Page 35 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

“Do you take showers in your world?” Victoria asked between bites.

I laughed. “Realm. Of course, we do,” I answered.

“With running water?” Teddy asked.

“How else would we shower?”

“I dunno.” She shrugged that delectable shoulder. “Fantasy books always show fae taking cold baths, unless of course the fae has fire magic and can heat the tub. I mean, it’s not that far-fetched, considering you use medieval weapons.”

“Medieval weapons?” Sure, we’d been using the same weapons for over seven millennia, but why perfect something that didn’t need perfecting?

“Plus, you’d never heard of coffee before, which is some serious Stone Age shit. You didn’t even know what a plumber was a few hours ago.”

“Okay, wait.” Finished combing out Victoria’s hair, I guided her a few feet away from me to conjure my sword and shield.

I didn’t bother hiding the way I admired it.

“How is this medieval? It’s beautiful. It belonged to my grandfather and was given to me just as his grandfather before him.

It’s traditional and far more effective than your guns. ”

“More effective than guns?” She scoffed. “You can’t be serious. You can shoot guns from a distance.”

When I caught Victoria’s attention on my shield, I gave it to her and hid my smirk when she couldn’t pick it up. I helped her ease it to the floor so she could examine it.

“You can shoot arrows from a distance too,” I countered, tucking my sword away but keeping the shield so Victoria could continue playing with it. “The fire arrows are more effective on the nyxx than your small guns.”

“Nyxx? That’s what the snow monster are called?”

“Not monsters,” I countered. “They’re a breed of faerie, but unlike me and my kind, only melting them kills them.”

“Okay so aside from your nyxx, guns are more lethal.” Teddy turned from the stove, her cheeks flushed pink from the heat.

“Where it takes your archers several arrows to kill those birds, it only took me one shot. And it takes forever to set an arrow while you can point and shoot, point and shoot until you run out of bullets with a gun.”

While her guns weren’t as intricately made as my sword or bow, she did have a point. It was worth considering and possibly talking to my friends to see if they wanted to learn how to fire the weapon.

“Would you want to learn how to fight?” I asked.

The question had been gnawing at me for some time now. While I’d rather protect her myself, she was alone a lot, and it’d be good for her to know how to defend herself. Although her display earlier today showed just how well she could take care of herself.

“You’re good with the gun,” I added at the quirked brow she shot me over her shoulder. “But hand-to-hand and knife combat are always good practices to learn.”

She shrugged again, but I heard the way her breath and heartbeat quickened.

“You don’t have to,” I rushed to reassure her.

“I’d like to learn,” she whispered and shot a quick look at Victoria, who was busy playing with my shield.

Knowing she wanted to talk without Victoria hearing us, I scooped both my shield and the child up and carried them to the living room. Victoria gave my neck a quick squeeze before she resumed her inspection.

From over her shoulder, Teddy smiled. “Would I ever be strong enough to fight off a fae if they were to attack me?” she asked quietly.

I growled.

“Put away the testosterone, big guy,” she teased.

“Has someone threatened you?” I gritted out.

“No.” Her laugh came out tense. “This is more of a what-if scenario.”

I rolled my neck to loosen the tightness on my neck and shoulders. “We’ll start training tomorrow,” I said, forcing my tone to soften. Forcing the creeping tension away. “No matter how much you train, though, you won’t be stronger or faster than a fae.”

Her shoulders sagged.

“But I’ll train you to be smarter,” I continued.

I inched closer to her and massaged her rigid shoulders. With a loosened breath, she turned her head to kiss my fingers.

“I’ll show you where to strike us,” I said. “How to kill us.”

“That’ll make for good bedroom role-playing.” She turned off the stove, and when she turned toward me, her eyes raked over me. “I think I could make you beg for mercy.”

My blood heated, and my skin tightened as if she’d caressed those words across my flesh. “I’m positive you could.”

She bit on her bottom lip, a question forming behind her eyes. I waited patiently while she seemed to war with herself.

“When you were on the ground, did you feel like your magic was being taken from you?”

I held my breath, considering her question. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

Her cheeks paled, her eyes growing wide with fear. “I think I saw it. This black smoke was around you, and it looked like it was taking your magic.”

I held a hand to my chest, remembering how it’d felt and somehow knowing I wouldn’t get it back.

“I. . .” She shook her head, dismissing whatever she was about to tell me.

It felt important, so I waited her out.

“Sometimes I think I’m going crazy,” she admitted.

It reminded me of how vulnerable she’d seemed the night we first met. How she kept insisting she was going crazy.

When I wrapped my arms around her, she rested her head against my chest and slid her hands around my midsection. I kissed the top of her hair before I leaned my chin against her head.

“Your world has changed drastically,” I told her. “I’m sure a lot of this seems crazy.”

She looked up at me, her pretty blue eyes wide with worry. “I have this book I’ve been writing. It’s more like a dream journal.” She bit her bottom lip. “I think. . . I don’t know what I think, but could you read it? ”

My heart swelled with pride at what she offered. “You want me to read the story you’ve been writing?”

Her eyes, still filled with worry, swam over my face. “Yes, if you want to.”

I ran a hand over the length of her hair. “Of course, I want to.”

With that, she kissed my chest before rushing out of the kitchen. She returned quickly with the same white book I’d seen the morning after my lashing. When she handed it to me, I took my time examining the white cover. Just as I opened it, she closed it.

“Not now.” She scrunched up her nose, that I pinched. “Later. When you’re alone and if you have time.”

“Okay,” I said, putting the book in the pocket of my magic.

“It’s about a woman with magic,” Teddy said. “She calls herself a tenebris.”

The word tenebris skittered over my spine in a way that chilled me to the bone.

“Have you ever heard of that?” she asked.

“No,” I answered.

“I’ve never heard the term either,” Nalari said. “But there’s something about it . . . Tenebris, it gives me that same feeling of dread.”

I was careful not to show Teddy the fear that had wrapped around me. I leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“It could be nothing, Elias,” Nalari said, her tone taking on a rare tender note.

“I’ll read what you wrote and see if anything sounds familiar,” I told her. “Nalari said she’ll do her own research.”

That worry remained behind Teddy’s eyes, and the sight of it made the guilt climb through my chest up to my throat. I’d done this to her, brought these nightmarish creatures into her world. It was all because of me.

“Nalari speaks to you nonverbally?” Teddy asked.

The way she asked made me feel like the way Nalari and I communicated wasn’t common among humans. I turned my answer over in my head, trying to simplify the archaic relationship between fae and our Guardians.

“Yes, we speak telepathically. She hears my thoughts, and she projects her own back.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Somehow, I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that.” Her smile was soft if not a bit wary. “It’s a good answer, though. We should eat so Tori can get to bed.”

She turned to pull three plates from a cupboard while I grabbed glasses and filled them with water. I watched her, though, and tried to figure out what was going on in her head. What dreams she was having that spooked her.

And then I remembered. Knowing this would make her happy, I spun to her and with a huge smile, gripped her shoulder. She stilled, watching me with open curiosity.

“I almost forgot.” With a wave of my hand, I reached into my pocket of magic once again. “I’ve been working on trading with other regions, and I got you something.”

When I handed her three bags of freshly ground coffee, she threw herself in my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist.

“I’ll have some sugar and milk for you in a day or two,” I told her, knowing she liked her coffee with a good amount of both.

“I could kiss you right now.”

“You should,” I answered.

In all my dreams about Teddy, I never let myself imagine her liking me, especially with her side of the bond broken. But she did.

There was still so much I had to tell her. Knowing I kept secrets from her ate at me. Especially about the night I killed Javier’s father.

It was hard to look at him without the gnawing guilt of what I’d done to him and his family. While I knew nothing could right the horrible wrong I’d done to them, both George and I went out of our way to help them in any way we could.

None of it mattered, though, unless I was honest with Teddy.

I was foolish to wait until she liked me more in the hope she’d forgive me. Foolish and selfish.

Where Teddy was open and up front.

I could tell her now as I sat unmoving on her couch, and she rubbed the antibiotic cream Dr. Daniels had given her on my healing back.

She kissed my shoulder blade, then knelt in front of me to look at my chest. All my worries spilled away when she sniffled, her eyes welling as she took in the raw skin where the thunderbird’s fire had struck.

It had been worse before. If I were at my cottage, I’d finish healing it but didn’t want to deplete my energy while I was with Teddy.

With a steady hand, she reached for my chest but stopped.

“Tell me if I hurt you.” She peered up at me, her eyes rimmed red and glossy from the tears she held back.

Tears for me .