Winter's Bride - Candace Wondrak Page 0,30

standing near the window, gazing out at the night sky, holding his hands behind his back. His shoulders were squared, his head tilted up to the moon that poked through the cloud cover. His skin appeared darker in the shadows, and for a few moments, I was struck at the beauty of him.

I never knew a man could be so beautiful, but he was. Us humans were nothing compared to the gods. How in the world did I even get here? Why was there not a gorgeous godly woman who could wed Abner? Why a human, why me?

And why didn’t Ishan have someone of his own?

He was slow to lower his gaze from the moon, turning it toward me as he gave me a smile. Not his usual easy smile, though. This one I felt in my core. This smile told me everything his words could not.

Ishan did not have someone of his own because he wanted me. Just as I’d thought during that passionate kiss, he was mine. He was mine, and this—showing me whatever it was Abner could not tell me—was him trying to convince me to choose him instead.

He moved toward me, extending a hand. I hesitated for only a moment before taking it, feeling his warmth wash over me instantly, drying my hair and causing me to sigh out a breath of pleasure.

Just a small touch, something that shouldn’t make me feel so hot and bothered, but it did. As much as I did not want to admit it to myself, Ishan affected me the same way I affected him.

But I was to marry Abner, not him. Hence the issue here.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered, and I did. This time, I listened to his words with not an ounce of trepidation in my body. After a moment, after what felt like dozens of tiny little wisps of energy crawling along my skin, Ishan said, “You can open them now.”

So I did. I lifted my eyelids and viewed a part of the castle I hadn’t found on my own, yet. This place held so many halls and towers; it was practically bigger than the village I’d grown up in. I could search this place for days and still not visit every room.

We stood before a window, no glass between us and the outside air. The cold blew in, unhindered, and I shivered, even though I still held onto Ishan’s warm hand. The moon was closer, and as I inched toward the wide-open window, I found we’d been teleported to one of the castle’s many towers, perhaps its tallest one.

Everything looked different outside, from this height. I’d love to see it during the day, on the rare day the sun shone over this place. I bet the view was unlike any other, stunning and awe-inspiring all the same. Cold and cruel but beautiful nonetheless. Even the snow and ice held nature’s beauty, and anyone who would deny it was a liar.

Ishan stood beside me, his fingers intertwined with mine. “As nice as this is,” he started, causing me to turn my head and look at him, “this isn’t what I wanted to show you.” He pulled me away from the window, turning us so that we now faced the opposite direction. “This is.”

We stood staring at a door… only it wasn’t a door in the strictest of sense; it didn’t have a handle or anything you could touch to pull or push it open. It was not made of a stained-white wood. This door shimmered and glowed of its own accord, no glowing ice on any of the nearby candelabras to illuminate the area. The door was able to light the hall on its own due to its magical nature.

We stepped closer, an air of sheer, bitter cold enveloping me. The closer we got, the more it dawned on me, what this door was made of.

Ice. It was a door made of ice so thick and so pure you couldn’t see through it, nor, I bet, could you break through it with any sort of weapon. Ice such as this oozed and ebbed with magic, its surface so smooth it almost looked unreal.

I lifted my other hand, reaching out toward it, but Ishan pulled me back. “Don’t,” he advised. “Never touch it.” Though he did not tell me what would happen, I knew it wouldn’t be good. Perhaps it would instantly freeze my skin or something along those lines.

“What is this place?” I whispered, wondering why Ishan had