Page 17 of Crowns of Ice
Since the first day I’d arrived here and shown him a hint of my powers, my village archon had kept a wide berth from me, never looking me in the eye nor muttering snide comments.
At least one of the bullies in my life had finally learned their lesson. With any luck, Georgyanna would be next. I could only hope that what I’d just experienced with her was the last encounter I would ever have with the Kroravee witch.
Another tremor shook the castle. All of the prisoners now stood at their cell bars, gripping and shaking them.
“Let us the fuck outta here, you fucking scum!” one of the prisoners yelled toward the door.
“Can’t you hear us?” another one called.
But since Georgyanna had fled, the dungeon door hadn’t budged, and neither of the guards standing outside had bothered to look in.
True fear began to run through me, but so did a strum of curiosity when my mark burned even more. If this truly was happening because of the gods, as my tingling mark implied it was, then would any harm come to me? Surely not.
The lights flickered, and a shift in the stone above caused a huge moan to reverberate through the dungeon.
Or maybe itwould.
I gazed upward as my fear strengthened, and then I began to pick at my fingernails when the crack in the ceiling widened.
“We’re all going to die in here!” one of the prisoners yelled.
But the rumbling abruptly stopped. Complete silence descended. Everything grew so still that I could detect Vorl’s breathing.
A few prisoners shuffled their feet, most looking nervously about.
The steel door abruptly crashed open to the dungeons, and then the crown prince of the Winter Court stormed inside.
Wings as black as the night, with obsidian talons at their tips, scraped along the ceiling’s stone. Eyes glittering with savage victory zeroed in on me, and a surge of the prince’s devotion zoomed toward me on our bond.
My heart felt as though it would burst.
All of the prisoners gasped or made the sign of the Blessed Mother when he passed them, but Norivun’s attention had locked onto me and me only.
The mate bond within me sang and brightened as my love for this male barreled through me.
A satisfied smile spread across his face when he stopped before my cell with two quaking guards in tow. Darkness gathered around his shoulders, and his tantalizing scent of cedar and snow wafted around him, but I didn’t detect his aura.
My teeth ground together.So Tylen has still been visiting him.It would explain why he hadn’t comesooner, but despite his suppressed magic, it didn’t detract from my mate’s strong presence and commanding demeanor.
“Release my wife,” he snarled at the guards.
The secondwifeleft the prince’s mouth, renewed whispering and mumblings disturbed the air, but I didn’t pay Vorl or any of the other prisoners any attention.
The guards fumbled with their keys and unlocked my cell door with a flourish.
“After you, my love,” the prince said with an amused bow.
After three days with no magic or affinities, my mate had still found a way to come for me, and somehow, the prince had called upon the gods to seek vengeance when his own had been stilted.
I grinned and flung my arms around him.
Norivun usheredme out of the dank hall and up the castle’s spiral staircase.
“Are you all right?” he asked quietly while his hand stayed glued to my lower back.
“You managed to find a way to free me from the dungeons and thwart your father, and you’re asking me if I’m all right?” I arched an eyebrow as we walked quickly up the stairs. “Do you always ask suchasininequestions, my prince?”
His lips curved, and he let out a low chuckle. “Ah, there’s that sharp tongue that I love so much.”