Page 33 of A Snowed in Valentine's

Even Daphne was surprised, but she didn’t let that stop her. She pressed the surface of the mirror, and her fingers went right through. There was a loud, sucking sound, and she felt another tug in her gut as she was pulled into it. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling herself dissolve into its dark depths.

When she opened her eyes, August was staring down at her.

Chapter Fourteen

“Our Kind Should Not Be Living Together”

He sat against the cave wall with Daphne cradled in his arms and stared at her shivering form. It had been less than two days since the cabin had been reduced to a pile of rubble and cinders. He’d found the cave only a few hours ago. It was somewhat warmer in here than outside, but he hadn’t been able to start a fire yet. He’d tried to hunt down some food for them first, but a fire was certainly in order.

When she opened her eyes, that familiar flutter filled his chest. He helped her sit up, one arm still around her, a part of him beyond grateful to see her awake again. The other part was taut with caution. Those grey eyes blinked up at him, and her brows knitted together as she frowned.

Her lips parted, but he could barely hear a word she said over the blizzard outside.

“What?” he shouted.

Her frown deepened. She rose to her feet, facing the cave entrance, and held up a hand. Her lips moved again. Instantly, the blizzard died down, the howling wind fading into dead silence.

“Erif,” she muttered, and a pleasant warmth filled the cave. August sighed in spite of himself, and she turned to face him.

“What happened?” she wanted to know. Brushing her blonde hair over her shoulder, she gazed around the cave. “What happened to the cabin?”

For a moment, all August could do was stare at her. The tiredness had left her face. She looked brighter than he’d seen her in several weeks. And how had she known she’d been unbound?

“The cabin caught fire,” he told her. “I put some wood in the fireplace, and there was an explosion. The next thing I know,the cabin is coming down in flames. It’s gone, but we survived. That’s what matters for now.”

Her eyes widened. “How long ago was this?”

He blinked up at her. “A little over a day ago. We’ve been moving ever since then, but I couldn’t get us out of the blizzard. It was even more powerful than I thought. It must have been spreading. It didn’t matter how far I traveled—I just couldn’t get us out of it.”

“A fire…” She stared at her hands. “So that’s why the mark came off. It must’ve been burned off.”

“Yes…” He clenched his jaw slightly, and he continued to eye her warily, half-bracing himself for an attack.

She could see what he was thinking. Her brows furrowed with confusion, then rose with realization.

“If you’re going to attack me,” he said, bracing himself, “just get it over with.”

He had no weapons, nothing but his wits to defend him. And she stood in front of him, a full-powered witch who had just stopped a raging blizzard with a single word.

A hurt look appeared in her eyes. “I wasn’t going to attack you.”

She held up both hands, and he flinched, then realized it was a placating gesture. The self-defense plan he’d been constructing in his mind crumbled like his cabin as she dropped to her knees before him and took his hands in hers.

“You saved my life,” she told him, staring at their joined hands. “You’ve had lots of chances to kill me, but you saved me instead. You protected me. I’m really grateful for that.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed about his reaction, he asked, “What happened on Earth?”

She sighed, gazing toward the cave entrance for a moment before regarding him. “A lot.”

And she explained how she’d been presented a grimoire by her captors moments before she realized she’d been unbound. Able to use her magic again, she’d freed herself and reversed the spell that had kept her shifting between worlds.

August frowned. “But you’re still here.”

Her grey eyes flicked from his eyes to his lips for a moment. “I am.”

“How come?”

“Well, according to the grimoire, I could decide where I wanted to return to. It was either Frost Mountain or Earth.”

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