Page 47 of Wynter

One second, he’s standing just inside the doorway. The next, a seven-foot-tall ice block is cutting off my only escape route.

“Okay, that was unexpected,” Mini says. “I mean, you told me he was a block of ice, but… he’s huge.”

“He can hear you.” I grin. Then struggle to fight back tears.

I need to get away, before Xavi sees me cry. But his seven-foot frame—or whatever you call it, since he’s all ice—is blocking the entire door. So it’s a good thing I’ve got a perfectly good window to levitate out of.

I spin around and race toward it. Not because I’m worried Xavi might give chase—ice blocks don’t even have legs—but because my eyes are already tearing up. And I’m not going to let him see just how much he hurt me.

“Zoe, don’t!” Mini catches up to me and grabs my hand just as I’m about to climb out.

“Let me go!”

“Don’t you think you should hear what he has to say?”

I shake my head. “There’s nothing he can say that will make up for what he’s done.”

“Just hear him out. What’s the worst thing that can happen?”

I could burst into tears like a fool. Or give Xavi another chance. And that’s what I’m really afraid of. That I’ll forgive him, again and again. That I’d let him keep hurting me.

The sad truth is that when Ghost betrayed me, I was willing to take him back. If he’d wanted me. And he still walked away. Isn’t that just absolutely pathetic?

“I’ve made up my mind.” I stick one foot out the window.

“Fine. You do you.” Mini lets me go. “Don’t worry about your place, I’ll kick that block out when he shifts back.” She gets an evil glint in her eye. “On second thought, maybe I’ll let him meet Snowball.”

“No.” I shake my head, because the thought of my pet tearing into Xavi the way she tears into a steak makes my chest hurt. “Promise me you won’t do that?”

“I won’t let her hurt him.” Mini rolls her eyes. “She’ll just scare him a little. Or a lot. It’s the least he deserves.”

I nod and stick my other foot out the window.

Xavi screams. The sound is primal. Like someone just plunged a knife into his heart. And the mere thought of anyone harming my mate sends waves of terror and rage coursing through me.

I don’t care what he did. I don’t care that he sold me out to his paper while I slept in his bed. I don’t even care that he’s going to cost me my job. Because my heart—my soul—would do anything to save Xavi. Because I’m already his.

I spin around, ready to risk my life and fight the beasts of hell to save my mate, but Xavi looks completely unharmed. His eyes are filled with terror, and I glance behind him, ready to fight. Except there’s no one there. My pet’s on the couch, mouth closed, looking like a harmless ball of fur. The only other horror is Mini, but she’s standing by my bed, gaping at my mate.

“Zoe, don’t jump! Please, don’t jump!” Xavi cries. His eyes fill with tears, and I realize he’s worried. About me. Because he thinks I’m going to kill myself, not levitate out.

“I wasn’t—” I start, but Mini cuts me off.

“This is your fault,” she shouts at Xavi, who stares at me in horror. “You’re the reason she’s going to jump.”

“I’m not—”

“Zoe’s your mate, you idiot,” Mini cuts me off. “Do you know how rare those are? How precious?”

Xavi nods vigorously, his eyes never once leaving mine.

“Then how could you even think of selling her out like that?”

“I didn’t!” Xavi cries. “Zoe, I swear I’d never do that. I never wrote that article! Samson from the Gazette did.”

“Then why was it on your computer?”

“Because I was writing a rebuttal!”