Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(64)

Like hell I would be. Where the hell was the sorcerer?

The last thing we needed was to have to stay in the Black Forest longer than necessary. The longer we were there the harder it would be to keep our cover. Over Gothin’s shoulder, Merrick shrugged and disappeared out of the bar with determination. Hopefully, he would find some answers or hear something somewhere about Alasdair’s whereabouts. Gothin held out his hand, but Bastian didn’t want to let loose of his hold on me, so he hesitated.

“I told you I can take her from here,” Gothin snapped. “You brought her to me so now you can go.”

I squeezed his hand reassuringly, hoping he would understand my message. I’ll be fine, I wanted to say to him. Letting go of his hand, I circled around the table and sat down in the chair beside Gothin. I nodded quickly at Bastian and glanced at the door, hoping he would get the hint. He needed to leave before he drew too much attention to himself. Reluctantly, he turned on his heel and marched out the front door, never once looking back.

It was up to me now.





BASTIAN AND MERRICK were nowhere in sight when I left the trolls’ meeting place with Gothin. Taking my arm in his slimy hand, Gothin quickly led me away from the curious onlookers. Pretending to be distressed, I gazed over at Gothin nervously and asked, “Where are we going?”

He grinned wolfishly at me with those rotten, pointy teeth. “I am taking you to my dwelling. A pretty little lass like yourself wouldn’t last a night in the prison with my men.”

The blood boiled in my veins as thoughts of helpless women without a way to protect themselves ran rampant through my mind. It sickened me to think that out of all the years the sorcerer had been here, there were probably thousands of women he’d had tortured and killed. Now that I was there it was going to stop.

I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out, and I clenched so hard I could taste the metallic essence of my blood going down my throat. I wanted to kill him and I wanted to kill Alasdair; I wanted to kill them all. I wanted them to suffer the way they’d made countless others suffer over the years, especially the people I loved.

Gothin’s dwelling was a crappy little shack made from the oily black trees of the forest. I dreaded going inside, but I knew that I must. I took one last look around the village, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bastian or Merrick, but came up disappointed.

Where were they? I wondered.

Gothin pushed me inside and slammed the door behind me, barring it with a heavy wooden beam. There were no windows in his one room shack or even a bathroom, only a rickety old bed and some chairs. “Sit,” he ordered, motioning toward the bed.

I could feel the dagger up against the bare skin of my back and I ached to have it in my hands and taking the life away from the worthless creature in front of me. I had never killed before, but I was ready. I was ready to show them once and for all that my people will triumph … we will save our land.

“When will the sorcerer be back?” I asked meekly.

Gothin grabbed a bundle of rope off of the floor and stalked over to me. He grabbed my legs and held them together while wrapping my ankles tightly with the rope. “The master will be back on the morrow. He is bringing over the mortals for the final battle.”

“When does he plan on attacking?”

Gothin tightened the rope and it cut into my skin, drawing a line of blood. He glared at me and snarled impatiently, “You ask too many questions, lass. The only thing you need to be worried about is surviving tomorrow when the master has his way with you. Just sit tight and keep your mouth shut.”

He got up to grab another bundle of rope, and turned his back away from me. That was a big mistake. Reaching behind my back, I slid the dagger out carefully and sliced it through the rope at my ankles. Quietly, I stalked over to Gothin and tapped him on the shoulder with the blade.

“See, that’s the problem. I’m not the type of person to just sit tight and keep my mouth shut,” I remarked.

With wide eyes, he turned around, glancing quickly from the tattered rope on the floor and then to me. “How did you …” he started, but then noticed the dagger in my hand. “Who are you?”

I smiled and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him up against the wall with the dagger at his throat. “You ask too many questions,” I snarled in his face, repeating what he just said to me. “I think the only thing you need to be worried about is surviving the next few seconds. However, I will answer one question for you before you die.”

The glamour I had shielding my true form slowly vanished, revealing who I really was … an Ice Queen. Gothin shook his head, his small beady eyes gazing at me first in disbelief, then to pure animosity. His breath stank of old, rotten meat when he teased, “I see you came into your power, Princess. It is a shame it won’t be enough to defeat us.”

I pressed the dagger into his skin and watched it sizzle and burn away like the iron blade does to our skin. His mouth flew open in panic, but before he could call for help I slapped my hand over his mouth and slammed his head against the wall.

“I’m not just a princess anymore you worthless sack of shit. I’m a queen,” I hissed. “And judging by the way you look right now I would say that I have a pretty good chance at killing you … and him.”

“How are you doing that?” he sneered, observing the dagger in my hand and trembling from pain. “This is impossible.”