Page 7 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Four

ELIAS

Seconds unraveled into infinite moments. I could almost see it—a lifetime with her. This perfect female, whose name I still didn’t know. It was all I could think about when her small body pressed against my hard chest.

I pressed my nose to her hair, which was more like wine than the color of blood. Intoxicating and addictive.

When she peered up at me, I felt trapped in her gaze. Her pretty blue eyes rounded with curiosity. Something foreign shifted inside me as a shock burned through my veins.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again,” I told her in the traditional language she understood.

“I know,” she whispered, her brows drawing together in confusion. “It doesn’t make sense, but I trust you.”

Although I knew it was our mate bond making her trust me rather than something I’d earned, I swelled with pride.

I wanted to know more about her beyond this extreme attraction. Anything she’d be willing to tell me, but I started off small.

“What’s your name?” I rasped out .

I coughed to clear my throat.

She licked her lips, and Guardians help me, I wanted to taste her.

“Theodora,” she said, her voice just as raw as mine.

In my arms, she turned to face me. Unable to resist touching her, I put a tentative hand on her waist. When she didn’t protest, I let my other hand fall to the other side of her waist, where I grazed my thumb over the fabric of her shirt.

My blood heated. I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I tore through the veil with my friends, only that she was scared and in pain.

My own terror roared at the sight of her trapped, with that male keeping her captive as she screamed and cried for him to stop.

I tore him off her, leaving George to deal with the male I had every right to kill.

He’d hurt my mate and had tried to kill her while she lay defenseless beneath him.

Knowing he’d never harm her again wasn’t enough when my soul screamed for vengeance.

But my female didn’t need my anger. She needed me to be calm and in control so I could prove to her that I could care for her. Love her.

I let George kill the male while I soothed and healed her, tending to her various wounds with care.

Touching her. . . had sent a shot of fire through me, where I knew a simple graze would’ve never been enough.

“Theodora.” I repeated her name reverently.

Guardians’ gift. It wasn’t just the meaning of her name, but what she was. A gift from the Guardians themselves.

“Teddy,” she said, her eyes roaming over my face. “Call me Teddy.”

When she narrowed those pretty eyes, she tilted her head to the side again.

It was a cute gesture that made her look sweet and innocent.

She dug her teeth into her bottom lip and reached a hand up to my face.

I closed my eyes, no longer having to picture her with my mind’s eye, and waited for her to touch me.

A thrill ran up my spine in anticipation.

Rather than trace her fingers across my face as I’d hoped, my ear twitched when she touched the pointy end.

“Your ears?” She ran her finger over it, making it twitch again.

Her face paled, so I gripped her elbow in case she fell.

“Your teeth were—are . . .” She gripped the sides of her head, and I could scent her fear. “Are you?—”

“Elias,” I said before she could finish her sentence.

Her fear of me made my gut twist. I needed to ease her anxiety and let her see I wasn’t someone she should ever be afraid of.

Eventually, I’d tell her about me, but at that moment, I didn’t want her worrying about what I was until I knew she could handle it.

With her skin a sickly color after everything she’d endured, I figured all she needed to know was my name.

“Call me Elias.”

A gust of cold wind hit my back. Unsure who had followed me through the veil, I conjured my sword and swung around as I pushed her behind me. My sword sang, as did my friends’, as we prepared to protect Teddy.

Uncle Hudson lifted his hands and pushed the tip of my sword down. My friends fell to a knee in a show of respect for our highest commander.

I reached behind me for Teddy, and she clasped onto my hand, her fingernails digging into my palm.

“Nephew.” It wasn’t just his disappointment that hit me, but dread—real, actual fear. “I told my Guardian you didn’t. You wouldn’t. That they were all mistaken. ”

He held my shoulders, and when he bowed his head, I rested my forehead on his.

“I had to,” I explained. “She was gravely injured. Had I not come. . .” Unable to think about it, I shook my head.

He sighed a heavy sound that echoed in my chest.

“And now?” he asked, his tone accusatory.

He stepped his mountain of a body back and pointed at the glass windows at the front of Teddy’s store. Holding on to her, I moved toward the closest window, my friends crowding around us on either side.

She gasped, squeezing my hand harder. “Is that. . .” She shook her head before looking back at me through serious eyes.

“It’s snowing,” George said, his voice resigned.

Uncle Hudson nodded with a grim expression on his face.

“I think something is wrong with me, Elias. Even before the fridge fell on me, I saw you. Just these small glimpses, and now, poof, here you are. A walking hallucination that I can feel, hear, see, and smell.” She gripped the sides of her head, her cheeks going impossibly paler.

I wanted to tease her, tell her she could taste me too, but I held back. While I was ready to have all of her, she barely held on to her new reality.

“And now it’s snowing.” She pointed outside, where snow fell in a heavy sleet. “In March.” She took a step back. “It rarely ever snows here. I mean, we get a pretty good winter storm once a year, but this. . . this isn’t happening.”

Eyes wide, she ran to the door and threw it open. Once outside, she lifted her head to the sky and huffed out a disbelieving sound.

I grabbed the blanket she’d left on the floor, and when I reached her, I put it over her huddled shoulders.

“This isn’t real.” Her voice quaked, her breath coming out as a billow of white smoke. “You aren’t real.”

I held her to me, her body shivering against the cold wind that ripped around her. Regret filled me as she shook in my arms.

“It’s real,” I said softly and pressed her hand against my chest so she could feel the beat of my heart. “I’m real, Teddy.”

“I should be home with Ryenne,” she said.

My stomach twisted with a jealous knot.

“She brought tacos, and we were going to talk about her secret boyfriend.” She peered up at me, her eyes wide and watery. “Instead, I think. . .” Her lips tugged down in a frown.

I wrapped myself around her, letting the snow hit me as I tried to ward off the frigid air. I’d done this, knowing the consequences. I’d doomed her realm and made her wonder about her own sanity.

The ground beneath me trembled. I stilled, listening and watching the area around us—the stores that lined their small city, long poles with a warm light at the top, and the open field with tables and benches. I held my breath and waited as the ground settled, but not a single nyxx appeared.

“Let’s get you inside, huh?” I whispered, pressing a long kiss to the top of her head as I continued to scan our surroundings.

She let me lead her back inside, and when we reached my friends and uncle, she leaned against my chest as if it were second nature.

“You killed him?” My uncle’s tone was as cold and sharp as the snow.

Teddy jerked in my arms and sucked in a deep breath. I trailed a finger over her arm and had to bite back a smile when she inched closer to me.

It pleased me that she trusted our bond so completely. Maybe she’d even forgive me for what I’d done to her realm and the hardship her race now faced.

In time, as she came to know me, maybe I could talk her into returning to my realm.

“A human, George?” While Uncle Hudson kept control of his anger, it vibrated off him in waves that made George tremble. “This is bad enough.” He pointed outside again. “But killing a human?” He shook his head.

My friend stayed quiet with his head bowed. I wanted to defend George, but even though I outranked my uncle as the king’s only son, I’d already made a mess of things.

“What do you expect me to tell the elder Guardians?” Uncle Hudson asked.

“I’ll take whatever punishment they decree,” George said, eyes trained on my uncle’s brown boots.

“I will take the punishment,” I interjected. “This is my fault, Uncle.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that, nephew,” Uncle Hudson spit out.

“What human was killed?” Teddy’s small voice was uncertain, and it wasn’t until I turned to look at her that I scented her fear.

“I told you, you don’t have to worry.” Knowing it made her feel safe, I brushed my fingers over her arm again. “You’re safe.”

Her fingers dug into my side. “Where’s the man who was with me?”

I hated the way her voice shook and the way her fear tasted on my tongue.

“You’re safe now,” I reminded her .

A tremble tore through her body. “The man?” she asked again, in a tight whisper.

George flashed her one of his quick smiles that made females in our realm fall over themselves, and I growled. His smile dropped, and he bowed his head.

“I took care of him,” George replied.

Her eyes were wide, and her growing fear made me nauseous as she took a step away. “You mean you killed him?” Her voice was louder, more erratic.

She held a hand up at me when I moved toward her. Dejected, I stilled and waited for her.

“Please,” she begged.

My heart stalled at the plea and terror in her voice.

With his brows drawn together in the same confusion I felt, George raised his hands. “The male harmed you,” he explained.

“Things don’t work like that here,” Uncle Hudson hissed. “Humans don’t go around killing each other for minor infractions.”

“Minor infractions?” I grumbled. “She was trapped and bleeding on the floor when I reached her.”

“You should never have come to begin with!” My uncle’s roar caught us all by surprise.