mind?
Talon’s muffled voice sounded again. The pounding had never ceased. They couldn’t get in. No one could stop her or stand in her way now. It would take half a thought for her to encase The Demon’s body. It would render him immobile, and he’d suffer slowly, suffocating as he thought about the female he’d hoped to trick and the country he’d planned to rule.
Such a vulnerable little predator trapped in her web.
“Easy,” Rion whispered, his warm breath clouding in her face. His teeth chattered and Arianna wondered just how cold it might be in her manufactured sanctuary. She could simply do nothing, remain here and watch him freeze to death.
Arianna looked down at her hand and furrowed her brow. She didn’t remember reaching for him, especially not his face, yet her fingers hovered barely an inch away.
Arianna froze in that exact position and the two stared at one another.
“Arianna!” Talon’s voice echoed clearer. Closer. They were breaking through after all. Chipping away one sliver at a time. She could change that. It would be easy to toss both him and Raevina back, reforming the thick sheet they’d carved a dent through.
Cold hatred settled through her and Arianna let her hand drop. “I think they’re worried about you,” she stated. Him. It was always him.
The Demon didn’t so much as glance in the direction of Talon’s voice. His lips parted, and he hesitated as if his next words could shatter and cut like a thousand pieces of glass. “What if I said you’re all that matters?”
She bristled at the softness in his tone. His eyes. Her throat was suddenly dry, even as her heart pounded with rage. “Why?”To control you. Lure you. Trick you.But this was the first time since waking in that cabin thatshefelt in control. This monster was at her mercy, not the other way around. The ice washerdomain. Her sanctuary. Her power.
“You were screaming,” he said gently, as if that were explanation enough.
Gods above his voice. His performance. It was immaculate.
Arianna didn’t turn away. She wouldn’t give in or back down. Instead, Arianna tugged at the magic already surrounding her. She let it come alive and crawl up his leg, pushing just deep enough that he flinched from the sting of the cold.
“Why don’t you defend yourself?”
“Do I need to?”
She let her eyes roam over his body, raising her brow at his obvious situation. “Most would. Or at the very least, beg for their lives.”
“Is that what you want from me? To beg?”
