Page 31 of Midwinter Night's Prince

He took her hand in his, his fingers interlacing through hers and they walked to a path, away from the trees.

His eyes went upward, to the starless sky.

Never letting go of her, he bent his imposing frame down, getting to his knees.

“Hades,” he called out. Clouds gathered overhead in the sky. “Hades,” Seth repeated.

A lightning bolt streaked the darkness, and Blair would have sworn Seth wasn’t responsible for it. His magic felt different. Wilder, less focused. She bit her lip, not liking anything happening right now. “Seth—”

“Let go of my hand and you die.” The warning came in one breath, a rushed whisper. His eyes returned to the sky. “Hades,” he echoed. “We’ve never met, but I could use a hand, if you please? Your power goes beyond these lands. I know you can’t reach Earth, but if you could get me out of here, I’d owe you one. Anything, anytime. You call it.” The sky seemed to get closer, growing more threatening with every instant.

“Seth, this doesn’t look good.”

His gaze cut to hers. “My hand. Hold it hard.Please.”

She nodded.

The clouds rolled through the woods, surrounding them both in darkness.

The next moment, they tumbled at the speed of light, making Blair close to vomiting her guts out.

And then they crashed on solid rock, falling hand in hand right on top of her old campsite.

Surrounded by a handful of vampires and witches who smirked.

Blair’s eyes zeroed in on the only person who wasn’t a stranger.

Axia.

Shit.

“Got you, bitch.”

17

INTO A CORNER

Seth reluctantly let go of Blair's hand, though it felt quite good in there, if he was honest. At least when she was attached to him he could stop her from going off on her own and getting herself killed.

She was a handful, that witch. Infuriating, testing his boundaries, seeing just how far she could push him, not so different from her mischievous kitten.

He got to a crouch, slowly assessing the situation. Four vampires, two witches—one of them without much power. He knew what they were capable of, and that wasn't much. They weren't a threat to him. To Blair, however...

The blue kitten Blair had called Velvet hopped out of the shadows to join them, curling up against Blair despite the danger it couldn't have helped sensing.

Great. Two liabilities. At least the cat had the sense to cling to Blair. So long as they were together, they were easier to protect.

That was without counting the voice at the back of his head reminding him of his duty. He was supposed to take Blair and bring her to Aveka. It wasan annoying buzz repeating the words again and again.Later, he snapped, fully aware that “later” meant “never.”

Six targets. Ten seconds at most. Then the vamps would either attack Blair, or retreat to call Aveka—either way, they'd fuck him over before he had time to get Blair to safety.

Blair started to get to her feet; before she'd straightened up, Axia lifted her high-heeled boot to stomp her.

Seth supposed she was volunteering to go first. Casually, Seth strolled to her, grabbed her neck and twisted it before her foot could collide with Blair's face.

"Wha—"

"Trait—"

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