Page 66 of Kiss of Ice

Kam dissolved his weapons and squatted down to inspect the fae’s hand. The fingertips were now turning black. He looked at Ren quizzically.

“Can you control the temperature or does it just go straight to the permafrost setting?”

He saw her eyes widen a moment before he rolled to one side. He was fractionally too late. A blade slashed at him from behind, tearing through his upper arm and opening a deep gash.

Kam scrambled backwards as the minotaurian went for him again, his sharp little dagger flashing through the air.Fuck, that hurt.It was his own fault. Heshouldn’t have let himself become distracted.

He rolled gracefully to his feet, hiding the pain. His wounded arm hung limply and blood dripped onto the floor. Kam ignored it.

“You sneaked up on me. Not bad for a bull-headed oaf.”

“I tire of your mouth, jinn.”

The bestial lunged again. Using his good hand, Kam delivered a vicious punch to the minotaurian’s chest but it was too heavily-muscled to make any impact.

Kam switched to the face, landing a jab on the protruding jaw. The minotaurian barely flinched.

“I’m going to gut you like a little fish,” he said in his gravelled voice. “And then leave you out for the crows to peck at.”

“You know, I’ve never met a pleasant minotaurian,” Kam said. “Is it a species trait?”

“I’ll be much more pleasant when I’ve finished carving my initials into your lungs. Maybe I’ll carve a little something into your woman too.” The bestial smirked. “Show her what a real male feels like.” Kam narrowed his eyes but kept his tone casual.

“Oh, you don’t want to put any body parts near her. She’ll freeze them right off. Trust me on this, my friend.”

“Not if she’s unconscious,friend.”

“Well, see, now you’ve made me annoyed.”

“Yeah?” The minotaurian waved his blade. “And what are you going to do about it.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

White wisps curled down Kam’s forearm and into his waiting hand. Ren expected another sword to form but what appeared was much smaller. It almost looked harmless; a tiny little barb nestled in Kam’s palm. The minotaurian laughed.

“And what are you going to do with that? Needlepoint?”

Kam flicked his wrist. The gleaming little dart flew towards the bestial and pierced his eye. The minotaurian fell to his knees.

He didn’t even have time to cry out or clutch at his face before the barb entered his brain. It shredded the tissue as surely as if he’d been shot with an arrow. The late Mr Torus thudded into the sawdust and was still.

Kam sank into a chair wearily, clutching at his arm. He looked at Ren.

“So tell me. Is this a normal day in Coppertown?”

Twenty Seven

The innkeeper insisted on giving them free bed and board.

“That gang have made my life a misery for the past year,” he explained. “I thank thee for getting them off my back, sir. Bastards. Pardon my language, miss.”

The dead bodies had been dragged outside for collection by the morgue. The unconscious one was still lying by the fire. Ren couldn’t help feeling guilty every time she saw his hand. It was now dark purple and a second finger was hanging off. She’d never frozen anything to that degree before. Panic must have made her stronger.

“What shall we do with him?” she asked. “He needs a healer.”

“No, he needs to be dragged before the magistrates,” Kam said shortly. He’d ripped the sleeve off his shirt and was winding it around his upper arm.

“But his hand!”

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