Frost (Frost and Nectar #1)(66)

8TH DAY OF THE HARVEST,

Dear diary, I spent a long day, just him and me. He seemed out of sorts, as if something was preoccupying him. I tried to speak with him about it, but he said it was nothing. He has started to say that we must not touch each other, and I do not understand why.

I TURNED THE PAGE. HERE, THE WRITING WAS MORE SCRIBBLED, AS IF THE WRITER HAD WRITTEN IT

more quickly than usual.

DAY OF THE FAST,

Dear diary, today was awful. The most terrible thing happened. We went for a walk in the forest, just the two of us. It should have been wonderful, but he kept trying to tell me that something terrible might happen. That I was doomed, but without explaining why. Finally, a chance to be alone with him, but when I tried to hold his hand, he froze me with ice. It was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced, and I had to run to my dear sister to fix it.

She told me Torin would be the death of me.

She told me Torin WAS death.

In her premonition, he would bury my frozen body beneath the earth in Ostara’s temple, and he would never tell anyone that he killed me. He swallows the secret, ashes in his belly…

It scares me. My sister has never been wrong before. And yet, I don’t think I can stay away from the king…

“I’M HAVING TROUBLE READING IT,” I SAID.

As I spoke the words aloud, the text disappeared completely, and I was left looking at a blank page.

My breath caught in my throat.

“Holy shit,” said Shalini. “Who do you think that was? Do you think Torin could be dangerous?”

“We’re fae. We’re all dangerous.”

“Maybe the assassin killed her, too.” Shalini touched my arm. “Ava, I know I told you to come here in the first place. And you told me the fae were terrifying, but I didn’t quite listen. I’m starting to think that…you know, maybe it’s not worth risking your life over this?”

“For fifty million?”

“What are you going to do with fifty million if you’re dead?” she snapped.

I sucked in a sharp breath. “You’ll just have to have faith in me not dying.”

Because it wasn’t just the money.

I didn’t want to leave this place.





31

A VA

I t was the last night before the tournament, and we were all supposed to meet for a nice, civilized dinner before we hacked into one another’s bodies with swords. With Shalini by my side and Aeron leading the way, I prowled the castle’s dark halls dressed in a pale silver gown. I wore my hair piled up in braids woven with violets, and Shalini was elegantly dressed in white.

My dress shimmered as I walked, and I couldn’t stop thinking of the moonlight and those strange, spidery letters. The diary had kept me up all night, even if I couldn’t read it. I’d stayed awake, obsessively examining the diary as if the blank pages could give up Torin’s secrets.

I blinked, trying to force myself back to the present. When it was time to fight tomorrow morning, I couldn’t be daydreaming about the dark mysteries of Torin’s love life or what had happened to M.

“Stop brooding,” muttered Shalini. “You’re in a gorgeous castle on your way to a feast.”

I cut her a sharp look. “I’m not brooding. Just nervous for tomorrow.”

She frowned at me. “You and me both. It’s not too late to, you know…”

“Run away?”

“I’m afraid tomorrow will be a bloodbath,” she whispered loudly.

“It will. That’s what the fae are like. Just have faith in my survival skills because I’m one of them.”

It was with a little shock that I realized I was starting to think of myself as fae, not a human wannabe.

I was fae.

After weeks in the castle, I was actually starting to know my way around. We passed the usual collection of gilded portraits, suits of armor, and flickering torches, and I knew we were closing in on the throne hall.

We went through the doors and found tables arranged in a semicircle around the ancient thrones.

Aeron led Shalini and me to our seats, and I glanced at the spot Alice would have taken if she hadn’t been murdered. My throat tightened.

A servant poured us red wine. As I sipped it, the other princesses began to file in, gracefully taking their seats.

Torin prowled into the room, dressed in black leather—more like a warrior than a king tonight.

“Tomorrow, we hold the final event of our tournament,” he said. “It will be steel upon steel, blade upon blade. Tomorrow, you must prove to me that you have the noble warrior spirit required of a Seelie queen. Those who succeed in the first duel will continue to fight the other winners.”

Moria turned to me with a pleasant smile. “And if the misfortune of a violent death should befall you, you’d be out of the tournament as well.”

Torin cut her a sharp look. “The first duel will be between Princess Moria of the Dearg Due and Princess Cleena of the Banshee Clan.” He glanced at me, and I felt my heart flutter for just a moment.

“The second will be Princess Etain of the Leannán sídhe and Sydoc of the Redcap Clan, and the third duel will be between Princess Eliza of the Selkie and Ava Jones of Chloe’s household.”

My heart squeezed a little at the fact that he’d thought to mention my mom’s name. He could have left it blank. Ava Jones of… nothing. Ava Jones of the dead-servant parents and public-drunken disgrace. But he knew what Chloe meant to me, that she was my home. That once, I’d actually had a place.