“Kel,” I say, desperation clinging to my words, “it was your vow. The magic of your bargain broke through it all.”
“Rose,” he growls, a warning in that word.
But I fall closer to him, tears falling into my mouth as they brush against his jaw. “The love you had when you both made the bargain was so strong. It was your love that saved me, Kel. We can’t leave him down there to suffer. You care. You have to care.”
“Get away from me,” Keldarion says, a primal, animalistic sound. He pushes me away so hard, I fall to the ground.
Ezryn and Dayton are on either side of me in an instant. Farron rushes to his feet. But my eyes are on Keldarion. He lurches from the chair so fast, it clatters to the floor. He staggers back. His fists clench, his jaw tightens, and there’s a glint in his gaze—something wild and untamed. The air around us changes, thickening, then plummeting to a bone-chilling cold.
“No,” I whisper.
Frost spreads across the floor, spiraling outward in a frenzy of jagged crystals. Ezryn draws me to my feet, pulling me against his chest.
Overhead, the stone ceiling trembles, and with a sudden, thunderous crash, shards of ice rain down, scattering like glass.
“What the fuck is happening?” Dayton gasps. And it’s Farron crouched in a protective stance in front of the Summer Prince, his stare set on Kel.
Keldarion’s figure shudders, contorting as his body twists and shifts, his shoulders broadening, muscles straining beneath his skin as if trying to break free. I can only watch, rooted to the spot. His flesh turns pale, and fur erupts along his arms, spreading over him in waves. His face elongates, sharpening into a muzzle, and his eyes blaze with light.
“Was there a sunset we missed?” Dayton gasps.
But of course not. It’s only the afternoon.
Keldarion grows and grows until he towers over us, bigger than I’ve ever seen his wolf form. He is a beast of frost and fury. Icicles protrude from his fur, glinting like daggers, and long, glowing blue lines trace across his body. His breath comes in ragged, frosty clouds, each exhale sending tiny shards of ice swirling into the air.
A shiver runs down my spine as he looks at me, his eyes gleaming with a fierce, unrestrained wildness that I’ve never seen before, not even in the coldest moments of his rage. This isn’t Keldarion. This is the curse taking hold of him, twisting him into something monstrous, something untamable. The power radiating from him suffocates. The ground beneath me shakes as his enormous paws press into the frozen stone, sending cracks splintering across the floor.
Kel!I scream in my mind, reaching out across our bond.Kel, are you there?
For a moment, I don’t see him—like Farron when the beast completely took over his mind—but in a flash, it’s back to those ice-chip eyes.
I step forward, and Ezryn tries to tug me back, but I shake my head. “If he’s going to recognize anyone, it’s going to be me.”
Fear creeps into my heart, raw and visceral, and I feel very much like that human girl again, running from the beasts of the Briar.No. I am a princess of the Enchanted Vale.I stare straight into the eyes of the Winter wolf.I’m your mate. You won’t harm me.
The curse is spreading, deepening, sinking its claws into him. I could fight this curse with my love if he’d let me. I reach a hand out, trembling, but a howl erupts from his throat.
The wolf bows his head and growls, revealing daggerlike teeth. “Get out,” he rumbles. “All of you.”
I want to fight him, want to fight this.Kel?
There’s no reply.
Ezryn tugs me away, taking me to the door where Farron and Dayton stand. With a heavy heart, I leave the Winter Prince behind.
I’d told Kel he was a beast, but my heart aches at how true it really is. Caspian’s love. My love. At one point, had I been so foolish as to believe it would be enough to save him?
I wrap my arms around myself as the truth creeps in.
The High Prince of Winter will be a beast forever.
8
Rosalina
Ezryn keeps his hand on my arm as we walk through the hallsto my guest room. Distantly, I notice servants staring at us as we pass. Ezryn bows his head, averting his gaze. When we get to my room, he closes the door behind us. I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge. My mind is hazy, a numbness overtaking my body as if I’ve been out in the cold too long.
Thankfully, with Ezryn, silence never feels weighted or awkward. He leans against the door, chest rising and falling, a tousle of dark hair shading his eyes. We don’t need to speak. Don’t need todoanything. He lets me sit, and I let him lean.
