Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(42)

“Let’s do it,” Brayden insisted, gazing down at me. “We have to keep him away from you.”

I hated feeling like a trapped animal, but I knew it was for the best. Sighing, I closed my eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. “All right, what do we have to do?” I muttered, giving in.

Elvena smiled sadly and said, “What we need is royal blood and a lot of it. We need enough to be able to scatter it around the palace and form a circle. It only needs to be a drop here and there around the walls. So now you can understand how we don’t have the means to protect the entire grounds.”

I nodded in understanding and so did everyone else. Queen Mab handed Elvena a bowl and immediately sliced her palm, letting her blood flow freely. “This is for you, my dear,” Queen Mab murmured, gazing at me. King Madoc clapped Brayden on the shoulder before slicing his hand and mingling his blood with his queen’s. Calista and Ryder joined in and gave their blood, along with Elvena who contributed some as well.

Brayden took out his guardian dagger and I casually held out my hand for him to slice open my skin. He lifted a brow, but I waved my hand at him. “Just do it,” I scolded him playfully.

Slicing open my skin, Brayden immediately cut open his as well and we stood there staring at each other as our life essence joined in with the others. “I wonder why everything involved with spells requires blood,” I silently said to Brayden.

He smirked. “Our blood is the strongest part of our bodies. It holds the key to everything.”

That actually made sense.

After our blood was taken, Elvena made her way outside and began to chant in the Old Fae language. In my spare time in the Summer Court, I had secretly been trying to learn the language of our elders. We never used it much, but in this case, with the spell it would’ve come in handy. We all watched and waited as Elvena disappeared around the side of the palace, pouring a thin trail of our blood in her wake.

When she was done, she came back inside with the empty bowl and breathed a sigh of relief. “It is done. The spell has been cast.”

For the time being I was safe … just as long as I stayed within the boundaries.





Nixie had taken Calista and everyone back to the Fall Court, and when she returned she had Zanna in tow. “Thank you, Nixie,” I said softly. “I appreciate you doing this for me.”

Nixie was a green imp with green hair and golden wings. She was a little smaller than a child, so she fluttered up to eye level with me and bowed her head, first to me and then to Brayden. “You’re welcome, Your Highnesses. I will bring everyone back when the time comes.”

Smiling, I took her small hand in mine. “If there’s anything I can do to repay you I will gladly offer it,” I promised.

“Just keep our land safe from the sorcerer. I was imprisoned by him for far too long and I can only imagine what his poison would do to our land.”

Nodding somberly, I bowed my head to her and said, “I will keep our land safe. You have my word.”

A sad smile passed across Nixie’s face before she closed her eyes and disappeared almost immediately. Impatient, Zanna narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest while tapping her foot against the floor. “What’s going on?” she asked quickly. “Where is Kamden? All I was told was that I had to come here as soon as possible.”

Brayden squeezed my hand and muttered silently, “I’ll give you some time with your friend, angel. There are some things I need to take care of.” He walked past me and placed a gentle hand on Zanna’s shoulder before he left. Zanna’s mouth dropped wide open and she became even more confused.

“Are you sure that’s Prince Brayden, Ariella?” Zanna asked as she turned to watch him leave the room. “Because I swear he’s not acting right.”

“I promise it’s him,” I replied with a hesitant smile. “Things have changed since I’ve been here.”

“Yeah, I can see that, but you never answered the question about Kamden. Where is he, Ariella? I have a bad feeling about this,” she claimed.

Taking her hand, I led her to the window seat in my room and sat her down. Elvena’d had enough blood to extend the protection spell from the palace to Brayden’s dwelling, so I had Nixie bring her here away from everyone else in the palace. Sitting beside her, I gazed out the window and wished I could answer her question. I had no clue where Kamden went or what he was doing. He left and hadn’t come back.

“Lukas is dead,” I whispered, my breath fogging up the glass. “We brought Kamden here to tell him about his brother.”

Zanna gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh no,” she cried. “He has to be devastated.”

A tear escaped the corner of my eye, but I wiped it away quickly. “He is, which is why I needed you here. I don’t know where he is, Zanna. After I told him, he left and I haven’t seen him since. I figured you would be able to track him down.”

Zanna sighed and wiped the moisture from her eyes. “I think I might know where he is. I’ll find him and bring him back.”

She squeezed my hand reassuringly and hastily got up, running out of the room to the front door. She wasn’t the only one who had a bad feeling.





A WEEK HAD passed and there were no other attack attempts on the court or any bad dreams with Alasdair. The protection spell was working, but I only had a week to go before the new moon and before the threat of the upcoming battle. A battle we could definitely lose if we weren’t strong enough. Durin had sent word saying that he would be arriving soon with the dagger, so we expected him to show up the following afternoon. Everyone else would be arriving as well.