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I suspected he was right.

He stretched out his power, freezing the surface of the rock and marking it where the next pillar needed to be placed. These two would go in the West, I realized, with the others placed to the East of the arena.

“Now, create a pillar without me sending that surge of winter down our bond. It’s there. All you need to do is summon it to your will,” Caldris said, the teacher returning as Malachi took a step closer to us.

Our window was fading, our time limited. As much as we’d rather just enjoy the time we had together, neither of us was oblivious to the rare opportunity we’d been given.

If we were to have any opportunity to escape, any chance at freedom, then the best thing we could do is make sure I was ready. Hone my skills, so that I could rely on every ounce of magic I had at my disposal.

I nodded, spinning in his arms to face that marker. I closed my eyes, searching inside of me for the place where our mating bond stemmed. For the place where that thread connected to my soul. I tugged on it, trying to pull the magic of winter away from Caldris.

Closer to me.

It came, spreading along the thread and turning it to ice between us. Only when it was a breath from my fingertips did it stop, shuddering to a halt as if there were some kind of barrier in the way.

I pulled again. The winter retreated back a pulse, as if it could sense that I was not its owner.

“Keep trying,” Caldris said, his hands soft and gentle upon my waist. He rubbed his thumb over my dress in soothing circles, working to calm me so that I could relax into that touch.

“Would you hurry up?” a male voice asked, forcing my eyes to fling open.

I glanced over at where Malachi stood. In the time since I’d closed my eyes, lost to my focus and ignoring everythingaround me with the assurance that Caldris would protect me from any threats, another Fae had stepped up to Malachi’s side.

I recognized him. Knew that purple gaze and the cruel twist of his lips.

Caldris felt me tense, felt the rigid stance to my body as the male laughed at my failure.

“Tell me,” he said simply, his anger rippling down the thread of our bond.

The proximity always made our feelings more intense, always flooded me with every emotion that flickered through him. I couldn’t help but feel his rage settle in me, as I was reminded of that day this Fae had spit on me as I left the dungeon.

“He spit on me as I walked past one day,” I said, remembering the slimy, thick feeling of it when I’d wiped it away from my face.

Caldris merely hummed thoughtfully, but it didn’t change the fact that the purple-eyed male froze in place. The promise of bloodshed came down the bond as I watched the male recognize the threat for what it was.

I smiled, letting my eyes drift closed once more. I settled into that feeling of vengeance, into our united goal of seeing those who’d wronged us dead. I stroked the thread between us, running gentle, loving fingers over it as I coaxed it to do what I wanted.

As I caressed it into recognizing me for who I was. Not a slave to the bond, but one of two masters of it.

It rippled, the cold of winter filling my lungs in a sudden rush. I thrust out my hands, flinging my eyes open as ice rose from the ground and soared toward the sky.

The male was no longer smiling when I turned to look at him once more.

19

Caldris

Haakon stumbled through the halls in the dead of night. There wasn’t another soul to bear witness as he got farther from the throne room and those who lingered there, drinking and fucking and playing the silly games that occupied their time.

He was half-drunk on Faerie wine, the unusual chill to the dark passageways slipping right over his heated skin as I trailed behind him. It was a slow, delayed sort of stalk, forcing me to keep to the shadows as I summoned them to my side. Cloaking myself in them, making sure that anyone who did happen to pass wouldn’t see me, should it come to it.

I wouldn’t allow anyone to derail my fun, to stop me from doing what needed to be done. Estrella had suffered at the hands of the one Fae I couldn’t protect her from, but this Sidhe had spit upon her.

Him, I could kill.

He turned right in the halls, heading toward the area that housed his rooms. When he rounded the corner, he took it too hard, stumbling into the wall. The torch lining the passageway nearly struck him in the face. If I hadn’t already turned them upside down, he might have burned his flesh in his stupor.

Relief flashed over his face, his body sagging as he laughed lightly to himself.