Page 24 of A Bond of Ice and Glass (Crowned By Wings #2)

I crawl over into Erax’s spot on the bed where his warmth still lies. His scent wraps around me. Fire and spice, smoke and safety. It smells like home, instantly comforting me. Where is he?

I know it’s ridiculous to miss Erax already. He only left the room a minute ago. But the bed feels too cold without him, and I feel too raw to be alone.

Sunlight filters through the curtains, soft and golden. The pillow still holds the shape of his head. I let my eyes fall closed, breathing him in. Just for a moment.

A loud clang of metal jolts me awake.

I tense and then force myself to relax. Stop worrying. It’s probably just someone leaving the inn. Maybe they dropped something. Erax has only gone downstairs for food. He’ll be back soon. I press my cheek deeper into the blankets.

But then something roars. I shoot up in the bed.

What in the name of Ciagid was that ? The window smashes.

I scream and cover my face with my arm. Glass scatters everywhere.

On the ground, on the table, on the bed.

Noble rolls onto the floor, and then he shoots up and quickly scans the room.

His clothes are ripped and burned, his armour tarnished, and the bottom of his cloak singed black.

When his eyes land on me, he smiles and brushes the glass from his shoulders in a way that makes me want to punch him in his traitorous face.

“He didn’t hurt you?”

My rage only multiplies. I grab one of Erax’s knives out from under my pillow.

“No,” I say as calmly as I can, but my voice is laced with anger. “But I’m going to hurt you —you lying, backstabbing son of a bitch!”

He smiles at me like he didn’t have me drugged for weeks on ether .

“Do you know how pretty you are when you’re angry? I’ve missed that side of you. The real you.” He ruffles his hair, shaking away the bits of glass. How did he even blast through a freaking window? “It’s nice to see you back, ice princess.”

“Y-you bastard !” I throw the knife at him.

He catches it with infuriating ease and grins at me.

“You don’t get to miss anything about me!

You betrayed me. You betrayed Erax. You’re a traitor!

A coward!” I grab the pillows and throw each of them at him.

He dodges most, but one hits him in the face.

I’d laugh if I didn’t want to claw his eyes out so much.

“He was like a brother to you, and you betrayed him! You pathetic piece of?—”

“I betrayed Loch too, and he was my brother,” he calmly replies. Then his humour vanishes and his eyes harden. “Look. We don’t have time for you to kill me just yet. I need to get you out of here.”

I shake my head at him. “No. I’m not going with you again. Erax will?—”

“Erax already has his hands full. He sent me here to protect you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to. He doesn’t trust me either. But he trusts you, and he knew you’d stab me before you’d ever believe I was on your side.” His tone lowers, becoming desperate. “Just come with me. I won’t hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you.”

I still don’t buy it, and I grab another of Erax’s knives.

“I would’ve believed that a few weeks ago before you betrayed me. Now I’d rather slit your throat than fall for your tricks again!”

Noble sighs in frustration. “It’s either me or Loch. Who would you rather go with?”

Lochlan . Is that who Erax is fighting?

“Where is he?” I ask, my throat drying.

“Controlling the wraiths. They’re riding dragons now.” Noble gestures to the broken window. Wraith dragon riders? “See for yourself.”

I don’t want to believe him. But outside, I can hear the clashing of steel.

Then, through a crack in the wall next to me, I catch a glimpse of Erax already fighting outside, already bleeding.

A dozen riders on dragonback descend over him like a black tide, their mounts wreathed in smoky shadows, eyes glowing with coals, lit with dark ether .

Erax holds them back with a wall of fire.

I’m not leaving him. Not again.

This time, I’ll fight beside him.

I point my blade at Noble. “Move. Downstairs. I’ll follow.”

“Being held at knife point wasn’t part of the plan?—”

“I said move. I don’t trust you, Noble, and as far as I’m concerned… you’re dead to me.”

“You don’t mean that,” he says with a smile.

But I can hear the pain in his voice. The slight hesitation behind his words.

“Right now, I hate your guts for what you did to me.” I jut my chin towards the door. “Move.”

“You should probably dress first. Quickly, if you please.”

I look down at my white tunic. He’s right. I can’t fight wearing just this.

Keeping my knife still pointed at Noble, I grab my vest from the floor, slip it over my shoulders, and tie the corset as best as I can. Then I slip my feet into my boots, not once taking my eyes off him. He just watches me with that amused look on his face.

Gods, I could gut him.

Before we leave, I grab Erax’s belt with all his weapons inside it and slide it diagonally over my chest. This will have to do. I nudge him forward.

“Why did you even come here?” I hiss at him.

“To warn you. Erax was downstairs getting you breakfast. Seems the king is more romantic than I thought—hey, hey. That hurts. My back is my best feature.”

I press the tip of the dagger against his back. “Shut up. Just keep walking.”

He walks silently for a moment, then he says, “He really does care about you, huh?”

It doesn’t feel like a question. More like a fact.

Yes, Erax cares about me. He’s the most unhinged, messed-up person I know, but he cares about me more than anyone. More than Noble and Loch combined.

Loch…

“Why is Loch doing this?” I ask in a whisper. “Why do you want to hurt me so much?”

It’s Loch’s betrayal that hurts me the most. I didn’t just see him as my friend. I saw him as family. But after what he did to me—after what he’s doing now—I don’t think I can ever forgive him.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” Noble whispers back. Liar . “And Loch doesn’t want to hurt you. He wants to control you. Possess you. I think the ether is driving him nuts. He’s past saving now.”

A loud bang splits across the inn. The wooden beams tremble, as if the land itself is being torn apart, and smoke roars through the windows in black gusts. My fingers and toes feel numb, but I know it’s not from the cold.

My magic writhes beneath my skin, wild and angry.

I need to help Erax.

I push Noble outside as fast as I can. The moment the fresh air hits me, Erax turns, and his face twists in rage. His eyes burn on Noble.

“I told you to protect her!”

“A little hard to do that with her knife at my back,” he answers dryly. “And the inn falling apart.”

Erax glances at the building. The entire roof and front wall have been ripped off.

The wraith screams like a dying cat. Erax slits a knife through one of the wraith’s throats. The creature shrieks before it explodes into ash. “Where—is he?!”

Another dragon lands on the ground. Except this shadow is bigger, darker, with glowing red eyes.

The shadows seem to snap and twist around it like they’re a living, breathing thing.

Lochlan slides off its back, his expression calm, while fire dances dangerously close to his skin.

He walks through the flames like they’re nothing.

The shadow-dragon behind him snarls but doesn’t move, like it’s been chained to him.

“Maelena.”

His voice is soft again, so like Lochlan, that it hurts to hear my name on his lips.

I turn my knife to him, but Noble steps in my way. Erax is already moving. His fire bursts in a ring around us, crackling so hot it scorches the ground.

“Say her name again,” he warns, slow and lethal, “and I’ll rip your tongue out through your dick.”

His voice is low, shaking with barely contained rage. He steps forward, just once. Enough to make the ground crack under his boots.

“She doesn’t want you,” he growls. “She chose me . Not because I made her. Not because I fucking lied to her. But because she wanted me. Not you.”

Fire coils up his arm like a serpent, hissing and cracking.

“Look at you. You’re no threat,” he sneers at him. “You’re just a parasite with a fucking god complex. You’re unworthy of her and always will be.”

Loch just smiles at him. Even his smile looks like the old Loch, but there’s something different about it. Something dark and vicious.

“We don’t need to fight. Just leave her alone,” Noble says, snapping Loch’s attention to him. “You’ve hurt her enough. This wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Neither was you betraying me, Noble, and yet you did,” Loch drawls at him, hate poisoning his voice.

He lifts his hand, and Noble flies backwards into the air.

He slams into the inn with a crack , groaning as he slumps to the floor. I instinctively run towards him, but Loch’s hand snaps up again, and my feet stop moving. Shadows creep out from the ground and wrap around my ankles and legs, rooting me down.

“You don’t belong to them, Lena. You were mine. You still are.”

My magic stirs inside me, angry and writhing. I try to summon it, but the frost just melts through my fingers. It’s like he’s suppressing my power.

“You feel it, don’t you?” he says, smiling hopefully at me. “That burning in your chest? That pull to be with me?”

“I feel only betrayed by you. How could you do that to me, Loch? I trusted you!”

A bright flash moves in the corner of my eye.

“Let her go, you void-kissed snake.”

Nymala.

The witch appears from the shadows behind him, her black skirts fluttering in the wind, one hand glowing with bright golden fire. Even her hair is glowing like it’s been lit by the sun.

Loch’s smile melts into a scowl.

“Do you really think you can stop me? That any of you can stop me? You have no idea what power I have now. What it cost me to get it.”

His eyes fall on me again, dark and burning, like he’s trying to tell me something.

Even now, even after what he did to me, I still want to help him. The Lochlan I know must still be in there somewhere. I just need to reach him.