Page 103 of A Bride for the Winter King
“Don’t worry, the entire thing is not broadcasted live. I instructed Paul to record just enough to titillate the viewers before the camera pans to the sky to show everyone that the souls are safe, and that we’ve done our duty.”
“Is that what we’ve been doing the last few days? Our duty?” I joke.
His eyes dance, their color mirroring the beauty of the torrent of souls below the ice. “That was only for fun.”
“And tonight is not going to be fun?”
“Should be interesting.” He kisses the root of my ear. “Can you see them, yet?”
I nick his earlobe with my teeth and sharpen my senses, trying to detect the enemies lying in wait among the peaceful scenery.
A dark spot behind the nearest column sends tingles up my spine. “See that shadow over there by the nine o’clock column?” I whisper. “That’s her.”
Morrigan’s bite of power is faint, but I would recognize it among thousands.
“Sneaky.” Elio’s eyes narrow, fixated on the birth marks peppered across my collarbone as he bends down to taste them one by one. “They couldn’t have brought their wolves or spiders here. There’d be no way to conceal them.”
I pull his jacket from his shoulders, playing the role of a newlywed eager to get her husband naked, but secretly scanning the gazebo and lake. “I count only two.”
“Two assassins of the Gray Man’s caliber would be enough to kill or incapacitate me, considering you’re supposed to be a defenseless Spring seed.” He spins me around in his arms and guides me forward in the guise of showing me the lake. “This is the well of tears, where the ritual will take place.”
I peer over the edge to the staircase leading to the ice. A circular hole the size of a large plate has formed, the water directly accessible at the center of the well. The roof above it is interrupted by a giant magnifying glass that condenses the moon rays in the exact spot where the ice is melted.
“It’s the section of the lake that allows us to reach the water, but only when the moon is highest in the sky at the solstice. We have less than an hour to complete the ritual.”
The icy crust around the small hole is probably thin enough for us to break through if we were ready to go down for a swim, and goosebumps rise on my arms. “An hour is enough.”
“I’ve never seen you so…wound up. You truly hate her, don’t you?”
I give a sharp incline of the head, quietly keeping track of the two shadows, and my heart shrivels as Morrigan slips out of the darkness in her huntress uniform and purple boots, her long black hair hidden below her hood.
My enemy chuckles, and her obvious joy makes my pulse swirl. “My, my. The world is a small place, Lorisha. Looks like it’s my turn to interruptyourwedding night.”
Chapter 42
Exposed
ELIO
Morrigan Quinn, the phantom queen, slinks around the closest column with a wry grin and lowers her big hood. Her black hair is braided away from her face, her brown eyes gleaming with a thirst for blood.
“I see you found a way to heal my venom after all. Are you really sure dying of a frozen heart is better than the fate I had in store for you, little huntress?” she says.
Back when I saw her last, she was equally wicked, but now, the bite of power spiking the air around her slender frame is laced with the same strange flavor of Tidecaller technology that the Gray Man possessed.
The plan was to stall the attack for a few minutes to give Lori’s family more time to join us, but the devious grin Morrigan directs at my new wife turns my blood to ice. If it wasn’t for Lori’s insistence that we had to capture and not kill her, I’d gladly cleave that woman in two.
I summon my sword, and the familiar blade feels light in my hand, its cold edge at a sharp contrast to the fire in my chest.
Morrigan saunters closer, quick as an eel. “How did you know I’d be here?”
I instinctively sidestep to shield my queen, but Lori’s daggers are extended on each side of her. Shadow magic slithers over the fabric of her black uniform, leaving no doubt that she was looking forward to this fight.
“Bring it, witch.”
“Tut-tut. Patience. I want to see you squirm a little.”
Lori points the end of her dagger at the second shadow she warned me about. “Is your boyfriend going to join us, or is he naive enough to think I didn’t spot him?”
