Page 56 of A Shard of Ice

“So, you do know him?” Xander asks, his voice is filled with excitement.

“Maybe,” I whisper.

“She knows him,” Thesha tells Xander.

“Of course she does.” He nods.

“Shehas a name. It’s Kyrie. Who are you? Why do you want to know about Damon?”

“I told you, we’re good friends. We heard he’d been picked up by shadowfae and that he was on his way to the Ice Court. Something about a bounty on his head. He was traveling with two others. A male and a female, both human.”

“What do you want with him?” I ask; my tone is hard.

“Ooooh, she’s protective of him, Xander, my love.”

“I see that.” The male smiles. “We want to rescue him. For the third time, we’re friends. It’s what good friends do; we help one another.”

“Or perhaps you want the bounty for yourself.” I narrow my eyes.

“Here’s the thing, Kyrie, I can overpower you in a second,” Thesha says. “We could beat the information out of you. But firstly, that would take time that we don’t have, and secondly, we’re nice people. Nice people don’t beat innocents. Please, can we do this the easy way?”

“Also, we’re not after the bounty,” Xander says. “We helped orchestrate the whole snowstorm in the desert. We freed Damon from the spell; why would we take him to Snow? He is far more useful to us if he’s far away from her and out of her evil clutches. In fact, if she got to him, it would be a disaster.”

My heart beats faster. “You know about the snowstorm?”

“Of course,” Thesha says, nodding. “Why would we free him just to watch him be captured? Okay, technically, it wasn’t the two of us who made the snowstorm happen, but we were part of the whole thing. Bottom line: we’re here to rescue Damon.”

I clutch my chest. “Oh, thank the gods.” I push the knife into my boot. “I’m coming with you. We’ll rescue him together.” I rub my hands together.

“You can’t, it’s too dangerous.” Thesha frowns. “You don’t even know how to use a knife, let alone a sword. You’ll get in the way.”

“I’m coming. I’m helping you. You can use me as a decoy or bait or something.”

Xander narrows his eyes. “Who is Damon to you? Why is this so important?”

“We’re…um…friends…we were best friends. I was sent to the salt mines in the Bohab desert. He was already there when Iarrived.” A smile tugs at my lips. “He was the longest-standing prisoner.” I laugh softly. “I tripped the first day I arrived, and he caught me, and he’s been catching me ever since.” My throat feels a little clogged, and my eyes sting.

“Oh, so it’s like that then, is it?” Thesha smiles.

“Like what?”

“No wonder you’re so cagey. You guys are together. You should have just said so.” Thesha rolls her eyes.

“No, no…not at all. Like I said, we’re friends.”

“You said youwerefriends. You made it past tense, and I assumed you evolved into something more. I mean, you just offered to be the bait in a rescue mission. I’m sure you wouldn’t do that for just anyone.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Let me guess, he was human one second and then…” She clicks her fingers. “Then he wasn’t, and it’s left you feeling out of sorts.”

“Exactly. Suddenly, the person I knew all along was gone.”

“I know how that feels,” Thesha says, her eyes wide.

I’m not sure how she can possibly know that, but okay…fine…whatever.

“I mean, people aren’t always what they seem.” She gives me a tight smile. “So not lovers, then.”

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