Worse, I am a danger to anyone who loves me.
My heart hurts and now…damn…hydration has allowed tears to burn behind my eyes.
Tears I fight against shedding.
I fail.
Again, I fail.
Stellen’s gaze follows the tracks down my cheeks.
“Everything good is crushed in my kingdom,”he says, his voice hollow. “That is the way of Frost. My people don’t hide their malice behind painted faces and duplicitous smiles like the Iron Fae do. The dangers in my kingdom are as clear as they are deadly.
“You should expect that everything and anything you say and do will be used against you. Anything you care for will be shattered. It will never be any different in Frost.”
As he speaks, his Voice betrays him. Instead of words, I hear pain and grief and the soul-destroyingcrunchof knees hitting snow.
His hands tangle in my hair, and his lips brush my cheek. A slow contact while his thumb strokes the side of my breast, where the Lethian armor continues, treacherously, to give him access.
“To survive in this kingdom, you must understand cruelty. And be capable of delivering it. Or you will surely break.”
Chapter Seventeen
Maxim
Heat shimmers around my legs as I sprint across the barren ground south of the bloodlands.
Debris crunches beneath my feet.
Bones. Rocks. It doesn’t fucking matter, and I don’t stop to find out.
Far behind me, a scorching wall of heat burns brightly where my power exploded, rivers of lava creating a barrier both on the ground and radiating up through the air, too hot for vampyrs to pass through. For now.
I’ve been running for what feels like hours but could be shorter. It’s too damn hard to tell in the darkness. But the stream of bloodthirsty creatures from the north has halted.
I perceive the vampyrs congregating around the mountains I’m headed toward.
Mountains that are vague outlines in the dark.
My eyes are accustomed to overly bright sunlight, trained to take in as little light as possible. Now, I’m certain my pupils must be fully dilated, and still, I struggle to make out the detail of what lies ahead.
The gleaming amber thread that drew me north is long gone, an agonizing reminder that the Oracle remains out of my reach.
A fading goal as the minutes stretch.
If I were willing to jeopardize my serpent’s safety, I would have called him to me before now. His speed would have carried me to the mountains already.
But I draw lines where I can.
If Stellen is as determined as I am to control the Oracle, he won’t let her die.
In the meantime, the fire behind me has bought my army time to mobilize. Kaiba is smart. It’s why I put him in charge. I’m certain he’ll form defensive lines at intervals along the channel of darkness, ensuring that if one line fails, the next is ready to fight.
Likely, he’ll also set up garrisons outside the edge of the darkness, readying warriors and serpents to dart in and attack from the sides, burning vampyrs before flying back out to the safety of sunlight again.
He won’t risk losing more warriors than he already has.
Whatever he chooses, I may not be there to see it.
