Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar Book 2)

My heart was still slamming against my ribs as Morgant led me through the castle with its vaulted halls of stone and vines.

A slow, humiliating, and excruciating death…

Sconces jutted from the walls, made of something that looked like smooth bone. Their warm candlelight danced over Morgant’s white hair, his enormous frame, and the wood walls. If it came down to it…

If it came down to it, I would absolutely not be able to take him in a fight. Nor could I take down Torin, so I had exactly zero plans for tomorrow. And even if I could stab Torin, I didn’t want to.

At least we’d bought ourselves some time, I supposed. More time to find out if he’d found the Veiled One. More time to charm the queen, or whatever it took to get out of here alive.

Morgant’s boots echoed off the stone floor, and he turned to look back at me. “You are lucky our gracious queen didn’t rip your heart out. She is giving you the gift of a chance. And death by the sword is certainly preferable to anything else she might dream up.”

My mouth felt watery, like I was about to vomit. “Let’s find out how lucky I am tomorrow. Morgant, where is Torin?”

He bared his canines in a show of aggression, but I had the feeling his heart wasn’t really in it. “You must stop asking your questions. I’d advise you to leave well enough alone. The queen ordered you two to stay separate.” He cut me a sharp look. “Rest, so you can kill him tomorrow. You may be a traitor, but you were one of us once. And I want to watch you kill their broken king.”

My stomach twisted. I was skilled at fencing, yes. But Torin had spent his life training with the best swordsmen of Faerie, fending off challenges from petty kings and their sons for half his life. Slaughtering them to defend his throne. He probably had dozens of deaths at his hands.

At last, we reached an arched wooden door, and Morgant pushed it open. I breathed in the humid air, scented of basil, lemon, and mahogany. Blue wooden arches swooped over me, and steeply peaked mullioned windows were inset into the walls, overlooking the kingdom of stars and red leaves. Firelight on a stone hearth danced over a bed and a claret rug spread on the stone floor.

It was a million times nicer than the dungeon, except for the heavy pall of icy dread hanging over me.

Morgant stood in the doorway and folded his enormous arms. Shadows danced over his leather-clad body and long hair. “Where did you come from?”

Frustration simmered. “I thought you said Mab already knew.”

“She has not informed me yet.”

“Well, I have no idea. My family could have been glamoured in the human realm for hundreds of years, for all I know.” I dropped onto the bed and let out a long breath. “I honestly doubt I’ll get any sleep tonight.”

The fact that I was even talking to the queen’s torturer was a sign of my desperation.

His brow furrowed, and he pointed to a copper bathtub near the hearth. “There are herbs there to calm you before you sleep.”

“What can you tell me about the duel tomorrow?”

“If Her Highness wanted you to know any details, she would have told you. She always has a plan, and she does not make mistakes. All you can do is rest tonight and kill the king tomorrow.” Morgant pointed to a dark wood dresser. “Clothes in there. Your door will be heavily guarded. Do not try to leave.” He stepped closer and lifted my chin, his eyes piercing mine. “Do not try to see your Seelie dog, or you will both die. And then I get the pleasure of putting the cur out of his misery. It will be worse than death by a sword. You understand?”

A wintry shadow swept through my mind, and I imagined the vines around us snaking over him, dragging him away.

I swiped his hand away. “Don’t touch me again.”

The corner of his lip curled. “Maybe you do seem like one of us.

“Why do you hate Torin so much?”

A breeze rushed into the room, toying with his hair. “He sends assassins after us, using fae with the ability to move between worlds. Once, I woke to find a Seelie assassin in my room. I was able to kill him, but my brother was not so lucky. Torin had him slaughtered in his sleep.”

Oh. That explains the reception we’d received.

Morgant turned, and the door slammed closed behind him.

I sat in silence, my body buzzing with exhaustion and nerves. I still clung to one thread of hope: that Torin had learned something from that crone. If not, we would need to find a way to free ourselves. We’d turn our swords on the queen if necessary—break free or die trying. Or maybe there would be a loophole of some sort?

“Stab,” she’d said. “Skewer.” What if I skewered a pinkie? An earlobe? Fae were bound by oaths, weren’t they? She’d have to let one of us free if we skewered a little bit of skin. The freed person could summon help from Faerie.

After a few minutes, I poured myself a hot bath and slipped into it, breathing in the scent of basil and lavender. With the fire crackling next to me, my mind started to drift, my vision going hazy. For a moment, it almost looked like the vines were crawling over the stone, writhing like a living thing. My breath caught, and I sat up straight in the bath.

As I blinked, the vision slid away again.

I tightened my jaw. The stress was getting to me. I stepped out of the bath, water dripping off my naked body in little rivulets. The humid breeze swept into the room, raising goosebumps on my skin.

I snatched up a towel, leaving wet footprints on the flagstones as I crossed to the dresser. When I pulled open the drawers, I found neatly folded white nightgowns. I pulled one on and snuffed out the candles in the room.

As I crawled into bed, a shadow’s movement on the balcony caught my eye, and I sat up, clutching the sheets to my chest. A silhouette loomed outside my window. Within the next heartbeat, I recognized the athletic shape, the ice-blue eyes that pierced the shadows. He wore a shirt now, crisp and white.

Torin.

My pulse roared. Had he lost his mind? With his eyes on mine, he prowled into the room, a finger on his lips.

I flung off the covers and tiptoed closer to him, closing the distance between us until I could feel the heat radiating off him. He brushed my hair behind my ear, leaning down to whisper, “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, Ava, and I don’t know if it will be possible. But if we have a chance to escape, we must take it. We must use our swords to free ourselves.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “I don’t know how. For the first time in my life, I honestly have no idea what to do.”

My heart tightened. “So, I guess you didn’t see the Veiled One?”

He shook his head. “The castle seemed empty, as far as I could tell.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “What about a little stab? I have this feeling that she is very particular in how she chooses her words. She didn’t say we had to kill each other, did she? What about a little piercing, somewhere harmless? One of us could go free and get help.”

He nodded. “Good. Stab me, then.”

I shook my head. It made more sense for him to leave, I thought. He was the king. But we didn’t really have time to argue about it. “Did you hear what she said she was going to do if she caught you in here?”

He brushed his knuckles against my cheekbones. “I do hope to avoid that fate, changeling. But I had to see you.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to be without you any more than I have to.” Instead of leaving, he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. He kissed me lightly, but when I ran my hands over his white shirt, feeling the hard muscle beneath, his kiss deepened. I melted into the slow, bittersweet kiss. Right now, I wasn’t worrying about the duel or his kingdom, or thinking of anything else in the world except him and the feel of his tongue sweeping against mine, his hands sliding down my nightgown, pressing me close to him.

The rest of the world faded away, the Seelie and Unseelie, and it was just the two of us lighting each other up. It was dawn breaking from within.

I couldn’t get enough of him, and I wasn’t sure it would ever be enough.

A shout pierced the door, and his muscles tensed. My body froze, panic climbing up my spine.

“Torin,” I whispered through heavy breath, “you have to go. Now.”

He leaned in close, whispering, “In Faerie, I will freeze anyone that I love, Ava. I will kill anyone that I love. That’s what Queen Mab cursed me with. And that’s why you can’t come with me, my changeling.”

His words took the breath from my lungs, and as he stepped away, his mournful blue eyes gleamed in the dark. “Part of the curse meant I couldn’t tell a soul. Only Orla ever knew. I killed someone that I loved, Ava. I won’t ever let it happen again.”

He turned and slipped into the shadows, blending into the night.

I stood still, feeling my heart cracking. I hardly heard the sound of the lock sliding on the door, or the hinges creaking open.

By the time Morgant sauntered into the room, Torin had disappeared.

He frowned at me. “I felt your heart racing. You should go to sleep, Ava.”

But my heart still pounded like a hunted animal, and I wasn’t sure anything would help me sleep.