Page 104 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

The Icecaix headed toward that door haven’t made it across the ballroom yet. Those who glance back speed up, shoving people out of their way left and right, pushing several of the smaller Caix to the ground, where they’re trampled, crushed under the feet of other Ice Court members. But mowing down their companions does the Caix no good—only a few make it through the exit before the dragon looses his fire on them.

The short, big-eared, bulbous-eyed Icecaix who fed me poisoned wine falls to the ground as he attempts to run. The dragon doesn’t even look at him. His enormous clawed foot comes down on the Icecaix with a horrific crunching sound, and when the dragon takes another step, he leaves a bloody footprint behind. As he moves forward, his tail drags through a small pile of gore, spreading it across the floor.

All of this happens in moments. When I look for Duke Ivrael, he’s gone, and so is Lady Uanna. I don’t know how they escaped—but I never doubt that they did.

The dragon swings its head back and forth, its eyes gleaming as it chooses its next victims. I see Oriana as she tries to run toward the other door, the edge of the fire licking against the hem of her dressand flashing upward, consuming her in an instant. Her mouth opens in a rictus scream, and at the last second, her eyes turn upward and focus on me as I watch from above.

Almost as if in slow motion, I see the skin melt away from her face. Within seconds, the smell of charred flesh rises in the air. It drifts toward me, smelling like the cooked meat none of these Icecaix would ever consume. To my horror, my stomach growls and my mouth waters in response.

Fires burns throughout the ballroom, and the silver on the wallpaper reflects the flickering of the red-gold flames, turning the whole room into a roaring hellscape.

The dragon steps up close to the ledge where Kila and I sit frozen in shock. He arches his neck gracefully, bringing his head closer to us, and I press my back against the wall, my heels digging into the wood in front of me, as if I can push all the way through. Next to my ear, Kila squeaks and huddles into the crook of my neck.

He swings his head, ponderously, side to side, looking at me through giant, jewel-toned eyes that seem to swirl with flashes of color. They’re mesmerizing, and they hold me in place—exactly where he needs me, though I’m not sure how I know that.

I swallow, hard, and I swear that fucker smiles. It’s a toothy grin, full of mischief and malice. He huffs out a laugh on his next breath, hot and full of sulfur and brimstone—with a smell like ozone, reminiscent of a sparking electrical wire—and when he draws his head back and inhales, I know what’s coming.

Kila gets swept up in the draft created by that inhalation. Her tiny body slides off my shoulder and tumbles past me. I scramble after her, catching her by one doll-sized ankle.

And then on instinct, I yank her in against my chest, curving around her protectively as I spin to put my back between the Starcaix raya and the firelord in his most monstrous shape.

Even though I know it won’t save her.

Even though I know we’re both about to die.

When the dragon breathes fire, the roar surrounds me as the flames hit my back, blocking out every other sound.And for the first time, I realize it’s not really the dragon that’s been roaring—it’s the sound of the fire itself.

Kila starts screaming, high-pitched and shrill, but it just adds to the cacophony in the ballroom.

The tremendous heat crackles where it hits my spine. There’s a brief flare of pain, but it’s gone in an instant and I’m left with nothing but fire streaming past me on either side.

I know all this with a weird detachment, as if I’m somewhere outside my body cataloging all the sensations. Until there are no sensations left and I am left with only my own observations.

So this is what it’s like to die.

I imagine my body melting, skin crackling, nerves flashing away in an instant. Blood boiling, bones charring black, until I am left as only ashes swirling across the snow of this frozen place…

The dragon inhales again, and all the flames that have been streaming past me disappear. That’s when I realize I shouldn’t be able to see anymore. I shouldn’t have eyes anymore. Or a body, for that matter.

But I have all those things—and more than that, I can still move.

I clutch Kila to me and scoot back through the servants’ doorway, slamming it closed behind me just as I hear the dragon inhale again, preparing again to breathe out huge gouts of flame.

Everyone dies at Starfrost Manor.

Bile crawls up my throat, and I try to swallow it down. I’m reminded of the boy Ivrael arranged to have dragged to the gallows and strung up my first full day here.

My hand tightens spasmodically around Kila, and she squeals.

She’s still alive. Thank God.

I crouch low and scramble down the hallway, racing around a bend just in time to evade another blast of fire the dragon sends after me—a torrent of flame that blows the door off its hinges and sends a wild volley of fire flaring through the hall where I was just running.

I collapse back against the wall. The scrape of wood against my shoulder blades alerts me to the fact that the back of my dress iscompletely gone. I glance down to find it hanging on me by the sleeves.

The rest of it must have burned away.

My throat closes on the thought. What if I’m not in pain because all the skin on my back is gone?

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