The Snow Queen (Not Quite the Fairy #4) Read online

  Enough, she admonished herself. She couldn’t afford to be engrossed by handsome mortals.

  “I'll be fine,” she told him in Truth; like every creature alive, he understood the language. No one had to learn it to comprehend it.

  “Alright, then. Just be cautious.”

  Eira’s eyes followed the elf as he walked away. When she caught him turning back towards her, she gave him a faint smile, wondering whether he’d be alive the next time she awoke.

  Probably not.

  It wasn’t the first time Kai wondered if he should get it over with and fuck the girl, already. She certainly was asking for it.

  When he’d returned from the woods, she’d been in his cabin, lying down on his bed, pretending to have been concerned about him; then, apparently, she’d fallen asleep while waiting for him.

  He’d gotten rid of her before turning in for an early night.

  He knew he’d have to take her, eventually. Gerda was the strongest, and perhaps the fairest female in his clan. She also happened to be the only one who was old enough for him; there was something disturbing about envisaging the idea of bedding someone who, a few years back, had worn nappies, when he’d already been an adult with responsibilities.

  Gerda had grown up with him. She knew him, she’d even seen glimpses of the darkness he held within, and yet, she wanted him.

  This particular fact, which should have appealed to him, disgusted him. He knew why she could overlook the flaws in his character; she sought to become the leader’s companion, nothing more.

  “She isn’t that bad, Kai.”

  He turned to old Fyn, the closest thing he’d ever had to a mother, and lifted one eyebrow.

  “Let’s rephrase that. Regardless of how you might feel about her, you need an heir. Take any girl, every girl if you must.”

  He chuckled, as per usual refreshed by her sincerity.

  “Maybe I’m not into any girl here,” he said, his mind unconsciously returning to the strange, annoyingly unprepared human he’d met in the wood.

  If it had been her and not Gerda spread out on his bed, he might have had an heir on the way by now.

  That idea was disturbing, to say the least.

  Kai was a responsible sort of guy; he didn’t fuck around with his subjects – because he knew none of them appealed to him past the physical attraction. That meant his intercourses were limited to humans, during his trips into town, when he got supplies.

  He was hardly celibate; the humans loved what he looked like, and he definitely liked the way they bounced on his lap, but he’d never, ever considered breeding with one of them, before.

  There were too few elves left alive to think of it.

  Yet here he was, definitely considering it.

  What did it matter if the child he bore was half human? The elven genes were dominants anyway; there would be no difference whatsoever. He could have taken her, filling her with his seed and kept her bound to his bed until her belly was swelling with his child.

  You’re supposed to be an elf, Kai, he told himself. Not a Wilderling. Enough with the bondage thing.

  He shifted to hide his growing erection.

  He didn’t know what, but there was something about that girl.

  Chapter Four

  To say that Eira was not pleased would be a slight understatement: she was seething.

  Three days. She’d been in her home for three days.

  There she was, within the cold walls, alone and bored out of her wits, reading a book on metaphysics that should have sent her into eversleep faster than Morpheus could, and she was fully awake.

  Well, she’d slept, but for five hours per day, max. It had been an age since she’d felt as conscious, as involved in the material world around her.

  Dammit. She was so blaming Bear for that predicament.

  “Not you again!” she swore under her breath.

  The biting frost around her home was stronger than ever, yet each time she looked out the window, there he was; the humongous white bear apparently had stalking tendencies.

  With a resounding sigh, she dropped her guard and, right away, Bear charged in, unaware that he was the very first creature who’d set foot in her domain since the dark ages.

  He hurried through the deserted town square until he’d reached the steps of her home; then, the clever creature started to wail in agony. He could have given Belle a lesson in guilt trip.

  She resisted for almost an hour, but the cries just didn’t stop, so Eira jumped down.

  Bear immediately pushed his nose on her chest, until she gave in and scratched his ear. Shit. The stupid creature had imprinted itself to her.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised; the water might have saved his life, and bears had always had a thing about honor, protection and bla-bla.

  But damn if that wasn’t inconvenient. There was no way he was leaving her alone, now.

  “Ok, Ok, I get it. Let’s go for a run, then.”

  Trying to bore herself to death wasn’t working, so she might as well go out.

  Eira climbed on the bear’s back, relishing in his warmth under her finger. She could feel the damn smile plastered on her face.

  It had been a while.

  The animal launched forward like a cannonball, running at high speed between the trees, and she was laughing like a silly youngling.

  Those who’d judge her for it obviously hadn’t tried riding a bear.

  She knew her playful frame of mind was dangerous; she felt the ice around her melt away as she let it all go above her head for a few precious moments.

  When they finally stopped, Eira looked around her and chuckled. The scenery might have changed just a little bit.

  Oh, well.

  Kai and Gerda had been gathering clean ice to melt for over two hours, loading it on a sleigh which was almost full, now.

  They were pushing the last block when they got drenched.

  The ever unchanging frozen river where they’d worked suddenly burst to life, and water poured down.

  His body moved quicker than his mind: he pushed Gerda aside and managed to move out of the way just as a torrential jet floated down, heading towards the village.

  Kai wasn't pressingly concerned; they hadn't built it – it would have been completely useless, as every source of water had been solid since before they'd moved here – but there was a dam between the jet and their village.

  Gerda was laughing in delighted, incredulous and joyful about the outcome, as was her shortsighted nature: Kai was made of different stuff.

  His eyes went up, narrowing; incredible, life changing things like that didn't just happen out of nowhere – not to them.

  “Come on, Kai!” Gerda beckoned, jumping on the sleigh. “Let’s go tell everyone.”

  He shook his head. For one, he wasn’t about to sit on a sleigh directed by Bae, Gerda’s idiotic reindeer; but regardless, he wasn’t returning to the village right now.

  “You go. Get Fyn to test it, and wait for my return before anyone drinks it. I'm going to see what happened.”

  Kai climbed up, although the constant storm got worse and worse with each step.

  They'd established their village as far as anyone could go without freezing to death; a mile up, survival was impossible without the best equipment.

  Well, for a human, in any case, which was exactly why this place was perfect for them. They tolerated the cold better, and when threatened, they only needed to run up to find shelter.

  That village down there was the relic of his people; less than four hundred folks, most of them old. Every decade, they lost an ancient to time and a child to their enemies, at best; but they were hanging on.

  Which was why he wasn't taking chances; desperate as they were for drinkable water, he wasn't allowing anyone to touch it until he knew what had caused it to erupt – and whether it had been tampered with.

  It took a while for Kai to realize he’d stepped into a territory he’d never seen before. The wards generall
y pushed him away a good five miles down, but he hadn’t felt the powerful, gut-clenching need to turn back.

  That was worrying. Did it mean the mountain wasn’t as safe as it had been?

  A sound interrupted his reflection; the laughter seemed to resonate around him, echoing in the forest.

  Kai turned around, his frown deepening. What the hell.

  It wasn’t snowing right now.

  It was always snowing in the mountains; but in the last few minutes, the storm had stopped, the misty frost had lifted. He could actually see around him.

  Harsh, uncaring, dangerous as the world he lived in was, he couldn’t deny how breathtaking it looked today, with the sun beaming through the powdered trees.

  It was too perfect; there even were damn birds singing. These lands had never harbored birds; he would know. He and the other hunters went after everything his people could eat; the rest of what they needed, they had to get from human towns.

  Following the songs of the birds as quietly as he could, Kai eventually arrived exactly where he needed to be.

  There was the answer to his questions: between the mountain where his village was settled, and a higher, more imposing peak, dominating the entire chain, there was a large tarn, and water flowed freely, heading down.

  Kai was torn between thanking his fortune and wondering why it had happened now, after ten years of struggle. He was no meteorologist, but there had been no dramatic change of climate, as far as he knew.

  Eventually, convincing himself that it didn’t matter, he drew an arrow from his back, and shot one of the deer around the pool, first – then, before they could fly away, a couple of pheasants, and something that looked like a duck.

  Fuck. He’d never brought back that much food in one go, after less than an hour of hunting.

  Needless to say, the duck would be his. He was generous and all, but there would be no sharing that roast.

  Things were definitely looking up; they might not need help after all.

  Unless you already received some, a little voice whispered, killing his mood before he’d had the time to feel a slither of contentment.

  Truth was, the changes were just too abrupt, too perfect, and that generally meant there was magic involved.

  And magic always came with a price.

  Sobered up, Kai went to recover the dead animals, tied the deer’s hoof to drag him down with ease, and went on his way.

  Kai was too polite to curse out loud, but a volley of insults did cross his mind when he bumped into her. Again.

  The woman was wearing his blue and silver coat; it fell to her knees, fitting her quite well, now she’d tailored it to her size. Otherwise, she hadn’t wised up: her cute boots and thin trousers were still pretty damn out of place.

  “What size are you?” he grunted.

  She’d get herself killed, or she’d damage some of her limbs if she insisted in parading around here in that stupid get-up.

  One thing sure was certain: he didn’t want her to bring any harm to those long, lean, delightful legs.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Shoes, trousers. What bloody size are you?”

  After a long pause where she stared at him, visibly wondering if he’d lost his mind, she blurted out: “Six. Shoes and clothes; in Jereenan size, anyway.”

  Of course, she was Jereenan. He rolled his eyes.

  Every one of the crazy sport jocks and extreme explorers out there came from that kingdom.

  “I’m sure we can find something. Come down. I’ll get you some clothes.”

  He pushed past her, excepting her to follow; people generally obeyed his orders. But he didn’t hear any footstep behind him, so after a few seconds, he turned.

  And the girl was gone.

  Chapter Five

  There were a few options.

  The girl could have been a figment of his imagination; he considered that carefully, but dismissed it.

  If he’d imagined a girl who looked like her, she would have been naked, and on her knees.

  Then, she might be an astral projection. Something close to daydreaming, but more real – she could be out there, somewhere, but linked to him through daydreams.

  That wasn’t unheard of; but he ruled that alternative out, too. He really was missing his coat. That meant she was real.

  That also meant that she was no human girl.

  He hadn’t pegged her as a fay, and certainly not as a Wilderling; but what else was out there?

  Witches? He’d heard of them, but there weren’t many proofs, past whispers and myths. That didn’t mean much, though: most people knew nothing of elves.

  So, for the sake of the argument, he agreed that she might be some kind of witch; and a benevolent one at that, if the way the land had turned into a wonderland since her arrival was any indication.

  Kai didn’t believe in coincidence; now he thought of the timing, he was certain the girl had something to do with the water, the birds – everything.

  Well, wonderland was an exaggeration: the mountain was still pretty damn cold, and while there was more fauna now, food wasn’t exactly abundant either.

  “Something is troubling you, boy,” Fyn said, sitting next to him, her wise eyes fixed on the fire around which they’d roasted the deer.

  Anyone else, he could have shrugged off, but not her; the old lady would bug him until he talked.

  “There’s… a woman.”

  “Ah!” she smiled, delighted. “Perfect. Who is she? Is she fertile?”

  He rolled his eyes, ignoring the second question.

  “I don’t have her name. She’s rather mysterious. Quick to disappear… Fyn, she’s out there somewhere. In the mountains. Things have changed since she’s appeared.”

  Fyn turned to him, looking deep into his eyes, making him feel like a child.

  Then, she chuckled.

  “Well, you’ve always been ambitious,” she muttered, so low he wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear that. Then, she got up, patting his back. “If there’s a woman living in this mess, she might need your help.”

  Kai doubted it; while he didn’t say it out loud, Fyn shook her head, before telling him:

  “Kailan Eldorian, the land is merciless around here, as you well know. Whoever she is, this is no place for a lady to be by herself, that’s for damn sure.”

  The first couple of nights, she returned home, but this time, she’d fallen asleep in a shallow cave, curled up against Bear, sharing his warmth; it was supposed to be a short nap before heading back, however, it was morning when she woke. No surprise: it had been a thousand times more agreeable than any sleep she’d had on the hard bed of ice, in her frozen palace.

  A noise woke her up; a rhythmic tap, too loud and obnoxious to be a woodpecker.

  She opened her eyes and frowned.

  What the hell.

  No wonder the cave had been so comfortable; a fire was dying out next to her, and there was a thick fabric blocking the entrance, keeping the cold out.

  Eira pushed past it, and her jaw hit the floor.

  The unapproachable, expressionless elf she’d met a couple of times was outside, his coat tied to his waist, his jumper discarded; he was half naked, axe in hand, splitting logs of wood.

  She told herself she was unable to talk because this vision didn’t actually make a bit of sense, but to be entirely truthful, her state of speechlessness was majorly due to the fact that oh, all heavens and hells, he was a delectable sight.

  The term ripped had probably been invented to convey exactly what her eyes were roaming over right now. He was as tall as Belle’s husband, and perhaps not as large, but every bits of his exposed flesh had definition. The beads of sweat running on his skin made it glisten in the sunlight.

  Eira personally knew Narcis, Apollo, Adonis and they had nothing – nothing! – on that guy.

  She might have whimpered, or made some equally embarrassing sound, because the elf turned her way.

  Shit. The face really did match the rest
of the picture; she’d thought he’d been quite pleasing to look at, before, but well, now she saw the whole package, he took it to a whole new level.

  He wore his hair long, like Aiden Archer, but his wasn’t trimmed or tied; it did what it wanted to around his face, making him look like some kind of barbarian.

  “What are you doing here?” she frowned, hoping to sound forbidding.

  It came out as a breathless plea. Shit.

  Aphrodite. Aphrodite had to have something to do with this mess. She turned around, half expecting to see her old friend hiding in the corners.

  That bloody goddess had tried to force her to feel those powerful, uncontrollable waves of lust for centuries.

  “You were shivering,” he shrugged, as though that explained everything.

  And it probably did.

  It explained who he was, despite the scowls: the kind of man who could not see a woman shivering in her sleep without building a shelter, making a fire, gathering and cutting enough dry wood for a fortnight.

  Oh my. She was in a whole load of shit.

  “I’ll be fine,” she told him, meaning each word.

  The elf shrugged again, before going back to his chopping.

  She gathered her wits and managed to formulate something that sounded logical in her mind; opening her mouth to deliver her tirade, she was interrupted by an embarrassingly loud grumble.

  “Did that come from your stomach?”

  Did he really have to point it out?

  The elf advanced towards her, his walk pretty damn sexy, and got something from his pocket.

  It was dark and smelt fucking amazing. She stared at it for so long he lifted his hand and pushed it against her lips until she opened them.

  Of fuck. That was good. The dry meat made her taste buds explode like nothing ever had, probably because she hadn’t eaten since Jereena, close to two weeks ago.

  She didn’t need to eat… when she was sleeping. Being active used up a lot of energy; she should have sustained herself earlier, but that would have meant admitting that she really wasn’t going to fall into eversleep anytime soon.