Page 63 of A Sword of Ice
Ice cracked with every flex of his muscles. Behind her, his nostrils flared wildly and, pressed intimately to the space at her back, she could feel the savage thudding of his heart.
Her fingers scratched and her mind tried to push away his pleas. Her magic was angry, looking for retaliation. And Julius was taking the brunt of it, breaking it away, even as he grew angrier and angrier. But he didn’t crush her beneath his grip. He fought away the rage that consumed him.
“Iona,” he growled. “Listen to my voice. Listen to my heart.”
He was an anchor holding a rocking boat in place and that sound steadily broke through the haze of her panic. Her fingers dug into his skin, moving instinctively, rapidly clawing through the spider web pattern of her old ceiling. His heart bounced to the rhythm of her finger strokes, pulling her out of that headspace, bringing her back into the moment.
He must have felt when her body calmed because he loosened his hold, and she slumped in his arms and began to sob.
* * *
Julius heldhis mate in his arms as she cried. His arms were the only things holding her upright so she wouldn’t crumple to the ground in her agony.
They may not have officially mated, but he could still feel her pain like it was his own, and that in and of itself was akin to dying. The ache spread through his chest, made him anxious. His instincts roared, like a vicious monster trying to break through his body. Both from feeling her and from the aftermath of using his own magic. He wanted to protect her. Needed to do it with every fiber of his being.
And protecting that bear was like protecting her in a way.
He knew what she was feeling. Wanting to rush and smash the humans’ skulls down to their toes wasn’t something reserved for Iona alone.
He wanted them to pay too.
“We have to be smart about this,” he whispered, pulling her back up and turning her to face him.
Frost glittered against her dark cheeks like diamonds, tears she’d frozen in place. He reached a hand up to brush them aside, the cold catching against his dull nails.
She sucked in a breath, her eyes meeting his. They were dark with the barest hint of frost against the black orbs. Like snow was glittering just beneath the surface.
“We need a plan to get him out alive. Do you understand?”
Almost numbly, she nodded.
“Iona.” His voice came out gruff, snapping her out of it. Not out of impatience, but because he needed her to focus, not travel to whatever far away part her mind tried to take her to.
Her gaze focused on him. “I’m here,” she whispered.
He searched her eyes, making sure it was true, before he continued. He cupped her face between his big palms. His thumbs traced a line against her cheekbones, and he heard her suck in a breath.
“We’ll get him back, Iona. Wewill.”
“Promise me you will do whatever it takes.”
Of all the promises Julius could ever make, this would be the easiest of his life, and the one he would fight the most to keep.
“Yes.” He bent and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, a surprisingly tender gesture for him, and he whispered against her skin. “And we’ll kill anyone who gets in our way.”
31
Tombs of Ice
They met the others back near the cliffs to come up with a plan. Julius fabricated it and Iona listened, trusting him enough to plot out the rescue of her familiar. Under any other circumstances, she never would have confided in anyone else with it.
She could trust Julius.
It was insane that she felt that when they’d only just met, but the dangerous promise he’d whispered in her ear before still echoed in her ears.
We’ll kill anyone who gets in our way.
It’s what she’d desperately needed to hear. And it felt nice knowing that someone would put as much value on her familiar’s life as she did.
