Page 48 of Frosted Torment

Baz appeared beside me like a protective shadow, his canines bared and ready for attack. Leaning on his sturdy leg, I pulled myself back to standing as a lightning bolt launched Jossy and Lex backward.

Their landings resembled a cat’s grace. Massive wings unfurled and shimmered with ethereal colors. Jossy’s flaming crimson and gold contrasted beautifully with Lex’s marbled slateand ivory. Yet, the sight did little to temper the dread gnawing at my insides.

The storm raged overhead like an angry beast, and when I peered over at Nakoma and Dawson, they struggled up the porch steps against the onslaught. My heart sank as I wondered how we would survive this. But Ena turned and planted herself firmly on the ground beneath her. She raised her hands, fingers swirling through the air as if capturing invisible threads.

Gathering momentum, Ena channeled the very essence of nature, drawing upon its energy. Her unexpected display of power briefly countered Maros’s destructive winds. It allowed Nakoma and Dawson a chance to escape inside the house. I looked at Baz, who nodded at me in reassurance.

“I thought Maros couldn’t get through the wards!” I yelled, using the wolves to block out the wind.

“He can’t! Unless…”Baz’s voice trailed off, his eyes narrowing and a ground-shaking growl rippling from all three wolves. He swiveled back to me.“There’s a traitor among us.”

Before I could process his insinuation, a voice boomed from above as Vincent and Nevaeh appeared at the edge of the tree line that had been our refuge a minute ago. My mind raced to Ivy. Where was she in all this chaos? A cold dread strangled me, and I clutched my chest.

“Now that we’re all assembled!” Maros’s words dripped with a sinister glee. A maniacal laugh punctuated each syllable and echoed through the clearing like a haunting melody.

His hands tamed the winds as he loomed over us. A shadowy figure clad in ornate ebony and cardinal robes that swirled around him like a cyclone of smoke. His ruby-red eyes bore into mine—gleaming with superior amusement.

“You are quite the spectacle, Noa,” he grinned with malice, as if he were savoring an unseen feast. “I do regret your little stunt yesterday—taking out my daughter—but don’t worry, pet, we will have our reckoning, you and I.”

Nausea surged within me, and the wolves formed a protective barrier to guard me from Maros’s gaze. But through a narrow gap between their bristling bodies, his menacing face was still in my view. I noticed the way his hooked nose twitched, a telltale sign of his frustration simmering below the surface, and realization struck me.

“He can’t step on the ground,” I whispered, tugging at Baz’s leg.

“We know,”Baz replied, his voice low and edged with impatience.“It’s sacred land.”

“Then what is he doing?” My heart raced, each beat echoing louder than the last in my ears.

“What demons do best. Playing twisted games,”Baz snapped, the weight of his emotions evident from having to hold back and not intervene.

“Can’t we do something?” I pleaded with him, worry crawling up my throat.

Baz’s snout lifted as he scanned the sky above us. I followed his gaze and felt my stomach drop as I saw them—creatures lurking in the clouds, their shapes a grotesque fusion of bats and dragons.

It was impossible to discern their features from this distance, but the sight of their elongated hind legs was terror-inducing. Each time they dove to attack the invisible shield, their talons screeched like banshees. It made my entire body recoil.

“Maros brought reinforcements and we’re outnumbered,”Baz added as he looked up, tracking the sky.

Sprinting back into the frenzy, Nakoma now held a sleek silver bow that almost matched his height. Maros looked down on Nakoma as if he were a nuisance he could flick away. Maros lifted his lips into a wicked smirk, revealing a hint of his sharp teeth as Vincent strode into the middle of the field with assurance.

“Oh, it’s the hero cherub I came to see,” Maros said, his voice dripping with mockery, as if savoring the moment like fine wine.

Vincent’s eyes blazed with fury, threatening to consume everything around him.

He stared up at Maros, searching for any hint of his intentions behind the demon’s vacant gaze. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, Maros, don’t.”

Maros wagged his finger and shot back with a flourish that echoed across the field. “Afraid I’m going to spill your little secret, Vinny?” he probed.

“You won’t make it out of here alive today,” Vincent spat, hatred igniting within him as he unfurled his wings and rose to meet Maros mid-air.

“We’ll see about that.” Maros crossed his legs and took a theatrical bow. The angel with the eye patch from breakfast appeared below. He was carrying someone in his arms.

My mind raced as I tried to piece together what was happening. Was Vincent lying to us? Or was Maros setting him up? Either way, I couldn’t stay hidden anymore.

Baz growled low in his throat, his fur spiking in fury.“Thatson of a bitch,”Baz barked in my head.“We should rip Jax apart right here.”

My chest clenched, and it felt like someone had stolen my breath. “Is it Ivy?” I cried out, trying to push through the wolves.

“No,”he confirmed.“It’s someone else. Now, stay still.”

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