Page 2 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I was entombed…with no magic to help dig myself out.
Desperation finally clawed at me, even as I tried to access the well of power inside of me again and again. Shivers wracked my body as the realization speared through the fog caging my mind.
Lungs gasped frantically for air, trying to ground me against this terrifying reality.
Heartbeat muffled in my ear.
Stale breath ricocheted off the velvet lid, consuming the barest air I still had.
Why wasn’t my power working?
Something…something had happened.
My thoughts were sluggish, as if someone had sunk them into the deepest trench in the Marea Luminara sea.
I remembered standing at the altar, scowling at Fabrian, the groom, and heart weeping for Evie, my cousin, but not much else.
Arrows…there had been so many arrows.
I shook my head, digging for some sense in the flashes of memories.
The maze.
Sparking blue eyes.
Tears mixed in with blood.
The harder I tried to hold onto the memories, the faster they rushed away from me.
I barely caught whispers of people screaming, running for their lives.
I’d run, too. Then I’d screamed and fell to my knees. A ghost had been there. Which was ridiculous, because ghosts couldn’t pick you up and carry you.
But someone had carried me.
Someone strong.
Someone fast.
I loosed a shaky breath, placing my trembling palms on top of my quickly rising chest. I was on the verge of hyperventilating and losing my grip on reality.
“Stop it,” I hissed. “You’re embarrassing your entire Clan.”
I would have gulped up all the precious air I had if I kept this up.
I had to survive, not suffocate.
With no powers to help, the task became monstrous.
My bow had built strength in my arms.
The training had made me agile.
It had to be enough to dig myself out of here.
The situation was dire. I just needed to find outhowdire.
I flexed my feet, trying to find the end of my metal cage, but all I could discover was that it had been made for someone much taller than me. I also only had one shoe dangling from my ankle–and not the one which had a knife hidden in the heel.
