Page 11 of Throne of Ice and Blood
My chest tightens. Then determination seeps into my heart as I steal a glance at Draven from the corner of my eye.
I can’t let him do this. I can’t let them crush the human rebellion. Alone, the Seelie Court might never stand a chance against the Iceheart Dynasty. But if I can somehow get their human rebellion in contact with our fae resistance, we might be strong enough together to make a difference.
Drawing in a long breath, I squeeze my hand into a fist.
I know what I need to do now.
I need to escape, I need to find the human rebellion, and then I need to warn the Red Hand about Draven’s mission.
That cold hard wall around my heart thickens as I cast another glance at Draven. Iwillprotect the Red Hand and the human rebellion. Even if it means that I have to kill Draven to do it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dread squeezes my lungs when we walk across the threshold and back into Draven’s fancy living room. During the walk back from the throne room, I was finally able to learn how to get from Draven’s rooms to the main entrance. But it is with growing hopelessness that I realize that I will never be able to get there without being caught. Almost every stairwell is guarded.
The door clicks shut behind me. I flick my gaze around the living room, trying to come up with some kind of plan for how to escape. The cluster of dark gray armchairs and couches around the low wooden table stare back at me uselessly from across the room. The desk and chair to my right don’t look very promising either.
My gaze lands on the clear ice door opposite me that leads out onto a balcony. I wonder what’s below that. I might be able to climb down and?—
Fingers brush against the back of my neck.
I whip around while wrapping a hand around my own throat to protect it. A sharp breath of surprise escapes my lips when I find Draven standing right there, his hand still lifted from when it brushed against my neck.
Ice spreads through my veins. He is going to do what Bane and Jessina told him to do. Drain my magic more fully.
For a few seconds, we only watch each other in silence. Then he turns his hand and instead twitches two fingers at me, ordering me to come closer.
“Come here,” he commands.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I growl back at him.
Shaking his head in frustration, he reaches for my throat again. “I’m?—”
I bolt.
Darting to the side, I aim to sprint past him and reach the door that leads out into the corridor.
His massive black wings flare out wide, blocking my way.
I suck in a gasp and skid to a halt. Throwing myself sideways, I barely manage to get out of reach before his hand can close around my wrist. My heart hammers as I whip my head from side to side in search of safety.
Draven lunges for me.
Panic blares inside my skull. Making a split-second decision, I run towards the closest door. Which leads to the bedroom that I woke up in. My feet thud against the dark wooden floorboards as I dart into the room and grab the door to throw it shut behind me.
It slams into Draven’s shoulder.
He lets out a huff, and he draws his eyebrows down as he pushes the door open again.
Whirling around, I abandon my efforts to get the door shut and instead back farther into the room. Draven stalks after me. I reach out blindly and grab the closest thing I can find. Which happens to be a desk light made of glass and steel, with a faelight gem in the middle.
With a scream, I hurl it straight at Draven’s face.
He simply leans a little to the right, and the desk light sails harmlessly over his shoulder instead.
The sound of shattering glass echoes through the room as the desk light hits the white ice wall behind Draven with a crash. Shards rain down and clink against the floor, along with heavier thumps from the metal base. The faelight gem flickers among the wreckage.
My chest rises and falls with short shallow breaths as I continue backing away.
