Page 324 of Bitten By the Fae
“Yes, but as your father said?—”
“My father is no longer the Source Architect. His opinion is his own. Mine, however, is law. I won’t be discussing this further. Feel free to provide that report at the meeting.” He resumed our pace, ignoring her protests at our back.
“You’re losing your mind over this childhood crush!” she shouted as he took another turn. “You’re supposed to break—” A wall formed behind us, blocking her from following.
I glanced at him.
His expression gave nothing away, but I sensed his irritation in the bond.
“What’s supposed to happen at the Blood Gala?” I asked as a portal panel appeared.
“Nothing is going to happen,” he said, punching in a code that I ignored. There was no point in trying. I knew his paradigm would never allow me access to this area without him. “I’ve already said it’ll be hard enough to attend in disguises. I won’t be adding more magic to the mix. There will be far too much power present to risk it.”
“Do they know we’re planning to attend?”
He lifted a shoulder. “It’s not for them to decide.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed as the walls melted around us to reveal miles of snow.
My lips chattered at the sudden drop in temperature.What…?
Zakkai yanked me into his arms, covering me in the warmth of his body as the portal engaged to whisk us away. But not before my hair turned brittle from the subzero climate.
I was still shivering when the magical swirls ceased around us.
I buried my face against Zakkai’s chest, seeking his heat, my body chilled to the literal bone.
“What did you do to her hair?” a familiar voice asked from behind me as fingers combed through my icy strands. “Did you accidentally drop her in the snow?”
“I miscalculated the shift from paradigm to reality before the portal engaged,” Zakkai murmured, his arms tight around me. “My spell didn’t cover her in time.”
“Hmm.” Shade stepped closer, his body providing another layer of warmth that I desperately craved.
More,I begged, still frozen and trembling from the shock of the cold.
He aligned his chest to my back as Zakkai dropped his hands to my hips, the two men doing their best to provide me with the heat I needed to function.
It was a shock to my system, my legs locked in some bizarre combination of terror and ice.
“Antarctica is cold, even during their summer,” Zakkai said, pressing his lips to my temple. “Sorry, Aflora. I’m not used to taking others with me.”
I couldn’t reply, my lips numb despite my chattering jaw.
Shade ran his palms up and down my arms, his mouth brushing the pulse of my neck. “It’ll pass in a few minutes, little rose,” he whispered.
“Maybe now you understand how I know that you won’t tell Zeph our location.” Zakkai lowered his forehead to mine. “He wouldn’t last more than a few minutes outside my walls.”
I wanted to nod but didn’t try.
Shade kissed my throat again before saying, “Aflora said you want to talk about the rock. Did you figure out who enchanted it?”
“No, because I haven’t seen it yet.”
Shade stilled behind me. “What? I put it on the table.”
“It wasn’t there when I dropped by.”
