Page 40 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“You should go inside, Ted,” he said again.
I nodded but laughed even harder, both the motion and the sound further splitting the pain in my head. And I swear, I swear, Leanora tsked in disapproval. I swear she guided my attention to the knife Elias sheathed against his right foot. I swear she urged me to grab it and plunge it into his chest.
I sucked in a shaky breath.
Elias knelt in front of me, his stunning face peering up at me in amusement.
“Don’t tell my dragon I told you”—he said, his voice tender—“but she’s a beautiful creature. While I’d never tell her so, I’ve often thought she looked majestic.”
The noise and commotion in my head stilled as I gazed back into his steady eyes. He blinked, and I found myself doing the same.
Suddenly sober, I nodded. “Majestic, yes.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek in contemplation. Heseemed to wait for me, expecting me to do something, anything. My heart settled into an easy rhythm.
How? I should be terrified of this . . . fae. Iwasterrified of him, but I also wasn’t. For some eerie reason, his presence calmed me. How was that possible?
But then I thought about his dragon.Majestic.
“Where you come from, does everyone have a pet dragon?”
One of Elias’s friends barked out a loud laugh that made me jump.
“Pet dragon,” George muttered with a shake of his head.
Elias sat on the ground and played with the fresh snow he let fall between his fingers. It was mesmerizing to watch, and my knees threatened to buckle with the sudden desire to join him. I probably would have if he hadn’t turned his focus back on me. Then it felt like my lungs had forgotten how to work, so I took a purposeful breath in and out—over and over again until the knot in my chest loosened once again.
“Nalari, my dragon, isn’t a pet. Sama, my uncle’s dragon, isn’t a pet either. None of the dragons are,” he explained, his voice soothing and as warm as the blanket I still clung to. “They’re what we call Guardians. Kind of like. . .” He paused for a few beats. “Like what you think of as angels maybe. Our Guardians guide and protect whoever they’re charged with. Our elder Guardians are more like gods. We pray to them and ask them for protection or permission. They’re the true rulers of our kingdom.”
I chewed my bottom lip, wondering if I could ask more questions. Wondering how patient he’d be with the millions of thoughts that raced through my head about his kind and where he came from. And dragons, because oh my gosh, dragons! Even in my nerdiest book dream, I had never actuallyimagined dragons were real. At least not in my time. Or in myrealm, which I guess they hadn’t been until fae and dragons had entered our world.
“Ask anything,” he prompted, as if reading my mind.
I shuffled uncomfortably, forcing my thoughts away from awe and toward the practical.
“The food you brought us is safe for humans to eat?” I asked instead.
Disappointment marred his face, but he hid it when he reluctantly got up from where he sat and walked toward one of the carts. “My friends and I researched what food you harvest and eat. We were able to acquire seedlings that we planted.”
“Your tiny, handheld computers and Google are the real magic,” Brenton joked. “If we ever make it back to Niev, we should take this technology with us.”
Elias bowed his head and shook it. “Brent.” Elias dug his fingers against his scalp.
Ignoring his friend, I asked, “But how did you grow it with all this snow? Do you have a greenhouse?”
“We don’t have much of a house just yet,” Elias said, sending me another half smile.
I put my hands on my hips. “How did you grow the food?”
“Forget it, Ted.” Donnie put an arm over my shoulders, and as he drew me closer, he waved his other hand toward the carts. “We appreciate all this, but we’ll figure something else out.”
“Guardians help me,” Elias hissed out as he rounded on Donnie, his towering body making me feel small although his heated gaze rested on my old friend.
Donnie stepped forward, pushing his chest out toward the fae who could destroy him. I touched Donnie’s arm, wantingto pull him behind me when I knew Elias would hurt him but not me.
Which was ridiculous. Right?
“How do you expect to survive without food? You are my responsibility.” He thumped an open palm against the large expanse of his chest.
