A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #3)
Chapter 1
Chapter
One
ALLIE
I knew my long-lost cousin’s wedding would be a historic disaster, but I hadn’t imagined I’d go from being maid-of-honor to waking up in a coffin, covered in blood.
I groaned as I jolted awake, muscles still tensed as if ready to either strike or desper
ately reach for something.
Or someone.
My arms flew to my sides, only to hit metal walls barely three inches away from my body.
What in the bleeding stars have you gotten yourself into this time, Vegheara?
I hadn’t–someone else had stuffed me inside this…this…
What in Lunara’s name was this?
Heart racing and my breaths already coming out short, I splayed my fingers around me, feeling my way through total darkness.
Definitely metal, veiled in velvet.
An exhausted rune barely flickered near my head, providing no light, only questions. I’d never seen jagged runes like that. Felt magic ooze out of them, either.
Either someone had stuffed me in a box and wanted to make my death luxurious, or I was in a coffin.
An expensive coffin.
As the future leader of the Protectorate Clan, Grandpa Constantine had done his very best to train me to survive any danger an heir might find themselves in.
Kidnappings and assassination attempts topped the list.
But no amount of training could have prepared me for the shock of being buried alive .
Whoever had dared yank me from the wedding and put me in this velvet prison should have just killed me then and there.
Now I had to claw my way out of here and chase them down. I didn’t have time for revenge–but I’d make an exception this time.
No Clan heir worth their title could stand for such an offense.
“ Bring me light and guide me ,” I muttered as I flexed my fingers, calling to my Protectorate power. It had become my closest confidant and constant companion, especially these past few years.
But no heat rose within me and no blue spark pierced the darkness.
I froze–then tried again. Perhaps the incantation hadn’t been the right one, that could happen when my mind was this frazzled.
I rolled my aching wrists, attempting to blink through the haze which had taken over my mind.
“ Light this coffin and run the darkness away ,” I whispered, flicking my fingers to the point of pain.
Nothing.
I tried seeping power from the rune, but it only kept flickering, mocking me.
I couldn’t even feel my power searing through me like it should have.
I was entombed…with no magic to help dig myself out.
Desperation finally clawed at me, even as I tried to access the well of power inside of me again and again. Shivers wracked my body as the realization speared through the fog caging my mind.
Lungs gasped frantically for air, trying to ground me against this terrifying reality.
Heartbeat muffled in my ear.
Stale breath ricocheted off the velvet lid, consuming the barest air I still had.
Why wasn’t my power working?
Something…something had happened.
My thoughts were sluggish, as if someone had sunk them into the deepest trench in the Marea Luminara sea.
I remembered standing at the altar, scowling at Fabrian, the groom, and heart weeping for Evie, my cousin, but not much else.
Arrows…there had been so many arrows.
I shook my head, digging for some sense in the flashes of memories.
The maze.
Sparking blue eyes.
Tears mixed in with blood.
The harder I tried to hold onto the memories, the faster they rushed away from me.
I barely caught whispers of people screaming, running for their lives.
I’d run, too. Then I’d screamed and fell to my knees. A ghost had been there. Which was ridiculous, because ghosts couldn’t pick you up and carry you.
But someone had carried me.
Someone strong.
Someone fast.
I loosed a shaky breath, placing my trembling palms on top of my quickly rising chest. I was on the verge of hyperventilating and losing my grip on reality.
“Stop it,” I hissed. “You’re embarrassing your entire Clan.”
I would have gulped up all the precious air I had if I kept this up.
I had to survive, not suffocate.
With no powers to help, the task became monstrous.
My bow had built strength in my arms.
The training had made me agile.
It had to be enough to dig myself out of here.
The situation was dire. I just needed to find out how dire.
I flexed my feet, trying to find the end of my metal cage, but all I could discover was that it had been made for someone much taller than me. I also only had one shoe dangling from my ankle–and not the one which had a knife hidden in the heel.
I rubbed my head against the velvet cocooning me. The sharp hairpin I kept as a secondary concealed weapon was also missing.
My heart stuttered.
If I wasn’t The Huntress–the one they whispered about with either reverence or fear–who was I?
No powers.
No weapons.
Just a girl in a bloodied silk dress, buried alive.
Just Allie.
And it would have to do.
All I could hope now was that my attackers had buried me in soil and hadn’t placed a great big rock on top of the coffin’s lid–and that said lid wasn’t as thick as I’d feared it to be.
I could wiggle myself into position and use the heel of my remaining shoe to bang and pierce the metal out of my way. Then I’d think of a way to fight the dirt which would inevitably cascade down on me.
It was a ridiculous plan, brought on by despair.
Most likely suicidal.
But it was a plan .
I would not lay here and wait for my death.
I licked my dry lips and fisted my palms, desperate to tense away the tremors. The velvet draped above tickled my nose.
I needed to find out what lay beyond it.
This was going to hurt.
I gritted my teeth as I punched straight up. But instead of searing pain, my fist raised the velvet along with it and banged the lid open.
What in the–?
Fresh air–cold and unforgiving–hit my lungs like a punch.
This wasn’t the tangy scent of fresh dirt. Beyond the caking blood on my corset, I smelled embers and freshly charred meat.
This had to be a trap.
But it was stars above being buried.
Slowly, my hand stopped trembling.
I slid the velvet from my body and rose. I was in a room, with a massive fireplace heating up the stones, a plate of roast chicken and a bottle of wine waiting on a table a few feet away from me.
Moonlight shone through the windows. I could barely make out the tops of trees, but they were covered in snow , of all things.
Aquila, the Protectorate’s seat, had the kind of balmy weather most Clans envied us for.
In my twenty-one years on the continent of Malhaven, I’d only seen this much snow once, when Grandpa Constantine had taken me to a negotiation high up in the mountains.
Where was I now?
My gaze barely had time to trail over the stony walls when I heard footsteps echoing from outside the massive wooden door.
Marching toward this room with a vengeance.
I grasped the sides of the coffin–ignoring the growing dread in my stomach at seeing the gold ornaments adorning it–and pushed myself out of it. I wobbled my feet onto the cold stone floor, holding onto the coffin to keep from crumbling into a heap.
A wave of nausea crashed over me, darkening my vision.
My limbs were heavy and uncooperative.
I was in a cold, strange place I didn’t recognize.
I was weaponless and powerless.
And the footsteps were drawing near.
I tried to blink the haze away to find something, anything to defend myself with. There was no chance whoever was outside that door was an ally.
Friends didn’t stuff each other in coffins.
No weapons displayed on the walls.
No poker near the fireplace.
Someone had readied this room to make sure I stayed helpless.
But a Vegheara always found a way.
With my shoe barely clinging to my ankle by a strap, I staggered toward the left, losing my footing twice. I grabbed the wine bottle and smashed its end on the table. A jagged, makeshift weapon was better than none.
This is what my Protectorate Clan training had come to. Broken bottles, bare feet, and bravado.
As the door opened, I reared back, holding the bottle like it was some legendary greatsword. My grip on it faltered as my eyes fell on the intruder.
“ You ,” I breathed, the word tasting like ice and intrigue.
Then, finally, I remembered everything –and wished I hadn’t.