Page 24 of Kiss of Fire

The snow made walking hard and the air grew colder as they ascended. She was glad of her thick coat, but made sure to keep close to him to feel some of the heat he continuously radiated.

She glanced at his face. His features were set and he made no attempt at conversation. She cleared her throat.

“So what’s the plan?”

“I will incapacitate the creature and throw it back through the Gate.”

“So why do you need me, then? I would have thought I’d just get in the way. Weak human, and all that.”

“Jotnars are protective towards females of any species. You will distract it sufficiently for me to render it helpless.”

“Hang on. You mean I’m…”

“Bait. Yes.”

Raya waited, but he didn’t offer up any more information.

They trudged onwards. Every now and then Raya saw the outline of a giant footprint in the snow. Maybe a metre long. Four toes.

“How far ahead do you think it is?” She tried to keep the nerves out of her voice.

“Hard to say. It depends on how long a head start it had. But it will be disorientated. It will not know where it is. The Gatekeeper has been effective at keeping them out. Until now.”

“Don’t blame Magda,” Raya said hotly. “She was worried about me. It’s not her fault she took her eye off the ball.”

“You are right,” he said shortly. “It is yours. If you had not run off, she would not have been distracted.”

He lengthened his stride, leaving Raya in his wake. Gods, she was adept at getting under his skin. The sooner their alliance served its purpose, the better.

They walked for the best part of three hours. She tried not to think about the appalling revelation Shade had forced on her. She knew if she dwelt too long on what she’d done, the guilt and grief would break her apart.

Instead she thought about her mother. Her birth mother. Aelah was still alive. Surely she would have been told that Ross and Caroline had passed away? Which meant… she bit her lip. Her mother had left her to fend for herself.

And as for the discovery that she wasn’t even human, she could barely process it. If it wasn’t for the bitter memory of the fatal fire, she wouldn’t have believed a word.

Another hour passed. Raya’s stomach rumbled and she regretted not bringing any food. She desperately wanted a break but she was damned if she was going to be the one to suggest it.

Shade was some way ahead of her. As usual, he wasn’t wearing shoes and she saw the snow was visibly melting under his bare soles. Must be nice not to need thermal socks.

She put her head down and jammed her hands into her pockets, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. So when he stopped suddenly, she nearly ran straight into the back of him.

“What are you…?”

“Hush.” He held his hand up and Raya bit back her irritation. Like she was a dog or something. Then she saw it.

A shape huddled on the ground. It was lying on its side, curled up with its huge muscular back to them. Its head was bald and it was naked to the waist, its lower half covered in some kind of wrap-around garment.

Raya tried to estimate its height standing up and decided it must be at least three times her size. A huge cudgel studded with nails was propped against a nearby rock.

It was snoring.

“See? Stupid as mould. It has not even had the sense to find shelter.” Shade’s lip curled contemptuously. “We should leave it here to perish.”

“Why does it have to die? It hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“You have clearly never met a jotnar before.”

Black shadows spilled along Shade’s arm and metamorphosed into a black blade. It darkened until it was as substantial as steel, its edge diamond sharp. He unfurled his wings. For a moment he hovered just above ground and Raya shielded her eyes. The sun behind him seemed to shine like a halo around his head.

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