The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,13

to offer that same reprieve for myself.

Without warning, Onyx’s head turned and he leapt to his feet. His body went taut, and he peeled his lips back to reveal rows of sword-sharp teeth. Dark scruff stood sky high. Feathers quivered as he crouched low into his haunches. Gaze focused on the edge of the Kitska Forest, he waited to pounce.

“Onyx?” Fear doused the warmth my beast had summoned, and I handed off a softly keening Poof to Astrid. “What is it? What do you see?”

A low, menacing growl ripped through his throat. As I followed his stare to the edge of the snarling wood, a flash of blue winked at me from the thick overgrowth of trees. An influx of power hummed from the dark, accompanied by another unexpected glimmer of aqua.

“Get behind me.” I stepped in front of my family. “Onyx can handle this.”

“You’re out of your mind.” Emelia submerged her hands in shadows until a glittering halberd solidified in her grip. “Noc would have our heads if something happened to you.”

“Astrid, fall back.” Iov followed Emelia and fashioned an ax.

“Wait, I—”

But the signature groan of the beast-realm door rushed over the clearing before I could speak, and a blanket of rosewood light cast us into temporary blindness. The force of the energy smacked into my body and rattled my bones. I flexed my hand, and power sparked from my symbol. One of my beasts had forced its way out without my calling. But, how? Why? I touched my bestiary as a flush of adrenaline surged through me. Time seemed to stretch endlessly as the rosewood hue dispersed. A blur of white fur streaked away from us toward the wood.

“What is that?” Astrid squeezed Poof tight to her chest, and a hint of lavender and valerian perfumed the air.

“That’s…” My stomach revolted, and for one blinding moment, I was back in that prison again, Wynn’s blades hot against my skin. “Dominus.” Powerful claws churned the earth as he ran, a mass of sheer force and otherworldly strength. Vibrant emerald and violet wings sprouted like jagged glass from his ankles, and the glinting chest plate of crystal protecting his heart flashed in the sun. The Mistari. Wynn’s beast. Or rather, my beast now. How did he manage to escape the realm without my call?

I didn’t have time to figure that out. In that moment, a liquid-blue monster in the shape of a feline exploded from the forest and rushed into the open to meet Dominus head-on. They came together in a clash of snarls and yowls that rattled windows along the rooms overlooking the field. Shadows rushed from the manor, carrying a flurry of assassins ready to protect their home.

“Onyx, go,” I said, and my beast launched into the sky. Electric-blue wisps trailed from his legs and eyes. Wings beating fervently, he barreled toward the blue-and-white ball of fury and gnashing fangs. The two great cats were locked in desperate battle. But despite all their might, neither beast landed a blow. For a split second they broke apart, and the shimmery blue feline rolled onto his back. Sapphire paws smacked against Dominus’s maw, and the Mistari growled before pouncing.

It was almost…playful.

“They’re not hurting each other.” Straightening, I studied the way they circled before bounding together in a tangled mess of limbs—claws completely retracted. Relief, followed quickly by a wave of anxiety, stirred in me. Riveting my eyes to the sky, I found Onyx circling the pair. “Onyx, wait!”

His head snapped to me…and then he descended, landing a few feet from the yowling beasts. He cocked his head before settling into his haunches to watch their play. I loosed a heavy sigh. “Thank the gods.”

Beside me, a rush of shadows darker than the rest appeared. Inky tendrils flared outward, cocooning me in a world of black on black. And then Noc stepped out, hands shaking and eyes wild as he stared at the threat on the edge of his land. Calem, Kost, and Oz flanked his side, each one already gripping blades. Calem spotted Onyx and his face paled, but he held rank and settled low into his heels.

Noc turned to me with barely capped fury—and concern. “What’s going on?”

“Just a man who likes to make an entrance.” Placing a hand on Noc’s forearm, I nodded to the legendary beast with its watery scales and finned tail. A Zystream. I’d been under Wynn’s charm the first time I’d seen Gaige’s prized feline. The fog that still clung to those memories had