Page 115 of Possess Me at Midnight
Bram’s words slide over me in an icy chill. More fear grips me. “I cannot simply sit here and watch him die.”
My brother looks as if something snarky jumps onto the tip of his tongue. He swallows it, then whispers, his voice perfectly modulated, as if each carefully controlled word costs him effort. ‘“Then don’t. Pray. Send him your thoughts and good wishes. And don’t underestimate him. When we were friends centuries ago, I saw huge promise in him, but I knew it would never be achieved until he curbed his temper. He’s come a long way since then. Let’s hope it’s enough.”
Ice and Mathias begin a slow circle, each sizing up the other. A glib smile plays across Mathias’s mouth, as if he mimics Ice merely to toy with him. Ice ignores the silent jibe.
Dread slides through me. My heart roars with disquiet. I fear nothing good will come of this challenge. Ice is everything I want in a mate. Sitting next to Bram and the others, watching Ice fight for his life, is eating at my composure.
Suddenly, Mathias raises his wand. I grip my brother’s hand, terror clutching my throat, as Mathias pools water at the bottom of the ring, quickly making it into something of a fishbowl. Around and around, he swirls the water at his feet, then sends a towering cascade of water Ice’s way.
Before it crashes over his head and swallows him whole, Ice freezes the wave with an absent wave of his hand.
Mathias laughs. “So you can fight. Maybe today won’t be deadly dull. How about this?”
With a flick of his wrist, Mathias blasts a wall of fire at the frozen wave. It crashes into the icy barrier with a hissing explosion and begins melting the ice. The resulting water rises to the ankle, then waist, again to the neck…and keeps rising.
Now treading water, Ice whooshes his wand in a circle. The water begins to dissipate, mist floating at the top of the challenge ring’s ceiling. It forms small clusters, then grows into big clouds in an angry gray. Finally, snow begins to fall, a light, harmless dusting of powdery brilliance.
Again, Mathias smiles. “Interesting. Now that we’ve discussed the weather, are you even going to try to kill me? Or are you too afraid?”
Ice says nothing, just stares, his concentration unwavering.
Mathias sighs, then hurls a fireball. Ice draws in a mighty breath and, waving his wand, blows snow directly into the flame’s path with a howling wind. The fiery projectile pops, sparks…fizzles.
“More childish games?” Mathias goads.
Sloshing in the dusting of remaining snow, Ice circles him. “Fuck off.”
They’ve been at this for hours now, each testing the other’s limits, and I can see fatigue beginning to creep into Ice’s movements.
“We’ve had this conversation before. I rather hoped you learned to be more eloquent since I introduced you to my friend with interesting toys. But alas…”
I shudder into Ice’s silence, horrified all over again about the whip Mathias flayed my beloved with so viciously. But Ice says nothing. Minutes slide by. Mathias puts out a hand, thumb and fingers curled toward Ice, who clutches his throat a moment later.
With his other hand, Ice sends a spell, full of spark and electricity, zinging in Mathias’s direction. Mathias tries to sidestep it, but he’s preoccupied cutting off Ice’s windpipe, so he’s too late to avoid it. The spell catches his arm just above his elbow. He roars, his shoulder jerking with the effort to pull and tug at the muscle. It doesn’t move.
“Bloody bastard. Think you can temporarily paralyze me? Is that a fair fight?”
“Choking me is?” Ice counters.
Mathias rears back, then lashes out, free arm raised, fingers bared like claws. A twisting fireball makes its way toward Ice. Quickly, he throws a sheet of frozen water between them. The flames dissolve before reaching the ice. But I sense the spell isn’t broken.
A moment later, Ice clutches his eyes with a roar. “What the?—”
“Burns, doesn’t it?” Mathias sneers, trying to work his arm free of Ice’s temporary paralysis.
My throat threatens to close up in terror. How can Ice fend off Mathias if he can’t see?
With a gasp, I leap to my feet to run, intending to dash to Ice’s defense, consequences be damned. Bram and Tynan pull me back down. “Stop. We can only be impartial observers.”
My brother’s words punch me in the stomach. “You’re simply going to let him die?”
Bram grinds his jaw, visibly wrestling with darker impulses. “If you interfere, the challenge will be over. Ice will have to forfeit. Injury and death were the risks, and Ice knew it when he stepped into the ring.”
“Because he wants revenge so badly…” I gasp out, trying to hold still my trembling chin.
“And you,” Bram admits, knuckles white as his fingers grip the arms of the chair. “He made me promise…if he managed to win the Council seat that I would not disclaim you if you wished to mate with him.”
Fury and horror assail me. In that moment, I both love and hate my brother. He’s making Ice prove his worth and earn a prominent place in magickind before considering him as my mate. Granted, that’s a guardian’s task, but does he care so little for my heart? For his former friend?
