barely focus. My teeth chattered as the bone-chilling cold seeped into me. I was a spring Fae; this cold would freeze my wings and snap them right off if I wasn’t careful. My arm hurt so badly I had to fight to stay conscious, but there was one thing I was absolutely sure of. Liam and I were on the same side. Twice he’d saved my life, and that meant something. Actions spoke louder than words.
“No. I’m not leaving without you this time.” I pulled my knife with my left, uninjured hand. “We go together,” I told him through gritted teeth. I might not be that useful right now, but I could definitely try to remove his dad’s balls for killing my mom. I just needed to get close enough.
The king burst into laughter from where he stood on the front porch, a flurry of snow at his feet and six-foot icicles growing from his palms. “You fell for a fucking seeker from Faerie!” he boomed at Liam, and the entire house shook with his rage.
Holy shit, that man was terrifying. If not for Liam, I would have been a stabbed-up piece of meat right now. Well, more than I already was.
The blue light had stopped pulsing from our chests, and so thank the gods, he didn’t know we were soulmates. He might have popped a gasket then.
Where the hell was my best friend? I hoped she was safe wherever she was.
Liam looked back at me, still holding an ice wall in front of us. Sweat rolled down his forehead and he looked strained. My eyes fell to his thigh, where I saw a one-inch-thick icicle sticking out of it.
Shit. We were in rough shape. We needed to get the hell out of here.
“The crystal.” He looked at the open, blown-out window and I shook my head.
“No. It’s not worth it. W—"
“Not to you, you have seven!” He cut me off, glaring at me with venom in his gaze.
I reared my head back like I’d been slapped. “I’m sorry … I—”
A cold blast of frigid air burst from the king’s palms and slammed into Liam and I, knocking us backward across the lawn. Jagged pieces of ice cut my skin and wings.
The guards rushed out onto the porch and I knew they would be on us in seconds. But now that we were far enough away from the house to see the rooftop, I grinned.
Elle dropped from the roof, standing before the guards and king, gun drawn. “Back off, motherfuckers!” She held the sleek black gun right to the king’s head.
Holy shit. My best friend had lost her damn mind.
In a split second, the king raised his arms and a wall of ice twelve inches thick erected before him, causing Elle to stumble backward. One of the guards advanced on Elle then and she lowered her gun to his leg, squeezing the trigger. Two short bursts flew from the gun and took out his kneecaps. He went down with a shrill cry and the other two guards froze.
Holy crystals!
“Who’s next?” she shouted, pointing the gun at the guards, slowly backing out into the yard near us.
Time to get the hell out of here. I pulled the rolling pin out and transformed the bike as quick as my gimpy arm would allow. Liam was still holding an ice wall in front of us in a standoff with his dad. He took one look at my bike and climbed over it. “I’m driving. Your arm,” was all he said.
My fucking arm. Just talking about it caused me so much pain I wanted to cry. I wasn’t in a mood to argue, so I slipped on the back and hugged his waist with one arm. “Elle!”
“I’ll fly!” she shouted, and we all took off. Liam gunned the bike, letting his wall of ice crash down, and Elle kicked off the ground, bolting into the air. Turning back, my gaze fell on the king, who tried to step out from his wall of ice. Elle shot two warning shots, which made him promptly run back behind it.
They were specks of people now, growing smaller and smaller as we raced away from the danger. My heart was in my throat. That was the craziest thing I’d ever done in my life. Elle was right above us, not too far behind, and hopefully disguising herself to the humans as a helicopter, or a bird or something.
I leaned my head against Liam’s back, afraid to admit to