Page 51 of This Frozen Heart

“I don’t know! I honestly feel as though nothing has changed at all except that I’m not a child anymore. Not that I believed intrue love even then.” I turn away from Kay, as foolish as that is from a strategic point of view. Instead, I stare down at Smalls’ face as I wait for our fate.

“If you don’t believe in true love, how can you think that you’remytrue love?”

Snow is fluttering down, and I brush it off Smalls’ face. “I don’t know. I suppose I don’t believe that; not really.”

“Then why on earth would you risk your freedom and the hearts of your entire rebel cell to comekissme, of all things?”

I still can’t look at him as my heart grows heavier with every moment it waits to become frozen, too. “Because I thought your freedom was worth a try.”

“Atry? You fool— you riskedeverything.”

A single tear slips down my face, and I wonder how long it will last before it’s frozen, too. “I did what I would’ve wanted you to do for me if our roles were reversed. But they weren’tbecauseof you and—” I choke on a sob.

Before I can even think of how to finish my statement, strong hands grasp my waist and pull me to my feet. Then I’m twisted around to face Kay, who studies me like I am his next mission objective.

Kay releases me, and then suddenly his bound hands are behind me, caging me in and pulling me closer against him. Then they reach to cradle my head, tilting my face upward.

“What—?”

He answers my question by pressing his lips against mine.

Kai:

Back at the Academy of Blood, I was trained in no fewer than a dozen ways to disarm a hostile. I practiced until I couldaccomplish each step, even if I was awakened in the dead of night and thrown into a mock fight.

And that was just disarming maneuvers. There were dozens of other moves for specific combat methods against estries, gysts, and werwölfe— in all known forms. I spent an entire month training on how to take out multiple combatants at once.

For all this, they only briefly touched on the art of seduction. Yet, that has proved to be the most useful of all my covert training thus far.

When I enlisted, I had no idea what I was signing up for, evidently.

Unfortunately, now that I have pulled Gerta into my embrace, I am unsure how to proceed. The seduction class was really quite succinct and included the warning to avoid letting it get to mouth-on-mouth contact. Apparently, that can be just as disarming to us as it is to the target.

They aren’t wrong. But they also neglected to train me how to properly comfort a sobbing woman, so here we are. Specifically, here I am with my hands threading into Gerta’s braid, while her hands cling to my open collar.

As for the kiss itself, I tried to keep it cold and calculating. But my rage for what she’s driven me to intensifies. For a moment, I wonder if mayhap my frozen heart is healed after all, for how could I have any ice within me while fire moves through my veins?

Gerta, on the other hand, behaves just as ferociously as might be expected, meeting my rage with a crazed fervor all her own.

True love is a desperate thing when found between two enemies desperate for unconditional love.

For a moment, I’m afraid we’ll topple over Smalls and plummet off the mountain. So, I unweave my hands from Gerta’shair, grasp beneath her arms, and carry her closer to the ice palace.

When I set her back down, though, she pulls away. Her gaze immediately falls to my chest, and she runs a finger over it.

I should shudder at her icy touch, but my chest is already so cold on its own.

“It . . . it didn’t work.” Gerta gapes in horror before lifting her gaze to mine. “After all that— itdidn’t work!”

Pulling my bound arms away from her, I step back. I suppose I am meant to be the Snow Queen’s servant and not Gerta’s prisoner. “You did all you could. Now you can leave with your guilt assuaged.” As for me, I’ll be left with only the taste of her to haunt my days and nights. The confounded woman.

Gerta glances toward where Smalls is stirring. “Oh.”

“I suppose I should thank you for trying to set me free and attempting to restore me to the man I used to be, but you need to leave before you nullify my sacrifice. And I must return if there is any chance that I can still secure this promotion . . .”

She nods, not meeting my eyes. “I’m sorry I could not heal you.”

“I forgive you.” And, strangely enough, though I still feel some fire simmering in me, I find that it’s true in the depth of my frozen heart. I forgive her for tormenting while she was a child who knew no better. I absolve her of abducting me both times, considering I have no stones to throw. And I cannot hold it against her that she could not heal me when my own magic cannot cure me of this curse.

---