Chapter 10
That crisp, icy, velvety sensation that tantalized my skin when he’d touched me did traitorous things to my mind, but mostly to my body.
It was apparent how incredibly addictive it could become—Jack Frost’s wintry embrace.
I wanted to think I would keep my wits about me, not to let the idea of him being mine cloud my judgment, but as I flew freely through the woods for the first time in years, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be sensible.
He chastised me for hiding what I was, and he was right.
Arcane Cove allowed me to be myself in my own skin, to be proud that I was a winged, winter fae.
Damn them all, my own kind, who’d convinced me to sulk in the shadows.
The chilly air wisped through my hair as I pushed my wings to their limit.
The last time I exhausted them like this, I was playing tag with the other kids who ran on foot because I was the only one in our village with wings.
Faint sounds of shifting ice soon emanated behind me, and I had to bite back the smile begging at my lips before peering over my shoulder.
Jack, with his hands folded behind his back, calmly skated on a pathway made of ice, the magic pulsing from his feet. He whistled The Christmas Song and turned backward, gliding in figure eights now while keeping with my speed.
“You could at least make that look a tad more challenging for you,” I argued, attempting to mask the discomfort burning in my shoulders from wing use.
Jack only grinned, those sparkling, ice-blue eyes reeling me in like an impending avalanche. “And you should watch out for that tree.” He poked his thumb behind him, darting out of the way.
A wide birch tree appeared out of nowhere from the blurred, snowy drifts, and I yelped, turning in time to avoid impaling myself on its trunk. The sudden change of direction and my inexperience with flying had me in a frantic spin of barrel rolls until I plummeted headfirst into a snow bank.
Huffing, I pulled my face from the powdery flakes and glared at Jack through my disheveled, wet hair. He was smirking at me. “Think you could’ve given more notice?”
“I honestly thought you’d avoid it without issue given—” Jack turned his hands into little wings, hooking his thumbs together and flapping. “—have you not used them in a while? At all? I get why you hid them in public, but—”
I shook the flakes from my hair and shoulders, my wings bristling to rid themselves of the snow weighing them down.
“Do you get it? Do you?” Sighing, I sulked in defeat on the ground, my shoulders slumping.
Even the cold wetness from the snow seeping through my pants wasn’t enough to jar me from my pity party. “This was a bad idea.”
“Which part, faerie?” Jack’s hand extended to me. “You ending up on your ass in a snow bank, or giving us a chance?”
It was a simple gesture—an outstretched palm to help me stand.
Some would have even referred to it as gentlemanly, but with us, so much rested in that act of his.
He knew what would happen if our skin touched.
Surely, how I made him feel was as euphoric for him as it was for me.
Had he wanted to experience it again, or was he genuinely offering his assistance?
“I never said I was necessarily giving us a chance.” Deciding to ignore his hand, for now, I hoisted myself up and brushed off my butt. “You wanted to show me your powers, and here I am. Was the Iceman routine it? Are we done?”
Jack frowned, a deep scowl following, and his hands coiled into fists. “Iceman? Who is that? I don’t like him already.”
Holding up a hand in a halting gesture, I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek to hide my grin. “Before you go freezing him to death in some form of icy pissing contest, he’s a fictional character from X-Men.”
Jack’s glare softened, but he still stood rigid like he had zero idea what I was talking about.
“Never mind. Anyway, are we done?” My wings folded back as if to tell me we were not going anywhere.
“Sit down,” Jack commanded, his hands loosening, but a steely, animalistic glint flashed in his gaze.
My body wasn’t sure whether to slap him or kiss him with a tone like that.
“Excuse me?” My voice came out far raspier than I would have preferred. There wasn’t nearly enough anger in it either.
“Sit down,” he repeated, dropping his voice, gravel coating the words now.
Something hit the back of my thighs, forcing me to sit, and I gasped at the sight of two armrests made out of ice appearing beneath me. Gulping, I softly settled into the ice throne he’d created. My heart raced at the implication of it—try it on for size, see how it feels, faerie.
“There we are. I ask for five minutes without talking and with an open mind. Think you can handle that?” A sparkle flickered in his right eye, his ears perking, awaiting my answer.
“Can you?” I replied like a brat, haughtily folding my arms and bouncing in my seat.
Jack didn’t seem annoyed by my antics. Instead, he chuckled and scratched his chin through his beard. “Five minutes starting from now.”
Crossing my legs at the ankle, I gulped down the sand coating my throat at the sight of him waiting for me to be quiet, to pay attention. Keeping my word, I gave a soft nod.
Jack’s eyes went from inhumanly blue to pure ice, a devious smile cresting his lips before a spiraling snow flurry started at his feet and worked its way to his head. He disappeared. Sitting up straight, I gripped the armrests and looked for him.
Was this a joke?
It started subtly at first, the rhythmic sound of hooves pounding the frozen soil.
I willed myself to stay put, to show Jack I wasn’t weak or vulnerable simply because I’d grown used to hiding myself.
Ice horses plunged through the trees in a stampede, their breaths huffing from their snouts in white vapors.
Nerves prickled my spine, but I cemented myself to the seat.
The equines charged toward me, splitting like a seam when they neared the throne, running past. Jack rode one horse, his hair and beard glistening with ice crystals now, a white cloak with fur draping over his shoulders, intricate silver-twig embroidery sewn through it.
That same confident and satisfied smile graced his lips.
The sight of it made my stomach tighten, and it swooshed into my core, my grip tightening on the throne, cracking the ice.
Now several feet in front of me, Jack back-flipped from the horse, the stampede turning into sparkling silver trails of magic and snow.
When Jack landed, he swooped his arm first left then right, raising icy spires from the ground, zooming past the trees and into the grey clouds.
They morphed into pillars one would see outfitting a castle.
He swiveled on his heel, the skin on his hands replaced with smoking ice.
Jack’s power conjured in his palm, spiraling ivory magic with a never-ending cascade of snowflakes.
He flicked his hand at a birch tree between us, dozens of icy spikes launching into it like throwing knives.
Jack shot his palms forward, an ice trail forming over the blades of frosty grass, leading under my chair.
He circled his hands around the other, magic curling around the throne’s base, my legs, and arms. His power lifted me until he, too, rose, his head in line with my knees.
I pinned my calves against the seat, not daring to look down at how high we’d gotten.
When the seat stopped, it towered over the tree line, and all of Arcane Cove was in full view.
Jack slowly appeared before me, crackles and twinkles sparking from his wintry magic, surrounding us, supporting us.
One arm draped across his back, and he bent forward, a rose made of ice appearing between two fingers, shimmering with bright blue flakes.
Grinning, his canines somehow looking larger and sharper now, he held it out to me.
My throat tightened, sinuses stinging, and I couldn’t be certain why straight away, but tears welled in my eyes. I swallowed, trying to force them back, but they weren’t having it, one escaping and rolling down my cheek, freezing against my skin.
Jack frowned, and his gaze snapped to the iced teardrop. “What did I do, Sylvie?”
If I weren’t holding back a sob, that question may have made me laugh. How uncanny for him to assume it was he who did something.
“Nothing. Your powers are extraordinary. They’re beyond anything I could’ve imagined,” I croaked, the words broken and strained.
“I—” Jack started, the ice covering his face melting, followed by the wind taking the rose away in a snowy drift. “—don’t understand.”
Sniffling, I gripped the edge of my seat. “I’m nothing compared to you, Jack. This? All of what you’ve done? I’m not nearly this powerful.”
Jack said nothing, only continued to stare at me, and slowly, we descended.
“You know what I can do?” I rolled my shoulders back and sat straighter.
Jack remained silent and calmly folded his hands in front of him, listening to me intently.
“I can use my magic—” Conjuring some of it, I let it swirl my knuckles and collect in the air between us.
Jack wiggled his fingers through the tiny snowflakes, his ears perking.
“—to lace food with what beings need to uplift them. The spells could last an hour, a day, or a week. I can fly, and the cold, winter, makes me feel like I could blanket an entire village with my magic.”
Some of my power still settled on Jack’s fingers, and a small smile lifted at the corner of his lips at the sight of it.
Pushing to my feet, I held my arms out at my sides before letting them flop. “That’s all I can do. You’re so powerful, Jack. You clearly need someone who can match your speed, and that’s not me.”
Jack closed the distance between us so quickly he must’ve used his magic, and my chin was within his grasp, thumb and forefinger holding me captive, his cerulean gaze locking me in. “Do you think so little of yourself to believe your magic is any less worthy than mine, Sylvie?”
The chill flowing into me from him made my knees wobbly, and he snaked an arm around my waist to steady me. Jack’s eyes closed for a moment, a carnal moan bubbling in his throat before he looked at me again.
“I can’t compare to you,” I whispered, nuzzling against his touch now.
Jack shook his head left to right, deliberately slow, making faint tsking sounds. “Mates aren’t supposed to be a comparison to each other, but a balance.” He wiggled my chin still within his grasp. “What do you think this is?”
There was that word again. Mates.
Gulping because I’d probably regret it later, I pulled away from him. Fear of the unknown, terror at the idea of such a significant change, and skepticism from Jack’s sudden change in demeanor had me reeling back. “I should go.”
Jack’s hand stayed extended as if I’d return to his touch. When I didn’t, he curled his fingers against his palm and let it fall. “Should you? Or is it because you’re scared?”
I wrapped my arms around myself, my wings fanning so erratically they kicked up snow behind me. “Both,” I said in a cracked whisper.
“I won’t stop you.” Jack pointed at me. “But just know, I’ve searched centuries for you, and don’t intend on giving up that easily, faerie.”
Whether I should’ve taken that as a grand declaration or a threat was still unclear, but either way, I believed him.
Shuffling backward, I kept my gaze locked with his.
Jack stood motionless, watching me disappear into the woodlands’ thick mass of snow-covered trees.
When he was no longer in sight, sobs overcame me, and I bolted for home. But I didn’t run, I flew.