Page 43 of Omen of ice
“No,” Buri and Tania snap at the same time.
“Is it because the human is here?” Buri narrows her eyes at Tania, who is perched atop the table in the far corner of the room. Every once in a while, she swings her feet and grins like she’s in on some big secret. No doubt she knows what her presence here does to Buri—and enjoys every last moment of it.
The Fae keeps stealing glances over her shoulder, glaring at the druid with enough menace to send even the most stalwart winter guard scrambling for cover. I understand her unease. It rankles to fail in front of Tania. She’s not here to judge, and I shouldn’t care what she thinks, but being unable to do as instructed makes me feel small. She’s already witnessed two meltdowns due to my weakness. I could have easily killed her that day on the way home from the market—or the day she locked me in my room. This is just adding insult to injury.
“We could make her wait outside,” Buri suggests.
“Maybe it’s hard to perform under such scrutiny.” Tania hops off the table and crosses the room. “Perhaps if you didn’t drool over his magic every time you looked at him, he’d find it easier to do as you asked.”
“You dare blame me?” Buri moves from my side. “If I had my magic—”
“But you don’t—and that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Tania flicks a finger in my direction. “He has the one thing you desperately covet.”
Buri’s cheeks pink. “I don’t—”
Tania holds up her hands. “You’ve been in the service of the Winter Lord for a long time. It’s kind of weird that you watched Valen grow up, maybe changed his diaper a few times, and now you’re obsessing over him, over his power. It’s disgusting.”
I’ve never voiced my discomfort over Buri’s attention, but here Tania is, putting iteloquentlyinto words as though she’s known me my entire life.
Buri’s mouth falls open. She makes a stuttering sound, gaze flickering to me for an instant before narrowing on the Aphelian. “Your kind used to be scattered across these lands like vermin.”
“Buri,” I warn. Anger bubbles in my gut like acid. I taste it, the foul tang coating the inside of my mouth. A part of me doesn’t understand, while another part—the one feeding off the fury—wants to gut Buri like a fish…
“Some used to view you as equals, but others—we saw you for what you were. Amusing.” She ignores me, advancing a single step. “You used to beg us to take you in. Touseyou.”
Tania blinks. Momentary surprise at Buri’s boldness quickly melts into red-hot fury that blazes in her eyes. Her hand goes to the hilt of her sword, and as my own haze clears, I shoot forward and wedge myself between them before the situation can escalate further.
“I think we’re finished for today,” I say. Blood pounds in my veins, and my heart hammers. It’s a struggle to get the words out in an even tone.
Buri snorts. “I’m sorry, Valen. I’ll be informing your uncle that I’m unable to continue these lessons until you properly restrain your new pet.”
She turns to Tania, mouth open, but the Aphelian holds up her hand and shakes her head slowly. Just once. “Think very carefully about the words you want to speak. You’ve burned through my patience allotment for the day. Say the wrong thing, and no one will find your corpse.”
Buri, smart enough to know better, spins and stalks from the room. Her footsteps echo down the hall, followed by the slam of the door.
I pull a chair out from the table and sink into it. “I didn’t know you had such a keen understanding of Buri’s motivations.”
“I don’t.”
“Is it at all possible that you’ve taken a fancy to me? Your impassioned defense was…sweet.” I grin despite the glare she’s aimed my way. “You couldn’t be blamed, of course.” I stand and turn in a slow circle, giving my hips a wiggle for good measure.
She scrunches up her nose and frowns. “I honestly don’t know why I said all that. How I knew…”
“I might know where it came from.” I pick up one of the intricately folded napkins and pull it apart. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be a bird or a frog. Liani makes the servants come in twice a week to change the design even though I’ve never used the room for a meal. “Our problem is more serious than we thought.”
“You?” Her skin pales. “That came from you?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? You felt the wine I drank… And I think I felt your anger over the whole thing, too. You’ve got quite a temper…” I nod. “We need to get a handle on this, or we’re both going to land in a lot of hot water.”
She levels a gaze at me. “We’re going to have to find a way to fix it.”
“And if there is no way?”
“There’s always a way.”
She sounds sure. Her shoulders, her stance—it all screams of confidence.
But I don’t miss the glimmer of worry that flickers through our new link.
