Page 33 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
“Now isn’t this touching?”
The voice slices through me like shards of ice.
I freeze, my breath catching. It’shisvoice.
The voice that haunts my dreams and calls me his.
“I came to rescue my wife,” he says, stepping through the door with a slow, almost lazy grace. His armour gleams black-gold in the firelight. Magic curls and snaps around him like shadows.
“And what do I find?” His eyes land on Noble. “A traitor, still touching what doesn’t belong to him.”
Noble steps in front of me. A cruel smile twists across Erax’s lips.
“Tell me…brother. Did you really think I wouldn’t come for her?”
It’s Erax. The man from my dreams is King Erax!
Before Noble can lift his sword, Erax raises his hand. Shadows pool from his fingertips, curling around him like smoke fed by flames. He steps forward, the light from the moon catching him. It’s then I’m finally able to see the king who’s been haunting my dreams.
Blood coats his armour, streaking down his jaw and painting his skin like war paint. His black cloak is torn, his eyes wild and glowing, and his hair—it’s like pure starlight. Nothing like the pictures I’ve seen of him.
For a moment, our eyes meet, and I’m betrayed by the way my heart skips a beat. More horrifying is the way my stomach flips, not in fear, but in excitement.
I clench my hands into fists, ice hissing across my palm. Erax watches the frost bloom across my skin, and his smirk deepens.
Then he turns back to Noble.
“You stole from me,” he growls. “My wife. My bond.My queen.I’ve spent every moment since thinking of ways to make you suffer.”
Noble lifts his sword, pointing it at Erax. “You don’t deserve her.”
“What, and you do?” Erax scoffs at him.
“At least I’d never hurt her,” Noble spits back. “That’s all you ever do. And you thinkI’mthe fucking monster?”
That wipes the smirk off Erax’s face. But it was the wrong thing to say.
Erax flicks his hand, and the shadows spiral forward.
Noble staggers as they close around him, pinning him to the floor. The ground beneath us groans and cracks, fractures spreading like veins of darkness.
I stumble away from it as the shadows wrap around Noble’s limbs, twisting and tightening like invisible chains.
“Stop!” I run to Noble’s side, falling to my knees with him. “You’re killing him! Stop!”
“He betrayed me!” Erax bellows. “Andhetouchedyou!”
“He didn’t!” I turn to look at him, at the raw, undiluted fury exploding from him. “Please, don’t… Don’t kill him!”
Something in my voice seems to reach him.
Erax pauses. The magic stills, but only for a heartbeat. Then his eyes harden, and with a sharp flick, he throws Noble against the wall with a pain-filled roar.
And then he comes for me.
I push until my spine hits the wall. My eyes flick to the bed, where my dagger lies under the pillow.
Erax follows my gaze, and that vicious smirk returns to his lips.
