Frost (Frost and Nectar #1)(68)

He reached out to touch me, then retracted his hand like he was afraid of being burned. The expression in his eyes was intense, and I felt like he was trying to communicate something he couldn’t quite put into words. “You’re the wrong one, Ava. I should not have chosen you.”

“Because of a tabloid? I thought the whole point was that I was supposed to be unsuitable.” Rage flamed over my cheeks. “I think you chose right, darling, because I’m as unsuitable as they get. And I’m so deeply sorry if it makes you embarrassed, but we have a contract, and a fae king can’t break it.” I smiled at him, suddenly feeling better. “We’re going through with this marriage, and I’m getting my money. And you know what?” I leaned in to whisper to him. “I really can’t wait for our wedding day. Your embarrassment will only make it all the more entertaining for me.”

“You must not touch me, ever, Ava.” His words were brutal, but his tone was velvety. Almost an invitation. “Do you understand?”

“Trust me, I have no desire to.” It was a myth that the fae could not lie, because I was doing it right now. It was more that lies were considered a terrible sin among the fae. But me? I was raised among humans.

I held my head high as I returned to the throne hall. Cleena leaned back in her chair and smiled at me. “Ava Jones, you should be proud. You look gorgeous in that photo. And your ex sounds like a heartbroken twat.”

“Well,” said Moria sourly, “I don’t care how many times that one has degraded herself.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll run her through with my blade, either way. Tomorrow, Ava will be nothing more than tiny threads of flesh.”

She flashed me a wolfish grin that made my blood run cold.





32

A VA

A eron led me through the snow, and I kept my cloak pulled tightly around me. Shalini walked silently by my side. She seemed furious with me, unwilling to utter a word. Or maybe it was simply her nerves keeping her silent, but a sense of foreboding hung over both of us. In just hours, I’d be battling the princesses.

Up ahead, a gray stone amphitheater loomed over the horizon—half ruined, like the Colosseum.

Twice the size of Rome’s arena, the stone was a gleaming black under the glaring sun. Icicles hung from its dark rock.

Today, we’d be fighting like gladiators on a frozen landscape.

Princess Eliza of the Selkie walked ahead, her green hair hanging over silver armor. She glanced back at me once or twice, looking slightly nauseous.

I let out a long, slow breath. Soon, Moria and Cleena would battle in the amphitheater, and they’d already arrived. I think I knew how it would end. Cleena would yield quickly. Moria? She’d fight to the death if it came down to it.

The icy wind nipped at my cheeks, and my feet crunched over the snow.

I hadn’t seen Torin once that morning, but I was putting him out of my head. Today was about staying alive and winning the prize I’d come here for.

When we reached the icy ruin, I followed the guard into a dark tunnel.

“Not too late,” Shalini whispered.

“Have some faith,” I snapped back.

The guard pulled a torch off the wall to guide us. The firelight danced over carvings in the stone —the names of fae who’d fought here before, their victories over their monstrous Unseelie foes.

Images, too—a king pointing a sword at a fae with enormous horns curved like a ram’s, his head bowed in submission.

My chest felt tight as I heard the distant roar of the crowd. The serpentine tunnel wound under the ground, the roaring growing louder, until at last, the tunnel opened into the amphitheater itself, and the bright winter sunlight nearly blinded me.

When we stepped from the tunnel, we were greeted by a deafening roar, the sound of fifty thousand fae cheering.

Shalini clutched my elbow, and together we stared, awestruck. The entire stadium was full, every seat occupied, and they were all screaming my name.

“Ava! Ava! Ava!”

I swallowed hard, shocked that I’d become a favorite even among the fae. I’d never actually expected to be forgiven for drunkenly insulting the king to his face, but maybe even the fae liked an underdog.

“Holy shit!” Shalini shouted in my ear. My thoughts exactly.

Eliza turned to look at me, her jaw set tight. “Sounds like they really like you. Even though you’re not from here. Even though you’re not really one of us. There is something about you that’s not quite right, Ava, and I think it’s more than growing up among humans.”

I could hear the tinge of resentment in her voice, and I didn’t reply.

As we stared from the tunnel, a crone shuffled into the arena, dressed in red gossamer that looked far too thin for the weather. She wore a silver crown over her rose gold hair.

The TV crew rolled closer to her, which seemed to startle her. Then she raised her arms.

“Welcome to the final contest for the hand of the king!” Her voice was deep, booming. Even without a microphone, it echoed off the stone. “Tonight, some of the princesses may die. But they will die for the Seelie kingdom so that it might breathe with life again. And for the Seelie monarch, Torin, High King of Faerie, ruler of the six united clans.”

She turned, motioning to him. King Torin sat on a throne made of black stone, looking for all the world like a sinister, wintry Roman emperor.