Winter

Just his normal, dickwad insolence. One arm held behind his back. Lithe, sexy body all loose and casual and stuff, like he isn’t the center of attention. Like he isn’t about to kill someone—or die himself.

I don’t even have to see his face to know he’s grinning.

A frown tugs at my half-frozen lips. Why wouldn’t he shift?

Unless he thinks he’s already won . . .

With a warrior’s snarl, Rhaegar leaps into the air. At the same time, he looses his arrow of fire. The entire meadow erupts in yells as the fiery weapon streaks at the prince, sparks raining in its path . . . only to bounce off a shield of some sort.

The prince circles to the left enough that I can make out his face. Yep, grinning. The torches cast deep shadows that highlight the dimple in his cheek. The one that tempers his otherwise jagged features. Fangs tip his teeth, his eyes emanating a vibrant blue light.

He calls out for his first weapon, his voice casual, almost playful, and Asher tosses a longsword into the prince’s outstretched hand. The rest of the Six pace behind the dragon shifter, obviously not as calm as the prince.

Blue flames run along his blade and illuminate the meadow, the play of orange and blue light creating an otherworldly sight. Rhaegar growls and shoots off countless arrows. Each time, the prince uses his sword to deflect them with ease.

He moves gracefully, effortlessly. As if unworried by the encounter.

His carefree attitude only serves to feed Rhaegar’s frustration and rage. Rhaegar tosses his bow into the audience and retrieves another weapon. Firelight glimmers off the face of the double-sided axe. Growling deep and low, Rhaegar begins to circle the prince.

A swarm of sprites flock to the air for a better view. A few fights break out as the aggression spills into the circle of onlookers.

A predatory energy descends, choking the air and filling my body with alarm. More fights break out. Screams taint the night. Even the moon seems tinged with a dusky red as if the Fae control it.

Maybe they do. Nothing surprises me about their powers anymore.

The prince evades the axe as easily as he did the arrows. He still hasn’t chosen his second weapon. Snow begins to drizzle, as teasing as its master. The prince ducks and weaves Rhaegar’s advances, slipping through the air like smoke.

All at once, the prince lunges forward and catches Rhaegar’s ear. The crowd goes wild. The tip of the sword strips the diamond earring from Rhaegar’s ear. He howls in pain. Blood dots the snow.

Someone shrieks in excitement as the prince catches the diamond in his palm and holds it out to the throng of Fae. With a clever grin, he tosses it to a blue-skinned female pixie, serenaded by a mixture of boos and cheers.

Then he winks.

Showoff. He’s toying with Rhaegar. Grinding his ego down one skillful maneuver at a time. He’s not even using much magic—which is a shame since the extent of his powers are unknown. Perhaps that’s why he doesn’t access his magic.

Or perhaps he’s just a maniacal jerkwad.

Either way, his strategy is working. Rhaegar’s movements grow sloppy, his footwork slow and clumsy, like he’s half drunk. His breath spews into the air as he works to breathe.

After swinging at the prince and missing—again—he throws the axe, nearly impaling a male Fae with monarch butterfly wings. A savage expression has taken hold of his normally handsome face, his golden eyes stretched wide inside his wolf’s head, tongue lolling.

Black lupine lips curl in a snarl of sharp teeth; then he charges. The prince rebuffs the assault with a flick of his hand, sending a breeze to knock him back. He tumbles across the meadow like he weighs nothing.

The closest onlookers scatter, fear on their faces as they appraise Rhaegar.

Their fear spreads to me as I take him in. He’s almost completely changed. His body now more wolf than Fae. His back is hunched, dark fur jutting from his arms and legs. His predatory eyes are unrecognizable.

Even from here I can feel his animalistic hatred, the deep-seated, almost instinctive need to kill.

I watch in horror as he charges the prince and a bloodier battle ensues. This time, the prince strikes flesh and bone with his blade. Rhaegar howls, a mixture of rage and pain.

The breeze carries the metallic odor of blood.

Rhaegar’s shifter form weakens, and he starts to wildly throw balls of fire into the arena, sending the onlookers scrambling backward. Most miss the prince, but a few get close enough to burn. Only the moment they near the prince, the moment the orange of the fire tinges his high cheekbones, the flames sizzle and die, snuffed out by whatever he fancies.

Falling sleet. A wintry breeze. Buckets of snow. The world seems at his disposal, the icy landscape his to harness.

It’s a slaughter. I close my eyes, force them back open. Rhaegar’s last chance is the whip.

Pull it out!

A chaotic jumble of emotions spills through me. What if he loses? What if the prince kills him? What if he kills the prince? That can’t happen. All of these options are crap.

No—I push the negative thoughts from my mind, squeezing the tree trunk so hard the bark gouges my frozen cheeks. The pain, numbed by the cold, works to extinguish the violent flurry of what-ifs raging inside me.

A rush of unease hits me as the mood changes. The crowd’s cries for blood grows louder, more insistent. The air becomes charged with energy and magic and the promise of death. So strong, so real I can almost see it, like a beastly shadow creeping closer.

I shouldn’t be here. The thought hits me like a sledgehammer. Once the battle is over, whatever the result, these woods will be full of Fae turned savage by bloodlust.

But my gaze rivets to the two Fae in the arena, mesmerized by their fierce fight to the death. By their contrast. Winter and Summer. Ice and Fire. Brute force and cunning skill.

The prince has finally decided to use his magic offensively, and his theatrics brighten the sky. Bursts of police-siren blue magic erupt repeatedly until, even with my eyes closed, the flares etch into my eyelids. Fireworks of ice detonate near Rhaegar, tiny frozen slivers peppering his flesh until it’s slick with red.

But none of it really hurts him. The magic meant more to impress than injure.

What is the prince doing?

Limping, Rhaegar stumbles over to Basil. Rhaegar’s body is tired, broken, the only trace left of his wolf form a few patches of fur and incisors. Basil tries to hide his worried expression as he hands over the last weapon.

Wrapping my arms around the tree trunk, I crane my head to see what it is. Did he take my advice? Anticipation wets my palms inside my gloves, the muscles between my shoulder blades tight as rocks.

The prince is too busy grandstanding to the crowd, his back to Rhaegar, to notice the new weapon. A hush falls as everyone watches to see what it might be.

“Hey, Ice Prince,” Rhaegar calls. His voice is raspy and tired and whispers of pain, but there’s a newfound hopefulness there too.

Beautiful face still wearing that clever smile, the Winter Prince turns back to his foe, slowly, driving the blade of carelessness deeper into Rhaegar and then twisting it for good measure. Saying he is nothing.

But Rhaegar has one last trick up his sleeve. As he jerks his hand back, I spy the long end of the whip. Little white clusters of something twine around its length. Snowdrops.

The crack of the whip snapping toward the prince is so loud that I gasp. The end strikes his cheek, opening up a layer of pale flesh. Surprise twitches across his lips as he watches the snowdrops scatter over the snow.

From his blood or the whip, I haven’t a clue.

I wait for something to happen. For the prince to laugh at Rhaegar, or use his power. Instead, his posture changes, his strong shoulders drooping as he falters back. The insolence and conceit he’s worn like armor for the entire bout fall away, replaced by a much more potent emotion: fear.

The prince is afraid. He cowers, falling to his knees. A look of absolute terror transforms his expression.

The change from powerful to vulnerable cuts deep inside me. I grip the tree, confused by my change in heart.

I want Rhaegar to win. I want to command my fate. I want to be paired with a keeper who doesn’t hurt me and confuse me and send me spiraling out of control.

But I don’t want the prince to die.

Stupid Fae rules. Stupid Fae everything. I hate them at this moment more than I’ve ever hated anyone. Rhaegar and the prince and the whole lot of them.

Inara screams for the prince to get up; Asher roars, featherless dragon wings snapping out behind him, smoke rumbling from his snarling mouth. But they can do nothing to help the prince as Rhaegar stalks toward him.

The prince tries to use his powers, but his palms are barren; he depleted his magic during his dumb, showy display.

What have I done? My belly twists. Each step the Summer Fae takes toward the fallen prince is a stab to my heart. I feel sick.

Hollowness and terror sweep over me.

He’s going to kill the prince and I helped and I’ll never forgive myself. I don’t know why I care but I do.

I do.

Rhaegar kicks the sword from the prince’s hand and catches it midair. His eyes are black, murderous. He may not be a wolf anymore but his eyes are all beast. The Seelie crowd chants a single word, marbhadh, in Gaelic over and over and over until it seems to come from one god-like voice.

I don’t need to speak Gaelic to know what the word means.

Kill.

From my vantage, the prince is on his knees partially facing me. Both their expressions are half-visible. Rhaegar holds the blade at an angle, tip pointed down at the prince’s heart.

“Any last words, Sylverfrost?” Rhaegar asks, his gloating lips spitting the prince’s surname like poison.

The prince’s eyes grow pensive as he seems to contemplate Rhaegar’s question. Oh, Lord. This is really it. I hold up my arm, prepared to throw it over my face at the killing blow.

Wait. I watch the slow, curling smile tug the prince’s lips upward, confused as his fear morphs into something else. “Yeah, actually. If you don’t mind.” His gaze shifts from Rhaegar—to me.

Me, hiding in the tree invisible . . . except, actually, a quick look shows Ruby curled up in some evergreen foliage, asleep.