Soul of Ice (Chronicles of Dawn)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Tearing through the thick brush of the forest, her heart pounded as streaks of green and brown blurred past her vision. The sunlight barely breached the canopy of the trees, lighting her way through the otherwise dark woods.

Surely she’d lost him after the river, she thought, her bare, swift feet taking her over the incredibly large roots of the towering flora, ascending the height of a massive, shrouded hill.

She thought she’d successfully escaped, making it past the curve of the path, only to find that it was a dead end, a wall of rock blocking her way ahead.

A spiraling root edged out of the top of the wall. If she could just jump high enough to grab it, then—

“Did you really think you could get away that easily?” A luring, feline male voice called to her.

She whirled, locking eyes with irises as black as the midnight sky. His shimmering, pale-blond hair fell in disheveled tufts, windblown from his successful attempt at keeping up with her. Smooth, fair skin caught the light of the sun, along with the hilt of a sword peeking out over his shoulder. A glittering, triumphant smile stole what was left of her breath.

Her gaze flicked back to the branching root, and when she spun to leap for it, a sharp, guttural growl echoed from above, quickly revealing itself over the stone wall.

A shower of rock and dust fell from beneath its incredible paws. It was a massive woodland creature—a wolf—made of the elements of the forest. Its body shaped by stone, with a blanket of moss and leaves making up the fur of the beast. The predator’s watchful gaze bore churning swirls of green.

“Valiant attempt,” the fae spoke, a sliver of humor in his cool tone. “I thought I’d lost you at the water crossing.”

When she turned back to face him, another wolf crept up from behind the male, only this one had horns of wood stretching from its head—blossoms of ivory sprinkling the limbs. Its lips were peeled back into a frighteningly beautiful snarl, and it stalked forward until it was only feet away. It crouched low to the earth, waiting for its next order.

Curling her mouth into a defeated smile, she surrendered. “Heel, girl,” she sighed, stretching her palm to pat between its ethereal horns. The wolf sat with her command, its tongue falling out in a proud pant as it stretched its neck to receive scratches under the chin. “They could pick up my scent in the middle of an ocean. You’re such a cheater, Rae.”

Rae chuckled, whistling to the other wolf who sat atop the wall. Its tail swayed joyfully in the wind—a sound of rustling leaves filling the air as it bounced down, greeting the horned one with a playful pounce. “ Or you just suck at covering your tracks. Did you ever consider that?”

She rolled her eyes, tossing loose strands of hair from her cheeks before placing her hands on either side of her waist. “Is that why you couldn’t find me for almost a full day last week?”

He grinned, canines dazzling as he crossed his arms, shrugging his shoulders. “I gave you a head start since I kicked your ass so badly in our spar.”

“You didn’t kick my ass , I slipped on mud. That’s hardly a fight,” she countered, pinching her brows.

“Well, I guess we can only settle this one way.” A mischievous grin tugged at his lips when he drew a sword of steel from the sheath along his back—a motion that would have sent most running for their lives, but not her.

“Happily.” Reaching to grab the dagger from her thigh, she paused, deciding it best to meet him sword to sword. Freeing the other blade from behind, she twisted it with a rotation of her wrist, baring her teeth with a hiss.

He laughed then, a light melodic tone—a rare sound that brought a radiating joy to her heart, just before he leapt forward to strike.

Barely lifting her blade in time to counter his move, she took the teeth-chattering hit, pushing back at him with enough force to throw his shoulder off. The wolves howled from the edge of the brush, observing as she swung back at him, swiping only at the air before her legs were knocked out from underneath her. She landed on her side with a loud huff.

“Perhaps if you ever wore shoes, you could keep your footing,” he goaded, a little too soon. He was also standing way too close.

“Shoes are for little faerie girls.” She smirked, eyeing his feet.

He pouted then, glancing down to wiggle his toes within the leather of his boots.

Taking advantage of the distraction, she dropped her blade to launch up from her sprawled position, right into his torso.

With a grunt of surprise from him, they hit the earth.

She didn’t waste time, drawing the dagger from her thigh just as he raised his own. He froze when the tip slid along the flesh beneath his jaw, and his smile returned, clear and bright.

“And you call me a cheater.” He let go of his grip on the blade, raising both hands over his shoulder to surrender. “You win this one, moonflower.”

She scrunched her nose, never really liking that nickname. It always made her sound dainty and frail. She was neither of those things, but the way he said it, she didn’t think he believed her to be.

With a faint scrape of the blade against his skin, she withdrew it, returning it to the sheath. Rising from her seated straddle, she stretched her hand towards him with a victorious smile.

Before their hands could meet, though, a rumbling of the earth tore their attention from one another, and brought it to where the source originated.

A towering fae with kempt, ivory hair and golden, luminous irises stared down at them—glaring behind her at the male who remained at her feet.

“Father,” she whispered, heart sinking in her chest as she averted her eyes to nod a bow. “We were only—”

“You will return to your mother.” His voice was like thunder in the clouds—or maybe it actually was thunder she heard—a shattering vibration to her ears. “ Now .”

When she glanced back at the dark-eyed male, offering a sorrowful, silent apology, he was glaring right back at the powerful fae above, jaw clenching with contempt.

Rae broke his stare-down briefly, eyes warming when he looked upon her. “Go,” he murmured, trying and failing to soothe her nerves with a tight smile. He rose from the dirt to sheath his blade. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you tonight.” He winked, attempting a far more grand smile than before.

Despite her nod, she was apprehensive about leaving his side, but staying would make everything worse.

It always did.

She whistled, and the wolves fell in on either side of her.

Brushing past Rae’s shoulder, hoping to show one last form of encouragement, she started her trek back through the thickets of the forest.

The only thing keeping her from turning around was the hope of seeing him tonight. Tonight, her father would have no choice but to accept him.

It ’s time you wake up and see him for what he truly is . A scourge . Death and ruin . Her father’s deep, roaring voice echoed in her mind. Wake up!

Surina , wake up—

◆◆◆

Surina gasped, shooting up from the bed, her eyes scanning the darkness of the chambers until they found Ezra, peering into the hall from the barely cracked door.

“Surina, get dressed. Quickly.” His voice was calm, but his demeanor gave away a strange anxiousness.

“Is something wrong?” The fogginess of sleep still blurred her vision, so she tried blinking it away. They couldn’t have been asleep for more than two hours.

“Just get dressed.” He repeated the command with an alarming amount of fret, sealing the door shut with a soft click. Pressing his palms into the wooden surface, Ezra conjured a thick layer of ice to spread the entirety of the doorway from floor to ceiling, barring them inside.

She leapt from the bed then, a jarring bolt of panic wrenching her into motion. Ezra was already halfway dressed by the time Surina could even find underwear to wiggle into. Spinning around, she searched for her dagger next, trying to remember where she’d placed the damn thing before they’d gone to sleep.

“Here,” the king called to her.

As if he’d read her mind, he was instantly before her, already fully dressed and swiftly strapping the leathers to her thigh.

“What’s happening?” she asked again, lowering her voice to a soft whisper. If her heart wasn’t hammering against her chest, she’d probably take more time to think about the chilling grip of his hand on the meat of her thigh, and how he’d completely devoured her that night, leaving behind a delightful soreness.

“My men are usually roving the estate and return every half hour. They haven’t been back in at least an hour and a half.” Ezra shook his head, sliding the dagger into place. “Something isn’t right.”

“You woke me up because they’re a little late on their rounds?” How would he even notice something like that? Did he ever sleep?

A scream tearing through the night, just outside of their curtained window, killed whatever curse was about to leave her frowning lips. She spun, picking up the gown Ezra draped over the armchair for her.

After adding another layer of ice to the door, Ezra silently, but briskly, tied the corset in the back of the gown.

A forceful thud clattered against their door when he finished. Surina jumped, stifling her scream with a hand over her mouth.

Lacing his fingers through hers, Ezra guided her through the dark and into the bathing chambers.

She tugged against his pull. “My books.”

With a growl of a sigh, he kept moving. “We’ll come back for them when it’s safe.”

They crossed into the washroom, a wintry wind filling the space as he froze that door over too. At the same moment, a chorus of shouts rang out, along with the sound of metal clashing.

A petrifying dread lined her spine, and she prayed to the divines that whoever was stupid enough to attack the Castmont family home met a well-deserved fate—and a spot in the furthest reaches of the Eyre.

He brought them over to the window opposite, unlatching the lock, and swinging it wide open.

Surina jumped when another bang came from the entry to the bedchamber—it didn’t even phase Ezra as he vaulted up to the windowsill before turning to stretch his hand to her.

“You couldn’t have grabbed me some pants or something?” she hissed, glaring down at the swirling skirts at her legs. Maybe her boots would be enough to offset the inconvenience, but if there was any running in their future, she was doomed.

“I’ll help you up, now let’s go ,” the king seethed, moonlight from the window allowing her to see he wasn’t just annoyed, but worried. The same fear as last night.

Ice shattered against the floors like glass when two males breached the sealed doors, the material of their attire dark as the night—even the metal.

One drew his sword just in time for her hand to graze the hilt of her dagger through the slit in her skirts. Not that it mattered, because she was tossed through the window before it could even leave its sheath.

Stomach flipping and swirling against the plummet, she waited for an impact, only for it to never come. A feathery gust of wind cradled her back, gently setting her on the cool earth.

Glancing up at the window she was thrown from, the body that followed didn’t have quite the same fate, hitting the ground with a sickening thud just feet away.

Biting down a scream, she shoved up from the grass, yanking her dagger free to inspect the male who was face down in the dirt—a fae.

A muffled moan came from the male, halting her movements.

He was still alive.

Then, the male’s head lifted from the dirt. Half of his face was caved in and slowly trying to regenerate.

“Gross,” she spat in disgust.

Not expecting someone who must have broken most of their bones to move as fast as he did, the fae managed to snap an iron hold around her ankle.

She reared her other foot back, ready to kick him off, but with one jerk from him, she was on the ground.

The fae dragged himself across the earth in an attempt to get closer, his face twisting into various masks of pain and rage.

Despite her kicking and flailing, he was able to claw his way to her knees. Thankfully, Kian had showed her how to get out of something exactly like it, and when she finally found a good angle to bring the dagger down on the male, a bolt of ice launched right into the side of his skull, impaling his head in place, just above the earth.

The male’s eyes went wide, jaw slackening to reveal elongated fangs he’d probably planned to use on her. The rest of him sagged against her legs, the moonlight glittering off the deep liquid that trickled down the frozen bolt—and the blade that slipped from his lifeless hand that she hadn’t even noticed him holding. It was inches from her abdomen.

If he’d had even a second more…

Don’t think like that. Kian had told her not to linger on the what ifs of battle. Every moment alive was the divine’s will.

Surina twisted out from under the male, freeing herself. In her periphery, she caught sight of a silhouette in the windowsill.

It was Ezra, glaring down at them as he dropped another body. That one hit the ground with the same amount of force, but she doubted this one was getting up.

Not without his head.

Ezra was next, his landing not even making a sound as he crouched into the impact. Like a cat on the hunt, he was silent and lethal. Blood coated the arm that she assumed was the one to decapitate the fae.

Not letting herself think about where he left the head, a shudder coursed her body, replacing the need to vomit every bit of her dinner from hours ago—along with the sour concoction Ezra had had a maid bring by after their roll in the sheets.

With everything going on, a child on top of that would only complicate things. And really, she just wasn’t ready for children at the moment, especially not before her transition.

A low growl sounded as he looked her over. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. I had it.” She was short with her reply, tearing her eyes from the king, and picking up the strange blade that belonged to the fae in front of her.

While Ezra tossed the two corpses into the nearby brush, Surina studied the weapon under the moonlight, not getting much time to do so before a shuffle sounded from the room they’d recently escaped.

Ezra practically dragged her around the corner of the keep, pushing her against the stone wall. She held her breath as he leaned into her, tucking around her so that she was completely hidden.

In between the rare breaks in battle, quiet whispers floated down to them from the window. Whoever these intruders were, they were receiving quite the welcoming party, based on the continued echoes of metal on metal.

Once the whispers finally receded, Ezra brought his lips so close to her ears, they grazed the soft flesh of her lobes before he spoke. “We’re going to make our way to the stables. I need you to do exactly as I say from here on out, understood?”

To the stables? So they were running away, when they could stay and fight. “We can’t just leave. We should be helping.”

“When I get you to safety, I’ll return. I won’t risk you, Surina. So please , just do as I say—and for the love of the gods, be careful with that thing.” Ezra tapped his finger on the point of the fae’s blade she held, guiding it from his torso.

“Sorry,” she muttered, moving it a safe distance away.

She’d didn’t really know what it was—too short to be a sword, and too long to be a dagger. And the way the metal curved made her wonder if it had even been made in Orlanthe. Not to mention the weird, reddish hue it gave off.

“One more thing.”

Rolling her eyes, Surina huffed a silent complaint, wondering what else she could possibly ruin. He grabbed either side of her face, pulling her into a swift kiss.

The sudden feel of him, frosted and minty, made her eyes flutter shut, and she brought a palm to the hard muscles beneath his shirt while meeting every movement of his mouth. She reached up on her toes to deepen the kiss, almost falling forward when he broke the enchanting fervor.

Sweeping a tendril of hair from her shoulder with his winds, he smoothed a thumb across her cheek, pressing one last kiss to her head. “Stay close. We’ll use the trees as cover.”

Surina wasn’t exactly the stealthiest of fae. In fact, she was certain most humans were more graceful than herself. Still, she managed to keep up with his brisk pace, simply matching each of his steps, until he stopped suddenly, and she ran right into the back of him.

Ezra reached an arm behind, steadying her without even looking.

She stole a glance at where he watched a large group of fae soldiers, who wore the same armor as the ones who’d barged into their room, laughing and shoving at a male who was crawling for his weapon.

He was a Thesian. She could tell by the Castmont steel and leather armor.

Surina made to step from their cover, to stop the act, only for a strong arm to curl around her waist, forcing her back against the tree.

“Not so fast, my vicious little thing.” His voice was like a purr in her ear. “You’re staying right here.”

“Like hell I am.” Did he really expect her to just sit around when Thesians were dying right in front of her? Not a chance.

“Hungry for blood, are we?” With a grin, he adjusted the fabric at his forearm, folding the material up, as if he was trying to avoid spilling tea on it or something—never mind the blood already slathering one of them. “There’s too many, and I won’t be able to focus with you in danger.”

Deciding to save her breath instead of wasting more time, she expedited the process, relenting with a compromise. “If you’re not back in five minutes then I’m coming in after you.”

“Is that a challenge?” The king rested a hand on the tree behind her, barring her in.

That chilling ruthlessness brought her back to hours ago, when the arctic pleasure of him permeated her soul—her flesh and blood. Nothing could possibly compare to those moments, and the way he seized every part of her without hesitation…

Ezra sighed a deep, rumbling noise against her temple. “If you keep thinking about earlier, I might just have to let him die.”

“ Go ,” she muttered harshly, jerking her chin towards the group of fae.

The chuckle that followed tickled her cheeks. “As you wish.” With a brush of his thumb along the marks of her throat, he was gone, leaving a surge of shivers in his wake.

She stood there, motionless and completely dumbfounded, swimming in the lingering smell and feel of him. It wasn’t until tendrils of fog crept around the tree, encircling her skirts, that she peered past the thick trunk, only to find a wall of shrouding haze and nothing beyond it…aside from the sounds of frantic soldiers and their piercing cries.

The blood in her veins turned to ice, praying Ezra had not been one of those screams. Surina didn’t know how she knew it, but deep down, she felt that Ezra lived. Like a strange force tugged at her core, cool and beseeching, insisting that she follow it straight to where he would be.

A snap of a branch had Surina whirling to glare into the gloom of the forest on her side of the tree. For a few moments, nothing stirred in the treeline, and even the sound of the warriors struggling seemed to slow.

Just as her heart began to settle from the noises of battle unwinding, in the darkness, orbs of light materialized. There were four of them—two bright orbs of green, and two of sky blue.

Carefully, and without removing her eyes from those bouncing lights, she eased around the tree.

They never wavered, seeming to follow her every move. Readying the blade in her hand, she finally sidestepped the tree entirely, without looking back—a huge mistake, because she ran into something solid.

Someone solid.

Spinning on her heels, she lashed out with the weapon and was met with a guttural rasp.

She managed to hit something, but the strong grip that laced her wrist prevented the metal from going any deeper and causing any real damage. And then she was shoved against the tree, the rigid weight of muscle pressing into her.

“You stabbed me?” a familiar voice barked, and she’d never been happier to be on the receiving end of such heated fury.

“By the Mother.” Her chest heaved with relief. “ Callen ?”