Page 2 of The Nixie and the Frost Elf

I crouch down in front of her. "I'm going to touch you, okay?"

She makes a noise that sounds like an affirmation, but is quickly swallowed by her hyperventilating.

"You've got to breathe out," I tell her, rubbing her back with my hand and hoping that it will help her refocus. "Do you remember the time we got ice cream in the middle of winter?"

She doesn't answer, but I don't really expect her to. This is about her focusing on something other than whatever it is that has her panicked.

"We were twelve, and the man thought we were joking when we asked for ice cream because it was forecast to snow. You had bubblegum syrup on yours, which I still think is your biggest flaw..."

A small laugh breaks through the fast breathing, reassuring me that I'm doing the right thing. A little more, and she might be able to regain control completely.

"I made a much more sensible choice and had strawberry sauce on mine." Although I know one of the reasons she always chose bubblegum was that it covered up the taste of dairy-free ice cream for her.

"Not...sensible..."

I smile to myself at the progress. "It didn't snow that day, but it did a few days later. We went sledging and built a snowman with horns and a tail. Or we tried to. Every time we tried to attach the tail, it fell off."

"You should have attached it with magic," she says quietly, her voice raspy, but exactly how I remembered it.

"I thought that was cheating," I admit, moving so that I can sit down beside her with my back against the wall.

"Why would it have been cheating?"

"I couldn't tell you," I admit. "It was pre-teen logic. Feeling better?"

She nods.

"Then, hey."

"Hi." She pushes her hair out of her face, revealing her mesmerising green eyes that swim like the depths of the rivers nixies are supposed to inhabit.

"Long time, no see."

"Yeah. I didn't expect you to be here."

"Same." I take a deep breath. "I've missed you." The feelings are complicated, but that's at the heart of them all.

"Me too." Her voice cracks, but it's probably because of the panic attack.

"So, why did you run away?" I probably shouldn't ask, especially when she's just been so upset, but I need to know the answer.

Lexi swallows hard and looks at her knees instead of at me. "I didn't see you."

"Okay."

She raises an eyebrow. "You believe that?"

"No. But if you don't want to tell me, then I'm not going to push you."

She sighs. "It's complicated."

"The mate bond?" I don't know what makes me say it, but as soon as I do, I know that it's the reason.

Lexi tenses, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Is there any point denying it?"

"You can if you want."

"I can't be your mate, Edur." Her voice cracks as she says the words, making me hurt for us both.