Epilogue
Milly
Ella looked over at me pointedly as Kolar got up from the table, excusing himself while the rest of us continued to eat.
“Where are you going?” she asked when I didn’t speak up, her foot searching me out under the table until it made contact with my shin.
“The landing field,” Kolar replied, looking at me strangely when I winced from the kick that was delivered out of sight. “A unit is being shipped out today. Dirk is going to do a review, and he asked me to be there.”
“Oh, right. I remember him saying that,” Ella said, nodding. “I think I’m supposed to go with him, for some reason. Even though I’m not important.”
“You’re important to him,” I said. “Being his mate and all that.”
“I guess,” Ella replied, nodding. “It sure is interesting, being someone’s mate now.”
I glared at her. One time. I told her one time that I thought Kolar was kind of cute, and now that my slave collar was off and I was mostly recovered, she was just dropping all these hints.
That was my job. I was supposed to be the one who pushed my friends to do things. Being on the other side of it was awkward. I was no good at this.
Flirting? Gah, no thanks.
It’s not that I didn’t want to. I did. I thought. It was strange, realizing that maybe there was a totally different future available to me, one I’d had ingrained into me was impossible for a Grounded.
Now, however, seeing my two best friends go through total transformations, I had a lot to think about.
“Anyway,” Kolar said. “I need to get going.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, standing up before Ella could kick me again. “If that’s okay, I mean?”
Kolar just shrugged. “Sure.”
I tried not to take his apathy personally. Less than two weeks ago, his best friend had betrayed us all and nearly killed Ella in the process. It was only natural for Kolar to pull back from the world.
But it made flirting basically impossible for my suddenly shy self. Back in the Wilds, in the ranks of the Clippys, it was easy. Jokes revolved around our situation and were all self-deprecating. Things just happened naturally. None of it was forced or tough.
That should have been my first clue, but I was still in a weird place. Between physically recovering from torture at the hands of an elite and having my brain ripped apart when the slave collar had been removed from my neck, I was not myself at all. So I ignored many of the signs.
It nearly killed us both.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Kolar said as we walked through the halls of the Ice Citadel. “I don’t need watchers.”
“Watchers?” I didn’t understand.
“Yeah. You know. Keeping an eye on me to make sure I don’t do anything stupid. I know that’s what you and Ella have been doing, with you around a lot more.”
I chewed on my lip. “Is that what you think this is?”
Kolar shrugged, the braids of his black hair bouncing. “What else could it be?”
Me seeing if you think I’m pretty and maybe want to be mated?
I didn’t say that, of course.
“You are acting kind of remote,” I said instead, moving slightly closer as we walked. If he noticed, nothing happened.
“I think I’m allowed that after what happened. Don’t you?” He didn’t look over.
If he wouldn’t even make eye contact with me, how was I supposed to figure out if we were mates? I suppose I could have tried smelling him. That was how it had happened with Anna and Caz, but I couldn’t bring myself to act that strange.
“Maybe. But maybe you’ve got it wrong why I’m here,” I said, trying to be coy as he pushed through one of the doors, holding it open politely for me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. So you aren’t on some sort of suicide watch?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Should I be? We know you’re hurting, Kolar. Everyone can see that. Nobody blames you. But we haven’t thought you were going to hurt yourself.”
“Good. Because I’m not.” He sighed. “But I also don’t trust my own instincts right now, so I’m not being very good at anything. Especially if I can’t even tell why you’re hanging around.”
“I’m glad to hear we don’t have to worry about you,” I said, taking a huge chance and putting my hand on his forearm.
Kolar stopped walking, looking down at the contact point between us. He didn’t shake it off.
Nearby, the bawling of orders by various formation commanders filled the air. The landing field was abuzz with activity.
The Ice Kingdom was preparing for war. Men and women, warriors all, were streaming in from all corners of the kingdom, responding to the call to arms to defend the land from the Reds far to the north.
Nearby, one such unit was looking ready to head out. They stood in precise ranks, all dressed in the same simple dark-gray sweatpants that were ubiquitous everywhere. Uniforms were useless. They would only be shredded when the warriors shifted to fly to the front lines.
“Milly …” Kolar said, stepping slightly closer, his dark eyes troubled and unsure.
“Yes?” I looked up, waiting for him to finally, truly, lock eyes with me.
He still stared at my hand, my fingers curling slightly over his thick forearm, the corded muscle tense under the pads of my fingertips. Perhaps I was coming on too strong.
A violent storm of air was kicked up as a monstrous dragon swooped in overhead, landing with its back to us in an open space that was far too small. Gray-clad shifters sprinted out of its path to give it space. One was too slow and was caught by a wing, buffeted into a crowd of peers.
“What the hell?” I yelped at the commotion, the tail of the dragon just barely missing us. “Who is this asshole?”
“Florian,” Kolar said. “Back from the front.”
I found myself watching the huge dragon, its scales brilliant platinum under the early-afternoon orblight. The scales caught and reflected the light with a hint of gold around their edges.
Florian must have heard my outburst because the long, sinuous dragon neck curled around its body until the snout could stare down the length of its spine at us. Its eyes were a pale, frosty blue that spoke of crisp water freshly frozen over for the first time in winter.
It snorted in disdain, its eyes shifting slightly. Moving from Kolar to me, I realized distantly.
The instant we locked gazes, something snapped in my head.
“Kolar,” I gasped, my vision blurring. “Something’s wrong.”
I was falling. My limbs were like air, empty and floating instead of supporting me.
“Here.” Kolar’s arm wrapped around my waist as he pulled me in tightly to him. “I’ve got you. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t …”
Mate!
I twitched, inhaling suddenly as adrenaline surged through my system like electric shock. I clutched at Kolar desperately, my fingernails digging in as I tried to climb my way up his arm.
To look past him. At the magnificent dragon all but shining under the orblight.
The very pissed off dragon. Its eyes narrowed with fury as it spun wildly, scattering powerful shifters like ragdolls. Claws dug into centuries-old stone, marring their surface as the beast shot forward.
I knew the issue immediately.
My freshly discovered mate was in a rage that I was in the arms of another male.
“Florian!” I shouted, trying to twist out of Kolar’s hands even as he struggled to keep me upright. Meaning his hands stayed on me when they shouldn’t have.
Amid the thunderous howl of dragon fury and pounding of claws on the ground, I slipped and fell into Kolar. His hand brushed my breast in passing.
“Oh, shit.”
Florian’s power crackled in the air, washing over me like warm air through a window in spring, but it flattened Kolar and everyone around us.
He rolled out of the way as he went down, putting space between us, but Florian’s paw came up anyway.
“No! Don’t!” I screamed, throwing myself in the way to try to stop my rampaging mate from hurting his friend, who had done nothing wrong.
Claws flashed.
Clothing ripped.
Blood sprayed everywhere … and then I was falling again.
This time into darkness.
***
Thank you for reading The Ice Prince’s Fated Mate!