Page 19 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

For a moment, I think he and the bird are just alike. Both hunters, both sighting their prey.

Then I realize, no—in this case, I’m the bird. Preening under his hand at every tiny bit of attention even as I do his bidding.

And I swear to myself I will not be his creature, straining to do whatever it is he wants me to do.

No matter what training techniques he uses next.

Adefina pushes past me to move out the door, on her way to dump scraps in one of the animals’ feeding troughs. “Quit mooning after His Lordship.”

I know she’s teasing, but the thought of mooning after him also sends a hot spike of rage straight into my chest.

Instead of finding a way to pull out that spike, I drive it in deeper, wedge it inside me.

Let it fester, I think.

Let it sit there and rot until it becomes a pit of infection. I will lance it with the same knife I use to kill him.

When I get back to the kitchen, no one’s around. Just in case, though, I make a show of scrubbing down the hearth, then surreptitiously wipe away the charcoal marks on a small area of the wall on the side of the fireplace, hidden from everyone else in the kitchen.

I quickly use my saved scrap of charcoal to scribble the next number—changing it from day 250 to day 251. Izzy’s birthday has to be coming up soon; she was born a year and a day after I was. I’m pretty sure the days here are longer than the ones back home. And I’m not sure how long I was unconscious on that ship.

It doesn’t really matter, though, because it all amounts to the same thing.

My time is running out.

Sometimes I think about what she must have done when she realized I was missing, how she felt, alone in that scrubby little house with our stepfather. I assume Roland told everyone I ran away. But Izzy would know better.

She had to know I would never leave her. Right?

Kila flits up onto my shoulder from where she’s waiting by the fire for my return, her wings fanning my face. “Was Fintan outside?”

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. “He was.”

“What did he have to say this morning?”

I shake my head. “He’s a sweet kid, Kila, but whatever romantic ideas you have floating around in that tiny little head of yours, you need to get rid of them.”

Kila’s laugh peals out musically, and I have an overwhelming urge to call her Tinker Bell.

Oh, if she thought ‘pixie’ was offensive…I barely manage to keep from snickering.

On the trip outside to get a second load of wood, I stop and stare at the mountains rising to the west. They remind me of the Rockies, where my family and I used to go skiing at Christmas—before my father left. Before mom married Roland, a decision I’ll never understand. Right up there with why she chose to stay with him.

Those mountains are my goal. My first goal, anyway.

When I arrived here, I assumed the Star Court must be the Ice Court’s greatest enemy. But it’s not. No, the firelords, who live in those craggy mountains to the east—they’re the Ice Court’s nemeses.

If I can get to the firelords, maybe I can convince them to help me find my way home.

I’ve been thinking about what I can offer them in exchange. I don’t have an answer to that yet, but I’ll figure out something. For now, though, I know Ivrael has a map in his library. A map that leads to the firelords’ lands. I’ve only seen it once, back before I realized how useful it could be.

Tonight, I’m going to steal it.

My plan has problems. Probably lots of them. But in all the timeI’ve been here, I haven’t come up with anything better. All of my other escape attempts have led to being dragged back here and put back to work.

And sometimes worse…

No. I’m not going to think about that. And I’m not going to wrack my brains for anything else, either. Not if this plan offers even the slightest possibility of getting home and making sure Izzy remains free.

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