Page 56 of Kiss of Frost

Georgie put her hand over her mouth. Her eyes sparkled with tears.

The fire crackled and set the treasures around us glowing. Golden light played over Graeme’s face as he continued in a low, rough voice. “We were happy, but we were missing something. Even the most devoted male pairs long for their female. We were no different. In those days, our women were already growing ill. They were dying and taking their mates with them, and everyone was terrified. Hamish took it hard. He wanted to help Cormac find a cure. The king was ailing, experiencing bouts of rage and forgetfulness. He’d searched so long for his female…” Graeme’s shoulders lifted as he sighed.

“Hamish worried the Curse would drive Cormac into the fire,” I said.

Graeme nodded. “I dismissed those concerns. I’m ashamed to admit I dismissed the Curse…at least in the beginning. I’d spent time with my mother’s people when I was young. The Unseelie are powerful beyond comprehension. I assumed the dark courts would know how to unravel the Curse.”

“But they didn’t,” Georgie said quietly.

“No,” Graeme said, his voice just as hushed. “They didn’t. Hamish and I visited the Unseelie. We begged my relatives in the Winter Court for help. We petitioned their queen, Circe, to ask the rulers of the other courts for assistance. They tried everything they could think of, but no one could figure out where the Curse had come from or what it even was. So Hamish decided we should approach an oracle. We chose the North Wind because of my heritage. I guess Hamish thought the Oracle might favor me because of my mother’s gifts. But we never reached it.”

The hair on my nape lifted, but this time there were no dark whispers or remnants of ancient magic to spook me. Just the knowledge that the worst part of the story was to come.

Georgie moved to the sofa and put a hand on Graeme’s arm. “What happened?”

“Hamish…fell,” Graeme whispered, his eyes wide like he was seeing a horror replay in front of him. My heart thumped faster as I recalled him looking just as scared and helpless after the lightning struck my wing. “I don’t know how it happened,” Graeme said hoarsely. “The White Gate was different back then. The Brotherhood was bigger, and the castle was crowded. I couldn’t find Hamish anywhere, so I went to the top of every tower. And…” A tear sprinted down Graeme’s cheek. “The battlements were broken, like he’d slipped or maybe fought with someone. But there was only a single trail of footprints.” Another tear streaked down Graeme’s face and turned into a diamond that tangled in his beard. “I found Hamish at the base of the tower with an icicle through his heart. He was already dead.”

For a second, shock rendered me speechless. Then disbelief made me rasp, “That’s impossible.” Georgie gave me a sharp look and might have spoken, but Graeme waved her off.

“No, Callum is right. It should have been impossible because dragons are almost impossible to kill. But Hamish was gone.” Graeme squeezed his eyes shut, and his features contorted with pain. When he opened his eyes, the pain swam in them. “I wanted to die, too. It was like someone had lodged that icicle in my chest. I blamed myself for not protecting him. For not finding him in time to save him. And I wanted to die, but more than anything I wanted to bring him back. So I went to the Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Ice Dragons and offered my heart. My only request was that I be assigned to guard the Oracle of the North Wind.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why do that to yourself?”

“I deserved it.” Graeme drew a shuddering breath. “But there were other reasons. Gelhella suits my gifts. And I vowed to never stop searching for a way to bring Hamish back to me.”

Apprehension slid down my spine. “Is that what you were doing in the study? Searching for ways to bring him back?”

Graeme nodded. “That was another reason for coming here. I took whatever knowledge I could and studied it.”

Georgie squeezed his arm. “Did you ever visit the Oracle for yourself?”

“Aye, I did, lass. But the wind yielded no answers. Hamish was gone, but…” Graeme swallowed. “His ghost returned to me.”

My apprehension turned to a shiver, and I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder.

Georgie frowned. Then she spoke slowly, like she was choosing her words carefully. “My father always said a powerful memory could live in the wind. But he believed ghosts were a thing of the mortal world. Once immortals cross over, he said they never—”

“Hamish returned,” Graeme said firmly. “I don’t mean to contradict your father, lass, but I know what I’ve experienced over the years. Hamish visited sparingly, but it was him.” Graeme rubbed a hand over his face, his shoulders slumping. “Now that he’s gone for good, I worry I kept him on this plane when I shouldn’t have, that maybe I trapped him with magic I found and had no business using.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “What makes you think he’s gone for good?”

“He came to me today. He smiled just as my heart began to beat, and then he disappeared.” Graeme hesitated. “I broke my vow to him, but maybe I was never meant to make it in the first place. Now that I’ve acknowledged fate, perhaps I’ve set him free.”

Georgie’s frown had lingered, and now she worried at her lip with her teeth.

“What’s wrong, lass?” I asked.

She met my gaze briefly before turning to Graeme. “When you found me on the roof of the tower today, I think I saw the broken battlements.”

Graeme stiffened. “That’s not possible.”

“It’s part of my power. Strong memories can live in the air for a long time. I saw the tower just as you described it, with the footprints in the snow and the battlements—”

“No,” Graeme said, “it’s not possible because Hamish didn’t fall from the North Tower. He fell from the South Tower on the other side of the castle.”

She was silent for a moment. Finally, she nodded. “I was tired. Maybe it was a trick of the light.”

Quiet stretched. The fire danced, casting shadows over the treasures that surrounded us. Graeme’s eyes were tired but clear as he looked at Georgie and me.

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