Chapter Seventeen
Lanche
When I’d seen Dain walking through my magical snowstorm, I’d panicked for a moment until a surge of my magic had come back to me, allowing me to keep him safe from the flying ice.
For some reason, I didn’t think my icicle controller had realized I was using a very small part of my magic.
I was beyond grateful for that.
Relief wasn’t a big enough word for what I felt when Dain brought me back to myself. His bond with me allowed me to break away, and thank the Ice Goddess for that.
I’d felt him long before he’d gotten through, and it was as if I could see our silvery thread growing in size and strength, until finally, it was stronger than the icicle magic.
And now, not only was our viramore bond bright and shining, Dain had also accepted my icicle gift. We were forever bonded in more ways than one, and I was so… content and looking forward to our future.
Honestly, I was a little giddy on the inside, although I was still stressed and exhausted from this trying day.
My happiness over Dain was overpowering everything else, though.
“You okay, big guy?”
I nodded. “Yes. Just drained and really hoping I’m not about to be arrested by the dozens of king’s guard surrounding us because I just want to go home and maybe, um, hold you for a while.”
“I want that too.” He blinked. “Wait. You think they’re gonna arrest you?” Turning in my arms, but not moving away, Dain surveyed our surroundings.
Half of the trees in the park were either ripped apart from my wind or laid out on the ground, having been knocked over.
There was snow and ice covering absolutely everything, and the immediate area around us was buried in a foot and a half of snow.
I honestly had no idea how Dain had even slogged through it to get to me, and I had a feeling that snow was the only reason the king’s guard were staying back and not tackling me to the ground.
I winced. Maybe I shouldn’t have given Dain my icicle without knowing what prison cell I’d be thrown into. Would having my icicle make our separation even harder on him?
Shit. I hadn’t been thinking about anything other than our connection, and now… now, he might come to regret bonding with me.
“Is that… is that Ailin and Sebastian Ellwood?” Dain asked, squinting and nodding off to our right.
I squinted too and sucked in a breath. “Holy crap. I think it is.” I didn’t know them, but I was pretty sure everyone in the entire world had seen their pictures.
“Huh. I didn’t expect them to come.” He turned and patted my chest. “Don’t worry. We’ll be okay. Between Tan and the Ellwoods, I’m sure they’ll be able to work this out for us.”
“You know them?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Anton and Jed introduced me, and they’ve been trying to get me to come to one of their movie nights for months.” I cringed. “Probably more like years, but anyway, they’re good people, and since none of this was your fault, I have no doubt they’ll help us out.”
Well, wasn’t my viramore full of surprises?
“Let’s go over there now and see what’s going on. Hopefully, someone arrested whoever had your icicle.”
He seemed… so calm now, although I could tell he’d been crying a lot from his swollen and red eyes. I’d felt it and seen it for myself, even if I hadn’t been able to comfort him right away. I felt awful that he’d been in such a state, but there was really nothing either of us could do about it.
Dain took my hand and started wading through the snow, but I waved my free hand, clearing a path for us.
“Thanks,” he said, tugging me along. “Let’s get this over with so we can go home.” He glanced over his shoulder. “And by go home, I mean, let’s both go to your house and stay in bed for a few days because there’s no way in hell I’m separating from you for a very long time.”
That made me grin. “I like the sound of that.”
He smiled. “Good. Plus, I want to see the inside of your castle.”
“It’s not a castle.”
He snorted. “Nope. Just an absolutely humongous house made out of ice, snow, and trees that looks exactly like a castle.”
I couldn’t help the chuckle that came out, and I felt myself relax. I knew Dain was talking and joking around to try and ease both our nerves, and I appreciated it more than he knew.
“Sooo… what’s your middle name, anyway?”
I bit my lip, then sighed dramatically. “Snowflake.”
He stopped and faced me, eyeing me for a moment. “Is it really?”
I nodded.
“Damn. I was so close.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and the chuckling man pulled me the final distance.
When we were close enough, the king consort called over, “Is it safe to assume that your viramore is himself now?”
Dain nodded at him. “He sure is. We’re all good, and there’s no chance of the asshole taking him over again.”
“You sure about that?”
“Absolutely positive. We got his icicle back. It’s safe now.”
Tan grinned at us, and behind him, the king himself called out, “Stand down. He’s fine now.”
The king’s guard all lowered their weapons, and while most of them seemed fine with it, a few looked confused or concerned, like they weren’t sure if I really was okay or not.
I couldn’t blame them. In their positions, I would’ve been nervous too.
Especially since I was so close to the king and the king consort.
We stopped in front of the group, and I realized Oakley and Roman were there as well. Wow, the whole royal family. No wonder there were so many guards standing around looking like they were ready to kick some ass.
When we were close enough, I bowed my head, and Tan scoffed. “No, no, no, no. No bowing to us, Lanche. We’re family now.”
What? How were we family?
Dain shot Tan a grateful smile, and I realized with a jolt that these people really did consider Dain a part of their family. Which meant… yeah, we really were family now.
Holy shit, I was now a part of the king’s family? Holy crap.
Ho-ly. Crap.
Ailin Ellwood stepped forward and pulled Dain into a hug, and a growl came out of my throat before I could stop it. Ailin released him right away and put his hands up. I pulled Dain away from him and tucked him under my arm.
Ailin smirked. “Hey, there, just hugging one of my kiddos. No need to get all possessive.”
Sebastian Ellwood stepped up to his side and smacked Ailin’s chest. “Stop it. You’re antagonizing him on purpose. Asshat.” He turned to me. “Hey, I’m Seb. This ass over here is Ailin. We’re here to help… and to welcome you to the family.” He looked like he wanted to hug us but refrained.
He didn’t seem as threatening as his viramore, but I could still sense an immense power radiating off of him.
A little black and purple dragon mewled from her spot on his shoulder, and a black cat on Ailin’s shoulder answered back.
I blinked at their familiars—their Bonded Ones—surprised by how cute and small they both were.
In all of the stories, the two were huge, dangerous, fighting machines.
But right now, they looked like babies that wanted pets.
Not that I was about to pet them. I wasn’t that stupid, and I’d like to keep all of my fingers.
I managed to get out, “Nice to meet you,” but it sort of sounded like I was growling at them. I didn’t know why.
Well, I supposed I did. I was feeling overly protective of my Dain after… after everything.
They both smiled, surprisingly, but I got distracted when I heard my younger brother’s voice yell over the crowd, “He’s my brother! I need to see him.”
I jerked in response and turned my head toward Glacier, who was being blocked by two guards.
I saw him, and even though I was nervous, I asked Tan, “Can my brother join us?”
Tan glanced at him, did a double-take, and called over to the guards, “Let him through.”
They did so, albeit reluctantly, and my brother rushed over.
As Glacier pulled me into a hug, and Dain held my hand, growling a bit under his breath, I heard Ailin say, “He looks just like the picture I saw of Avalanche. Are they twins?”
It was true that we looked enough alike in both our forms that everyone always thought we were twins, despite my being fifty years older than him. Since we lived such long lives, a fifty-year age difference wasn’t really noticeable.
I almost snorted, but then I ignored everyone else and quietly said to Glacier, “It’s okay, baby brother. I’m alright. Everything’s alright now.”
He let out a choked sob before releasing me and patting my shoulders. Then, to both my and Dain’s surprise, my brother bent down and pulled my viramore into a hug, saying, “Thank you for saving him.”
Dain hugged him back with one arm, keeping a tight hold on my hand with the other, and whispered back, “Always.”
That made my heart do a little flip in my chest.
When he was finally released from my brother’s death hold, Dain patted my chest, saying, “Come on, let’s go inside and talk.”
Everyone seemed to agree with that, so I followed the crowd inside even though I really just wanted to go home. We were led into some kind of conference room, and through the entire walk, I kept my viramore tucked into my side. He didn’t seem to mind one bit.
Anton was apparently in the crowd of people—I hadn’t even seen him there—and as everyone settled into chairs or leaned against the wall, he stepped to the front of the room, emitting an air of authority and anger.
I leaned against a wall and pulled Dain in front of me so he could lean his back against my chest. He did so without complaint, and when I wrapped my arms around him from behind, he held onto them tightly.
Glacier leaned against the wall beside me, pressing his shoulder into mine. I was glad he was here.
He must’ve gone searching for me when I didn’t respond to his panic on the phone. My poor little brother had probably been freaking out this whole time.
Good lordy, I didn’t even know how much time had passed, but it had to have been over an hour, right? Maybe two?
And everyone had been worrying for me and freaking out that whole time.