Summer of Frost (Forever Fae #3)(33)

Holding the box securely in my hand, I held onto Drake with the other. My palms ached, but the bleeding had finally stopped. Drake flew off the mountain and into the wind, heading straight down to the valley below where we left the horse. If I wasn’t so drained I’d find the flight exhilarating, but hopefully within the next hour I’d have my strength back. It took a lot of blood to open that damn box.

When Drake landed and I slid off his back, he immediately changed back. He was naked, but it didn’t stop him from scooping me into his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked, sounding worried, running his hands over my body.

“I am now,” I said, smiling weakly.

He laughed and kissed my lips before fetching the clothes he left by the horse. After his clothes were put on, he hastily took me in his arms again. “I was so worried about you up there,” he whispered in my ear while breathing me in. “I wasn’t going to be too happy if you’d let yourself bleed out. I was two seconds away from knocking you out.”

“You wouldn’t dare, and anyway, I’m fine now.” I pulled back and tucked the box under my arm. “Let’s go home.”

“Not so fast,” a cold, dark voice echoed behind us.

Drake and I both stiffened and turned around slowly to see a man standing casually behind us. At first glance he looked almost angelic, but it didn’t take long to know he was anything but that. His shoulder-length brown hair was shiny and straight, and the features of his face were sharp, but yet ethereal. How could someone so evil look the way he does? He was the epitome of a beautiful man, but the eyes … the eyes gave him away along with the black aura surrounding his body. His dark gaze was alight with extreme power, and it didn’t take long to recognize it as mine.

“Alasdair,” I whispered.

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Hmm, hearing my name cross your lips makes me think naughty things, Princess. But look at you, and how you’ve changed. I think you two have been doing some naughty things, am I right?”

“What the …” Drake started and lunged, but my grip on his arm kept him in place.

The dark sorcerer waggled his finger at Drake. “You have nothing to worry about, dragon. I don’t want your princess. Although, I must say those Winter women definitely know how to f*ck,” he said, looking at me and licking his lips. “I believe I’ve been that route once before with your friend, Breena, if I’m not mistaken. Right, Princess?”

Ignoring the last question, I got down to business. He was goading me and I wasn’t going to give in. “What do you want, sorcerer?” I asked vehemently, even though I already knew the answer.

His smile disappeared. “Don’t play dumb with me, Princess. Hand over the box,” he ordered.

Drake grabbed my arm. “Don’t,” he hissed in my ear.

Never taking my eyes off of the sorcerer, I whispered lightly so only he could hear me. “It’s okay. Trust me.” Slowly, I trudged over to the sorcerer and reluctantly handed over the box, making sure not to touch his hands. I didn’t want to touch pure evil.

“Well, that was easy.” He smiled, but then narrowed his eyes at me. “But an empty box is not what I want. I want the scroll.”

“How do you know it’s not in there?” I asked.

He stared at me blandly and held out his hand. “You wouldn’t have handed over the box so easily. Now give it to me!” His eyes shifted to Drake, who had started slowly moving away from me, preparing to do to something heroic no doubt, but the sorcerer caught onto it.

“And before you decide to do something stupid …” Instead of finishing his sentence, he caught us both off guard by grabbing me in a lightning fast move. He now had me trapped in his arms with a vial of something liquid and obviously lethal close to my lips. I struggled against his hold, but his grip tightened, keeping me caged against his body while he tormented me.

He ran his nose through my hair and moaned while trailing one of his hands over my breasts, down to my hip, and finally to the inside of my thigh. “Fuck, you smell so good … just like Summer. It brings back a lot of memories.”

“Ugh, you make me sick,” I hissed. Reaching into my leather pouch, I sifted through it quickly until I found what I needed, and held up the scroll so he could see it. “Dammit, here’s your scroll! Now let me go! I’d rather die than be touched by you again.”

Drake shook with fury, but before he could charge, someone yelled out from behind the trees. It was Alston! “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

“Ah, well if it isn’t the scorned lover come to rescue the day,” Alasdair teased. “Or is he, might I ask?” He tilted his head so he could address Alston. “You have nothing to worry about, she’s all yours.” Startled, I gasped and he continued gleefully, “That’s right, Princess. You didn’t know your ex-lover schemed behind your back, did you? I was shocked when he came to me. Most people want power in return for fealty, but not this one. Oh no, he wanted you, and now I’m going to give you to him.”

“What?” I screamed, at the same time Drake yelled, “Like hell you are!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, young Prince. Because once I force this concoction down Sorcha’s throat she’s going to forget all about you. You’ll be nothing to her. She’ll only know of her life in the Winter Court before you ever came into her life.”