Grave Destiny (Alex Craft, #6) - Kalayna Price Page 0,18

that, I could feel the moment her frigid gaze swept over me, assessing, before moving on and leaving my skin prickled with gooseflesh. When her gaze reached Dugan, her hand fluttered to the sword strapped at her waist.

“Stand down,” Falin said, stepping between the guards and Dugan. “He is here as a guest.”

There was a moment of uncertain shuffling in which the guards kept their hands on their swords, their hoods twitching slightly as if they were catching each other’s eyes from behind those shadows. But Falin was the Winter Knight, and when it came to security in the court, his word was second only to that of the queen. I held my breath, my heartbeat thudding in my ears, but it was only a small hesitation, and then the guards dropped their hands from their weapons. But they didn’t relax.

“Where is the queen?” Falin asked, his posture straight, demanding.

“The library, awaiting word from you,” the same guard who had spoken earlier said. She was clearly the leader of this band of guards.

Falin nodded. “Then we will assess the scene first.”

“As you wish.” She made a hand motion to one of the other guards, who nodded and broke formation, turning to lead us deeper into the court.

Falin followed without another word or backward glance, trusting Dugan and me to keep up. The rest of the guards didn’t move, forcing me to pass so close to one of them that I could feel the chill coming off his armor—which had to be an intentional magical effect. The ice making up the walls and floor didn’t radiate cold, and the temperature in the hallway was pleasant, so the armor likely only chilled those close enough to be in combat with the wearer.

As we followed the guard through the seemingly endless halls of the winter court, I noticed that Dugan had released his glamour. Gone was the suit he’d appeared to wear in my office. In its place was his dark armor, his black cloak flowing behind him like a living shadow. He cut a terrifying figure stalking down the frozen halls, and I hurried to catch up with Falin. Not that Falin looked any less dangerous. He didn’t need creepy armor for the killing grace of his every movement to shine through. Of course, I’d also seen that particular strength and grace aimed at far more enjoyable activities, so I appreciated it in a different way.

The guard finally stopped in front of an icy archway and gestured. I didn’t bother trying to look into the room—whatever I saw wouldn’t be whatever was actually there when we stepped through the passage. Doorways in Faerie were weird. Two other winter guards stood to either side of the archway. They nodded to Falin, but their swords were drawn.

“A shadow trails you, Knight,” the one on the left side of the door said, as if we’d missed the fact that Dugan was behind us this whole time.

“He is here as a guest, currently. He will observe the investigation. You will let him pass.” Falin delivered the commands with authority. The guards didn’t lower their weapons, but the one who had spoken gave a small, tight nod. Falin half turned and glanced from me to Dugan. “Let’s go.” He stepped through the archway and vanished, leaving Dugan and me alone in the hallway with three nervous-looking guards.

I hated doors in Faerie.

* * *

• • •

I hurried after Falin, and the world lurched as I passed through the archway, the door taking me somewhere else in Faerie. Then the world settled and I stepped into what was obviously a bedroom. Falin had stopped just inside the door, blocking most of my view of the room, but it wasn’t a large area and around his broad shoulders I could see the posts and canopy of a bed carved from pale wood. Gauzy blue curtains hung from the canopy like dangling icicles. A spray of reddish-brown marred the curtains near the head of the bed and I looked away before I saw more than I wanted.

A guard stood to one side of the doorway. He nodded to Falin, but I was too close to see if Falin returned the gesture. He hadn’t traveled more than one large step into the room. Which was going to make it very uncomfortable when Dugan joined us.

As if summoned by the thought, Dugan stepped into the room behind me, crowding the doorway where we lingered. To our side, the guard jolted in shock at