Summer of Frost (13 page)

“Sorcha! Sorcha, what’s wrong?” Sarette
screamed worriedly in my ear, and even though she was right behind
me, she sounded amazingly far away. My vision grew blurry, and then
it slowly began to grow dark. There was no pain … just peace.

Bright light streamed through the open
window, making me squint and hide my face with the pillow.
Groaning, I turned over on my side, but quickly sat up as the
realization dawned on me. The pain in my shoulder was still there,
but it wasn’t bad. Earlier, I was in the air with Drake, but now I
was in a bed … with Drake.
What the hell happened?
I
wondered. I glanced over to see him sleeping peacefully in the bed
beside me. His tousled red hair and half-naked body beckoned me to
touch him, and for the first time he actually looked normal. Not
the infamous and arrogant prince dragon, but just a normal man.

He must’ve known I was staring at him
because a slow growing smile appeared on his face. He sat up and
ran his eyes over my body, clearly admiring the little silky get up
I was wearing. I was out of my warrior gear, and placed in a blue
lingerie-type night gown, most likely compliments of the man beside
me. My golden skin stood out against the light blue color of the
silk, and it still amazed me how much I had changed within just a
day. Not just physically, but emotionally as well.

“Good morning, beautiful. Or better yet,
good afternoon. I thought you were going to sleep all day.”

Confused, I asked, “What happened? How long
was I out?”

Drake sat up and tucked a loose strand of
hair behind my ear. “You passed out when we were in the air. With
all the excitement and blood loss you must’ve just given out.
You’ve only been asleep for a few hours. I didn’t want to leave
you, so I stayed here.”

“What about Oren?” I asked, panicking.
“Where is he? Is he all right?”

As soon as I said his name, Oren came
barreling into the room. “Did I hear someone call out my name?” he
asked, charging toward me with a huge smile on his face. He scooped
me up in his arms, but let me go when I winced in pain. “I’m sorry,
ai dulin
. I didn’t mean to hurt your shoulder. It’s just so
good to see you again.” He hugged me gently and kissed my forehead.
“You have no idea how helpless I felt the whole time. I knew you
were safe, but there was nothing I could do if anything happened to
Sarette. I would’ve failed you.”

Shaking my head, I took his face in my
hands. “It doesn’t matter now. We’re all here and we’re safe. I was
so worried about you. What happened? Why were you unconscious the
way you were?” I asked.

Oren took a seat on the bed and placed his
head in his hands. I could tell he was uncomfortable with feeling
the way he did about what happened. I was just glad he was safe and
in one piece. He explained, “I don’t know everything, but someone
had cast a sleeping spell on me. Apparently, they didn’t want me
conversing ‘in secret’ with Sarette, who was supposed to be you.
They didn’t want us communicating and planning an escape.”

“How did you get out of it?”

Oren smiled and motioned toward Drake. “His
healer, Grayce, had gotten me out of it. He also helped with your
wound. They had to shove some nasty tasting herbal mess down my
throat that tasted like horse dung. Although, I guess it worked.”
He laughed while I made a disgusted face.

“That sounds pretty gross, indeed. Is
Sarette okay?” I asked, looking back and forth from my guardian to
Drake.

Oren answered, “Ever since we got back she’s
been grieving over Alston. She’s having a hard time right now, and
refuses to talk about it.”

“I can imagine,” I announced sadly. “I’ll
try to talk to her. What about Brokk? Has he talked yet?”

Oren shook his head. “Not yet. We’re waiting
on Durin to get here. They’re going to need you, too. If anyone can
find out the information we need it’s you.”

Anger flashed through me as the pain from my
wound sparked again. “You’re damn right it’s going to be me. If he
doesn’t cooperate he’s going to have some really nasty nightmares,
and I’m going to love giving them to him. Besides, I owe him some
pain.” I smiled deviously.

Drake laughed and kissed me softly on the
lips. If Oren wasn’t watching I would’ve deepened the kiss, and
probably done more if my shoulder wasn’t hurting. “Remind me never
to get on your bad side,” Drake confessed.

“Oh, you’ve been there, and even though
you’ve pissed me off I still never had the desire to hurt you the
way I could hurt others.”

“And for that I’m thankful,” Drake admitted
sheepishly. “Do you think you’re ready to work your magic?”

Confident, I nodded. “More than ready.”

Brokk was seated in the throne room
surrounded by multiple warriors, including King Oberon and Drake,
while Durin and I congregated outside to go through our game plan.
Durin, the leader of the dwarves, just arrived and wanted an update
so I filled him in on what I planned to do. Durin exuded power and
was definitely a force to be reckoned with. He stood about four
foot tall with closely cut brown hair, and was built with pure
muscle. He was a confident man who never once balked when people
had to look down at him. His confidence made him appear as if he
was a giant, and he was also well respected. Most of the dwarves
were hairy and smelled very musky at times, but Durin was
different. He was closely shaven and neatly dressed every time I
saw him, and never smelled bad. His warm hazel eyes could see
through anyone’s soul, or at least that’s how it felt when he would
look at you. They were intense. There were several women on our
council who fawned over him every time he visited, and I was sure
that was why he made it a point to come talk to my father, King
Madoc.

“When I ask him questions, what do you have
to do to find out if he’s telling the truth?” Durin asked.

“If I touch him or if I’m close to him I can
usually tell that way. It all depends on how strong his feelings
are. If it gets really complicated I’ll have to go about this in
another way. What do you know about Brokk? What is he afraid of?” I
asked curiously. I needed to know what to do if I had to invade his
dreams.

Durin was lost in thought for a moment, but
then he answered, “He hates the water. He almost drowned one time
after he fell into one of the lakes. His armor kept dragging him
down. Ever since then, before he left our lands, he stayed away
from the water.”

Smiling devilishly, I was ready for the mind
games. “Let’s do this, but first, I want to introduce myself to him
… the Winter Court way.”

Durin chuckled. “Have fun, Princess. I had a
feeling you’d want to make him pay for shooting you.” I answered
with a wink.

When the doors opened, Durin and I walked in
together. Brokk’s eyes went wide at the sight of his leader, but
then he turned smug and unreadable. He wanted us to think he wasn’t
scared, but I saw the tremble in his body when we first walked in.
The cool and calm look on Brokk’s face only spurred my anger even
more, making my steps furious and hard against the marble floors as
I approached him. Once he was within striking distance, I reared my
arm back and punched him so hard in the face I could feel bones
crack. The pain in my shoulder sent a wave of agony through my
body, but I didn’t show any sign of weakness even though I was
sweating like crazy from the igniting pain.

Brokk’s chair fell back, tumbling him
awkwardly to the floor. Trying to hide their smiles, a couple of
the warriors bent down to right Brokk’s chair with him strapped
helplessly to it. Blood ran down his face, and I couldn’t bite back
the smile even if I wanted to.

“Hello Brokk. It’s nice to meet you,
especially now that I don’t have an arrow sticking out of my
back.”

Brokk grimaced. “That was a mistake. I
didn’t know it was you. I thought you were the one strapped to the
post.”

“Oh, you better be glad that wasn’t me,” I
warned darkly, sidling closer so he could see the promise in my
eyes. “Because if it was me, little dwarf, I would’ve ripped you
limb to limb and enjoyed every single glorious scream that came
from your traitorous mouth. No one hurts my people and gets away
with it.”

With that, I slowly backed up and let Durin
take over. Brokk’s feelings were everywhere, and since I already
had contact with his flesh I was confident I’d be able to read him
clearly from a short distance away. Drake left his father’s side
and joined me by mine. Leaning over, he whispered in my ear, “Nice
work, beautiful. You looked sexy as hell out there. I was about to
have to fight off my warriors if you kept it up. You should’ve seen
the way they were all salivating over you. Do I need to mark my
territory?”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled
him down to place a tender kiss against his lips. He instantly
crushed me to him and kissed me back fiercely earning several gasps
from the crowd. I laughed when he released my lips, realizing why
he did what he did. If anyone else tried to do that they would be
sprawled out on the floor in pain, but with Drake claiming me it
felt right.

“I guess you just marked your territory,” I
said, smiling. “I actually find it kind of hot that you want to
mark me as yours, but you have nothing to worry about. I will
always
be yours.” He grinned and kissed me again before
turning his attention back to Durin and Brokk.

“Are you ready, Princess?” Durin asked.
Nodding, I walked over and stood a couple of feet behind Brokk so
he wouldn’t be able to see me.

“What is she doing?” Brokk demanded, turning
his head, trying to see me.

“That is none of your concern,” Durin
responded smoothly. “I need to ask you some questions and you’re
going to answer them. First, where’s the dark sorcerer?”

Brokk grumbled, “I don’t know, the Black
Forest perhaps.”

It was a bold-faced lie, and I could’ve felt
the treachery in it a mile away. I shook my head so Durin would
know it was a false answer.

Durin lowered his head and clucked his
tongue impatiently. “Lies will get you nowhere, Brokk. Without my
protection, the dark sorcerer will surely come for your head.”

Brokk shrugged. “I’m dead anyway. So again,
I’ll tell you nothing.”

“Sorcha?” Durin called out, gritting his
teeth. “Instead of wasting valuable time why don’t we go with your
plan? I’m sure it’ll be way more effective.”

I agreed. “I think you’re right.” I left my
spot to stand before Brokk. His eyes were wide and unsure, the
smell of fear emanated off of him in thick waves. “Are you sure you
don’t want to answer the questions we ask?” I asked the dwarf.

He snarled, “I would rather rot.”

Anger coursed through me, and I reacted
instantly, letting that rage guide me. Placing my hands on each arm
rest and caging him in, I bent down until I was only a few inches
from his face. My tone was low and cruel when I whispered, “What
are you afraid of, Brokk? You see, I may appear as a weak female to
you, but I can do things that would fuck up that little mind of
yours in a heartbeat. Even if I have to do it every night of your
life I will, and I’ll enjoy it, too.”

“What are you talking about?” Brokk snapped
hesitantly.

“I’m talking about getting into your dreams,
little dwarf. Plaguing your mind with fears and insecurities while
you piddle along scared shitless. Take for instance, your
abhorrence of water …” His smugness left and was replaced with
genuine dread. A wicked smile took over my face because I knew I
triumphed. “Do you want to drown every night in your dreams?
Because I can surely make that happen. Or better yet, do you have a
family? How would you like to see them suffer every night because
of your greediness for power?”

“Stop!” he demanded. Sweat broke out on his
forehead; his eyes were wild and his breathing was frantic. “You
are one heartless bitch!” he shouted in anger.