Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar Book 2)

Morning light slanted through the window over the kitchen, highlighting the steam curling out of two mugs.

Ava had found coffee beans in this house, which felt like a miracle. She now sat with her hands curled around a mug, staring into the fireplace. “I like it here.”

I had no desire to leave, either. Here, I could touch Ava like I wanted to. On the other hand, at any moment, we could be hunted down, shot with darts, beaten, and then executed. I’d be killed as an enemy of Unseelie, and she’d be slaughtered as a traitor to her own kind. It wasn’t exactly a perfect situation.

I sipped my coffee, and the caffeine was already lighting up my mind. My muscles tensed with eagerness to move, to get her to safety.

In my stolen clothes, I rose from the table. “We should get on the road.” I crossed to the hearth and poured a pitcher of water onto the flames, extinguishing them.

I turned to look at Ava, her hair lit up by pearly light from the window. With her eyes closed, she stretched her arms over her head in a lazy, feline movement.

My chest tightened.

Was I an idiot for climbing into bed with her last night? Obviously, I was. And yet, I don’t think it was a call I could have refused.

She looked at me, blinking. “Any idea where we find this Veiled One?”

I had only the vaguest memory of hearing about her. And truthfully, I didn’t even know if she was real. I only knew the legend: an immortal, eyeless crone living on a snowy, fire-licked mountain who foretold the future for the Unseelie.

Would she help us? Was she still on a mountain? And was she even real at all?

Fuck knew.

A sharp tendril of regret coiled through me. I should have tried to bring Ava back to Faerie. I should have done my best to open a portal when I still could.

I rubbed my eyes. “We need to look for a fire-licked mountain.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Do you mean a volcano? I think I saw it in the distance. East of here. When we get out of the forest, we’ll have a better view.”

“Ava, I can’t promise we will find her, or that we will get what we want from her even if we do.”

She shrugged. “I don’t have any better ideas.”

In the daylight, it hadn’t taken long to find our destination. From the waterfall, we’d spotted it in the distance, a dark, snowy mountain that overlooked a kingdom of stone and red leaves. From a distance, the mountain summit resembled a ruddy jewel resting atop the peak. Wisps of smoke rose into the dark sky, tinged with red light.

And as soon as I saw it, an ember of hope started burning in my mind. If I could get to this oracle, I could get Ava the fuck away from the Court of Sorrows.

Ava was seated astride the horse in front of me. She leaned back, and I breathed in her scent, the smell of the wild Unseelie forest and the air after a storm. I closed my eyes, savoring this moment. Because when I returned to Faerie, my changeling could not come with me.

We’d been riding for a full day. On the rocky path, the skies were darkening, violet streaked with pumpkin, and the dying rays of sunlight pierced the canopy of leaves above us.

The air smelled of smoke and ash, and the horse’s hooves crunched over black rocks on the path. “Ava,” I whispered, “how do you know if a volcano is going to erupt?”

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t.”

As the path became too rocky and steep—sleek black rock, covered in snow—we slipped off the horse. I let Ava walk ahead of me in case she fell in the dark, and we continued on foot.

Close to the top of the mountain, shadows gathered around us, and the air grew cool. Ash and snow covered the rocks and dark, bare boughs. Beneath the thin dusting of white, black lava scored the mountain.

“Are you worried about what’s happening in Faerie?” Ava asked as she hoisted herself up the rocks.

It was strange how little I’d been thinking about it. Before now, my entire life had one purpose: to look after my subjects and make my kingdom thrive. Here, in the heart of my enemy’s land, my thoughts were distinctly distracted.

The cooling air stung my cheeks. “I can’t imagine what’s happening, but I hope Orla declared herself regent and took the throne…” My voice trailed off. “But I never thought she was strong enough to sit on it. Perhaps she appointed someone else as regent in my absence.”

“You’d better hope it wasn’t Moria.” Breath misted around her.

My chest tightened. “If there is no queen on the throne, I’m afraid everyone will be dead by the time I return.”

As we neared the mountain’s peak, the trees grew smaller until only snow and ash remained. From here, on a narrow, icy path, I still didn’t quite have a view of the summit. But when I turned to look back down the mountain, the blood-red forest spread out far below us.

Ava steadied herself on a rocky wall to our left, and we followed the curving trail that swept up to the peak.

When we reached the summit, red-tinged wisps coiled above us, and an orange glow warmed the air from the crater. Sprays of molten lava rose from the volcano’s depths, shooting into the air.

But my gaze was on the impossible, gravity-defying structure above us, a narrow castle that sat atop a craggy column of black rock. Like a strange flower on a stem of stone, the fortress was bathed with red from the fires below. Rickety ropes made of vines led up to the castle’s entrance. A cold wind whipped over us.

“This is amazing,” Ava whispered, staring up at it.

I exhaled slowly as hope burned brighter in my chest. If anything around here was the home of a weird old mountain hag, this bizarre castle must be it.

And right now, this was our one and only chance to escape and return Ava to the mortal realm, where she belonged.

Everything hinged on what happened next.

“Ava,” I said quietly, “let me go in first.”

She turned to me, a puff of breath escaping her mouth. “Fine. I’ll be the lookout.”

I hoisted myself up the vines. The icy wind whipped over me, making the snow whirl around me in vortices. My heart raced with anticipation. A few thorns stabbed my fingers, and I kept my eye on the dark entry above. At last, I reached the door and hoisted myself up. Moonlight pierced narrow open windows, and ash dusted the floor inside.

Lanterns jutted from the all, made from fae skulls with unlit candles inside. Lightning flashed, illuminating the walls, a bas-relief carving of a veiled woman with antlers, her body surrounded by gnarled, leafy designs. A chill rippled over me. At least I knew I was in the right place.

My gaze slid over the Unseelie words carved into the walls, over and over. The same words, and for a moment, I thought I understood the foreign language. From somewhere deep in the recesses of my soul, the words rang out.

I burn.

My breath caught, and I turned away from them, unnerved by whatever magic danced all over this place. I only needed the lady of the castle to appear.

A well stood in the center of the hall. How could she have a well in this place? I peered over the edge and saw a void that made the hair rise on the back of my neck.

Outside, the mournful sound of an owl pierced the air. I crossed to a stairwell, sniffing the air. It smelled of dogs in here. Wolves, maybe.

“Torin!” Ava’s voice made my heart slam, and I raced back to the door.

When I peered out, I found her trying to climb the vines. An arrow shaft jutted from her back. My blood turned to ice as Morgant swooped up behind her, his black wings pounding the night air.

Sword in hand, I leapt from the entrance. When I landed on the rock, pain shot up my legs, but it hardly registered. I was too late. Morgant had pulled Ava away and was carrying her into the air.

As I raced down the rocky path, Unseelie surrounded me, armed with swords and bows. My heart beat like a war drum.

I forced my thoughts to go quiet, like a blanketing of snow.

An Unseelie demon with long black hair and fangs stood at the front, gripping the hilt of his sword. “Where did you think you were going?” he asked. “No one enters or leaves except by the pleasure of the queen, and you, Seelie dog, will be strung up before the castle gates and eviscerated at her pleasure.”

I gripped the Sword of Whispers, focusing on the dark-haired fae. I didn’t have time for panic, and I didn’t have the luxury of making a single mistake. I was vastly outnumbered. At least I’d trained for this.

An Unseelie with long white hair and antlers aimed an arrow at me. “Drop your sword.”

A third stepped forward. “If you make this easy, we might make your death quick.”

I clenched my teeth. That promise didn’t sound particularly likely.

The white-haired archer shot an arrow that glinted in the moonlight as it soared for me. Time seemed to slow, and I blocked it with my blade. The dark-haired one screamed and ran for me with his sword raised, but his battle cry had given me the opportunity to ready myself for his attack. I slashed left, blocking his attack, then carved back again toward the right, slicing through his gut. The Sword of Whispers sang to me as blood spilled on the black lava.

You are death. The final rattle. You are the cold, silent shadows at the end.

The white-haired soldier arced his blade, swinging for my stomach. In one swoop, the Sword of Whispers carved through his weapon. A soldier slashed at me from above, and I drove my blade into his groin, crippling him. I whirled, spinning my sword to adjust my grip, and dodged out of the way of a battle ax. When I righted myself again, I cut my blade through the man’s throat. He dropped to the ground, and his ax clanged on the rock.

I pivoted, bringing the Sword of Whispers down through a man’s shoulder, the blade carving him in half.

I was trying to keep an eye out for the archer as I fought, but he’d slipped into the shadows. I’d always thought of archers as cowards, attacking from afar.

I whirled, driving my blade through the neck of my next attacker, then shifted to slice it through the chest of a demon with antlers.

As I readied my sword for another attack, excruciating pain slammed into me from behind. An arrowhead plunged into my flesh next to my lower spine, and I fell to my knees.

My blood roared in my ears as I tried to keep my grip on the sword. Another arrow pierced my shoulder blade, and I fell forward onto my hands. Blood spilled into my mouth. I clutched my sword as tightly as I could, but lost my grip on the hilt.