White Stag (Permafrost #1)(39)

“You can have it if you want.” Soren followed my gaze. “You’ll have to eat something sooner or later.”

“I’d rather eat toadstools,” I retorted.

Soren gave me a look. “Suit yourself.”

From ahead, Elvira halted her snow cat and whipped around. “Be quiet. We’re in enemy territory, I can smell them, and with all the bantering you two are doing, they can probably do more than smell us. Honestly, Soren, I expected this type of amateur thing from her, but you’re just a disappointment.”

My muscles clenched as I tasted the air. Yes, she was right. Definitely goblin stench, but from whom, I couldn’t tell. Goblins didn’t make prey lines, but even so, I cast my eyes to the ground, hoping to find something that could help us. Instead, there was the same mess of green and blue that blended into the icy pathways and the harsh whiteness of the sun glinting off the mountain rocks.

Soren gave an easy smile. “We can handle anything.”

Elvira huffed. “Maybe. For now Rekke can ride by you and Janneke by me.”

Rekke’s eyes widened and a blush crept up her cheeks. To make it worse, Soren winked at the young goblin. Dear gods above, I can’t take this.

“Don’t encourage her,” I said, underneath a cough.

Soren gave me a wicked smile. “I am sure I don’t know what you mean.”

I nudged Panic forward toward Elvira and her snow cat. The young stallion whinnied nervously at the sight of the animal’s sharp fangs. I ran a hand through his mane. I hadn’t forgotten they tried to kill us either. The snow cat bared his teeth at us, and Panic struggled to keep his footing. I won’t let him hurt you. Even the telepathic link couldn’t calm the horse’s frantic nerves.

“He doesn’t like you,” Elvira said with a toss of her raven-black hair.

“I wonder why,” I said drily.

“You do?” She narrowed her brow in confusion.

I sighed. She was even worse than Soren. One hundred years later, it was surprising I could even joke at all at this point. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I am.”

It wasn’t what she said that froze my blood, it was how she said it. So simple and emotionless. She could’ve been ordering lunch.

I wasn’t about to let her see me shake. I gripped Panic’s reins hard and narrowed my eyes. “I have to warn you, I’m notoriously hard to kill.”

“I’ve heard.” She snorted. “Lydian proved that when he tore into you.”

Heat flashed across my body, lingering on the scar tissue of my chest. It was almost as if his crazed rambling carried on the wind. Why won’t you listen to me? Don’t you know what’s coming? Don’t you get it? What’s so special about you? I wish I could kill you. Invisible ants crawled across my skin as I was brought back to when he’d forced himself on me night after night.

Elvira grinned, knowing she’d hit a nerve.

I shook the pain from my mind before it could take root. “He will also never walk or use his left arm the same way again.”

“You even being in the presence of someone like me and Soren is an insult,” she spat.

“Soren doesn’t think so,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her.

“Soren should’ve killed you the moment your filthy hand grabbed his robes. Instead, he treats you like a pet. Tell me, do you sleep at the foot of his bed or do you curl around his naked body?” She glared back to where he rode with her niece, the two of them engaged in a conversation that looked a lot less dire than ours. Rekke was practically glowing with happiness, and Soren’s small grin was enough to show that even he couldn’t resist the young goblin’s enthusiasm. Elvira curled her lip as she watched them.

My eyes widened, finally realizing what Soren meant when he said I “threatened” Elvira. It wasn’t about power or skill. No, this was personal. From the way she ate him up with her eyes and the almost palpable hostility rising from her, there was no mistaking it.

“Why do you want to know? So you can wish it were you? That is why you hate me, isn’t it? You’re in love with Soren.” The entire thought was completely disgusting.

“I don’t have to explain myself to the likes of you,” she hissed.

“Jealous?” I taunted. “You know as well as I do that Soren would never lower himself to someone like you.”

Her eyes widened, anger burning in them, but her objection fell away as the mountain pathways opened before us. The sheer walls dropped from every side, glittering from the cold tundra sun. The paths widened and spiraled high above us like icy vines crisscrossing the sky. I bit my lip, the hair on the back of my neck rising at the exposure. We were sitting ducks if anything went wrong. Whatever Elvira thought about Soren and myself, she wasn’t lying when she predicted company was coming.

There were so many places to hide and jump from, and all around were loose bits of rock that gave way under the slightest pressure. The paths were slicked with ice; one wrong move would send us plummeting down into the chasm below.

A high-pitched whistle broke the eerie silence and echoed across the canyon, bouncing off the walls until it surrounded us from all sides. Almost immediately I had my bow in hand, an arrow notched. The whistle came again, so high that blood dripped from my ears and the ice hanging above us shattered, coming down in shards like rain.