Page 7 of Hunted in Holly

With no new ideas, I sat back down on the too soft bed with a huff, contemplating my life choices. Revenge had sounded good in theory, but it turned out that my coming here just meant he got to eliminate the last of the South Pole royal family without so much as lifting a finger or leaving the comfort of his home. I served myself up on a silver platter.

How the hell did he survive that, anyway? I felt my icicle pierce his heart. I saw the blood. Iknowit went through. None of this made sense. I’d always heard that a stake through the heart was all it took to kill a Saint, and yet, he’d taken my blade like it was slap on the wrist.

Was he truly immortal? Could there be some kind of magic that protected him?

I closed my eyes and listened for the voice that had spurred me on before. Nothing came to my mind now. All I could hear was my own voice, overthinking and panicking.

I lifted my palm in front of my face and conjured a new icicle. I twirled it in my fingers, feeling its weight and shape, then I hurled itinto the door with the speed and precision of an expert knife thrower. The ice shattered on impact, and the raining shards melted into water before they hit the carpet.

I exhaled, deep and heavy.

“So violent. Is this how you used to deal with your subjects, Queen Caroline?” The voice resonated through the room, and I jumped.

“Where are you?” I snapped, no mind to speak in pleasantries or banter. I was alone in my cage, and yet his voice was loud and clear. More of his magic, surely.

“Look up.” He said.

I listened, lifting my gaze to the ceiling, where a small red dot blinked down at me.

I pursed my lips in irritation, making a very unimpressed face at the crimson light. “Is that a camera?”

“An all seeing eye.” He chuckled. “It’s easier to know who’s been nice and who’s been naughty when you watch every move they make, no?”

My cheeks flared at the statement, and I suddenly felt incredibly exposed. I covered my chest with crossed arms under my protective and self-conscious nerves.

The South Pole was so cold, no one ever saw me in less than a thick winter coat, while this nightgown hugged every little dip and contour of my body. Though I still had on my bra and panties, and I was relieved that no one had taken those from me, the whole outfit was still demeaning. I felt particularly vulnerable dressed this way while locked in a bedroom against my will.

“That’s not creepy at all.” I said sarcastically, doing anything I could to take back power.

“When you’ve been tasked with passing judgment on every mortal soul on Earth, it’s a necessity.” Nicholas countered my snark with smugness that I couldn’t entirely argue against. As the King of the North, he had the final say on who was worthy of reward versus who deserved condemnation in this world. He, alone, held the power to create miracles or rain down the hell of bad luck on anyone who passed or failed his final judgment.

In the South Pole, we had another task. My mother had been the all-powerful Matriarch who controlled the seasons. She was the mother of all nature, and the great Queen of Cold and Sunshine.

When both she and my brother, the rightful heir, had been murdered in the attack, I inherited their responsibilities.

But having only technically been the crowned Queen and new Mother Nature for a couple weeks now, following having had my entire country decimated to nothing, and admittedly having declared my ascension myself, I hadn’t had time to fully inherit, learn, or master her powers. I should have done one of those training montages prior to committing to this now clearly misguided and ill-conceived revenge quest. I could have waited years instead of weeks, and been much more prepared and successful.

Instead, I’d plunged into danger, head first, having only mastered the most basic ice control.

At only twenty-nine, I was still a young deity compared to my previously age-old mother. I’d never expected to rule the South Pole—I’d been betrothed to the Son of Time, and would have been shipped off to his kingdom on the equator on my thirtieth birthday—but I wascenturies from the power and strength I needed to be a figurehead all my own.

Now more than ever, the South Pole was a sitting duck under my inadequacy.

One more tragedy in my already depressing life.

“So what are you going to do with me? You can’t just keep me here forever. I’m to marry the Son of Time, and our kingdoms will come together, and—”

“Your fiancé is dead, Sweet Noel.” He interrupted, “Had you not heard?Bothof your kingdoms are gone.” He added for cruel emphasis. My soul shattered at the words.

Of course I knew that was true, but somewhere in my mind I wanted to believe there were survivors somewhere. I’d heard the Equator Fortress had also been attacked, but it hadn’t been confirmed whether anyone made it out.

Hewould know though. He was the Saint who decided he no longer wanted to share the world.

Nicholas chuckled softly. “No one is coming to save you from me. It’s best you accept that.”

I bit my lip to contain my emotions, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me visibly break. I was all that was left, and he’d made sure of it. And now he had me in his grasp to do whatever he pleased.

Ishouldhave waited. I should have rebuilt. But no. I’d let my emotions rule my actions, and now everything was lost.

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