Page 59 of Blades of Ice

“They were friends. Best friends, but when Heather and I got together, it pissed Chloe off. She accused Heather of abandoning her like a jealous… Oh, my goddess.” How had he not seen it before now? She had been jealous. After Chloe’s outburst over Cynthia leaving, he should have recognized it for what it was. “Chloe was jealous, and she and Heather had a big falling out. There’s no way Heather forgave Chloe for the things she said.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. The messages coming from BC were inside Valerie’s house where her son, Tate, still lives. Some friend of Dooley’s said Heather and Tate have been together lately. Add that to the fact that Heather hasn’t been seen in BC for a while, it’s possible she’s the one I saw at Boyd’s rental. They—” An angry roar rent the air. Lydia jerked toward the sound, swords appearing in her hands within seconds.

“Uh oh. That was Dooley.” Kennedy began undressing, and Beck averted his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Lydia asked the female.

“Going after my mate. If he’s pissed, he needs me.” Kennedy shifted to her fox and took off.

“But she’s…” Jon held his hands close together.

“Small but tougher than she looks,” Beck said.

Jon muttered something about crazy females before asking Lydia, “Should I go after her?”

Lydia hesitated to answer. After a beat, her swords turned from metal to ice, and she tossed one to her cousin who caught it deftly. “Metal doesn’t work on them. Ice does.”

Jon swung the sword a few times. “Nice.” He tossed it back, and Lydia caught it just as easily. “I won’t need that, but you might.” The male removed his coat and shirt. Beck wondered why he was stripping until a set of leathery wings extended from his back. Jon gave them a two-fingered salute before launching into the sky. Beck could see why Lydia would be jealous of the male Gargoyles having wings because that was cool as fuck.

Lydia kicked off her snowshoes and took a protective stance. Beck looked inward to his Bear. He wanted to shift. He might not be able to fight in his skin, but his animal wasn’t weak. The change didn’t happen, and Beck wanted to cry. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Lydia stepped closer, transferring both blades, which were once again steel, to one hand. With her free one, she ran her fingers across his scalp.

“You probably don’t want to do that, Sugar. I haven’t had a shower in… What day is it?”

“December twelfth. The longest two weeks of my life.”

No wonder Beck was rank. If he could only shift, he would find the nearest body of water and dunk himself. “Have you talked to Delaney?”

Lydia shook her head, keeping her focus on their surroundings. His mate was a warrior. “I haven’t, no. But Dooley called her when you went missing. She sent Caleb to get him, and Caleb flew Dooley and Kennedy to Valdez. They came and found me after you were taken.”

“Found you? Fuck, you were out here on your own. You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“Hurt? No. Confused? I may have walked in a circle for a couple of hours. But Carleigh… well, she bought a helo and a warehouse to store it in. I guess I should saywebought it. Seems she set up some kind of company in our names.” Lydia shrugged like buying a building and helicopter was an everydayoccurrence. He knew she had money, but damn. “Anyway, they found me about a day’s walk from the seaplane. Caleb retrieved the Cessna, and it’s waiting at the slip you rented. He wanted to stay and search for you, but Delaney insisted he return to Seward to help with Sagan Adventures.”

“Of course. Have to keep the money rolling in.”

“Beck, there’s something I—” A loud roar cut off whatever Lydia was going to say next. She took a few steps away, her swords at the ready. Fuck, that was sexy, even if it was because he needed protecting.Seriously, Bear. We need to shift.His animal responded with a whimper. Beck sighed. He took it as a good sign that his side was no longer oozing.

“Look.” Lydia was pointing at the sky with one of her weapons.

Jon was flying toward them carrying someone. No, not someone – Chloe. And she was not happy. When Jon got close enough, he dropped Beck’s sister from about twenty feet up. “Take care of her. I’m going to help Dooley.” With that, he flapped his wings and was gone again.

Chloe, landing in the deep snow, picked herself up slowly. Looking around, her eyes widened when they landed on Beck. “Oh, Beck! I’m so glad you’re okay. Wait. How are you—?”

“Alive?” Beck wasn’t about to tell his sister it was a witch’s potion. “Yeah, no thanks to you. Imagine my surprise when I was rescued, and you were nowhere to be seen. Why is that?”

“My father found us, but he could only carry one of us on his snowmobile. We went to see if I could fix the helo. I was coming back for you. I swear.” She took a few wobbly steps toward him until she noticed Lydia. Her gaze narrowed, and she froze.

Lydia didn’t say anything. Instead, she swung her swords in arcs.

Chloe snarled. “Who the fuck are you?” To Beck, she asked, “Is this Nicole? Yourhuman? Or is she like that… that monster?”Chloe waved her hand the direction Jon had flown. “What the fuck is he?”

“Why are you doing this?” Beck didn’t doubt his mate’s ability to fight, but he didn’t want her to go through killing someone again. “Why try to kill me? You know I’m nothing more than a pilot.”

“I swear to you, I had nothing to do with this. It’s Heather. She planned it all. She’s still mad you left her behind. She reached out to Dad when Valerie turned him loose. Promised if he’d help her take down Amara, she’d give him the business to run.”

“You’re telling me Boyd is the one out there” — Beck pointed the direction of the cave — “fighting Dooley and Jon? When they catch the male, it’s going to be your father and not Orson?”

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