Fire and Ice (31 page)

Adrius burst through the door, as the ice smothered my chest, crushing air from my lungs, my last breaths puffing like clouds. He freed his sword and lashed a fiery bolt in my direction. With a splash the ice block melted into a sizzling puddle. Water flowed away from me like a living thing, releasing an agonizing cry, and then moments later solidified back into ice beneath my feet.

I stepped toward him wet, shivering, and confused. Why was she warning me? And who was he bound to? Everything she said made too much sense and none at all. But it wasn't as if I had any control over my feelings for him. They just were. As if they'd taken on a life all their own. And with their own free will they refused to be reasoned with, or altered. My love for him was binding. I could no more turn it off on demand than I could turn off the beating of my heart.

Octãhvia tapped her staff on the ground, amusement dancing on her malicious face. “We're done here,” she said cheerfully.

“Lorelei?” he said, keeping his gaze fixed on her.

“I'm ready,” I said, through chattering teeth, and turned my back on the ice witch. It was not the exit I had imagined when I'd frantically tried to plan his rescue. I'd pictured terror, fighting, and a lot of bloodshed. Letting us go freely didn't exactly come to mind. And while millions of questions were brewing, I knew it was better to leave now, before she changed her mind.

Zanthiel was waiting for us in the corridor, ready to lead us out. He looked at us impatiently.

“You ready now?” he snapped, directing his question to me.

I nodded, tightening my hold on Adrius's hand.

Zanthiel noticed. Something flickered in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He raised his hands and a round invisible doorway opened in the middle of the hall. Like he'd cut a hole in the air linking this place to another.

Adrius looked at him. “Zanthiel,” he said evenly with his usual detached calm.

“Adrius,” he returned.

“Thank you,” he said through slightly clenched teeth. “…For keeping her… alive.”

Zanthiel replied with a nod in my direction. “The gateway to Faery will open at the next daybreak, and remain open for only a short while longer. I suggest you hurry.” His silvery gaze held mine a moment longer, then as usual he dissolved in a frenzy of swirling black smoke and fluttering wings.

We stepped through the shimmering porthole leaving winter behind and emerging in a wooded area bathed in the warmth of summer.

I exhaled and the cloud of my still cold breath hung in the air before fading away. A split second later Tilak emerged, from the brushes, swaggering toward us, followed by two unicorns.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in.” Adrius grinned.

“Tilak! What are you doing here?” I hugged him. “How did you know I needed help?” If it hadn't been for him somehow alerting the summer fey, I might have been soulless troll food by now.

He rolled his eyes as I released him. “Please. We
are
talking about
you
after all, lassie. It wasn't a stretch to figure you'd gone back for Lord Adrius. And considering you certainly know how to scare up trouble… well, I had to do something, didn't I?” He grunted then stalked away.

Adrius dropped onto the ground and stretched out. I watched him, catching him staring at me with that hard-to-read expression on his face.

“What?”

“You must have been impossible as a child,” he said, squinting.

“No more than any other kid was,” I countered, with a toddler pout.

“Well, based on the way you ignored me when I told you to leave me behind, I'd say your mother probably had her hands full.”

“If that's your way of saying thank you, it needs work.”

“So you're telling me that you… were a typical child.” A flicker of amusement tugged at the corners of his lips.

“That's right… well, more or less.” I considered his question. “I used to sleepwalk and talk to imaginary beings,” I said, slightly embarrassed. “They would find me on the beach miles from our house in my pj's and bare foot. I never remembered any of it, but I do remember the voices. I could hear them as clearly as I can hear you now, and they would talk to me and sing to me whenever I was afraid or upset.” I sat down next to him and stared blankly into the sky. “It bothered me my mother was so freaked out by it. Gran was the believer. When I was with her, it was okay to talk about
seeing
the pain random people were suffering and the bizarre way I could heal them.”

Adrius kept a keen eye on me, while I inspected my finger nails, never entirely comfortable talking about my unusual gift. There was a fine line between being special and being a freak. And I'd always relegated myself to the freak side.

“She always seemed to
know
things…about me and about other people. So when I told her about the voices and the singing she wasn't surprised and never once questioned my sanity.” I paused, focusing on nothing in particular. “If she actually knew about any of this… it would explain a lot. Although, I still don't see how she could. I mean, if she had actually crossed the veil, into the Nevermore… wouldn't somebody know?”

Adrius shrugged one shoulder and traced lines in the grass. I watched, hypnotized by the rhythmic motion of his hands, wondering what more my mother and grandmother knew but kept from me.

“Sometimes the obvious answer is the hardest one to find, Lorelei.”

I arched my brows. “Are you turning into Hawthrin now?” Tossing a handful of grass at him, I leapt to my feet.

He laughed, rolling deftly out of reach. “I do know
this
,” he said, when I missed my target. “I'm not the only one whose life you've irreversibly altered by being here.” His liquid golden eyes were penetrating.

The insecure voice in me that wanted to ask if that was a good thing fell silent. Stifled by the way he was looking at me.

If anyone was irreversibly altered, it was me… because of him. Silently, I basked in his dreamy eyes. Afraid if I said anything now, my voice would betray how hopelessly addicted to him I was. Eventually, I had to look away; the way you do when you've been staring at the sun for too long.

“It's getting late; shouldn't Tilak be back by now?” I asked, when looking into his beautiful face without touching it became unbearable. “What could he be doing for so long?”

“Who knows,” Adrius drawled lazily. “I can't even begin to imagine what goes on in the mind of a dwarf.” He was resting with his head cradled in his hand, propped up on his elbow. “Besides, I feel like being alone with you for a while.” Patting the ground beside him, he flashed his infamous smile. The one I was sure got him everything he wanted and more. Shaking my head, I obliged, sinking back onto the soft ground next to him. It felt good to be near him again, to feel the heat of the sun after days of gloom and ice and cold. I curled up close enough to feel the warmth of his breath, smell his faint blend of campfire and pine.

“It has been a long time since I've felt this comfortable with anyone.” His voice resonated with sudden emotion. He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek.

“I don't think I've ever been this comfortable with anyone,” I said quietly. It was true. There was no comparing how I felt when I was with him, to anything I'd ever experienced before.

“I find that hard to believe.” The corner of his mouth twitched into a half smile. “A high school full of human boys all dying for a chance to be with you. Someone must have caught your eye… your heart.”

We had carefully avoided talking about us, whatever that entailed. It was like an unspoken agreement. But it quickly became the unmentioned elephant in the room, overpowering every moment we were together.

“Ha,” I laughed aloud. “Not really. But I could say the same for you. I've seen the way girls look at you. In your world and mine. This place is overflowing with gorgeous girls all eager to be the next Princess of Mythlandria.”

I was careful to keep the envy from my voice, but he saw through it. He always did. No one had ever known me the way he did. Letting people in was not something I did often. Carefully guarding my emotions, I kept a part of myself locked away from the curious and judgmental eyes of the world. But Adrius didn't wait for an invitation. He saw through the layers, and I shivered as his gaze pried into my soul. I felt open, exposed and completely vulnerable around him… and yet, at the same time, perfectly safe.

“Surely over the course of
hundreds
of years… there must have been
someone
… like maybe the someone Octãhvia mentioned…”

He placed a finger gently on my lips, his expression suddenly serious. “Only you,” he said, sweeping his hand along the length of my jaw. “You are the one I've been waiting for, Lorelei. I just didn't know it… Didn't want to know it.”

He reached out and took my hand and my breath got stuck in my throat. “I know I was the one who said this c
ouldn't be. But, something happened in Octãhvia's fortress, when you were gone. I had a vision. You were surrounded, and about to… die. It terrified me. More than anything else, ever has.”

I leaned forward, silently urging him to go on.

“The thought of losing you made it clear how much you mean to me.” There was a pause and he shifted slightly.

My stomach twisted in anticipation.

“How much — I love you,” he said softly.

I gasped as he kissed the back of my hand, stealing my breath away. Before I could say anything, a swarm of sparkling yellow butterflies surrounded us, floating silently in mid air before disappearing into the horizon, as if on cue. There was a tingling sensation that left my hand feeling mildly numb. Nothing like the electric sensation of our last kiss, that had spun me off my feet, and left him in inexplicable pain. I wasn't one to believe in signs, but this
had
to be a good omen. Eyes lit with emotion stared into mine and I bit my lower lip. I'd never seen him so exposed, so open. The depth of feeling radiating from him was as overwhelming as it was longed for.

“I can fight a lot of things, Lorelei, but not this…” He stopped and took a deep breath, raking a hand through his hair.

Something fluttered deep inside me.

“When I said, the things I said… I know I hurt you, but at the time it was the only way of not hurting you anymore.” Remorse lined his beautiful face. “I'm sorry.”

It came out in almost a whisper that made my chest ache for him, and I closed my eyes to keep from losing my mind.

“I can't bear the thought of hurting you. And I can't bear the thought of not being with you,” he said quietly. “But I don't want to fight it anymore.” A passing cloud held his attention for what seemed like an eternity. When he looked back at me, his brows were drawn tight, and his eyes strained. “I know I have no right to expect… or to hope you might feel…” his voice trailed off.

“I love you too,” I blurted, when I could finally breathe again. Every part of me trembled. With a smile he exhaled a small sigh and the tension that had hung like an impenetrable wall between us since that day by the lake, dissolved.

He locked his fingers with mine, staring intently at our melded hands, then shook his head, perplexed. “I'll never understand why,” his quiet reply came, as I leaned against his chest listening to the rhythmic thumping of his heart. His finger lifted my chin, tilting my face up to his. With an agonizing delay, his mouth lowered, and his lips brushed against mine. Softly at first, with a faint tingling, and then with heated electric fervency as I melted into him, weaving my fingers in his hair. Warm hands framed my face then slid down my neck, over my shoulders to the small of my back. An involuntary shiver trembled through me, and he pulled away, placing one last tiny kiss on my forehead. I wanted to protest but I was still buzzing with overflowing emotions. There was so much I wanted to say, but mere words were insufficient. They weren't strong enough to convey what was in my heart.

I don't know how long we stayed that way, locked in each other's arms in the grass with my head resting on his chest. But when I finally got up, the sun was setting.

Wisps of lavender drifted across the sky, soothing the brilliant orange sunset. The blue moon had already made its appearance, looking close enough to touch from the nearest treetop.

I wandered to the edge of our grassy area, toward the fringe of densely packed trees.

“You are not going to wander off are you? Who knows what catastrophe you might stumble upon.” Adrius laughed dryly.

“You're funny,” I said with a dismissive wave. Completely ignoring him, I moved deeper into the woods, until the trail behind me had all but vanished… drawn in by some unseen pull. Gnarled, thorny bushes blocked the path, preventing me from venturing any further. At night the forests in the Nevermore came alive, growing menacing and dangerous after twilight. All manner of vicious creatures woke up that would just as soon torture you as eat you. It was a deadly place and I again was grateful not to be alone. In the distance a bird hollered,but not a usual cry. I can't say for sure how I knew this, but it was a warning.

Cold chills sped down my spine as I rushed back.

“Adrius, it's Tilak. Something's happened!” I could feel it. A vision came into my mind… a torn piece of his shirt hanging from a jagged branch. But more than that, it was the foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach that ignited my panic.

He leapt to his feet, gathering his weapons at light speed. Mounting our unicorns we took off in search of the dwarf. “Hurry, this way.” We rode through the dense brush, branches jabbing and slashing at our faces. By instinct alone I followed his trail, Adrius close on my heels. When we stopped at the mouth of a tunnel my unicorn gave a loud whinny, rearing suddenly on hind legs, his forelegs kicking the air. I lost my balance and tumbled to the ground, landing flat on my back in a shrub with a groan.