Page 60 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

I cup my hand over the Starcaix raya protectively and stare into the fireplace, watching the flames flicker and remembering the day Kila came into my life.

About a month—about three of the Caix’s ten-days—after he’d saved me in the graveyard, Ivrael had disappeared for several days. Starfrost Manor had seemed lighter when he was gone, but also less alive—as if he were some brooding Mr. Rochester animating the entire house with his presence.

I’d felt it the instant he returned, as if I knew he was back even before he made his way to the kitchen. When he strode through the door, all the air in the room seemed to swirlaround him as if it took every bit of available oxygen to support him, leaving none of it for the rest of us to breathe.

I found myself holding perfectly still. Around the Icecaix, and especially around Ivrael, I always ended up acting like prey attempting to avoid the gaze of a predator.

Reaching into an inner pocket of his coat, the duke pulled something out and set it down on Adefina’s preparation counter in the center of the large room.

I moved closer from where I’d been standing—or maybe hiding—by the fireplace. I couldn’t see past Ivrael, and I didn’t want to get too close to him as he gestured to whatever he’d placed in front of his cook.

“See what you can do with it,” the duke instructed Adefina tersely before turning on his heel and stalking back out.

As soon as he was gone, I stepped up next to the cook, getting only a glimpse of what he’d left behind before Adefina swooped in and scooped up the creature, cupping her hands around it.

“Oh, you poor little thing,” she said.

I had just enough time to see that it was a tiny person with blonde hair and green wings, wearing a shimmering white gown that fell just past her knees. Her skin looked like it would have been pale to begin with, but in that moment, it was practically blue with cold.

With the tiny creature cradled against her chest, Adefina moved toward the fire, where she glanced around before holding her hands out closer to the warmth. “Get the tea kettle,” she instructed me. “Fill it with water and hang it over the fire. Then get one of the small bowls from the shelves, a washcloth, and three tea towels. Also a teaspoon.”

I scurried around the kitchen as Adefina waited, gently rubbing the fairy’s limbs with her fingertips and crooning nonsense phrases designed to comfort, telling the tiny creature she would be all right soon enough.

“This one’s near froze to death,” the cook said as I laid out the supplies in front of the hearth. “His Lordship ought to know better than to bring a smaller Starcaix into the Icelands.” It was the first timeI heard her utter even the slightest criticism of the duke. “He knows they can’t survive here.” She shook her head. “Hold her,” she said, thrusting the tiny person toward me. “And mind her wings,” she added. “They’re delicate.”

I nodded, taking the miniscule body into my own hands, cupping them around the pixie as I tried to send warmth into her body using sheer willpower.

After a moment, Adefina poured the now-warm water from the tea kettle into the bowl, and then ladled out a teaspoonful and tested it against her wrist. Her lips twisting, she dipped her forefinger into the bowl and nodded. “That ought to be just about right.”

Then Adefina settled her bulk down onto the hearth, sitting with her legs crossed. She took the fairy from my hands and removed its gown, then quickly placed the small, naked winged woman into the bowl, careful to support her head to keep it from dropping into the water.

Using the teaspoon, she began scooping the warm water over the pixie’s shoulders and back, allowing it to sluice down past the base of her wings, careful never to submerge the wings themselves.

As I dropped down beside Adefina, the door that led to the main section of the house flew open and Ramira sailed through, her perpetual sneer of disdain deepening when she saw us loitering by the fire. Her face turned red as she encountered the room’s heat.

“His Lordship requires luncheon,” she announced. Her voice, haughty and demanding, bounced off the walls.

“Yes,” said Adefina, “and I’ll have it ready for him momentarily.” She handed me the teaspoon. “Here. Keep her warm, and when the water cools, take her out and dry her, then wrap her in one of the tea towels.” She rocked forward and heaved herself to her feet. “And be sure not to be getting her wings wet.”

“Got it,” I said. “Warm water, no wet wings, dry her when the water cools, and wrap her in a towel.”

“What is it?” Ramira demanded, stepping close. She peered over my shoulder. “Ooh. Yuck. It’s a raya.”

“That it is.” Adefina’s dry tone practically crackledthrough the air.

“What’s it doing in the kitchen? Don’t we have pest control?”

I hadn’t thought Ramira’s expression could convey even more disgust, but a corner of her lip curled up, and she glanced around as if searching for a fly swatter.

“While you’re at it, Lara,” Adefina said, “why don’t you put a few more logs on the fire—seems it’s getting a bit chilly in here.” The cook’s nostrils flared, and she raised an eyebrow as she smirked at Ramira, never looking away from the sweating maid.

“They scream prettily if you pull their wings off,” Ramira said as if she were confiding in me.

“You won’t be pulling the wings off this one,” Adefina told her, stepping between Ramira and me.

“Then you had best keep it in the kitchen,” Ramira said. “If I see it in the main house, I’ll knock it to the floor and stomp on it. It’ll smear nicely under my boot.”

I shifted to put my body between Ramira and the fairy and hunched over the bowl, feeling even more protective of the tiny creature than I had before.

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