Frost (Frost and Nectar #1)(78)
When I swallowed the hot bite, I asked, “Are you going to show me any of the healing magic you’ve been learning? If I have a headache, can you fix it?”
She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “I’m not ready yet. And anyway, I’m a veterinary student. I can’t treat humans.”
I pointed at her, feeling a bit tipsy now. “But if someone shot me in the shoulder, could you fix it with magic, or would you turn me into a cat or something?”
She shuddered. “Probably half-cat, half-human. It would be horrible.”
We went quiet for a while as we ate the rest of the pizza.
When we finished, I turned to look behind me and found that the club was starting to fill up.
“Are we going to dance?” asked Shai.
I was now two mojitos and a Guinness into the evening, and so I shouted something about it being my birthday as I took to the dance floor.
They were playing my favorite, Apashe. As the beat boomed over the club, I found myself losing myself in the music. I forgot my college loans, my disastrous presentation, the spiders that crawled over me when I slept. I forgot about Jack and the five-pointed star. I let go of my lust for revenge.
At least, I did so until the music went quiet and tension thickened the air.
Sometimes, you can sense danger before you feel it, and this was one of those moments. Darkness rippled through the bar, floating on a hot, dry breeze. I went still, disturbed to find that everyone was staring in the same direction with an expression of horror. Goosebumps rose on my arms. The warmth felt unnatural, disturbing. I didn’t want to turn around.
When I finally did, my stomach swooped. There, in the doorway, was a demon with otherworldly silver hair and eyes like flecks of ice. The Lord of Chaos? His size and breathtaking beauty almost made me dizzy. He looked like a freaking god.
Maybe it was the mojitos, maybe it was his stunning physical perfection, but I felt magnetically drawn to him. I wanted to slide up closer to him and press myself against his muscular body. As I stared at him, my heart started to pound faster.
Divine. His silver hair hung down to heartbreakingly sharp cheekbones. He sported a high-collared black coat that hung open. Under his jacket, he wore a thin gray sweater that showed off a muscular body. It looked soft, but I could tell the abs beneath it were rock hard. I found my pulse racing as I thought of running my fingers over the material and feeling his muscles twitch.
I’d never enjoyed sex—not once in my life. But as I looked at him, I thought there was a man who could actually satisfy me.
I clamped my eyes shut. Wait, what the fuck was wrong with me? He wasn’t even human. He was another species, one that used to eat humans.
But when I opened my eyes again, I felt like I was melting. In contrast to his pale blue eyes, his eyebrows were dark as night. The effect seemed shocking, mesmerizing.
But when he slid those pale eyes to me, an icy tendril of fear curled through me. His fingers tightened into fists, and he lowered his chin like he was about to charge at me.
I froze. My heart started beating faster now for an entirely different reason. I had his attention, but not in a good way.
This was a look of pure, unadulterated loathing, a look of palpable hatred that sent alarm bells ringing in my mind. He hated me.
Holy hell.
What did he think I’d done to him?
A C K N OW L E D G M E N T S
First of all, thank you so much to your beta reading team, including Candice, Delia, Debbie, Crystal, and Penny. This helped us to get the story in better shape by focusing on some of the big picture ideas to make it sexier and more engaging.
We appreciate our wonderful editing team, with proofreading and copyediting by Ash and Lexi at Wicked Pen Editorial, and with final proofing by Shelby (@Literary Fairy).
Thank you to the readers in C.N. Crawford’s Coven who always brighten our day with bookish discussions and enthusiasm.
And finally, our wonderful promoters, Lauren Gardner and Rachel Whitehurst, who will help get this book into the hands of readers.