Page 62 of Heart of the Summer Queen

I straighten as much as my weary body permits. “You know you could never have stopped me.” I do my best to steel my voice but cannot prevent the slight waver. Now adrenaline is wearing off, I’m left swaying on my feet.

“Those things nearly had you,” he grinds out.

I avert my gaze, unable to meet his piercing eyes. “Thank you. For saving me.”

He grips my other hand. “You needn’t thank me for saving your life, Adara. I would never let anything hurt you.”

I keep my eyes lowered, unprepared to confront the emotion burning behind those words.

“You’re shivering,” he says, scanning over me. “And so pale.”

I only now realize that I am indeed shivering. In fact, I’m freezing, though not from Elaric’s magic. The lake’s water drenching my hair and skin is untouched by frost. With the biting wind rolling over us, I can’t seem to stop from trembling.

“I’m f-fine,” I force out, but my teeth betray me by chattering.

Elaric pins me with an incredulous look before sweeping me up into his arms. A vague notion of protest crosses my mind, but we both know my exhausted body would collapse long before making it across the lake alone.

I relax into his sturdy embrace. Though his touch would freeze anyone else, the chill within me is already receding from his warmth.

Elaric crosses the lake swiftly. I savor his closeness as he carries me to shore. There, he sets me on the grass beneath the trees overlooking the lake. Frost crisps the blades, but soon thaws at my touch. His magic has yet to reach all the way through to the soil.

The grass tickles my bare legs, and I abruptly remember my nakedness. Elaric looks away.

“I’ll get our belongings,” he says, already heading over to the sack and my bundle of discarded clothes.

I huddle against the bitter wind, knees gathered to my chest in a pitiful attempt at modesty. I occupy my hands by wringing out my soaked curls, though it has little effect.

Elaric returns shortly, placing my clothes beside me and offering a blanket. “Here,” he says, keeping his eyes away from me.

Heat floods my cheeks as I hastily accept the blanket. I can’t decide which is worse: his staring or his awkwardness.

I wrap the coarse fabric around myself as a shield, and the blanket skims my thighs like a makeshift dress. I tuck the corner beneath my arm to secure it in place.

Once the blanket is covering me, the tension somewhat lessens. Elaric settles opposite me on the grass. It takes mere seconds before the blades beneath him turn to solid ice. His magic spreads until it climbs the nearby trees, and just a small circle of grass around me is spared.

Elaric surveys the creeping ice, eyes catching on a discarded branch consumed by glittering frost. Pain shadows his expression.

Heaving a sigh, he turns back to me. “I’m sorry, Adara.”

“What for?”

“It’s my fault you’re forced to endure this chill.”

“It isn’t your fault,” I reply. “I’m the one who jumped into the lake. The reason I’m cold has nothing to do with you. Your magic doesn’t affect me.”

“But it is preventing you from warming up. If we could light a fire, you could sit beside it and would soon dry off.”

I bow my head, words failing. I can’t deny the truth in what he says, yet I hate the self-loathing buried within every syllable. If only there was something I could say to dampen the blame he is currently placing on himself.

All I can do is to try to reduce my shivering, so that he has less to feel guilty about. My skin is fairly dry, but my hair still drips beneath the blanket. Wringing out my curls before did little to help that.

I dig through the sack for a comb and a ribbon. Then I brush through my hair slowly, worried that reaching up too suddenly may cause my blanket to slip.

All the strands are so knotted that combing it is a great effort, and my arms are weary from swimming.

“Let me help,” Elaric says.

Before I can reply, he’s already beside me.

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