Page 26 of Stolen


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"Get down, and stay down, princess. We've just been marked as enemies of the DewDrop Court." We'd have to risk going deeper into Sweet Fae territory if we were going to avoid getting shot. I could take and arrow or two, but I didn't want the reindeer hurt.

"Oh my God, why are they shooting at us? I'm on their side." She ducked as another volley slammed into the path ahead of us to tear up the runners and knock us off course. My nimble reindeer avoided them easily, but I feared the next round would be aimed at them.

The countryside was hilly and riddled with caves where the sugar was mined. Only one led back to the tunnels under the castle. I'd snuck through before but didn't dare risk that again. It was the Christmas Tree Forest or bust. I steered the sleigh into the candy cane trees to obscure the line of sight for anyone shooting at us and spurred the team to go faster than ever before. We were practically flying already, but they found a little more speed for me.

They too understood our cargo and what was at stake.

"No one but Flower Fae are on their side. They hate everyone, including you and me, and your snowflake pal." If Tau was discovered injured, there was already a death sentence on my head. Still only warning shot arrows came at us. We were far enough from the border between the two fae lands now that they shouldn't be able to reach us. Unless this incident broke the current treaty and the Flower Fae had just invaded.

I mentally checked in with the mice I'd left behind in the grotto. Sure enough, they were swarming around Flower Fae who'd snuck in from the entrance on their side of the border to rescue Tau. The DewDrop Court up until now spent most of their military resources on their long-standing civil war with the Sweet Fae.

The Mouse Queen would not like that I'd stirred that nest of stinging nettles. That was something I'd deal with later. Hopefully much, much later with Clara by my side.

Unless I did something drastic right here, right now, we were never going to make it to the Steel Tree Castle, much less the Christmas tree forest. "Princess, it's time to share some of that magic of yours with me."

She stared at me wide-eyed and worried. From the fear written there, she knew her blood could give someone access to her magic. Not even the Mouse Queen knew that. I shouldn't either. But I knew a lot of things I wasn't supposed to.

I'd bet the Prince of Snowflakes and his damn Church of the Christmas Star did. If he'd fucking hurt her, I was going to kill him. Slowly.

Fuck. I knew that avalanche was too big to only have been triggered by the Gingerbread Vikings booby trap on the mountain. Nuss had access to both the prince and princess that day. He'd probably been drunk on having access to all that power to destroy me.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Clara. But those assassins will." I pushed the blanket around her shoulders back just enough to grab onto those soft blonde curls and twist them around my fist. "Open your heart to me as you have the Nutcracker Guard, and I can save us from a painful death."

The kisses I'd stolen from her before were about lust and power, not a connection. She needed a bond to let her magic flow. Now was a shitty time to ask for that, but I was running out of options.

"Kidnapping me is not the way to win my heart, Konig." There was steel in her words, just as in her spine. She truly was a Stahlbaum. Once again, she surprised the shit out of me, for when I'd determined to kiss her and steal any bit of magic that rose up, Clara leaned in and brushed her lips over mine. Then she whispered, "So I guess I'll have to win yours."

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and kissed me, pouring her magic into my very spirit. My skin tingled from the inside out, my cock went so hard I thought I might come in my pants, and the world around us became so still and perfect that it was like a painting hanging on the wall of a castle.

I could kiss her forever.

Or I could save our lives.

For one more second, I let the magic seep into my cells, felt it take over as far as I could allow it, and then I broke our kiss. With all the force I could muster, I pushed the magic out, along with my mental command to the team pulling the sleigh. "Let's see if reindeer really know how to fly."

I gave a snap to the reins and the world around us slowed like a frozen night. The reindeers' hooves pounded along the ground and then into the air. Their breath freezing on each exhale puffed in the sky, higher and higher, and the sleigh slipped off the ice as if it weighed nothing at all.

"How are you doing this?" Clara looked down to the ground falling away below us and gripped the side of the sleigh with both her hands.

"I'm not. You are. I only told the animals what do to with the magic at their disposal." Clara stared back at me with all the sweet naivety of someone who hasn't been hurt by betrayal and war. It would be so easy to love her.

If only everything in my life was different, I would do exactly that. But no amount of magic could break the curse on my heart and so I'd have to live with hoping she could at least break the curse on our land and my people.

Nuss floundered around in the back seat and made way too much noise. "Careful there, captain, or you'll end up a falling snowflake."

"Where are you taking us?"

I wished we could fly straight to the Land of Spirit and Magic, but there was only one way through the magical barrier placed around the eviscerated land and it wasn't by air. "We'll land in the Christmas Tree Forest, then you'll have to trust me. You'll want to see what I have to show you."

"Just tell me."

"To even speak the words aloud is forbidden." The queen had told me never to call that place by its name, and I could do nothing but obey.

"You're taking me home, aren't you?" Her spirit twirled in her bright blue eyes like a ballerina.

Somehow, I knew she didn't mean to the human world. She understood now who she was, and that would make it all the harder for her to see how her land had been destroyed by greed and fear. "Yes."

I turned away from her and scowled out at the final rays of the sun setting behind the Gingerbread mountains. I was letting myself be too soft with her. This was a harsh world she'd come back to, and kindness and love were the last thing on my agenda.