Page 37 of Blood & Ice

The dawning horror on his face was enough to make me giggle, just a bit. I could feel hysterics building as I realized that Rook and I had walked into a trap. The library didn’t feel like a safe haven at that moment. It felt like a rat maze with only one exit that led to safety. We’d been too busy to notice any scuffling in the dark. Now I could hear figures moving through the stacks, searching for us.

“What is that?” Rook asked, voice low, eyes darting nervously around. The love potion was wearing off, leaving my more rational boyfriend behind. On the one hand, I was happy to see him back so soon. On the other, I wasalmostsorry that Maverick had put a stop to things. Rook had just about taken off my panties…

“Do you want me to curse you, Astrid? Because I can curse you,”Maverick said.

“Hey, I don’t poke fun when you perv over Taliyah.”

“Yes, you do. You give me this look.”

“I donotgive you a look.”

Maverick sighed.“We don’t have time to argue. There will be more of those dolls in place to guard the exits.”

“Dolls? What are you talking about?”

“Can’t explain at the moment. Point is: we aren’t getting out of here without a fight. I need you to follow my lead. You’re more powerful than you used to be, but you still won’t fare well against her.”

“Her? Who is ‘her?’ When did you wake up? How the hell are you doing this?”

“All excellent questions that I will answer when you are not ass deep in alligators, sister mine. Do you want to fight with me, or do you want to live?”

Well, when he put it that way...

“Lead on, Mav.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Maverick

Moving Astrid’s body was even harder than moving Wanda’s, due in large part to her age.

Astrid wasn’t long-limbed and gawky as some teenagers could be. Poppy’s son was beginning to get the look about him as he grew into the man he’d be someday. Astrid’s body was a lot smaller than I was used to and unfinished for the rest of eternity. It wasn’t obvious at a glance, since she’d become more serious of late, but she wastechnicallystill a teenager.

That somber responsibility was beginning to show, making her look older, even though nothing had outwardly changed. It worried me, watching her grow up so fast.

“Aww. You really are a big softie, aren’t you?”

Astrid’s voice was loud and unwelcome in my head. I was straining the limits of her vampire hearing to pinpoint where Morgana’s dolls might be.

“Morgana?!”

Astrid’s voice actually rose to an indignant screech in the shared confines of her head, and I actually jerked in place. It was like she’d poked a bruise at the base of my skull, sending waves of pain rippling through us both. Remaining in control of her body took most of my concentration, and there seemed to be a physical cost to it, too. I was going to have one spell of a headache when I woke from the death sleep I’d been placed under. I wasn’t sure how to control the new power level, and juggling Astrid’s moods alongside it felt impossible.

“Sorry,”she whispered, seeming to feel the pain, if only distantly.“Did you just say ‘Morgana’s dolls?’”

“Technically, Ithoughtit.”

“Wiseass. Seriously. What are you talking about? Morgana is dead.”

Astrid’s lips twisted into a bitter smile, but it was my grim mood that prompted it. I didn’t like her, but I could understand the motives behind her actions. We were like slanted reflections of each other. One tilt this way or that way of the pane, and we’d have been exactly the same. The reasons we’d been rejected were different, but I understood exactly how much the chip on her shoulder weighed.

“She’s not dead. She was blooded, and she’s been developing her powers in secret.”

At least Astrid was decently horrified by the thought. I’d been afraid she might side with the bloodsuckers on this issue. Wanda had ended up falling for the bastard that had tainted her with blood.

“It’s different,”Astrid said, sounding genuinely offended I’d doubted her.“Lorcan didn’t understand. Once he did, he tried his damnedest to undo what he’d started. He apologized and she forgave him. This was willful. The vampires knew Morgana wouldn’t want to be blooded, but they did it anyway. I know how that feels, believe it or not.”

She tried not to let her thoughts drift to Valserak. Tried not to let me see. But we were bound by blood, pressed mind to mind. She couldn’t stop herself from reliving the pain. Valserak hadn’t been as vicious as Janeth, ripping into her over and over like a rabid dog mad with its bloodlust. One keenly torturous bite and it was over in minutes. She’d actually been relieved he’d withheld the coveted anesthetic from his bite, even as she’d thrashed, making it worse. At least he hadn’t made her enjoy dying.

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