Page 82 of A Court of Fire and Frost

I Want Out Of The Ocean

ELVA

For two days, we've been flying through the Northern Court, keeping to the edge of the icy waters. We have spotted search parties looking for us, but they do not hone in on a couple of birds circling the skies. Ice Mer do not sense magic trails like I can.

The sea that once separated Nathan and I has now become our guide through this frigid land. Our strength is waning. I can see it in Nathan's eyes every time we shift. It's been too long since we've eaten proper food and had a good night's sleep.

He won't admit to it, though. He's too stubborn for that.

After I healed him using the Black Opal earring, I summoned a blizzard to surround us. It kept us invisible from prying eyes as we made it off the ice but slowed us down.

Finally, I spot what appears to be a small log cabin surrounded by snow-covered evergreens. We fly down and shift. I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding when I note the untouched snow all around the cabin. It's well made, with evenly cut logs and a shingled roof. There's a small front porch and a wooden rocking chair with a small layer of snow. Beside the cabin is a stack of wood five feet tall, stretching the length of the small building. The air above the chimney is crisp and clear, and the only tracks I see are those of a curious rabbit. No one has been here for a few days, at least.

"What do you think?" Nathan has his hands in his pockets as he looks at the cabin, then back at me.

"We should at least see if they have a television or radio. We don't know what's going on or if my mother has yet learned of Helena's... promotion to Crown Princess."

He winces, the reminder of the duel fresh in his mind. I wrap my arms around him, leaning my head on his good shoulder. "You did what you had to do," I say against his skin, marveling at his warmth. Our exhaustion has kept the tension between us at bay, but my body begs for release. Making love in the open air as fugitives doesn’t feel right–and I want it to be right. With all these dangerous emotions swirling inside of me, I need to be sure this will work. "And you saved me."

I brush my lips over his, the contact seems to pull him out of his reverie. He groans, a low, throaty sound, and puts his hand behind my neck to deepen the kiss as he pushes me against the cabin wall. I am aware that this is the first place we could have true privacy and I crave it. The wood digs into my back, but I can barely feel it through the oversized black sweater I stole from a campsite. Nathan’s internal heat wards off the chill, and I run my hands down his arms, feeling the muscles he built up training.

We're a tangle of lips and tongues and teeth and it's the safest I've felt in days.

Eventually, he pulls back and kisses the tip of my nose. "Let's continue this inside," he says, his eyes gleaming.

I growl at him, but he's already pushing off the wall and trying the doorknob.

"Might as well add breaking and entering to my growing list of crimes," he says, shrugging, before pushing the door wide open. I summon a pair of ice daggers and hold them in my grip, just in case we were wrong about someone being in the cabin.

If there’s something being a bounty hunter has taught me, it’s that you can never be too careful. It opens easily under his hand; the hinges creak loudly, testifying to their lack of use, as the door opens. The interior of the one-room cabin is dark, but it’s clearly empty.

I exhale and toss the daggers in the snow.

There's a fuzzy brown rug on the inside of the cabin that reads, 'Wait. Did you call first?' I laugh, surprising myself with the sound. Whoever lives here is my kind of person.

Nathan stands in the middle of the room, turning in a small circle as he takes in the small space. The owner of the cabin must love cartography, because the walls of the entire space are covered in maps of various sizes. There are maps of the Northern and Southern Courts, Fae territory, Were lands, Aqualis, and even the Vampire covens. It reminds me of what we need to do while we are here, cooling my passion. Nathan feels it too, because his arm withdraws from my waist while he walks to the large drawings.

Time, I remind myself.We will have time.After we find my mother, and we are no longer running, we will have the rest of our long existence, and I am desperate for that.

“Shit, these are beautiful.”

I scrunch my eyebrows together. “Do you like cartography?” Did he do that before we knew each other?

He nods. “I went to school to be a history teacher before I moved to Port City.”

I blink, storing the information. Asking questions is uncomfortable for me, I’m not good at it. “I never went to a university. They don’t have them in the Winter Court.”

He looks back at me and raises an eyebrow. “Did you have a governess?”

Thinking of the woman who taught me to read, fight, and plan a battle, I say, “Something like that. I was bread to lead a kingdom, not read a book.”

Nathan laughs, and I find a very detailed map of the Northern Court. I cross my hands behind my back as I study the map. Soon, footsteps approaching behind me are my only warning before Nathan’s arms snake around me. He rests his head on my shoulder, nuzzling my neck as we silently study the map.

"This is us," I point to a small x on the map near the Great Sea. I drag my finger further north, past seemingly endless forests to another larger X, "and this is Ice City."

"That's where you grew up,” he whispers. I nod, my fingers tracing the city on the map. I don’t have to turn around to know that his eyes follow my every movement.

It isn't a question, but I reply anyway as I press my body into his. "Yes. And it's where we need to go to find my mother."

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