Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(72)

“Where are you now?” he asked.

I had finally made it to the door of the sorcerer’s dwelling so I leaned up against the wall and let out a heavy sigh. “I am in your heart, Brayden. That’s where I will always be.”

Even though he broke down my wall, I had regained enough strength to block him out, if only for short periods of time. It hurt, but I had to let him go; it was time.

Before knocking on the door, I changed into the form that got me in this place the first time. The hair of Meliantha mixed with Calista’s golden blonde, green eyes like Sorcha’s, and the face a mixture of all of us combined. I was dressed in my black leathers without the armor and with my dagger hidden behind my back under my top. It was easier to move around in the leather so I had to be prepared. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door and waited.

After a few minutes of waiting there was no answer, so instead of knocking again I slowly turned the handle and pushed open the door. Everything inside was pitch black, but I knew he was in there, hiding. I could smell the dark magic permeating the air and it slithered across my skin like it wanted to latch onto me and suck my essence dry.

Quietly, I reached behind my back to grab the dagger and crept into the lightless room. I only made it two steps before I felt him behind me, hovering. Even though I couldn’t see, I knew where he would be. He grabbed me by the neck and I could feel the cold bite from the iron blade as he thrust it up against my flesh. However, much to his dismay, I wasn’t the only one in the compromising position. I held him firm in my grasp with my dagger up against the beating vein in his neck, sizzling his skin. We were at a standstill.

“You must be really stupid to come in here uninvited and with a weapon … interesting. Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?” he demanded, his voice a low growl.

Gritting my teeth, I bit back the pain from his dagger digging into my skin and snapped, “I opened the door and walked in you moron, and I happen to consider myself very smart, considering that I got in here undetected.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Who are you?”

“If you want to know who I am then turn on some damn lights,” I countered impatiently. I was ready to get his dagger away from my neck and end this once and for all.

The room slowly began to fill up with a soft light, starting from the ground up. I couldn’t see Alasdair’s face and he couldn’t see mine, but when that light rose above my head …

His eyes went wide and I could see the confusion spreading across his face as he looked down at the dagger at his throat. “It can’t be,” he said, sounding uncertain.

“Yes, it can,” I retorted, “because here I am, and with the weapon that’s going to destroy you.”





“HOW DID YOU find the scroll? There’s no way you could have found it,” he roared. “I have it hidden and only I know where it’s at.”

“We never let it go,” I told him, rolling my eyes. “If you would’ve been smart and looked at the paper Sorcha gave to you, you would see that it was a letter to Drake. So who is the foolish one now?”

Before either of us could make a move, the floor beneath us started to tremble and shake. The last time the land felt like that was when Alasdair brought over his mortal army. Not this time, though. My people were coming and they were getting close.

Alasdair laughed, still locked in my tight grasp and unmoving. “Ah, Ariella, the martyr. I bet your precious lover didn’t take too well with you coming here, did he? How does it feel to know you sentenced them all to death? I’m sure that’s why they have come … to get you. They will get a shock when they see what awaits them.”

“They already know, but this will all be over before they get here,” I spat. “It ends now.”

He chuckled. “It will never end, Your Highness. No matter if I’m here or not, there will always be a part of me that will come back. Just wait and see,” he remarked with an evil glint in his eye. “But you are more than welcome to try.”

Gladly, I thought to myself.

I jammed my knee into his groin, and when he bent over in pain I backhanded him the way he did to me out in the middle of the village. “That’s payback,” I hissed. “It wasn’t your troll you hit out there in front of everyone, it was me. You should thank me for putting him out of his misery.”

Alasdair got to his feet and his chest heaved up and down with his rage. His eyes were no longer gray, but almost midnight black as he glared at me, ready to strike. His power magnified and pulsated throughout the room, and almost immediately I was thrust against the wall by an invisible force. I screamed as the dagger dropped out of my hand and I had to face the realization that I was trapped.

I tried to fight against the restraints but I couldn’t. Alasdair chuckled and pointed the iron blade at my chest as he stalked closer. “Oh, what should I do first?” he wondered, tapping the iron blade against his palm. “Maybe I should take you outside and gut you in front of your people when they come. I think that would make an excellent show. The look on your lover’s face would be priceless.”

“You’re a sick, pathetic bastard,” I hissed. “When you die, this land will be rid of your filth. You’re not going to win this.”

Alasdair smirked and narrowed his eyes menacingly. Taking his iron dagger, he grazed it across my neck all the way down to the tops of my breasts. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut against the pain. I would not scream … I refused to scream. My cold Winter blood oozed down my chest and dropped on the floor, staining the wood where it landed. My dagger glistened in the light, and as soon as my blood dripped onto its blade it lit up the room like a thousand suns.