Her gaze snapped to him but he wasn’t finished and his voice lowered meaningfully when he did.
“And when you retreat, I urge you to grasp, however belatedly, the fact that you’ve discovered a worthy adversary at the same time realize the she-pup you thought to play with has an alpha who, when a member of his pack is threatened, will not hesitate to tear you apart with his teeth.”
She glared at him for long moments before she sent a cold look to me and turned, gliding away.
“Well done, my dear,” Norfolk said into my ear, moving me from the food tables and positioning us by a wall that was close to Apollo, but not too close.
“Thanks,” I murmured, looking Apollo’s way to see his face stone-cold, his eyes aimed where Franka’s departing back had just been, before they turned to me.
I gave him a grin, a wink and added a finger wave for good measure.
His chin jerked slightly back when I did, even as he blinked.
Then he smiled.
Slowly.
God, seriously, I’d essentially been looking at that face for over a decade and still, seeing it as Apollo, I wondered if I’d ever get used to his beauty.
He turned his attention back to the Drakkars.
I gave mine to Norfolk.
“Thank you for being so…” I tried to find a this world word since I didn’t think he’d get “cool” or “awesome” or at least not the ways I intended them. I settled on, “Lovely.”
“It is my pleasure,” he replied on a smile. “Ulfr is a friend, he is loyal to my cousins, the queen and our Winter Princess, and he is a good man.”
“He is all that,” I affirmed and he chuckled.
But he sobered before he noted, “You seem very used to the reactions to your resemblance to Ilsa.”
“Although I’ve never met her, in the time I’ve been in Lunwyn, it’s become very clear I look exactly like her so I’ve had no choice but to become used to them.”
“I must say, Lady Madeleine, that it’s not uncanny, the resemblance. It’s uncanny, the resemblance that includes the startling differences,” he remarked and I felt my head tip to the side in confusion.
“Would you mind explaining?” I asked.
“Only if this discussion doesn’t offend you,” he answered.
I shook my head so he continued.
“I could not know, I have not been around when Franka and Ilsa were conversing, but, like you, Ilsa would not countenance Franka’s rot. However, she would do that by walking away.”
I wondered briefly if that was the way I should have played it and this was brief because he went on.
“It’s more fun your way.”
I grinned at him and he returned the gesture.
“Have you met my cousin, Lunwyn’s Ice Princess, Sjofn?” he queried.
I shook my head. “No.”
“She will like you,” he told me, patting my hand in the curve of his arm. “Greatly.”
“Awe...” I started, stopped and finished more appropriately, “Well, that’s just grand.”
“Am I to set a course where Kristian cuts off his sister’s allowance?” I heard Apollo ask and I turned when I felt his hand come to rest on the small of my back.
In a sweet changing of the guards, Norfolk uncurled my hand from his elbow but gave it a squeeze before he let it go as he replied, “You may wish to give Franka some time to dress her wounds. Our Lady Madeleine proved her knives are sharper and she has greater skill in using them.”
Apollo looked down at me, his hand gliding along my back so he could curl it around my waist and pull me close. “Indeed?”
“Amateur,” I murmured, and he threw back his head and burst out laughing.
Norfolk added his chuckles.
Apollo stopped laughing and leveled his eyes at Norfolk. “I owe you a debt.”
Norfolk threw out a hand. “Not at all.” He looked to me. “It’s been a pleasure.”
Aw, that was sweet.
“You’re very kind,” I murmured.
“And you are a delight,” he replied, smiling. He turned to Apollo. “I will leave you to your charming company.”
Apollo inclined his head.
Norfolk dipped his chin to me and moved away.
After he did, Apollo moved me from the wall and started us walking slowly through the crowded space.
I took a sip of my champagne and muttered, “What now?”
“Now, we socialize.”
Ugh.
“That’s it?” I inquired.
“Well, to quench your need for excitement, I could challenge someone to a duel, but outside of the Drakkars, there’s no one here whose blood I’d relish drawing.”
I stopped and looked up at him and he stopped with me.
“You duel in this world?” I asked quietly.
“Indeed,” he replied. “But only when honor is at stake.”
“I don’t suppose women engage in duels,” I remarked.
He raised a brow, his lips twitching. “Wanting another go at Franka?”
“She’s not very nice,” I said by way of answer.
“If given the opportunity, I’d prefer observing you besting her with her own weapons,” he murmured.
“Then I hope she’s stupid enough to make another approach.”
He shook his head, grinned and started us moseying again.
“Did you get anything out of Eirik and Valeria?” I queried.
“Dove, they’ll hardly admit to conspiring during a trivial conversation at a gale,” he replied.
“Of course not,” I returned. “But they don’t have to admit it straight out for you to get something from them.”
He stopped this time, exchanging my half-drunk champagne glass with a fresh one and getting one of his own.
“My role this evening is to be here and keep an eye on Franka, Kristian, Eirik and Valeria as Remi and Hans find maids, charm the information out of them that would lead to the rooms of those particular Drakkars and search them.”
Interesting.
“Just those Drakkars?” I asked.
“Alas, our informant was quite cagey about who was doing the conspiring. But only those Drakkars would be foolish or spiteful enough to court the wrath of a man who commands elves and dragons.”
I nodded, putting my glass to my lips and searching the crowd until I found Kristian.
“Kristian?” I murmured into my champagne before taking a sip.
“He would be the foolish one,” Apollo replied.
“Hmm…” I mumbled, looking from Kristian to Apollo. “I must say, Lo, that this world is a whole lot more intriguing than mine.”
His eyes warmed when I used his nickname but his lips warned, “Intrigue always has consequences, poppy. We just need to ensure that those who deserve them are the ones who get them.”
“Well, I’ll keep track of Franka and Kristian and you keep an eye on Eirik and Valeria. Does that sound like a plan?” I offered.
His look got warmer as he started us moving again, murmuring, “And she gives me more reason than just that gown not to regret introducing her to a den of vipers.”
“I aim to please,” I replied quietly, scanning for and locating Franka.
But as I did, I suddenly felt Apollo’s lips at my ear.
“You do, Madeleine, always. And tonight, we’ll be exploring new ways for you to accomplish that.”
Something to look forward to after we left Creepy Castle with its (mostly) Foul Family.
And I so looked forward to it, when Apollo moved his lips away, I caught his eyes from under my lashes and gave him a small smile.
He one-upped the promise made by my smile by staring at my mouth while he ran his tongue along his lower lip.
My clit pulsed and my lips parted.
His gaze came to mine and he whispered, “Come, dove, I’ll introduce you to Sinclair, Draven’s uncle.”
A diversion.
I nodded and gave him a different kind of smile.
; He tucked me close, moved me through the crowd and introduced me to Walter Sinclair, who, like Norfolk, was also kindly and older. And, I found when I shared it openly with him, he was a man who very much appreciated the fact that I cared deeply for his nephew.
Chapter Twenty
Hewcrows
Creepy Castles and (mostly) Foul Families aside, as I moved down the front steps of Brunskar hours later, Apollo guiding me to our sleigh, I was pretty pleased the night went so well.
Actually, intrigue was kind of fun (though I wouldn’t tell Apollo that since he obviously didn’t enjoy it much).
And I noticed he had steered me clear of a variety of people just as he steered me to closer acquaintances who would not be unkind or inappropriate.
Always looking out for me.
Always.
It was a weird sensation.
But once I got over the weirdness, it was a sensation I liked.
We made it to the bottom of the steps and I pulled my cloak closer around me, noting, “Tonight was fun.”
He moved ahead of me, reaching out to open the door of the sleigh, but looked back at me, smiling a bemused smile.
“You have an interesting idea of fun, poppy.”
I stopped moving at the bottom step and tipped my head to the side. “I do?” I asked and didn’t wait for him to answer. “Champagne. Good food and lovely company. And you looking hot and me looking fabulous in a gorgeous dress. Isn’t that everyone’s idea of fun?”
“I may take this neck cloth off, guide the sleigh to a cliff and throw it over,” he said by way of answer and I giggled.
“Can I take it from that that you don’t like neck cloths?” I asked the obvious.
He lifted a hand my way, and chuckling, replied, “You can indeed.”
But I wasn’t paying attention to his words, his hand or his humor.
This was because I was trying to lift my foot but it seemed frozen to the step.
I looked down. It was freaking cold there but to have your foot freeze to a step?
It didn’t matter. I saw when I looked down that the black stone steps were cleared of snow and ice so this couldn’t be.
“Maddie, cease your play. It’s cold and I’m keen to get to the inn and get warm, but mostly get you warm,” Apollo urged, saying things I normally would like very much.
But this was lost on me because I tried lifting my other foot and that wouldn’t budge either.
Something was not right and that not right was really not right.
Panic surged inside me and I lifted my head.
“Ap—” I started but didn’t get it all out.
He was dissolving.
No.
Fear shot through me because he wasn’t.
I was.
I heard him roar, “Madeleine!”
Then I heard nothing. I saw nothing. I felt nothing.
I was surrounded in black mist.
Oh fuck.
Suddenly I was falling.
Falling through nothing.
Oh fuck!
I hit snow, the abrupt impact jarring my entire body, shooting pain through my legs and knees. Both crumpled and I landed heavily on my side in the snow.
Quickly, I lifted my head and looked around to assess the situation.
Moonlight.
Snow.
Trees.
Nothing else.
No light. No castle. No sleighs. No noise. No people.
I was alone in a forest somewhere and I had no clue where.
Well, I guessed Minerva and her minions had decided to use magic.
On me.
Shit.
I pushed up to my knees and brushed the snow off my thin gloves. Gloves meant to be worn to a ball. My cloak meant to be worn in a sleigh with a fur over me, curled into the side of a hot guy.
I was not prepared to be in the cold in the middle of nowhere.
This was not good.
And it got worse when I caught movement through the moonlit forest.
I shot to my feet, my eyes glued to where I caught the movement.
Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, moving in another direction.
I turned to that and started backing up.
Another movement from yet another direction.
I put one hand behind me in order not to slam into a tree and kept backing up.
One of the things moving stepped out from behind the shadow of the trees.
And at the impossibleness of what I saw, I went completely still.
It was a man, a sword at a slant on his back.
But his head was the head of a bird with a sharp, pointed terrifying beak and creepy beady eyes.
“What the hell?” I breathed.
He lifted his hand and went for his sword.
I saw another movement as another one stepped out of the shadows.
He was going for his sword too as I heard the hiss of steel when the other one drew his from his scabbard.
Another one appeared in the moonlight, his sword already unsheathed.
Okay.
Well.
I was so totally right.
This was not good.
And in my fabulous gown in the middle of a forest, not knowing where the heck I was, I had one option open to me.
Run like hell.
I took that option, turned, grabbed my skirts, yanked them up and did that like the devil himself was on my heels.
And, seriously, he was.
All four of him.
I didn’t look back. I was not going to fall over a fallen branch like some stupid bitch in a horror movie.
No fucking way.
If they were going to get me, they were going to have to catch me.
I had no idea where I was running and I didn’t care.
I just ran.
I heard them giving chase behind me and they seemed close.
Fuck.
Shit.
Fuck.
I kept going.
Then I heard something from in front of me. It sounded like someone (or something) crashing through the snow.
They were coming at me from another side.
Crap!
I shot to the side and kept going, my breathing labored, my slippers encased in snow, the tops of my feet covered in it. It was awkward dashing through tall snow, and thus not easy, but I kept right on going.
“Miss Maddie!” I heard shrieked.
I kept going but I knew that voice and I couldn’t believe I heard that voice where I was.
That voice was Loretta’s.
Then I saw her and Meeta racing through the snow ten feet to my left.
What the hell?
I couldn’t ask what the hell. I could only do one thing.
So I did it.
I ran their way, shouting, “Keep going. Go, go, go!”
They kept running as I ran to them and felt and heard those things chasing me.
I made it to them and Meeta threw back her cloak. On the run, she handed me a dagger.
I took it, and suffice it to say, I wouldn’t have a problem using it on whatever creatures were chasing us. If I got that chance (which I hoped I didn’t), I wouldn’t hesitate.
But as I took it, I saw she was heavily armed. She had a knife belt on with more weapons. I was still running so I didn’t have it in me to count all the blades she brought, but what I saw made me feel hope, even as I felt shock not only that they were there but that they’d come prepared.
“Where are we?” I asked, still running.
“We run toward Brunskar,” Meeta gasped.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back there.
“But—”
Meeta cut me off. “No talk! Run!”
I thought this was good advice so I kept running.
Until I heard them close in. Loretta cried out and I looked over my shoulder to see one of the bird-headed men had her.
Fuck!
“No!” I shrieked, turned, but Meeta was already ther
e.
She yanked a short sword out of her belt and, without delay and looking like it wasn’t the first time she did it, she cut his head off.
Okay. Maybe she wasn’t Spock.
Maybe she was a Maroovian Russell Crowe-ian type gladiator.
There was no time to cheer, however, the others closed in.
One was close to me and I ducked like I saw Apollo duck when he was in the swordfight back at the inn. His sword whiffed over me and I came up, already thrusting my dagger forward. I plunged it in his gut and he fell back.
“Bad magic,” Meeta whispered, and I turned to her to see her beating back another one.
I also noted the one whose head she cut off didn’t fall even as I noticed Loretta was down, back on her hand, her own short sword raised, fending off a third.
No, the one with his head cut off just stood there as another head was growing in its place.
And worse. Another creature was growing from his severed head!
I had no time to totally freak right the fuck out at this; another one was rushing to attack me.
“Aim to maim!” I shouted. “You cut something off, it grows a new one.”
Alas, Loretta had managed to cut the arm off the one she was fighting and get back to her feet and the severed arm instantly started forming another creature.
I got my dagger in one and he fell back from me only for another one to close in.
“Keep moving toward Brunskar!” Meeta shouted, leading the one she was fighting in the direction we’d been going.
It must be said, I liked her mettle, but we couldn’t see any light through the trees. Even if we were heading that direction, the castle was far away. We couldn’t fight and make it there.
The good news was, I was a total amateur and I could tell these—whatever-they-were—were not real good at this shit.
The bad news was, their arms were longer, as were their swords, and as I fought the one I had on my hands, I noticed two more form out nothing.
“She sends more,” Meeta snapped, sounding peeved.
Just peeved.
Seriously?
Then I felt even more but I couldn’t tell seeing as now I was battling three.
All with one dagger.
We’ll just say I was doing a lot of lunging, ducking, swaying my torso back and rolling through the snow.
My dress was totally ruined.
As were my cloak and shoes.