Chapter 6
MATTY
Steam swirls from our mugs of hot chocolate as we stroll outside the castle walls, avoiding the gates where the carriages are arriving. I don’t want to be bombarded by visitors when I’m spending my first day with Brigid.
“I have to show you something,” I tell her, happy that she’s starting to warm up to me.
She stomps up the hill beside me, her red cloak trailing in the snow as she peers down at the frozen lake in the valley below. Shifted dragons twirl gracefully, carving patterns into the thick ice with their blades.
“They’re ice-skating.” The fur trim of her hood blows around her merry face. “Are you going to join them?”
“No. I never do unless I have to. It’s never been my forté.”
“Mine neither,” she says. “It always makes me feel clumsy.”
“That’s because you’re made of fire, just like me.”
“Yes,” she says, a question in her eyes I can’t answer yet. “I am.”
A breeze shakes a few snowflakes loose from a cluster of nearby trees, a single one landing on her cheek.
I swipe it away and point to a circle of stone cottages on the other side of the valley.
“Fire witches used to live as priestesses in a temple outside of the Firecrag Fortress. The temple is gone, but we still employ witches to bolster our defenses. Their coven resides over there, and I know they’ll be happy to welcome you into their community once I speak to their head witch. Melinda is the sweetest.”
Brigid makes an odd sound, her voice cracking as she says, “I never expected you to do all this for me. You don’t owe me anything.
” She takes a sip of her hot chocolate and touches her neck as if she’s trying to swallow a lump in her throat.
“I keep thinking I’m having the most bizarre and wonderful dream. ”
“Helping someone escape a bad situation is common decency,” I insist. “But it’s also important to keep you close in case the Headmistress comes looking for you.”
She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and shakes her head. “She won’t. Believe me.”
“Are you sure about that? Because it sounds like Maven went to great lengths to control your gifts.”
She looks sheepish. “That’s because fire is the most dangerous element.”
“Is it the most dangerous element, or is it just the biggest threat to the hedgewitches? I’m sure the Academy has seen more than a few scary acts of magic.”
“Well, there was that time when a witch accidentally unleashed a murderous thorn bush on campus, and that other time when a student nearly drowned everyone with her witch tears during a watery tantrum,” she says, spinning her mug in her hands.
“It always seemed unfair that no one else ever lost their gifts. Just me, the only fire witch.”
“That’s right. The Shadowthorne Coven knows you have a powerful talent for wielding your element, and that scares them. They might attempt to retrieve you in order to prevent you from seeking revenge.”
“I don’t want revenge, just a fresh start in a place where I’m free to use my gifts.” She bites her lips together, staring at the marshmallows bobbing in her drink. “What should I do if they show up and try to force me to go back to the Academy?”
A hot growl rumbles up my throat. “You have my permission to roast anyone who tries to take you from me.”
Brigid gives me a puzzled look, a cool silence settling on the air between us. Bringing her mug to her lips, she quirks an eyebrow above the rim. “Because I’m your favorite fling?”
Because you’re my fated mate. I’m dying to say it aloud, but I know she doesn’t believe in such things, and after all she’s been through, she deserves more than a primal claiming.
Now that I’ve learned her perspective on romance, I want to get to know her without rushing things. I’ve spent these past few hours coming up with a plan to court her officially after tomorrow night’s ceremonies. Nervous butterflies swarm in my stomach every time I think about it.
“You certainly are my favorite,” I say, not wanting to give too much away just yet.
I hear footsteps crunching in the snow and spot Lady Lumanna and Lady Opalinda climbing the hill, their arms linked.
Placing a hand on the small of Brigid’s back, I guide her toward the coniferous forest. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private? ”
We wind through the pine trees, coming up on the stone cabin I stay in whenever I’m craving isolation.
It’s a one-story home set behind a pond, with a chimney protruding from the tin roof hanging over the porch.
The chipped yellow door is a welcome sight whenever I’m weary of the castle’s grandiosity.
I haven’t spent a lot of time away from my desk in recent years, but I’m going to be better about that. I’ll schedule hours and full days away from court to ensure my mate never feels abandoned.
No more drowning out my loneliness by taking on extra responsibilities. I look forward to making this cabin a cozy getaway for her and me.
“It’s getting chilly,” Brigid says, setting her mug down on the porch’s railing. She hugs her cloak around her and tucks her face into the fur.
“I’ll take care of that.” I toss some kindling into the fire pit out front and breathe a burst of flames to light it. “Come get warm with me.”
She stalls on the porch steps, swaying like she’s hypnotized. “I can’t control—”
“Yes, you can,” I coach her, keeping my voice even. “Stay calm and breathe while you harness your element.”
“What about the trees? I don’t want to start a forest fire!”
“Don’t think about the trees.” She needs to find another outlet for all that pent-up energy. “Visualize the pond.”
Her eyes shutter closed, concentrating without speaking. A hush falls over the woods, the silence broken by the sound of ice cracking. Water trickles over the snowy banks, chunks of ice sinking into the depths of the pond as bubbles rush up to the surface.
Good gods. My little hellcat is boiling the damn thing.
She already impressed me earlier with her fiery show in the training dome, but this is pure raw power. It’s no wonder that her Headmistress was so determined to tame it.
She snaps her eyes open and throws her shoulders back with a gasp, horrified by the rivulets of hot water stripping the snow down to the dirt below. I clap my hands together and jog up to the porch.
“That was magnificent.”
Tilting her head as if she can’t believe what I’ve just said, she jumps off the porch and wraps her legs around my waist, hugging me with her entire body.
All I can do is squeeze her right back. She nuzzles her face near my neck, her hands roaming to the collar of my suit’s jacket.
My body responds instantly to the shift in her scent, the heady musk of her arousal deepening with need.
I walk her back to the porch, and our clothes start coming off once I set her on her feet.
Unlacing her dress, I kiss the pattern of goosebumps on her skin while I get her out of the heavy garment and pick her up in my arms again.
I carry her over to the pond, our mouths crashing into each other as we dissolve into the whorls of warm mist.