The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,100

jerked my head to the side, signaling Oz and Kost to follow suit. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

Every muscle in her body tightened. Dread and despair made a mean cocktail in my stomach, sending my insides roiling. We didn’t have time for this. Noc had been stolen from me right under my grasp, while a legendary beast ate the only creature with the power to save him. My gut churned at the thought, and I tried in vain to focus on the predicament at hand. My gaze flickered to the fruit squelched beneath her monstrous paw. Her scent would be all over what little morsels remained. No Azad would risk returning with her aroma hanging thick in the air.

And that meant my ability to save Noc, in case Raven had her own plans to disappear, had just vanished.

We needed to get to him immediately.

My hands shook. “Easy, girl.”

Her eyes narrowed, and then she disappeared into the night in a smear of violet light.

“Thank the gods.” Oz let out a heavy sigh as his shoulders slumped. “I for sure thought we were—”

The Nix Ikari reappeared behind him, bleeding into existence without even a hint of sound, and swiped the length of his back with razor-sharp claws. Oz hit the ground to dodge, but not fast enough. Tender, flayed flesh oozed blood that shone bright in the light of the moon. Kost moved before I could think. Wrapping his friend in a blanket of shadows, Kost dove with him into darkness.

Which left a confused and enraged Nix Ikari staring directly at me. Whiskers on end and nose twitching, she peeled back her maw to expose a massive collection of daggerlike teeth. Sinking low into her haunches, she prepared to pounce. And then she exploded in a spray of snow and yowling fury, her claws aimed directly at my chest.

Hiding my face behind my forearms, I braced for impact and forced all of my power to my Charmer’s symbol. Rosewood light fractured in the space around me, and an echoing roar shook the mountainside. A white mass barreled through the air and slammed into the Nix Ikari. Followed closely by a snarling Onyx.

“Leena, are you all right?” Kost stepped out of the shadows with a wincing Oz at his side.

“Yeah.” Lowering my arms, I peered at the tumbling beasts. They crashed into a snowbank, and a riotous explosion of white shimmered in the air. “Dominus and Onyx are here.”

“Dominus?” Oz slumped to the ground and grit his teeth. Kost bent over his wounds and began murmuring to himself. With the flick of his wrist, he brandished a bronze key and called out Felicks. Without hesitating, Felicks bounded toward Oz and began licking the length of his back.

“He’s got a mind of his own, though I’m grateful.” Standing slowly, I studied the spitting beasts. The Nix Ikari had slipped out of Dominus’s clutches and reappeared several feet away. He and Onyx circled her with cautious footing, and marrow-rattling yowls rumbled through their chests.

Sniffing Ozias’s now-healing wounds, Felicks let out a quiet bark and promptly sat on the ground. The Nix Ikari’s ears flicked to attention, and her gaze snapped to us. One moment she was there and the next she was gone, nothing more than a smudged violet afterimage burning against the night sky. Onyx and Dominus straightened and swiveled their heads in our direction.

My brows pulled tight together. “What’s wrong?” Their hairs stood on end, and I braved a quick glance around. My eyes snagged on Felicks’s orb, formerly crystal-clear and now churning with an ominous fog.

Shit. The huntress of the beast kingdom wasn’t just agile, she was cunning. Lethal in her ability to assess her prey. The moment Felicks had appeared, future brewing in his orb, she’d sensed a threat. She could analyze her target and strike accordingly, but only Felicks could predict what would happen two minutes down the line. And that would place her at a disadvantage. Panic sent a wave of icy water through my veins.

“Get out of the way!” I barely recognized the shriek that tore through my lungs as I crashed to the ground, hiding Felicks beneath the weight of my body just as the Nix Ikari appeared. Felicks yelped but I wrapped him tighter, unwilling to sacrifice him to the beast. Heated breath, moist and oddly reminiscent of peppermint, collided against my neck. A bead of saliva rolled off her canine and smashed against my skin. Turning my head slightly, I peered up at the