Bite Of Winter (Fae's Captive #3)(31)

I keep going for an hour more, each step adding another knot of tension to my body. When I hear rumbling along the main road, I alter my course and creep along the darkened stone buildings until I get a view of the border crossing garrison.

Captain Tavaran lines up his soldiers in front of the barrier’s opening until they’re four-fae deep. He’s brought every warrior in Timeroon to guard the way. Why? Is there a problem?

I weigh my options and realize I have none. This is the only crossing for thousands of kilometers. I must go through when the sun rises.

After a quick weapons check, I stride out onto the road and head for the barrier. “Tavaran.” I keep my hands at my sides. No need to draw a blade until I get a handle on what’s going on. After all, this may have nothing to do with me. The feral snickers at the very suggestion.

Tavaran turns, his eyes growing beady. “It’s Captain Tavaran. Where are your changeling companions?”

“Why?” I stop about twenty meters away and size up the small army before me.

“Where are they?” He advances, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

I turn and look around, then up, then down, then back at Tavaran. “I don’t see them. Do you?”

His countenance hardens. “Queen Aurentia demands the return of the special changeling. The one who bears the soulstone.” He motions to one of his soldiers. “Take ten men and turn this city upside down.”

They take off, and it isn’t long before I hear doors being kicked in and frightened screams. The other fae close ranks in front of the barrier.

“Well, as you can see, I don’t have a changeling on me.” I move forward, trying to judge how many soldiers stand between me and the crossing. “Stand aside.”

“Not a chance. Queen Aurentia’s orders were clear. We are to escort the changeling back to Byrn Varyndr. You can cross, but not with her, and I’m sure you understand I can’t let you go until she’s found.” He raises his hand, and his soldiers draw their swords. “She must not be allowed to pass to the winter realm.”

“You know, Tavaran, I’ve never liked you.”

“My heart breaks.” He draws his sword and bangs the hilt against his gold armor. “An unseelie dog doesn’t like me. What ever shall I do?”

His soldiers laugh. More rumbling behind me is the harbinger of additional summer realm troops. I’m trapped. But I will never break my promise to Taylor, no matter the cost. I must get through the crossing. Once I’m in my realm, the soldiers won’t dare follow.

I step closer, ice crunching beneath my feet. “You summer realm fae and your insults.” I shake my head. “But perhaps you’re right. I am unseelie.” A frigid wind whips my hair back, and I crack my neck.

Tavaran’s confident sneer falters, and he backs up a pace.

I take another step, the ice building inside me until all I can hear is the roar of the winter wind. “But not just that.” I hold out my hands, ice spiking from my fingers. “You seem to forget, I’m the unseelie king.”

My blast of winter knocks Tavaran on his ass and sends his soldiers flying backward.

I have to go, and it has to be now. I send a prayer to the Ancestors that Taylor is far enough away, and I launch myself toward the crossing.





16





Taylor





“Your aura.” Ravella rides next to me, her hood keeping her face in shadow. “It’s subdued. How did you do it?”

“I swallowed a witch’s pea.”

She turns her head toward me sharply, her eyes open wide. Too wide.

Oh. “Pea,” I say quickly. “Like p-e-a. Not p-e-e.”

Her face returns to stoic, though I can almost sense a hint of amusement in her dark eyes. “Is that where you got the obsidian blade?”

“You saw that?” I thought I’d hidden it in the folds of my dress and then under the fur.

“I see a lot of things.” She glances at the forest all around us, the tall dark trees hiding the starlight as a light snow falls.

“Well, yes. Selene gave it to me. She actually pulled it off her body.” I’m glad I closed my eyes when she did it, but I can still hear the sharp cracks. I shiver.

“You must have impressed her for an obsidian to grant you such a gift.”

I shrug, though the thick fur muffles the movement. “I tried not to judge her, is all.”

“Well, you weren’t eaten, so I say that’s a win.”

“So, do you have any magic?” I shake my head. “Sorry, was that rude? I know I’m not supposed to ask if people are mated, but can I ask about magic?”

“You can ask me anything.” Her frank tone backs up her assertion. “And yes, I have magic. I’m a mystic.”

“What’s a mystic?”

“I can travel through the vale, read auras, do a few other handy tricks.”

“What’s the vale?” I feel like a child with all my questions, but Ravella doesn’t seem to mind.

“Think of it like the world behind this world, or perhaps more like a mirror of it. I can travel there, unseen. There are shortcuts, and sometimes there are other creatures or wisps of knowledge.”

“Sounds like the otherworld.”