Page 100 of Burning Ice
Mirel let his eyes close. Kylix’s hand rested on his thigh, warm and grounding.
The cold inside him still murmured, like a faint echo from the hospital. He thought of the woman in the bed and the way the air had shifted when she breathed. It stayed with him, thin as mist.
He focused on Kylix’s touch, the quiet rhythm of the engine. Slowly, the frost inside him eased.
He let out a long breath. For the first time that day, the world felt steady.
The hospital lights slipped behind them, fading into the fog. Mirel leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The hum of the engine and the quiet weight of Kylix’s presence filled the air between them.
26
“How did it go?” Kylix asked when the door of the car closed behind Mirel.
His bonded looked troubled. His eyes had taken on their usual ember irises, and he smelled of rain and sterilized air, the rattle of the hospital still on his skin. Kylix couldn’t help but close the distance, palm finding Mirel’s.
Next to him, Mirel sighed at the comfortable thrum. He sagged back against the headrest. “Good.”
“Was she already waiting for you?”
“Yes.” Mirel’s lips curled as if the memory was brought back up. “She’s sweet. So innocent. I can’t believe how brutally Ludo treated her until she ended up in the hospital because of him.”
“That’s why you finished him,” Kylix said with a proud smile.
“I did. I hated him. Everything he stood for. As soon as I discovered Ludo Fandi was my father, I wanted him dead.”
Kylix’s nostrils flared. It had been a crazy few hours, and this was exactly the sort of distraction he needed. “Yeah? Tell me about that desire, baby.”
Mirel rolled his eyes, then lifted his fingers from his thigh. “Amano.”
It came out as a chime, adorable. Kylix kissed his pout away until Mirel gave in, soft lips melting against his. He was right though. Now was not the time, even if Kylix hated to acknowledge it. He clasped their hands together. “I don’t want you out on the streets anymore, Mirel.”
“Is it the cages? I’m sorry, I should have asked before. It’s just …” Mirel sighed, brushing his forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.” It came out as a growl. Kylix wanted to change all their plans. He wanted to take Mirel home, to their Waltr, make him his, over and over again under the stars. But that would have to wait.
The hum of the car deepened, a steady pulse beneath their silence. Mirel had gone quiet in a way that wasn’t tiredness. His gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the window, jaw set, fingers tracing the seam of his sleeve like he was replaying something. The hospital still clung to him. Kylix could smell the sterilized air, the cold electricity of it, the ghosts of machines that refused to die.
“You okay?” Kylix asked.
Mirel hesitated. “At the hospital … the frost showed me something again. An arrow. It led me to her.”
“To who?”
“To the Royal Consort, Norma Zephyranth. My entire life, she was a myth. Now I realize she was real. So beautiful.”
Kylix’s mouth curved faintly. “I’m glad. It means Milanov trusts you. Norma helped Cyprian find Helianth. Do you feel she’s reaching out to you now?”
Mirel looked uncertain. “I don’t know. I never understand what the frost means until it’s over. It’s changing lately. It forms shapes I don’t recognize. Once it showed me a hand.”
Kylix’s brows drew together. “A hand?”
“Pressed against the ice. Like it was trying to push through.” Mirel’s voice dropped. “Sometimes it’s just movement under thesurface, like something’s learning how to breathe. But I don’t know if it’s mine.”
Kylix studied him, eyes dark. “The frost remembers. Maybe it’s showing you what’s trapped inside it.”
“Then it remembers too much,” Mirel said softly.
“Or exactly enough,” Kylix replied, thumb tracing the edge of Mirel’s hand, a grounding spark of warmth against the cold.
