Page 20 of Heart of the Summer Queen

He blanches. “It’s frozen around my foot.”

“Can’t you melt it?”

He gives me a pointed look.

“Right. I suppose you wouldn’t be living in a palace of ice if you had that luxury.”

He tries to pull himself out, and I have just enough time to look away before seeing every inch of his naked skin. Then there’s a frustrated groan and the slosh of water, and I glimpse him sinking back into the tub.

A laugh bursts from my lips, taking me by surprise as much as the king.

“I’m glad to know my misfortune amuses you,” he says with a glare.

“I’m sorry,” I say, though it’s a struggle to stop laughing.

He tilts his head back against the metallic rim of the tub and heaves a sigh.

“What will happen if you can’t get out?” I ask.

What if he’s forced to stay there for eternity, becoming one with the palace around him? At that thought, all laughter dies.

It isn’t a fate I’d wish on anyone.

The Winter King casts me a withering look.

“Has it ever completely frozen?”

“Once,” he says, staring at the ceiling. “Long ago, before I became accustomed to the nature of my power.”

“How did you escape in the end?”

“I had to shatter it, since I could not melt it. The bathtub’s exterior had frozen with it, so I had to destroy all of it.”

I swallow. “Does that ability also extend to people?”

He arches a brow.

“Are you able to shatter people after freezing them?”

“I suppose.”

If he can shatter people, then he could have shattered the Summer Brides, removing all evidence of them. Instead, he keeps them safely locked away in that forbidden chamber, knowing that one day his Summer Queen would come along to break his curse.

While this doesn’t excuse what he’s done or change the fact he took my sister, it proves not everything is as black and white as I once believed.

“Adara?” he says, pulling me from my thoughts. When I glance across at him, I notice the frost has spread. “If you are willing, I’d appreciate your help.”

I blink, and pull my attention away from the water and to his face, his bright eyes meeting mine. “Of course.” I place my ink and parchment on the counter by the door and start over to him. When I reach him, I focus on the end of the tub where his feet should be.

I dip my hand into his bath, and the surrounding water warms from my touch, preventing his power from freezing it completely. My fingers sink lower and luckily, they meet solid ice rather than his toes. It’d be awkward if I accidentally grabbed his feet, though even that could be worse.

I squeeze the ice wrapped around his left ankle, digging my nails in, but it doesn’t relent.

After several moments of trying, I press my lips into a thin line and pull out my hand. “It seems my ability to stop your magic only works on things that aren’t already frozen. I can’t free your ankle.”

“Then you’ll have to try pulling me out. Quickly. Before the rest of the water succumbs.”

“Can’t you shatter the ice around your ankle?”

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