Page 12 of Midnight Star

Whatever connection I thought had formed between us shatters in a second.

“Did you really just call me anassetto bemolded?”

I stand as anger rises inside me, the trees whistling from the wind blowing around the clearing.

“Yes. An asset,” he replies as he also stands, his tone as frosty as his magic. “And right now, not a very reliable one.”

“I got here less thantwo weeksago.” I remind him, moving closer, enjoying the feeling of the wind in my hair—of the power rushing around me. “In those two weeks, I learned I’m not human, was sentenced to death by an insane king, completed three brutal trials designed to break my body and soul, nearly died at the hands of multiple murderous monsters, watched a night fae abduct my best friend, and survived on the literal blood of my enemies. I didn’t want this.Anyof it.”

Not to mention the fact that I fell in love with a winter prince who now hates me and was potentially toying with me this entire time.

Because all I’ve ever been to him was anasset.

He pauses mid-motion, and the block of ice in his hands falls to the ground, as if my words physically hurt him.

“Whether you want it or not, this is where we are now,” he says sharply. “And the only way we survive this is if you stop pitying yourself long enough to work with me and learn to be as lethal as possible.”

“I’m notpityingmyself,” I say. “I’m…”

“Brooding? Distracted? Keeping secrets that could have gotten you—and me—killed?”

His words cut through me, twisting at my heart.

“It wasn’t like that,” I say, although I hardly sound convincing, even to myself.

“Then whatwasit like?” he challenges, and now that he’s looking at me with those silver eyes that probe into my soul, I wish he’d go back to avoiding me like he was doing before.

“I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know how,” I admit, relieved when Ghost moves to stand beside me, protecting me from Riven’s icy wrath. “I didn’t want you to look at me like you’re looking at me now.”

“And how am I looking at you now?” His gaze intensifies, as if he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“Like I’m something you can’t trust,” I say, trembling despite my best effort to keep steady. “Like I’m dangerous. Like I’m…” I trail off, hating how small I sound. “Like I’m notmeanymore.”

He releases a long, controlled breath and runs his fingers through his hair, as if gathering his thoughts and containing his magic.

“You didn’t trust me enough to tell me,” he finally says. “And maybe worse, you didn’t trust me to help you—even though helping you is all I’ve been doing since you fell into this realm and nearly got yourself killed on multiple occasions.”

“You’ve been keeping me alive because I’m a goodasset,”I snap, using his word from earlier against him.

He doesn’t so much as flinch.

“At first, yes,” he admits. “But then, when you were under the ice in the lake trial, swimming to find the key, I realized I’d never forgive myself if you didn’t make it back up. The thought of not seeing you again tore at a place in my heart I didn’t know existed.”

I still, since while I’m not sure what I expected, it certainly hadn’t been something as raw and real asthat.

“Really?” I ask, wanting him to say it again. Wanting him to tell me he still cares.

Wanting to know I’m not alone in this cold, dark, endless wilderness.

“I’m fae. I can’t lie,” he says, brushing it off so easily that all the hope leaves my heart at once. “But you have an entire other arsenal of magic at your disposal. If I knew you were part vampire, I could have done a better job at teaching you how to use both your water magicandyour air magic. Not to mention your projection magic, which we still know next to nothing about.”

“I didn’t know I was part vampire until I got to the Wandering Wilds and killed that night fae,” I say, rushing to clarify.

He takes a moment to study me, and I have no idea if he likes what he sees. All I know is that I feel like I’m under a microscope, with every flaw—down to the absolute smallest of them—laid bare beneath his penetrative gaze.

“What, exactly, happened with that night fae at the ravine?” he finally asks.

I flash back to that moment—when the night fae pinned me down, pierced my neck with his fangs, and started drinking from me. He was going to drain me dry. He was likely only a few minutes away from it, at the most.

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