Page 99 of Wings of Snow

I bared my teeth. “I just thank the gods that my family is safe. If Cailis was still able to be found?—”

Norivun silenced me with a kiss, then the feathery touch of his air affinity stroked down my back. “She’s not. Nobody in your family is at risk. For now, they’re safe. Come.” He peeled back the bedsheets. “Tomorrow will be a big day when we meet again with the Fire Wolf.”

* * *

The next day,I was a ball of jittery nerves when we stood in Whimseal’s midday market near the clock tower. Snow flew in the air as the wind raged. Despite the wintery weather, the market was busy as fae bustled about.

It was a well-known location in Isalee’s capital. There was only one clock tower, so Norivun had deemed it the best place to meet since he figured asking the Fire Wolf to arrive at a specific spot in the Isalee field would prove too difficult for a foreigner to find.

“Do you have the looking glass?” I asked my mate.

I knew Norivun hated looking glasses since they could document things around us. More than once, the king had used them to cast the crown prince in a bad light, but Norivun had made an exception to hisno looking glassrule today. We needed the council on our side, which meant they needed to see what was truly buried within the Isalee field. Only a looking glass could show that.

Norivun tapped his pocket. “I do.”

I eyed the time and began to tap my foot. “Do you think he’ll be late? He’s due here in three min?—”

No sooner had those worried words left my lips when the Fire Wolf materialized beside us. A tiny portal key was in his hand, but the second he fully appeared, the key obliterated into dust. In his other hand, he held an ax.

The massive black ax, along with the Fire Wolf’s foreign raven-dark hair, amber eyes, and huge build, made me take a step back. He was as intimidating today as he’d been the first day we’d met.

The crown prince crossed his arms as his guards fanned out around him. All of them eyed the ax, and given the heightened energy growing around the prince and his guards, if one of the prince’s illusion spells hadn’t been cloaking all seven of us, I had no doubt our presence would be causing quite a commotion.

“Relax,” the Fire Wolf said, the ax still pointed toward the ground. “This weapon isn’t for you.”

I arched an eyebrow as the prince’s aura dimmed slightly. “I should hope not,” Norivun replied.

“Trust me, if I’d wanted to kill you, you’d be dead already.”

Norivun glowered, which got a chuff out of the Fire Wolf. Ignoring the theatrics, I nodded toward the clock. “Right on time.”

The hunter shrugged. “Best not to be late when meeting with royalty.”

Norivun smirked, and a faint smile ghosted the Fire Wolf’s lips.

“Were you able to secure lava rock from the Isle of Malician in the underworld?” I asked.

The hunter pulled a piece of ebony rock from his pocket. It was so black that it seemed to suck the light surrounding it into itself, and I could have sworn that magic pulsed around it. “I was.”

My lips curved up in relief. “How did you obtain it?”

The Fire Wolf tucked it back into the pocket of his unusual pants. “Not important. What is important is that we have it.”

Norivun grunted. “Shall we?” He eyed the ax again as his mistphasing magic clouded around all of us. After a good night’s rest and consuming an entire tray of food this morning, the fatigue that had been lining his face the night prior was gone.

The hunter nodded. “Thought you’d never ask.”

In a flash of Norivun’s power, we arrived back in the Isalee field. Cold air immediately raged around us, the snow flying so violently that it cut into my skin.

I cast an air Shield around us, blocking the wind entirely. Norivun gave me a nod of thanks, then turned to the Fire Wolf. “Ready?”

The hunter set his ax in the snow, and I could have sworn that magic pounded around the black blade. The Fire Wolf then withdrew a yellow crystal from his pocket, along with a piece of parchment that held a copy of the spell I’d discovered in Sven’s personal library, the strange Latin words swirling across it. I studied the crystal. It looked identical to the crystals Norivun used when scrying.

I pointed at the Fire Wolf’s yellow gem. “Your crystal...is that from Harrivee’s floating meadows?”

The hunter canted his head, fingering the stone. “I have no idea. I inherited it when—” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Norivun held his palm out. “May I?”

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