CHAPTER NINE
Healing Isaac was the first step—a very taxing first step—and now Roxie needed to proceed with the second: actually trying to find a way out of there. Asha had given her a tour yesterday, but the castle was just so big that she felt confused by the end of it. She almost requested for another tour, but that would be suspicious.
So Roxie decided to keep charming him and wait for the next party he was going to throw. As it turned out, she didn’t have to wait long because the Winter King had one planned two days later.
“This party is lovely,” she said feelingly, taking a dainty bite of a piece of green fruit. She stayed away from the chocolate, which looked absolutely scrumptious and suspicious at the same time. Asha was sitting beside her as usual, and she felt like a queen and a prisoner at the same time. “And this food is delici—”
She interrupted her own statement by coughing into her hand, trying to make it appear soft at the beginning. Then she let the sound increase until it turned almost violent, racking her body with shaking and turning loud enough for guests to glance in her direction.
Beside her, the Winter King frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. Then she sneezed. “Forgive me, but it must be the cold weather.” She attempted a laugh, which turned into a cough. “I…I really feel bad for ruining the atmosphere.”
“You didn’t ruin it,” he clipped out, though his tone said otherwise. It was obvious he was displeased, and even his generally cold attitude couldn’t hide it. The Winter King was known for his organized parties, and he didn’t like interruptions.
“Perhaps I can excuse myself and heal myself in my room?” she suggested lightly.
“That would be great,” he said.
She almost screamed in relief at being dismissed so easily, and Roxie didn’t wait anymore as she walked calmly towards the hall’s back exit. In about two hours, she knew Isaac would be removed from his cell again and tortured for their playful experiment.
There were no guards at all, probably because no one dared attack Asha as he celebrated with his guests—though for Asha, it was a matter of protecting the castle from anyone trying to get in, not anyone trying to get out.
Roxie used the lights to guide her way, but she stuck to the shadows as she went to the southern side of the castle where the prison cells were located. No guards at all, and she was standing in front of Isaac’s cell in no time.
The panther shifter looked up, those light blue eyes piercing hers.
“You said yesterday.”
She froze for a second at the intensity of that gaze, then shook her head impatiently. It looked like he was back to his old ways now that he was healed.
“I couldn’t get away,” she muttered. “Stop complaining.”
“I wasn’t complaining.”
The ice bars disappeared with her magic, and she waited. His body slowly unfolded until Isaac was standing, and her breath caught in her throat as she remembered again how tall and powerfully built he was. His clothes were filled with blood, so she tossed him a white cloak.
“They should take better care of their prisoners,” she muttered. Isaac walked over to her, his body tense with uncoiled power. She braced herself for defense in case he still shifted and killed her, anyway.
He didn’t. Instead, he stood beside her. “And now?”
She nodded. Then she knelt down and removed the icicle chains from his ankles, then his wrists. She took his wrist, a warm contrast to the cold, and pulled him out. “Now we walk out.”
He didn’t budge. “We walk out?”
“Yes. They’re busy.”
“Are you insane? Or are you just an idiot?”
Somehow, her patience always ran thin with him, and this was no different. “Can you stop questioning my decisions and just come with me?”
“Can you actually come up with a plan?”
“You come up with one,” she shot back, then realized how petulant it sounded. She took a deep, calming breath. “We go out the back. Now stop arguing and let’s go. Asha thinks I’m in my room, sick.”
“Pretty impressive,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Okay, he was still mad. She glared at him once and let it go, walking ahead.
After a few seconds, he followed.
*****
It was impossible to stay quiet when the man basically contradicted everything she said or did, but they managed to get out of the castle unscathed. The winter was harsher at night than she expected, and by the time they’d gotten out of the huge clearing and into a forest area, even her small storage of magic could no longer sustain her. It had been a big risk to heal Isaac fully with what powers she had, and she banked on her magic to be back in a few days’ time. But apparently her magic just couldn’t keep up, and she used the last of her reserves to remove the icicle bars and chains, leaving only a bit to open up a portal for them to get out of.
By the time they’d cleared the forest, she was shivering. She let it be and pretended she wasn’t affected, knowing they still had problems coming.
Just because no one was stopping them on the way out didn’t mean they wouldn’t notice Isaac’s absence when they went to take him. And if they were smart, they’d also find her absence and put two and two together.
Her eyes widened when she felt something warm hit her shoulders and back. She looked down, surprised, to find the cloak she gave Isaac now on top of her own cloak. Then she stared at him as he removed his clothes and started clawing on the ground, where he buried them. Her cheeks heated as she saw him in all his naked glory all over again—all long lines, all those hard muscles and glistening skin, and his large —
“You need that more than me,” he said abruptly. “I’m shifting. Stay by my side.”
In an instant, his human form was gone, replaced by his panther form. She remembered the last time she’d seen him in all his black, sleek glory, the power exuding from him so raw. It was the same power now as he stood past her waist and looked around, large paws and long claws ready to strike at any second.
They kept walking. They entered another clearing, and Roxie placed a hand on his fur to communicate that they needed to stop here. He stilled at her touch. She snatched her hand away, unused to his strong warmth. She was about to speak when he began circling the area, and she realized he actually understood her even when she hadn’t said anything.
Not wasting any time, she closed her eyes and called out her last reserve of magic. A trickle came flowing out, vivid and faint, and she held onto it tightly. Her concentration was disrupted when a growl came from the panther’s throat.
Then everything happened too fast for her liking.
Guards came—the same white-coated guards that they’d seen when they first entered the ice castle. They surrounded them in unison, holding up their arms to attack with ice.
But Isaac was too fast for them.
He went at them in a blur, striking one, then another, and leaving blood flowing freely on the snowy ground. The smell permeated the air, thick and cloying and making her unsteady on her feet. She swallowed the dizziness off and closed her eyes again, concentrating on pulling the magic out with all her might. It came fast now, desperate, and she imagined herself forming a mirrored circle and envisioning where she needed it to lead to.
She stumbled down when pain hit her right knee, then her left. Her eyes snapped open and found the portal right in front of her. But another shot of pain came as someone stabbed her stomach from behind, and she choked on her own blood. She no longer had any power left to fend anyone off.
A loud shriek came, followed by the deadliest growl she’d heard in her life. Then she was being dragged off.
Then darkness came.