Page 68 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
“Pretending you don’t want to gut me where I stand.” That damn smirk of his was back with a vengeance, sharp and fittingtoo well on his face. “That must have taken a considerable effort.”
“Honestly, my cheeks still hurt from smiling.”
I opened my mouth and flexed my jaw, my face still half-frozen from the roof. Then my gaze slashed his way. My words and my stare were my biggest weapons at the moment.
The only ones.
A shiver raced down my spine as I watched him cross his hands in front of his chest. One flick of his fingers could freeze me where I stood.
“Don’t do that again,” I said, voice steady leaving no room for argument.
He raised one of his thick brows at me. “What, pointing out the truth?”
I stood tall and proud, even with this heavy fur-trimmed coat that weighed down my shoulders and barely grazed my knees. I had to tense my muscles to keep from shivering, even more acutely aware I was barefoot.
“Freezing me.”
The Commander’s eyes sparked again, but the blue was much darker this time. Something similar to regret passed his gaze as it raced the distance between us, stopping at my ankles.
“That’s why you’re standing so far,” he muttered.
I hadn’t moved an inch away from the door and was not planning to. “What, you expect me to hug you?”
Suddenly, his eyes jumped to mine, halting other sharp words from tumbling past my lips. I didn’t know what magic they held, but they sought too much and gave too little away.
“Unless you attack anyone in my city or Clan, unprovoked, I won’t,” he said and I detected no lie. “Promise.”
It was my turn to raise my brows. He didn’t just ask for politeness, he also gave it? Weren’t big, bad Blood Brotherhood brutes supposed to be hypocritical?
My shoulders relaxed more than I’d expected. I still didn’t move away from the exit.
Magic or not, this man was dangerous and I was inhisbleeding territory.
He had the upper hand and we both knew it. For now, at least.
“You can’t use your Protectorate powers on me, either,” he said.
Almost as an afterthought.
As if he didn’t fearmymagic–maybe because he knew I didn’t have a lick of it at the moment, a reality I still didn’t know how to face.
It was easy to grant that, since I was truly powerless at the moment–and didn’t plan on sticking around this frozen wasteland for too long. “Done.”
I could always use a bow if I needed to protect myself. A dagger, if I was truly pressed to defend myself.
“And I have another request,” I said.
Another raised eyebrow and watching me as attentively like that damn raven was his only reply.
“It’s a big one,” I went on, the words heavier on my tongue.
Because it would reveal just how desperate I was for information.
Realinformation.
The Commander kept watching me.
Waiting.
