Page 83 of Frosted Torment

Baz’s sharp inhale beside me caused me to flinch. “Is that...?” he asked.

My stomach knotted as beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I took one step closer, and he raised his head with gradual movement. Those green eyes that haunted me flashed with hatred in my direction. I couldn’t tear my eyes away, even though I knew finding him alive came with monumental consequences.

We found him.

We had found Vallen.

CHAPTER 30

Obscure shapes reflected off the light onto Vallen’s body as I stood there, rooted to the spot. The sight of him shirtless and restrained had me shaking. Baz and Lex, both equally unnerved, stood beside me, their mouths wide as they struggled to process what they were seeing.

“How can ordinary chains hold an angel like that?” I expressed, my voice close to a sigh.

“Angel bones, like Nakoma’s arrows,” Lex suggested, his eyes never leaving Vallen. “But I wouldn’t worry. He’s practically dead.”

Baz noticed torches hanging on either side of the cave wall and pulled them down. “Lex, grab some matches from the hiking pack so we can get these lit.”

While Baz and Lex busied themselves with the torches, I took the flashlight and began to explore the circular room. No other inscriptions were visible as the light passed over the walls. As I approached Vallen, I noticed a pool of glacial water in thecenter of the cave. Small holes in the mountain ceiling dripped water down into the basin, and I breathed in the damp, cold air, grateful we wouldn’t suffocate.

“Noa.” Lex glanced over at me as he struck a match against the rough cave wall. “We’ve got the first torch lit!”

“Great,” I replied, forcing a smile to hide my unease. “How are you feeding the tree?” I asked myself, keeping to a whisper.

The cave seemed less foreboding with two torches casting a warm glow. But I kept the flashlight on and circled back to Vallen, each step heavier than the last. A wooden crate on the floor close to him held a silver ladle. Was it left to mock him because he’d never get a drink from the water so close to him?

I took another step to get a better look, and a low moan escaped from Vallen’s lips. His chains rattled with difficulty from what little movement he could muster, and I jumped. My reaction was so quick that the flashlight slipped from my grasp and clattered to the ground.

After retrieving it, I looked up again, and Vallen’s emerald-green eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the cave, desperation in his expression. He blinked faster than a camera shutter, trying to get his eyes to focus again. Anger throbbed in my chest, wanting him to see the one who would end his life.

“Easy there, princess,” Vallen rasped. Amusement danced in his eyes despite his weakened state. “Didn’t think you’d be so easily frightened.”

Baz and Lex walked up behind me, brandishing the torches like weapons.

“Everything okay here, Noa?” Baz asked, his voice steady as he tightened his grip on the torch.

Vallen raised his head, and his thick, seaweed-like hair clungto his face, mingling with his unruly beard. “You brought groupies. How sweet,” he mocked.

“Fuck you,” I seethed, spitting at his feet. “You’re in no position to insult any of us.”

“Neither are you,” he retorted, pulling against his restraints. “You sure are an angry one.”

“I’m not the one chained to a wall and left for dead,” I countered before shutting off the flashlight.

“Not yet,” he wheezed, expelling mucus with a cough.

Taking Baz’s torch from him, I held it tight and tried to drown out the pounding of my own heartbeat.

“I know you’re the one in my head,” I accused him with a look of revulsion. “Why did you call me here?”

I stood tall despite the fear scratching at the fringes of my mind. Intrusive thoughts of what this confrontation could mean for each of us flooded my head. Vallen was powerful, even chained and wimpish.

“What?” he mused with a forced laugh. “No formal introductions?”

“Don’t test me, Vallen, because I’m more than ready to take your wings,” I threatened as I raised my arm, pointing to my wrist.

Vallen’s eyes darkened as he coughed up more phlegm. His muscles had wasted away, and he resembled a skeleton.

A small lift formed at the corner of his mouth. “You’re fun. I’ve missed my playtime with angels.”

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