Reign of Ice (Forever Fae series)

by L. P. Dover

  Clutching the box in my hand, I started for the door, but paused when my father placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “I know you know, Ariella, and I know you are angry. I’m sorry I kept it from you, but it was all his idea and I agreed to it. He’s trying hard to win your trust, little one.” He paused for a second and hesitated before asking, “Are you going to accept him as your guardian?”

  Did I even have a choice? I wondered.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I said softly. “But I do know that I need to talk to him in private. He tends to not speak when others are around.”

  Ryder and Kalen both chuckled in the background and Sorcha nodded in agreement when I glanced at her. They knew their brother well. If I was going to get any headway with him it needed to be without everyone’s prying eyes and ears. Surely, they all agreed and left me to myself, except Elvena who pulled me away from the door with a determined gleam in her eye.

  “What’s wrong, Elvena?”

  She put a finger to her lips and whispered, “Shh … I don’t want Brayden to hear us out here.” I nodded my head in understanding, but I was intrigued as to what was on her mind. She continued, “None of us know what’s going to happen if you bond with Brayden in the guardian bond. This sort of thing has never happened before.”

  “What do you think I should do?” I asked nervously. “What do you think will happen?”

  Elvena shrugged. “I’m not sure, Princess, but if what I think might happen happens then it could be the key to saving our land.”

  “How so?” I asked, wide-eyed.

  She smiled and took my hand, turning my palm up. “When you and Brayden join hands, blood to blood, your essence will mingle with his. His blood will flow through your body and it’ll no longer be purely Summer … but Winter. Do you understand what I’m saying, child? Do you realize what this could mean for us?”

  Slowly, I nodded as everything became clear. Could it really all be that simple? With Brayden’s blood intertwined with mine I would complete the circle and Durin could forge the weapon we needed to defeat the dark sorcerer. I wouldn’t have to complete the marriage bond with Brayden to save our land just like we first thought.

  The only problem was that I would be consenting to a bond that was just as deep as the marriage bond. Brayden would be able to feel and hear my thoughts unless I purposefully shielded them. It wasn’t going to be easy, especially with what I already knew my future was going to entail. Keeping that from him was going to be hard, but I had no choice, not if this was the key to saving our land. If bonding with him right now would ensure everyone’s survival then I was going to do it.

  Lifting a brow, I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “You do realize how hard this is going to be for me to be bonded with him right now, don’t you? We don’t exactly have the best relationship. I might end up killing him before we can even complete the bond.”

  Elvena giggled and patted me on the cheek. “I highly doubt that. Even though you two are at odds right now, he is still the one for you. Who knows, this might be what you both need. Now go in there and claim your guardian, child.”

  She looked back at me once and winked before turning the corner and heading out of sight. I walked slowly to the door to my father’s study and paused, placing my hand on the handle.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. Once I was inside, I slammed it shut behind me. I couldn’t back down now, but the moment he came into vision, my knees almost buckled at the sight before me. It was not what I expected to see.

  Brayden stood there, not in his armor, but in a simple black button down shirt and dark denim jeans. I just realized I had never seen him in plain clothes, and for once he almost looked normal. My heart raced just staring at him and I almost forgot why I was standing there. As he moved closer, I had nowhere to go but toward the door. I moved back until I could move no further. His lips tilted up in the corner as he gazed down at my mouth and then into my blue eyes.

  “Are you ready to face me yet?” he asked.

  I stood up straighter and pushed off the door thinking he’d step back, but he didn’t. All it did was put me flush with his body where I couldn’t help but breathe him in. However, I wasn’t going to let it distract me. Smirking, I replied, “I think the real question here is if you are ready to face me. I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

  “WHEN DID YOU realize it was me?” Brayden asked. He was so close I could smell his Winter scent and feel the coldness of his skin through my dress. It sent chills down my body, and made more than my skin shudder at the close contact.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t realize it was you until the very end. I could feel you near, but with you dressed in the Summer armor I didn’t think it could possibly be you. I have to say, it was the first time I’ve been tricked by someone. Whose idea was it to dress you in the Summer armor?” I asked. “I figured someone like you would have despised giving up the Winter crest during a fight.”

  He licked his lips and sighed. “It wasn’t easy, Princess, but it was something I had to do. Pride and loyalty to my court has always been my top priority.” He paused and took a deep breath, closing his eyes with his next words. “If you must know, Ariella, I did it all for you.”

  “Why, Brayden? Why did you do it for me?” I challenged. Pushing away from the door and from him, I went to stand in front of my father’s desk, crossing my arms over my chest. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. When he didn’t respond, I opened my arms wide and gazed around the empty room. Exasperated, I snapped, “There’s no one in here for you to be embarrassed about hearing you. What is so hard about answering a simple question?”

  “It’s because it is not a simple question,” he retorted. “Nothing about you is simple, Ariella. You’re very … complicated.”

  I scoffed. “I’m complicated? What about you? Why do you even bother with me if I’m so complicated? You could easily go back to your Winter Court and have uncomplicated relationships with whoever you fill your bed with.”

  Brayden groaned and ran his hands over his face. It was the first real emotion I’d seen from him and with it I saw the fire … literally. His ability was for fire and his hands blazed with it. He stalked toward me with nothing but heat in his gaze until I backed up against the desk; it made me tremble, and for the first time ever being around him I saw the spark.

  “First off, Princess, I may be complicated but I’m not the type of man to spill out my feelings like a damn female, especially in front of others. And about the women you speak of, I haven’t indulged in a woman’s touch since before I met you at the Winter palace. I know I walked away from you after the vision and I apologized for that. It was a mistake on my part and I asked for your forgiveness. I did what I did tonight to win back your trust and mend what I had broken.”

  He smiled sadly and continued, “If you bond with me tonight you will know exactly how I feel about you, and I offer those feelings freely. Only you are the important one to know how I feel. I may not speak them openly and I will most likely infuriate you more because I keep them hidden inside, but you will be able to feel them.” He grabbed my hand and placed it over his heart. “In here,” he added.

  I didn’t know I was holding my breath until I had the sudden urge to release it. The anger I felt before had diminished with each word that came out of his mouth, and all I felt was … excitement, love. I was shocked and completely taken aback. He spoke the truth and I didn’t need to have the guardian bond to know that he was genuine. We were both so different, yet so much alike in ways. The last thing I wanted was to attach myself to him knowing I had a dark fate ahead of me.

  Unfortunately, I had no choice.

  Was I selfish that I wanted to bond to him even though I was going to leave him? Yes, I was selfish, but in a way I wanted to experience what it was like to be bonded before my life ended. I wanted to know what it was like to be my sisters and have someone love me unconditionally.

  A tear es
caped the corner of my eye, and when I turned my head, Brayden took my chin and gently pulled me back while wiping the tear away with the pad of his thumb. He lowered down on his knees and muttered softly, “Will you accept me as your guardian, Ariella? I don’t know what this is going to mean for you, but for me it’ll be a great honor to protect you … to protect the woman that completes my soul.”

  I knew what I had to do. I was scared as hell, and even if I was ready or not it was something that had to be done.

  “Yes,” I breathed. “I accept you as my guardian.”

  INSTEAD OF DOING the Blood Ritual in my father’s study, I decided it would be best to finish it in my bedroom. If things were going to change, I wanted to be able to be away from the eyes of others if we had to leave. Brayden and I snuck through the hallways until we reached my bedroom. When I opened the door, he smirked and lifted a questioning brow.

  Sighing, I rolled my eyes and waited for him to enter. “I didn’t bring you here for that, Brayden. I just wanted to make sure we had some privacy.”

  He walked past me into my room and gazed around. My room was filled with shades of blue and silver, and now that I thought about it, it reminded me of the Winter Court. Subconsciously, I guess I was always thinking of Winter without ever knowing it. Brayden strolled around my room and spent a lot of extra time on the paintings I had hung on my walls. I didn’t visit the mortal realm much, but when I did I always brought back a piece from my favorite artists.

  “Did you paint these?” he asked, sounding amazed. “If you did, they’re amazing.”

  When he turned back to me I shook my head and laughed incredulously. “Oh, no. I wish I could paint like that, but I don’t have the skills. When I go to the mortal realm I always find a new piece to bring home.”

  He furrowed his brows. “Do you go to the mortal realm a lot?”

  I shook my head. “No, not often. Maybe a couple of times a month to find some new paintings. I never ventured off like Calista did. Her and her friends loved to go there all the time. Why, do you go out there a lot?”

  His answer was immediate, “No, I prefer the magic and beauty of our land. There’s too much suffering in the mortal realm.”

  I crossed the floor to stand beside him, suddenly feeling nervous and hopeful, as we stood there staring at the paintings. I prayed to the heavens that this bonding would be what we needed to defeat the dark sorcerer.

  “Are you ready to do this, Princess?”

  I’m ready to end the evil at whatever cost, I thought. Gazing up into his chocolate brown eyes, I nodded my head and sighed. “I’m ready.”

  I walked over to my bed and sat down, setting the box with the dagger in it on my lap. Brayden came and stood in front of me as I pulled it out. With his arms crossed at the chest, he gave me an accusatory glare.

  “Why are you giving in so easily? I can see it in your eyes that there’s more to this bonding than you’re letting on. There’s an ulterior motive here and I want to know what it is. You may be able to trick your friends and your warriors, but I can see right through it. Tell me,” he demanded.

  “And if I don’t tell you?” I countered, just trying to gauge his reaction.

  The energy in the room spiked hotter than Hell as Brayden unleashed his fire along with his anger. My body grew flush with sweat and the heat actually made me begin to feel dizzy. How could that be? I was Summer. I could withstand countless amounts of heat.

  “Trust me, Princess. You want to tell me,” he warned with a glint in his eye.

  “Fine,” I gave in, standing up to hand him the dagger. “Just dial down the heat, will you?”

  Instantly, the room went back to normal and it was as if the temperature hadn’t been changed at all. If Brayden wanted to know the truth there was no reason not to tell him, so I explained, “Once we bond tonight, Elvena thinks that it’ll be enough of a change for us to forge the weapon to defeat the dark sorcerer. So instead of us having to consummate the relationship we can do the guardian bond and everything will be right in the world. There’s no rush or even a reason for us to have to complete the marriage bond now. This should be enough to save our land without having to wait on us.”

  Brayden moved closer, the dagger in hand. “Is that what you want? What if the guardian bond isn’t enough? What if we need to consummate the relationship and be bonded fully?”

  I held out my hand, palm up, ready for him to slice open my skin and get the bond started. “I just hope it doesn’t come to that. This has to be enough,” I whispered.

  He winced at my words but stayed silent; even I caught myself wincing at my words as they came out of my mouth. They were harsh and cruel, and he didn’t deserve it after all he’d done. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him when he was being nothing but sincere to me, but I didn’t know what else to do or how to feel.

  Taking my hand, he held it gently in his, rubbing his thumb along my palm. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” he said sadly. My gaze immediately shot to his just as he sliced the dagger across my skin. I hissed at the pain and took a deep breath while I watched the blood absorb into my dagger.

  Why was he being this way? It would be a lot easier if he didn’t say things like that. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that, it’s just—”

  “There’s no need to explain,” he murmured, handing me the glowing blade that just absorbed my Summer blood. He held out his palm and finished, “It’s probably easier this way.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, grasping his cold hand. “It is.” But I don’t think either one of us believes that.

  The dagger felt warm in my hands, but when I grazed Brayden’s palm with the blade the vines on the handle started to change; they turned cold and began to ice over … literally. “Wow,” I breathed. “That’s amazing.”

  Staring at each other, with bloodied palms, we both took a step forward. Breathing hard, Brayden wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, never taking his gaze from mine. “What are you doing?” I asked nervously. “I don’t think we need to be this close for it to work.”

  Clasping his fingers with mine, there was only a breath of space keeping his palm from connecting and completing the bond. “No, we don’t,” he replied, “but I think it’ll make it more enjoyable.” The look in his eyes was heated, full of hundreds of emotions that I thought he would never open up and let me see. I was so enamored by his gaze that I didn’t even stop him when he lowered his lips to mine.

  Groaning, he pulled me closer, and even though he was a Winter Fae, he had me melting in his arms. He deepened the kiss at the same time he closed our palms together, sealing our minds as one. My mind flooded with images and feelings, all of which were from Brayden. However, what overtook them all was the growing need I felt coming from him, from within his heart.

  He grasped me tighter. I could feel my feet moving closer to the bed; being that I secretly craved his touch, I didn’t protest. Slowly, I sat down on the edge of the bed and Brayden followed by lightly covering my body with his, leaning us back across the mattress. His hunger fueled my own and it was hard to tell who was feeling what with my own warring emotions mingling with his. I could feel him growing harder between his legs, and if things weren’t so difficult I’d demand he take me. Unfortunately, it was too soon to let it go that far.

  “Look inside,” Brayden insisted in my mind, as he grazed my lips with his teeth. “You are the only one who will ever know me like this.”

  Closing my eyes, I pressed my forehead to his and concentrated on the images he replayed in his mind. It was like I could see myself through his eyes. They were all images of how he saw me from his past and how he felt during those times. The first one was of me at Calista and Ryder’s marriage ceremony and how he wished he could dance with me, but he also thought I was immature and young. The second one was at the Winter Solstice Ball and how he was amazed at how much I’d changed from the years prior. I could actually feel the anger flowing through his veins when he saw me dancin
g with another Winter Fae at the ball.

  I laughed, but Brayden squeezed my hand and growled. “It’s not funny, Princess. I could see the lust in my warrior’s eyes and I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him taking advantage of you.”

  I scoffed. “Please, give me a break. I’m not exactly the type of girl guy’s take advantage of. You obviously don’t know of my experience with men.”

  “How can I when you have your mind blocked? I think it’s only fair that you let me in. Do you have things to hide, Princess?” Actually, I did, but I couldn’t tell him that.

  I sighed. “Soon, Brayden. Right now you owe me this.”

  I couldn’t let him in fully, but if I played it just right I wouldn’t have to; I could give him bits and pieces of my life. It was already a hardship for me knowing I didn’t have much time, and the last thing I wanted to do was burden him.

  The next image that came through our bond was of me sitting beside his bed when he was injured. He loved the way I sang to him and …

  “You mean to tell me you were awake during that time? I sat there and sang to you for hours hoping you’d wake up,” I scolded him. “For hours I sat there!”

  Sheepishly, he muttered, “I know and I’m thankful that you did. For the first time in my life I was selfish. I wanted you there with me and not with Kamden. I heard you were staying with him while he healed, but I wanted you with me.”

  “Kamden is just my friend. He and Zanna are very special to me.”

  “I know that. He was one of the Winter Court’s finest warriors. I hated to see him go, but he was closer to Kalen than anyone. I wasn’t surprised when he chose to switch allegiances.”

  With my eyes still closed and his body so close as he lay against me, I asked the one question that hung thick in the air. “Where do we go from here?” Opening my eyes as Brayden lifted up on his elbows and released my hand, I watched as he ran his thumb over the wound that was slowly healing already from the feel of it.