Chapter 6
My hands flattened to the counter, my shoulders hunched forward, and my breathing increased.
Reacting to my increasing anxiety, the wings flared out on their own.
There had been no fighting the way my body responded to him despite having just met.
I’d blame his chiseled good looks, but he had a pompous side to him which had always been a deal-breaker for me.
“It’s not possible,” I mocked in an exaggerated British accent, even though he hadn’t spoken with one. “What isn’t possible?” Yelling that to the skies, I raised my arms.
The faint scent of something burning hit my nose, and my wings went taut before I sprinted to the back kitchen. Smoke billowed from one oven, and I yelped, grabbing a pair of mittens and hurrying to open the door.
“No, no, no. Please don’t be ruined.”
No amount of begging could’ve prepared me for the plume of grey smoke escaping and making me cough. Waving my hand in front of my face, I squinted and waited for the smoke to clear before finally landing my gaze on several bread loaves burnt to a freaking crisp.
Groaning, I grabbed them with my mitten and slammed them on the countertop to cool before tossing them in the garbage. I’d never burnt anything in my bakery, which only added fuel to the raging, confusing fire consuming my mind and stomach from Jack’s little impromptu visit.
“Where did this Frost guy even come from?” I whisked off my apron and balled it into a haphazard heap before throwing it on the counter.
While Arcane Cove had its permanent residents, it wasn’t unheard of to have others passing through. As many beings called the Cove home, others came here for temporary refuge from the mortal world.
“Sylvie, you’re letting some stranger get entirely too far under your skin. Breathe,” I encouraged myself, taking a deep breath, wafting my hands toward my face, and letting it out slowly.
After simmering the irritation, I semi-calmly removed the other baked goods from the oven that hadn’t crisped into oblivion, packaged them and set them in the fridge.
Despite being a winter faerie, the heat hadn’t normally bothered me, but an icy chill always felt so much better.
That’s what I needed. I needed some time outdoors to feel the snow between my fingers and hit my cheeks.
Grabbing only my light jacket, I disguised my wings and pulled the coat on.
A smile curved my lips as soon as I exited to a wintry light snowfall outside.
Flakes collected in my hair and eyelashes, and I stuck my tongue out to let some land there.
As I neared the plaza, my gaze focused forward and on the awaiting forest tree line ahead.
Frost had begun to coat the leaves and branches, and I ran my fingers over one. I wondered if Jack had anything to do with it? Did he ice up the forest? Make the snow fall? What did his magic entail?
And why did I care?
Snarling, I snapped the wetness from my hand and marched further into the woods, looking for any signs of where my stag may have run off to. If it hadn’t been for Fintan’s black nose, I might not have spotted him appearing through the branches, munching on a leafy twig with small red berries.
“Hey, handsome,” I greeted, my heart filling with delight.
I reached for him, and Fintan met me halfway, allowing me to wrap my arms around his neck and sink against him. Gasping and standing straight from the sudden epiphany I had, I patted Fintan’s chest.
“How about a sprint, hm? We haven’t done that in ages, and I could really use the wind in my hair.”
Fintan’s head bobbed up and down, his hoof scraping the snowy ground, and he snorted—stag communication for an emphatic yes. Using one of his antlers as leverage, I hoisted myself to Fintan’s back and scratched his neck.
Bunching some of Fintan’s fur in my hands, I leaned forward near his ear. “Ready?”
Without preamble, Fintan took off in a fierce gallop, making me screech in surprise.
I slid further back toward his ass, but quickly recovered, pressing forward again.
The chilly breeze surged over us, and I tossed my hair behind me.
My ears were prominently displayed, but here in the woods, here with Fintan, I didn’t give a damn.
As we sprinted further into the woods, the branches grew thicker, and the snow fell heavier. It grew so dense that it became more difficult for me to see, and I had to duck at one point or another to avoid being smacked off of Fintan’s back by a low-hanging tree limb.
“Fintan, we should probably slow down, I—”
That was the precise moment we came upon a ravine.
Fintan reared back, his hooves digging into the ground, but there was so much snow, all he did was slide until we were plummeting over the cliff’s edge.
I screamed, flaring my wings out, flying and holding onto Fintan for dear life, but he was too big, too heavy.
He fell from my grasp, falling and disappearing into the flurry of snow.
“No,” I cried out, still hovering with my wings, tears stinging my eyes, my hands flying to my mouth. “Fintan,” I yelled, holding an arm above my face to shield from the blizzard forming.
In defeat, I floated to the ground, landing on my knees, and began to sob. “Fintan,” I whispered.
Fintan’s head suddenly appeared, his brown eyes staring at me, terrified. Wobbling, he walked toward me, clinging to the ground with all four hooves outstretched once he’d made it back to safety.
Leaping to my feet and still crying, I hugged my stag. “Gods, I thought I’d lost you, boy, how did you—”
A person’s head appeared, hair snowy blonde and spiky. Jack’s face revealed next as he calmly walked up the same way Fintan had. Peering over the edge, I gawked at the icy stairs Jack had conjured, leading down so far that I couldn’t tell where they started.
Jack brushed snow from his shoulders, shaking some of it from his hair and beard. “Do you often gallop at full speed in the woods during a blizzard?”
“No, because the Cove doesn’t normally get blizzards. Is that your doing?” Pressing my cheek to Fintan’s head, I glared at Jack, already blaming him.
Jack smirked and flung his hand back and forth like a maestro, making the snowflakes nearest to him follow the pattern. My gaze couldn’t help but follow the motions. It mesmerized me for a spell. “It’s more like the winter elements reacting to my presence here—to their king.”
“King?” I whispered, eyes widening, the declaration jarring me from my haze.
Jack crossed his arms, his biceps tightening against his shirt sleeves. “So, you’re a faerie, hm?” He nudged his chin at the wings I’d forgotten were still fluttering at my back.
Zipping my spine straight, my wings flapped erratically before I made them disappear. “You weren’t supposed to see them.” I hid my ears with my hair and crouched behind Fintan.
“Why not?” Jack leaned to the side to see me.
Yearning to change the subject and fast, I continued to stroke a hand over my stag’s fur because it was the only thing grounding me. “You said you’re a king. A king of what? Of where?”
“Do you always answer questions with questions without an answer?” Jack lifted his brows, his gaze briefly scanning my hair.
“Your question is far too personal for the short time I’ve known you. Mine is not. You being a king is assumedly public knowledge, is it not?” I’d felt the compulsion to scratch the tip of my ear as I usually did as a nervous twitch, but held back.
“And there’s another question.” Jack chuckled and took a few steps closer. “I’m the winter king.”
“There’s only one? I didn’t realize such a thing existed, and I live in a magical town filled with the impossible.” A tiny smile crested my lips.
“Very true.” Jack approached Fintan, opening his palm and letting him come to his hand before petting his muzzle.
The sight made my core tingle. Fintan never warmed up to anyone that quickly.
“You live in a place where orcs and gargoyles roam without care, and yet you still feel the need to hide your petite, pointed ears.”
If my cheeks were capable of flushing, they’d have turned a billion shades of crimson. Sucking in a breath, I ignored him and stroked Fintan’s fur more aggressively. “What—what were you doing in the woods? I don’t see many people out here.”
“I think you can agree that out here feels quite a lot better than some sweltering sweat box.” Jack tilted his head and crouched to catch my gaze. “You didn’t—you didn’t think I was following you, did you?”
Rubbing one of Fintan’s velvety ears between my thumb and forefinger, I gave a one-shouldered shrug. “It crossed my mind.”
Jack scoffed, inching closer to me. “Don’t flatter yourself, faerie. I was already here and heard you screeching.” He gestured to Fintan with that tattooed arm, and I gulped down a lump forming in my throat. “You’re welcome, by the way, for saving your animal.”
Guilt punched at my gut now, and I dropped my gaze to the snow dusting my boots. I’d gotten so into my own head, I’d let my usual thankful demeanor slip away. This was Fintan. My stag could’ve very well been gone were it not for Jack.
After poking my forefingers together, I combed hair away from my ears, exposing them. “Thank you.” The words came out so low that a wind gust carried them away.
“What was that?” Jack asked, cupping a hand near his ear.
Forcing my hands at my sides, I balled them into fists, and my wings flared out on their own. “Thank you. I appreciate you saving Fintan. Not sure what I’d do without him.”
Jack shoved a hand into his pocket and scratched the back of his head with the other. His eyes focused on the tips of my ears. “You’re welcome. I uh—I know how that feels. Having an animal companion, I mean.”
We grew silent for a beat, only the sound of Fintan munching on grass echoing around us.
“Did we just have a—” I gestured between us. “—a moment there?”
Jack shook his head and sidestepped to a tree. “I’d call it more of a momentary truce.”
“Momentary? Are you back to hating me?” Crouching, I gathered snow in my palm and sighed from its coolness against my skin.
“Hate is such a strong word. I never said I hated you.” Jack’s lips curled downward into a surprising frown.
Rising, I continued to play with the snow, switching it from one hand to the other. “You haven’t exactly been warm to me.”
Jack carved a hand through his hair and walked his fingers up the tree’s trunk, giving it glistening, tiny icicles in its path. “I’m the living antithesis of anything warm, Sylvie. I’d say I’m frustrated by you.”
I paused to watch his magic forming on the tree. It had been so long since I used my own wintry magic, I couldn’t help but wonder if mine would look the same. “Frustrated? What have I done to you except being me?”
Jack beat his fist against the bark, his lips parting as if he was about to answer me, but he pursed them instead. “It’s complicated.”
He was annoyed that I didn’t answer his questions about why I was for hiding what I am.
Yet, here he was withholding some immense truths.
Most people came to the Cove as a form of refuge or to escape the harsh realities of places that aren’t as accepting of us.
Jack was a king in his realm and clearly came here for someone, but wouldn’t tell me who. So, who was she?
“I’m not ashamed, if that’s what you think.” Flaring my wings wide, causing their glittery glow to intensify, I began to form a snowball.
Jack adjusted his snowflake necklace and sighed, his glacial blue eyes even more cerulean from the falling snow. “You have nothing to prove to me. It either is or it isn’t. And I can’t come up with a good reason as to why you—”
Before he could finish his sentence, I tossed the snowball at him, hitting him square in the forehead. He sputtered and blinked the flakes on his eyelashes away.
Growling, I turned away from him, my wings folding back as I power-walked through the snow.
A plume of snowflakes erupted in front of me, covering my entire head, hair, and shoulders.
I gasped and held my arms out at my sides, slowly swiveling to face him, the fury evident on my face from my clenched jaw and ice-splitting glare.
“You started it,” Jack countered.
Letting out a high-pitched snarl, I shook my head like a canine. “You’re infuriating, Jack.” Fintan was trotting to my side before I even had to whistle for him. I walked away, fully intending not to turn back around this time.
When no sounds of snow crunching beneath boots came, I let out a peculiar sigh. A part of me was thankful Jack was letting me walk away, but another part of me wanted him to follow me—to, I don’t know, to talk.
Winter’s glow only knew why my body reacted the way it did to Jack. His wintry magic that captivated me whenever he displayed it, perhaps? Or the fact that I’ve never met another being even a fraction like me?
Hoisting myself to Fintan’s back, I leaned fully forward, resting on him. And as my stag carried me to our cottage, I slipped off my jacket to feel more of winter’s chill against my skin.