Page 115 of Fated to the Frost King

The sound of her scream rang out again, but it was coming from the monster.

I shouted my husband’s name, and he didn’t hesitate. Another blast of mana, more powerful than before, roared past me and hit the beast, but not before the Wretch found its target.

Ice exploded outward, shredding through bone and sinew, ripping through one of its arms. But it was too late. I looked away from her body, unable to stomach the ruin, and scrambled backward to put some more space between me and the monster.

With bloodsoaked hands, I adjusted my grip on my dagger once again, just as the Wretch snapped its attention toward Draven.

The maid’s head fell from its mouth as it let out another scream and tore across the room to get to him. Its claws scraped through the floors, leaving bloody grooves in the wood.

My chest was tight, too tight, my breaths coming impossibly fast.

Then I heard them—more monsters. Shrieks, growls, the thunder of claws on stone. Shadows shifting as more of the beasts slithered their way toward us, pouring from every broken window and splintered doorway.

Scrambling from the floor, I raced forward and leapt into the air, bringing my dagger down through the head of the Wretch. Violet sparks burst from the wound, catching on the tar-like drool and blood.

Flames licked at my hands as I wrenched the blade from its skin. The beast screamed and spun around, but Draven was faster.

A pulse of raw mana cracked through the hall like thunder, and the temperature dropped. Shards of ice spread out likejagged veins across the floor, racing toward the Wretch like a living, breathing thing.

The monster reared back, but it was too late.

Draven lifted one hand, his fingers splayed wide, and the frost answered him. A spire of glacier crystal erupted from the ground, spearing through the Wretch’s leg and pinning it in place. It shrieked, flailing, and that was when he moved.

He was a blur of motion, turning to frost and shadow before reappearing behind the creature with his sword raised high. The icy blade crackled with mana, blue and white light crawling down its center like frozen lightning.

With a snarl, he drove it down in a clean arc, cleaving through the Wretch’s spine, and for a heartbeat, the air itself seemed to freeze. As if time halted beneath the weight of his fury.

It didn’t last for long, not before the other Wretch lunged again. He had killed one, but there were more. More monsters tearing through the grounds, through the house to destroy us.

I could feel them, feel their twisted and diseased mana as if it were my own.

Another blast of icy air washed over me, along with the sound of suffering.

What have I done? What have I begged him to walk into?

Wave after wave of power, of his furious mana, swept through the room as he fought the Wretch and then the Tharnoks climbing in through the broken windows.

Draven was a force, a horrifying demonstration of a weapon made of blood and skin and bone.

“Stay with me, Everly,” he growled.

And I tried. I really did.

But chaos continued to shatter the distance between us, and somewhere in this house, was my sister.

One of the monsters barreled into his side, and another exploded through the ceiling. A chandelier crashed to the floor, and I was hurled by the impact of something I didn’t see.

I landed at the top of a shattered stairway. With a monster between me and my husband.

Before I could cry out, another one crept around the corner, but it hadn’t noticed me yet. I scrambled to my feet, bolting for the hallway before the beast caught sight of me. Each step burned, and panic swelled with every breath.

I had done my best to keep my vow, but I couldn’t count on Draven to save me when he was locked in a battle of his own, and I couldn’t wait any longer to find my sister.

A window shattered beside me, glass raining down like hailstones. A gust of ice and snow swept through the hall in a violent rush, but I kept running, my footsteps landing hard against the floorboards.

I rounded another corner, following the logical path that I could only pray led to the main suites. Then I could only pray she was there.

Movement caught my eye in the study to my left. I turned in time to see a servant leap from the upper balcony, a flash of terror on his face.

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