Forged in Frost and Fire (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Kings trilogy)

Chapter Eight

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"It doesn't burn," I said, staring down at the snow I had clutched between my fingers. Usually if I held snow against my bare skin it would burn and I'd have to drop it. It'd make my skin turn red and tingly for about twenty minutes afterwards. But now...now it just felt like cold snow, except my skin wasn't reacting.

"Okay we get it, your abilities are really cool," Dimitri said, shooting me a look as we walked out deeper into the forest and away from the cabin. The glamour had been dropped thanks to my new glamour-free eyesight, and I could see the warm glow from the windows and the smoke rising from the chimney from where Dimitri and I were. I could see much farther now than I could before. I hadn't realized it before, but I was practically blind with my human eyes compared to my fae eyes. Every mortal feature that I had once utilized now seemed...weak, insignificant compared to what I used now.

I dropped the snow I was holding. "They're not cool. They're scary," I said, wiping my hands on my pants. My footsteps were crunching the snow and the little branches hidden underneath the fresh sludge.

"They just seem scary now," Dimitri said. It was just him and I outside. Elda was busy talking to Gretchen over tea by the fire and Anastasia was napping on the couch. Dimitri had tried to wake her up before we left and she practically hissed at him. Needless to say, he didn't ask again.

"You'll just have to get used to them."

"Get used to them?" I scoffed. "As if I can get used to a new body that can manipulate an element that I used to shiver and get sick from." I ran a hand through my hair, watching as the snow white locks fell into my peripheral vision. That would take some getting used to.

"Well, see there's your problem," Dimitri said, hopping over a tree trunk. "You're seeing it with a negative connotation." I leaped over a log with a newfound spring in my step. I practically soared a few feet into the air before slamming down to the ground. The earth trembled slightly and a few birds flocked in the distant, flying out of their branches and into the sky to get away from me.

"Damn," Dimitri whispered. I grimaced, getting up from the ground and wiping the snow from my hands.

"I have so much power in my muscles now. I'm not used to it," I muttered, shoving my hands into my pockets. I hadn't had any more outbursts since yesterday when I first tried out my powers. Though I hadn't even dared to brush against that well of power inside of me since. I had been too scared. For all I knew I was going to sneeze and icicles would go shooting out of my nose. Oh gods above...could that actually happen?

"You know, you should be grateful. I would kill to be as powerful as you." I glanced over at him, detecting a slight undercurrent of malice under his words. Could Dimitri be...jealous of me? But when I saw his face he was grinning down at me. No, of course not. I was being silly. Dimitri was one of the sweetest people I knew, of course he wouldn't be jealous.

"Okay but think about it. You can totally go skinny dipping in a lake at any time during any season and be totally fine." He nudged my shoulder.

"Of course your first thought is skinny dipping," I grumbled.

"Skinny dipping is always floating around in my mind," he said.

I dutifully ignored him. "Do you know any other fae whose able to control ice?" I asked. There was a breeze that slid between us and while I barely shivered I saw Dimitri wrap his arms tight around himself, clenching his jaw to keep from shivering.

"Feeling a little chilly, are we?" I asked, wiggling my brows at him.

"Oh shut up," he said. "But no, I don't know of any fae before you who were able to control ice or frost. Elda looked into it last night, while you were sleeping, and she couldn't find any record of ice powers. I think you're the first. Doesn't that make you special?" He nudged my arm again.