Page 91 of Omen of ice
Benj groans.
“Stand aside,” the one in front demands.
Tania smiles again, this time wider. It’s dark and full of promise and makes the hair on my arms jump to attention.
There’s movement at the back of the guard, followed by a flash of silver. In the distance, the echoing sound of a crow’s caw shatters the air, and someone in the back row hurls a blade through the group. Tania ducks aside, deftly moving from its path. It strikes Delkin instead, embedding in his forearm.
The air stills, and no one moves or says a word. Delkin stands calmly, the blade protruding from his skin. He looks more irritated than anything else. Benj wears a similar expression, while Tania… Her face twists with fury. A moment passes, and then another.
She turns her back on them, and our eyes meet. There’s something unsettling in her stare. Something older than both of us, and more raw. Her feline grin promises darkness, and my stomach clenches.
I move to stop her, but she says, “I warned them.”
Tania’s fingers knot tight, the skin of her knuckles turning pale. When she releases them, each digit is rigid and frosty. A second later, the temperature plummets, and the sound of crackling ice fills the clearing. It creeps across the ground, coating the dirt and bracken with frost. Encasing everything in ice…
Orbik’s men, the sniffer… They’re all frozen solid.
31
Keltania
Finally, they shut up. These bastards who will tread on anything—anyone—with the simplest word from theirWinterLord. A false king. An imposter. A thief.
A murderer.
I hate these Fae, but in the back of my mind, I know something is wrong. The ferocity of my rage toward them borders on unearthly. Like they’ve wronged me personally. Taken everything I love and forced me into the darkness. Not to mention I shouldn’t be able to do what I’ve done since Delkin gave me the braid. I look down.
The braid soaked in jalva oil is gone.
No…
Daroose positions himself between me and the frozen guard. He takes my hands. “Keltania, it is done. You’ve subdued them. We can return the disgusting little young to their mother and be on our way.”
I glance down at my hands, clasped in his. “Step away.”
Daroose, of course, doesn’t listen. He’s still speaking, but with each word, his voice grows more distant until the only sound I can focus on is the thundering of my own pulse. I grip his wrists and hold tight, and a thin layer of ice creeps across his skin.
The kelpie yelps, and Benj drags him away.
“Tania.” Delkin takes Daroose’s place. “Listen to me carefully.” His voice breaks through the haze, but I can’t focus on it. It’s the guards, trapped in ice yet still breathing, that hold my attention.
Valen tries to push his father aside, but Delkin holds his ground.
“You are the first druid in centuries to tap into this level of power. It’s been a very long time, and your people—they’ve forgotten what it’s like. Now that you can access magic, you have a chance to form an empathetic bond to all living things around you. I imagine it’s getting stronger, and it will take time to understand how to control it. Add to that the bond you have with Valen and his magic, and you are lethal—to others and yourself. The anger you feel? That red-hot rage? That is mine. It’s my fault, and I beg you to hear me, to concentrate on my voice before you do something you’ll regret.”
In the deepest pit of my soul, his words pluck at something tangible. Some small part of me that fights for control. It twitches, remembering the newly thriving patch of forest, given life—not death.
Valen finally manages to push Delkin aside and takes my face in his hands. I’m numb, frozen to the most inner parts of my body, yet in all the places his skin touches mine, something pulses. A spark I don’t quite understand.
“Tania, let it go. We can take the yorgers and leave.” His brow furrows, and his lips pull up at the corner. Like there’s an odd taste in his mouth. “I…I know you. Fae or not, you wouldn’t harm these men for no reason.”
He’s right. I wouldn’t harm the Fae—or any living creature—without provocation. The problem here was, they attacked us first. Some small seed deep inside me refuses to let that go.
I tear myself from his grip, fighting hard against the two warring impulses raging in my mind.
Walk away.
Destroy them.
