A Baby for the Snow Beast

Chapter 8: Her Protector

SHANA

The noise of the crowd dies to a dull roar. There's a sound like a train whistling in my head, as the child's words penetrate my brain.

The king. He said the king. My spine stiffens as I realize his duplicity. Yes, he'd been kind to me. Yes, he saved my life. But he was also a dirty, dirty liar.

Penn, the gentle Snow Beast, is the king of this domain. The thought of it makes me slightly ill. I needed time to process this.

"You're the king?" I whisper.

His posture goes rigid at my disbelieving tone. In one fluid motion, he swings down from the horse and lifts me off.

"I am." He releases me, and I sway on my feet.

Penn stands too close. A wry smile crosses his lips, his glacial eyes blazing as our eyes meet.

Color floods my cheeks. Anger, desire. I want to smack him, but I also want to kiss him. I'm not sure what I want to do first. He smells like a wild storm in the deep of winter, the first kiss of pine, and something more primal. It appeals to the deepest, most secret parts of me, but I'm still so pissed I can barely see straight.

"What the hell?" The words are a quiet, seething hiss through clenched teeth. He's the king, and I don't want anyone else to hear me. This situation is ridiculous, but Penn seems mostly unbothered by it all. I guess he would be. He is the king, after all.

I shove a fist against his bare chest, but it's like trying to move a skyscraper. His solid bulk doesn't budge an inch. "You were king this entire time. You led me to believe—you said I would be—I mean, you control the rules, Penn! You're the king! They can't kill you, and you can protect me from execution!" All of which would have been awesome to know hours ago.

Penn's eyes sparkle. He's enjoying this. My nostrils flare. I clamp down on my temper and try to think it through. His laws might state foreigners entering the kingdom should be killed on sight, but if I'm with the king...that doesn't exactly make me a stranger, does it? A blistering tirade of words rises in my throat, but before I can start shrieking like a banshee, a female Snow Beast flies down the stairs and tackles him in a hug.

Tatiana. She has to be.

Penn barely moves even with his sister's massive bulk hitting him like a freight train. I gape at her. She towers over me, well over six feet tall, and only a few inches shorter than Penn. Their coloring is the same, but her eyes are just a touch brighter than Penn's. Where his eyes are a winter's day, hers are the color of a bright spring sky. Words tumble from her.

"You were late! I was so worried and when you didn't come home, I thought for sure something had happened to you!" She's chattering away, not noticing who's standing right beside her. For all her height, I might as well be an ant.

Penn interrupts her wild dialogue with a soft laugh and a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine, Tatiana." His eyes soften, and I can tell he loves her very much, just as she does him.

I shift on my feet, and Tatiana's eyes widen as she catches a glimpse of me. "Brother!" she gasps. "You've brought a human!"

Before she can turn her chatter to me, a smarmy voice intrudes. "My goodness." The words drip with condescension. "A human."

"Luthin," Penn acknowledges, his eyes glittering with annoyance.

Tatiana leans over. "Penn's Vizier," she whispers.

I have no idea what a Vizier is, but I nod anyway.

Luthin is shorter than most of the Snow Beasts around us, though he still has several inches of height on me. His color is grayer than the others, and his face seems like it might be set in a permanent snarl. Luthin's gaze flicks over me, and I know, even with no words, he finds me lacking.