Page 21 of Midwinter Night's Prince

She’d walked around town for an hour, attempting to knock on doors, talk to people, all in vain. Her frustration was already at an all-time high, and now him?

“Can you hear me?” Seth asked.

Blair could have kissed him. “Oh my god, you can see me.”

A frown marred the perfect smoothness of his forehead. “I see your mouth moving, but I can’t hear you. This is a good development,” he added.

Never mind kissing him. Her words being entirely useless right now, she did the next best thing: she shot him the finger.

His lips curved into a smirk. “Now, that’s not very polite.” He tilted his chin down the one road winding through the mountain town. “Aveka’s hunters are on their way—they’ll be here in an hour.” He titled his head. “Make it two hours, given how Gerald drives.”

“Gerald?” she asked.

Seth glanced around, taking in the picturesque town nestled at the base of the mountain. “Walk with me. We have a moment to talk for once. And hey, it’s going to be a monologue, apparently.” His fangs flashed. “My favorite.”

He set out uphill, traversing the path she’d taken into the city. “Aveka sent a few buffoons with me. She’s not dumb enough to think I wouldn’t aim to thwart her if I got to you first. I could kill you right now and save myself a headache.”

Blair’s eyes widened. Kill her? That didn’t make any sense. If she was dead, then his soul…

Seth read her expression, and completed the thought for her. “The part of my soul inside you would die with you—forever unattainable.”

Shit.

She hadn’t ever thought of that. If what he said was true, Seth was a greater threat than she’d believed.

“Of course, I’d probably become one hell of a psycho, but it’s better than being a slave for the rest of my days.”

In other words, he’d kill her if he had no other choice, but for now, he preferred her—and his soul fragment—in one piece.

“I’ve successfully led the idiots on a merry chase for months, but an old friend of yours joined us. Axia. Ring a bell?”

Blair’s jaw dropped.

Axia? Axia was still around?

Axia had been her first mentee, a couple of years before Chloe. From the very start, the girl had been obsessed with increasing her powers at any cost. A great researcher, she’d unearthed obscure texts in Sumerian about ancient magic so dark it had been forbidden centuries ago, back when it was still entirely acceptable to sacrifice babies and virgins. The energy came from draining the light of the sun—or another star—never caring that doing so would shorten the star’s lifespan by thousands of years. Unchecked, those witches could have effectively ended all life on Earth in an hour.

Blair had stopped her, and yes, told on her. The practice wasn’t acceptable.

Last she’d heard, Axia had been banished from her coven, stripped of all magic, and she’d disappeared in the human world.

Axia had plenty of reasons to want to hurt Blair. Blair had to admit, she’d felt relieved—albeit quite guilty—when she’d heard the witch had died trying to reclaim her powers.

“She had a hairbrush of yours. Her tracking spells are efficient. And she told us you crash after using magic, so we also know your weakness. What’s happening to you right now might seem unfortunate, but it’s a blessing in disguise. They can’t find you here.”

It didn’t feel much like a blessing. Blair was confused and frightened. Mostly frightened. What was happening? And more importantly, how could she get back to normal?

She had to admit, Seth’s casual demeanor was helping easing some of her panic. He seemed utterly relaxed and confident. Like there was nothing in the world he couldn’t face. Maybe because he didn’t care. Either way, his assurance was catching.

They’d left the town behind, approaching the location of Blair’s night camp when Seth came to a halt. “Oh.”

Oh? “Oh” didn’t sound good. Seth didn’t seem like the kind of man who said “oh” without cause. She caught up to him and stilled, eyes bulging right next to him.

“Oh,” she echoed.

Because right in front of her, sprawled on the ground, was Blair Lawson.

Her body rested close to where she’d stood when she’d tried to make Velvet calm down about the bird he was staring at. The kitten was standing right against her chest, growling low as his eyes were fixed on Seth. Then he spotted her—looked right at her—and meowed. He leapt to his feet and ran straight to her, rubbing against her incorporeal feet.

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