Page 26 of Saved By Her Guardian
“Meaning?”
“This is Frost’s doing.It’s all laced with dark magic.I don’t know what she thought she was doing, but these runes are an open invitation for Frost to reach her, call to her, maybe even force her to come to him.”
“Can you fix it?Santa said your magic could help.”
Grim nodded.“Only her blood can alter what she’s done.”
As he pulled a dagger from his belt and motioned Maverick closer, Grim took one of Aralyn’s hands and with quick, precise movements, pricked her fingertips.As the runes she’d carved into the wrought iron began to pulse, her blood welled on her fingers and Grim guided her hand to the first rune.Her blood dripped on the rune and iron bars, and a sharp hiss split the air.As her blood covered the rune, it disappeared.
Aralyn stirred in Maverick’s arms but didn’t wake up.
Maverick felt something stir in him as the rune disappeared and Grim moved her hand to the next one.Their connection as mates that he’d felt was nearly gone, flared to life.
As the other runes disappeared and the scent of her blood was heavy in the air, Aralyn woke with a gasp and looked around wildly, first seeing Grim and then Maverick.
“Oh!”she said, clutching herself to Maverick with a sob.“I thought I was going to die out there!”
“We’re not done yet, my niece,” Grim said.
She eased from Maverick’s neck and looked at him.He held out his hand and said, “Give me your wrists.”
Maverick set her on the ground and she wobbled in his hold and then stood straight, holding her wrists bound in the strange, icy bracelets, out to her uncle.He used the dagger to cut his palm and then he grasped one of her wrists and spoke a few words in a language Maverick didn’t recognize.The cuffs melted away like ice in the sunshine, leaving nothing in their wake.
Grim’s eyes flashed to molten silver, and he released his hold on her.
“I didn’t know,” she said.“I’m sorry.I’m so sorry.”
She turned and hugged Maverick, her tears renewing now that she realized she was free, and he hugged her back with a growl of happiness.
“You’re safe now,” Maverick said.“Frost can’t get to you.”
“I don’t know about that,” Grim said, his voice tinged with anger.“But I can ensure she’ll be safe going forward.Now, young lady, we need to talk.I have a feeling whatever fuckery you were getting up to with Frost had something to do with your assignment.”
Aralyn hung her head and nodded.
They walked through the gates toward the abbey to get out of the cold, and Maverick gave Church a pat on the head.The beast’s eyes glowed gold for a moment and then he padded away to continue his rounds.
Maverick wasn’t going to relax until he knew she was safe.Even though he was angry that she’d put herself in danger, she was with him, alive and well, and he was going to focus on that.It was the only thing that really mattered.
Maverick kept a tight hold on Aralyn’s upper arm as they made their way to the abbey and she was grateful for his support.She felt both energized and drained, hovering between wanting to fall to the bed and sleep for a few days and going on the warpath and getting into a fight with Jack Frost, that conniving asshole.
Instead of either of those things, she sat on the bed and waffled between holding her tears back and crying.Eventually, thanks to her uncle’s hard gaze and Maverick’s still-worried pacing, she managed to keep the tears to herself.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Grim said, his eyes flashing angrily.
She dropped her head and looked at her hands, twisting her fingers in her lap.“I’m sorry.”
“You said that already, but I want to know what the hell you were thinking,” Grim said.
She launched into her tale, starting with finding the book under the bed.
“Where is this book?”Grim asked, brow arched high.
“Frost has it.I left it here, on the wall by the gate, but he showed it to me when I was in the cell.”
Grim hummed in annoyance and rubbed the space between his eyes with his thumb.“So let me get this straight.You were so upset at being assigned to ferry the souls of children and your subsequent punishment that you decided to cast a spell to go see some mythical ancient reaper to petition to change your assignment?You cast a spell from a book you’d never seen or heard of before, and then you blindly went along with whatever you were told by saidancient reaper?”
She let her gaze shift from her disapproving uncle to her disappointed mate and her heart hurt.
