Page 26 of Omen of ice
“Valen—what are you—”
There’s a softthudbehind me as the Aphelian dismounts, but I don’t turn around and I don’t slow down. I should demand that she stay back, but the anger is choking me now, forcing the magic in my blood to boil and churn.
I stop in the middle of the clearing and fall to my knees in the snow. A howl escapes my lips, otherworldly, and shakes the powder from the trees. Birds scatter, rocks tumble—the very ground quakes—and snow begins to swirl around me.
“Valen!” From the corner of my eye, I see her fighting her way forward, through the violent squall. “Valen, you need to calm down!”
She’s right, of course. Always around, always the voice of logic…always not far from my mind. And though I know this, it’s impossible to tamp down the building pressure.
She manages to get to me, dropping to her knees in the snow, her body shuddering from the cold. She’s so slight, the wind and snow knock her from side to side, yet she keeps her balance and stands her ground. “Valen!” she screams.
That’s when I hear the cracking ice.
9
Keltania
The storm is localized, and though it’s chaotic and violent and threatens to tear me apart, there’s an odd beauty to it. It’s Valen’s doing. Triggered by his emotions, no doubt. How he hasn’t done any real damage to himself—or worse, someone else—yet is beyond me.
The squall is so bad now I can hardly see his face through it. I feel him, though. I thrust out both my hands, clasping onto his shoulder with an iron grip, and refuse to let go. Even though my fingers are numb. Even though every limb of my body feels ready to snap and fall off.
“Valen, listen to the sound of my voice. I’m here. You need to calm down.”
“—need to go.” A shudder rolls through him, and he gasps. “Get—away.”
“We’ll go together or not at all.” I’m terrified, sure. This kind of magic hasn’t existed in thousands of years. No one knows the extent of it. And Valen… I have a feeling I’ve only seen a whisper of what he’s capable of. He’s right. Ishouldbe putting distance between us.
I just can’t do it. I can’t abandon him.
He screams, and something icy latches onto my forearm. There’s a sound like cracking glass, and what little light manages to penetrate the violent storm disappears. Something forms above my head, solid and cold. The sound of the storm doesn’t fade completely, but it’s drowned out by something—a barrier made of thick ice.
There’s an explosion—I can’t tell exactly where it comes from—and the ground beneath us shakes and trembles. The icy enclosure shudders for a moment, then shatters into a thousand tiny pieces. They rocket out in all directions. I gasp as they skim my skin—Valen’s, too—but luckily, we’re both still whole.
“What the hell was that?” I stumble to my feet and glance around the clearing. As the swirling snow clears, I see nothing but devastation. The outlying trees are down, knocked over and shaken bare of snow and ice. The snow on the ground is displaced, some spots down to the bare earth.
“That…” Valen stumbles to his feet. He sways, and I rush forward to steady him. To my surprise, he lets me, leaning on my frame for a moment before shrugging me off. “That was me losing control. Again.”
“You’re upset about Kitara.” It bothers him far more than he’s admitted. I knew it the moment I entered that building. She wasn’t overly special to him, but they’d had a kind of bond. One he’d trusted. One she’d destroyed.
He spins in a slow circle, exhaling sharply before shaking his head and slumping down to his knees. “I’m upset because…I need you.”
He…what? “I don’t understand.”
“No. You wouldn’t, would you?”
“I see you’re feeling better.” I kick a patch of snow at him. The powder swirls and settles around him, never quite meeting its intended target—his head. “Back to your arrogant, cryptic self.”
“No. That’s not how I mean it. I simply mean…” He sighs and lets his head fall back. “I don’t need a guard, Aphelian. I am more than capable of protecting myself and then some.”
After what I saw back in the market, I don’t agree. “Okay…”
“I could have overpowered Kitara and her brother, stopped Fleeting without blinking an eye…”
“But you didn’t. Why?”
“Because, while I don’t agree with many of my uncle’s policies and tactics, I do agree that my magic must be kept a secret. For now, at least.”
“And if you used it to stop them, the secret would be out.”
