The barbs chimed as they splayed. He flashed me a bright smile. “It is mine.” He flexed his shoulders and called his ice-armor. Frozen fractals slid beneath his skin, spouting bristles of ice.
“No, Stefan, please.”
He slid his gaze away, summoning a crude lance of ice in his right hand. I couldn’t let him do this. He’d come back looking for help. Well, help was here, and I wasn’t going to let him ruin his chance at ever coming back to himself. I pulled the latent heat into me and shoved it toward him. The air twisted and distorted between us. Then the wave hit him, instantly bowing his glorious wings, sending streamlets of water down his back. He snarled and turned, cocking his head, as though he couldn’t quite believe I would fight him.
I didn’t want to. We’d sparred before. I’d witnessed what he was capable of. Smarter and faster than me, he had all the tricks, all the finesse, whereas I was more of a flood-everything-with-fire kinda gal.
“You wanna do this now? Here?”
The enforcers tightened their circle. “Sure.” I grinned and beckoned him forward while I backed up. “Think you can get through me, Stefan? Because I’m not letting you hurt them.” Holy hell, what was I doing? Taunting a Prince of Hell was never a good idea.
He took the bait and stepped forward, moving toward me while I backed up. The evil passenger sucking on my soul clutched at my heart, sending a bolt of pain through me. I staggered, saw Stefan’s eyes widen, his gaze sharpen, and realized I’d tugged the tail of the tiger quite enough, and ran. The mist parted within a few strides, spitting me out onto a narrow street. The Charlestown timber-clad terraces towered over me, funneling me in the one direction. Head down, wing up, I ran hard. All I had to do was draw him away from the enforcers. Running, I could do. What my demon form lacked in strength, I sure made up for in stamina. The brittle touch of ice nipped at my heels. He was close. Looking back would only slow me down. So now that I’d got him away, what was I supposed to do?
I veered down a tiny alley, barely large enough to drive a car down. Ice galloped along the walls on either side of me, reaching and snapping in my peripheral vision. He wouldn’t hurt me. Would he? My heart raced, pumping acidic darkness through my veins. The hunt… The chase… Let him come. We will have him. The Winter King is ours.
Something inside me snapped. My control perhaps, at least a part of it. I still ran, still wove my way around trashcans, pounding the street in time with the beat of my heart, but I wasn’t there. Not really. Detached. Cut adrift. I reached for my control and felt it slip through my fingers like the string of a balloon. If I didn’t get it back, it’d be gone for good.
Stefan hit me from behind, simultaneously tackling me, while hooking an arm around me, so he could wrench me off my feet and slam me into a wall. My fire flared. Body numbed by the tackle, I yelped and almost collapsed in on him as the control I’d lost poured back into my body. I was back. What the hell had just happened? Denied, my demon snarled, and the sound rippled my lips.
Stefan leaned into me, forearm pinned against my throat. His element nipped at my flesh, sizzling and spitting against my fiery skin. I met his winter-sky eyes, saw the flash of his fangs behind his victorious grin, and laughed. I’d almost lost it. She—my demon—had gained the upper hand, if only for a few seconds. But it wasn’t her time. Not yet. I’d come back. Giggles tumbled from me.
Stefan’s ice armor had long ago dissolved, leaving him somewhat vulnerable, but no less magnificently demon. He frowned, confused, and I laughed harder. It was that or cry.
He eased back, mouth hooking into a lopsided grin. “At least I’m not the only one who’s crazy.”
I snorted, a sure sign I couldn’t control my hilarity, and Stefan spluttered a laugh.
“You have… no… idea.” I managed to say between snorts.
He backed up and shook his demon visage off with a chuckle. Blue jeans and a black tank top made him look almost normal. “You know you faced Wrath back there?” He ran a hand through his damp hair and shook out stubborn ice crystals.