Have you read Snow Shifters Part One - The Forest?
***
“What the hell were you thinking!” she shouted.
He watched the fire-wreathed hand fly through the air toward him. Icy fear clenched his stomach, but he didn’t move. He knew he deserved it. The impact whipped his head to the side, cheek burning, the metallic taste of blood on his tongue.
“How dare you jeopardise EVERYTHING.” She stormed over to the window and threw it open. Cold wind blasted into the warm room, making the huge fire on the opposite wall flicker. He watched the small figure lean out over the snowy windowsill, head low. After a long moment she leant back, closed the window, and turned back to him. Her hands were curled into fists either side of her gold dress, her bare toes curling in the soft rug. Her tanned skin was flushed with fury and her long golden hair was tangled and whipped from the wind. Her yellow eyes churned with fury.
“I’m sorry Vuur,” he said quietly, fiddling with the yellow-stone ring on his pinkie.
Her noes crinkled, lips pulling back in a snarl revealing long canines. “Since you almost fucked everything up, you’d better fix this, cousin.” She spat the last word at him as she stalked forward. It took everything in him to not shrink away. “Luckily for you, I already know how you can make this up to me.”
His stomach dipped.
“Bol has given the Iza Ring to his wife. I seem to remember the countess is particularly fond of you.” Her lips curled into a cruel smile at his obvious distress. “Get it. And don’t you dare fuck this up.”
He supressed a shudder, instead nodding silently, not daring to drop her burning gaze.
She took a deep breath, blowing a strand of golden hair out of her face. Her expression softened. “How is she?”
He relaxed at her soft tone. Hunching, he rubbed his stinging eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s awful V,” he said into his hand.
The scent of embers and hot chocolate filled his nose. A warm hand grabbed his forearm. He lowered his hand to find her warm eyes searching his. He folded her into a hug, squeezing tight. She squeezed him back, the icy fear fleeing as warmth seeped from her.
“Take me to her,” she said, pulling back to look up at him.
She followed him silently down the hallway, his shoes clicking on the stone floor. He stood back, allowing her to precede him into the huge black and violet bedroom. A tiny figure was folded into the huge four-poster bed, black hair spread over the pillow. Vuur glided over to the bedside.
He watched her sit on the edge of the bed, the black-haired figure remained still. Leaning against the closed door, he pressed his hands to his eyes. He tried to push away the image of her covered in blood, tried to push away the fear threatening to overwhelm him. He’d healed her as best he could, but it wasn’t good enough. Hopefully Vuur could do more to heal her. He’d almost lost her. He could still-
Embers and hot chocolate filled the air. He blinked. Vuur was standing before him.
“You’ve sent for the priestess?”
He nodded.
“And hot chocolate?”
He nodded again.
“I have done all I can for her.”
He pressed his lips together, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Fire flashed in her eyes. “Now, I better clean up this mess.” With a final pat on his green-sleeved arm, she disappeared through the door behind him. When her footsteps had receded, he brought his hand to his cheek. He hissed at the sting. His fingers came away dabbed in blood. He went over to the mirror. Four claw marks leaked blood down his cheek, surrounded by a blistering burn. The short blonde hair near his ear was singed. Shit. He closed his yellow eyes. He was lucky to get away with a slap and a shitty job for what he’d done. He’d been insanely stupid to jeopardise everything, but he’d never felt fear like that in his life.
“Iys?”
He spun around. The small figure in the bed shifted.
“Elsa,” he breathed, rushing to her bedside. Warm relief rushed through him as her violet eye found him. Lavender filled his nostrils.
“What happened?” she asked, gingerly feeling the thick white bandage across her other eye.
Warmth was quickly replaced by ice. He forced himself not to sit on the edge of her bed, not to grab her hand, not to crawl over the bed and wrap his arms around her and never let her go. He cleared his throat. “You’ve… you were badly injured. The priestess is on her way.”
She scowled at him. “I remember how the job went. What’s the damage?” She gestured to the bandage.
He forced the images out of his head. “Deep gash from mid left forehead to jaw line. Twenty-four stitches. I… I couldn’t save your eye.”
Silver lined her eye as she pressed her lips into a hard line.
His hand twitched, begging to reach out and stroke her cheek. He dropped his gaze before he lost control of his body. “Is there anything I can get you?”
There was a small sniff. “No, thank you.”
He watched her delicate fingers clutch soft blanket. “Right. Well, then, I’ll- I’ll leave you to rest.” With a quick half bow he headed to the door.
“Iys!”
He stopped, pausing for a beat before turning back to her.
Her eye held his for a moment before flicking to his burnt and scratched cheek. “You shouldn’t have come for me.”
His stomach dropped. “I-“
“Don’t,” she cut him off.
Swallowing, he watched her fiddling with the duvet.
“I can do this,” she whispered.
“I know.”
Her painfilled eye met his. “Then let me.”
***
She prowled back and forth between the end of the long table and the ornate fur cloak encased in glass. Long shafts of pale sun slanted through the shadowy meeting room at regular intervals, a flurry of snow swirled outside the high arched windows, the carved stone pillars between them hidden in shadow. The room was silent, her bare feet making no sound as they padded over the cold stone floor.
Her long coat fluttered around her legs, her long blonde hair hung loose down her back. Despite the snow, the fire in her veins warmed her. It warmed her a little too well. That always became a problem when things were bad. And things were bad. Really bad.
Not only had Iys done some serious damage to her already teetering relationship with Earl Bol, but they’d also failed to steal the Dragur Staff and Iza Ring back, so it had all been for nothing anyway. Fiery anger and icy guilt churned her stomach as she thought about how she was making Iys retrieve the ring from Countess Morka. He was their best shot at getting it though, and if he hadn’t been such an idiot he wouldn’t be in this position. She wouldn’t have to had made the call. They wouldn’t be in this position. She wouldn’t be bloody pacing. She never paced!
Sighing, she clasped her hands behind her back as she stopped in front of the cloak. The heavily white fur sat on a simple golden frame. The fur ran down the edges of the cloak and swept around the hem in a huge circle train, fanning out on the floor of the glass case. The rest of the cloak was made of intricate overlapping pieces of pearlescent black fabric which made it look like the cloak was covered in scales. Vuur had only touched the cloak once, many years ago, but she’d never forgotten how it felt to hold. Heavy and light, tough and soft. The Cloak of the Dreki, just one of the many responsibilities she inherited alongside her title.
She started pacing again, mentally ticking items off her list. She had the Cloak and Iys had their ring. The Priestess had eyes on the Spoon and another ring. The others had the Sword and now the Staff. Her nose crinkled in frustration. They also had two rings, but not for much longer. The Crown was accounted for, but not in her possession, instead on display in one of the mortal’s museums. That still left the Orb, Spurs, and three rings missing. Not to mention the missing princess.
She sighed at the mammoth task in front of her, but she had to keep going. She’d promised on her mother’s deathbed that she’d continue her work. Icy sadness pierced her heart as her mother’s smiling face crossed her mind. She would do it. She believed in her mother’s vision. She believed in the princess. But damn, she could have been left with more information to work with.
Stilling, she cocked her head to one side. The faint click of claws on the cold stone floor reached her from the far end of the room. The shadow of a leopard slid across the shafts of pale sunlight toward her, transforming into a person with each window it passed. They stopped by the corner of the table, silhouetted against the snowstorm.
“They’re in the Frozen Valley.”
A bolt of fiery hope shot through her. “You’re sure?” she asked quietly.
The shadow nodded. “I came as soon as their identity was confirmed.”
Vuur hummed. “After all these years, they’ve finally returned. Why now?” She turned back to the cloak. The shadow remained silent. “How many leopards do you have in the area?”
“Half a dozen.”
She nodded to herself, eyes unfocused on the cloak. “That should be sufficient for now. Keep an eye on their movements, report to me straight away if anything changes.” She flicked her hand in dismissal as she started pacing again. The shadow slipped back to the other end of the room, melting into the shadows.
Excitement rolled through her. If they were back, there was a chance the Orb and even another ring would be nearby. She briefly considered tasking the half dozen spies with watching for any sign of the objects, or even launch a full recon mission, but quickly dismissed the idea. She had to be careful with who she shared the information with, and while she trusted those loyal to her, the fall out of the information getting out was far too great. If anyone figured out what she was up to there’d be all out war. Her mother had worked too hard for too long to keep their plans under wraps.
Maybe she could send the Shadows? Could they be trusted with that kind of information? She chewed her lower lip. They may not know enough to piece together what she was planning. They hadn’t realised the significance of the Staff and Ring, and she was certain they were only motivated by coin, which, with the ridiculous fortune she inherited was no issue.
No, she couldn’t risk it. She’d have to be patient. She sighed again. That definitely wasn’t one of her strong suits.
***
Read Snow Shifters Part Three - The Fireplace out 29 June!