Bullet of Frost (An Iron Fey Fanfiction)

Chapter 12

*Note: Mature content near the end.

The next two days were fairly normal and laid back. Adne worked her shifts in town, helping to facilitate the reconstruction of the building that had burned down, which I found out later had been a hotel.

   Rowan and Tabitha disappeared to the hot springs, and on the night they returned, suspicious looking bruises turned up on my brother's neck. They looked like teeth marks. Human teeth marks.

   I hunted, caught several squirrels and a few birds. Adne and I had been separated because of extra hours she was assigned in town, and I found myself growing anxious. On the second evening, I paced around the house, bored and debating whether or not I should challenge Rowan to a sparring match. Deciding against it, I resorted to snooping around in the cupboards in the room where Adne kept her gun.

I stopped when I came upon one cupboard. Inside were a few bottles of several types of alcohol, a couple cans of soup, and a small, dusty looking bottle nearly hidden in the back of the cupboard. I frowned and reached in to pull it out. The glass bottle was slick and I nearly dropped it. Inside, a black substance resided, slightly warm inside the bottle.

I turned the bottle over and over, trying to figure out what it was. I'd never seen anything like it before. All the healer's potions and medicines were brightly colored, some looked like milk or were transparent. This was strange. Foreign.

I quickly placed it back in the cupboard when I heard the front door open and footsteps enter. I recognized them as Adne's. Heart pounding, I headed back into the kitchen. Adne removed her cloak and draped it over a chair, smiling when she saw me.
"Saddle up your horse. I want to show you something," she said, already heading back out the door.

"What is it?" I asked, suddenly curious. I followed her outside and began to tack up Calx, who tried nibbling at my shirtsleeve again.

  "You'll see," she said, swinging up on Badger and waiting until I finished. The moon was full tonight, its brilliance creating a halo of silver around Adne. I caught myself staring and quickly looked away.

    When I swung up on Calx, she nodded for me to follow and urged Badger to the left, farther into the valley. I followed her and we rode for about a half hour until we came to a small pond, wide open grass beyond. Adne pulled Badger to a halt and she dismounted. I followed suit and looked out into the field.

    I looked at Adne and frowned. "Is this it? A field?" I asked her.

   "Just wait," she said, taking my hand. I laced our fingers together.

   Suddenly, the field, for at least half a mile, lit up with small little yellow lights. I took in a sharp breath. Adne smiled and reached out to catch one of the fireflies in her palm. It waited, sitting in her hand. But then, it saw me and flew off to join its friends.

   "Isn't it beautiful?" Adne asked, squeezing my hand.

   I nodded. "Yes," I replied, turning to face her. She looked into my eyes and I saw for a moment what I had seen in Brynna's eyes just before I ended the game. But then, then it disappeared from Adne's face, and her eyes were hard once more.

    She stepped forward and leaned against me, watching the fireflies. "Why can't everything be this peaceful?" she asked, and I enveloped her in my arms, resting my chin on her head. It occurred to me that she did not know I was going to be leaving tomorrow. I took in a breath.

   "Adne, I have to tell you something," I began, and she tensed. "Queen Mab has called my brother and I back to court because of an upcoming war with the Summer court. We are to depart tomorrow."

    She pulled back, but only enough to look at my face. "I thought you wanted to stay here," her tone was accusatory. I winced.

    "I wish I could, but I cannot refuse an order from my queen," I told her. "If I refused a simple order like this, she would question why and if I told her. Horrible things would happen."

     Adne hesitated, searching my face. "Like what?" she said, even though she knew the answer.

     I sighed. "I would be banished from the Nevernever, probably. Or worse," I gave her a sad smile."We would never see each other again." I reached out to brush a strand of hair form her face. A firefly flew in front of her and lit up, illuminating her face with gold.

    "So, you really are leaving, then?" she whispered, her eyes glistening. I nodded. But she did not break down in tears. Instead, she simply leaned forward and kissed me. "Then tonight, I want you all to myself," she whispered, her breath warm against my ear.

     "We should probably...head back to the house," I said, stumbling over my words.

      We climbed up on our mounts and raced across the field, letting Badger and Calx run like they were born to run, letting the sharp night wind kiss our faces and tug at our hair. This was the last time Calx would race Badger. I supposed he'd be disappointed.

     When we arrived back at the house, we unsaddled, and headed inside. We somehow ended up in Adne's room, but still standing and about five feet from each other. My heart pounded and I watched Adne as she awkwardly stood there, watching me. I wondered for a moment if she knew how this worked.

     But then, she slowly approached me and leaned up, pressing her soft lips to mine. The kiss was calm at first, but soon escalated into something wild and filled with fire as she reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck. I backed her up against the wall and caught her knee, bringing her leg up to wrap around my waist. She groaned and bit down gently on my lip.

     She managed to unbutton and shrug my shirt from my shoulders, and I trailed a path of kisses down her neck, stopping to nip at her skin. We eventually ended up on the bed, our bodies dancing and twining together in a dance of passion and fire. The moonlight made her skin look silver and I entwined our fingers together as we finally joined. She whimpered and I fought to be gentle. I trembled with the effort but at least I wasn't hurting her terribly. The first time was always the most painful.

     Tomorrow would be the day I broke her heart and ended the game. Tomorrow would be the day I revealed my true nature, my true self, and became the monster Adne had come to believe I was not. I was no different from my brother, or my mother, or any other creature born of Winter. I was a monster. I was a demon. I was a prince of Winter with the absence of a soul and the inability to love.

     I would win this game. But, for tonight, I would let Adne think that I loved her.