This chaos fae, however, will die instantly if I hit him with my wand now that all my power is flowing inside it.
He grins at me. “I knew you would use your wand since she’s your soul bond.”
“Then you must also know you’re about to die for kidnapping the woman I love. My soul bond.” I point my wand at him, and he flinches visibly. “What you’ve done is incredibly… stupid.”
His wince slowly turns into a grin. “Not as stupid as you think.”
I scoff, still aiming my wand at him. “Any last words, cretin?”
My hair is long, and I’m fully in fae form. Everything except for my wings.
Avery is watching me, and though her expression softened slightly when I told the chaos fae I love her, she’s still shaking her head, looking concerned.
Well, she’ll see how strong a prince of the ice kingdom is soon. Once I rescue her, take her home, and show her how much I love her, how much I care about our bond.
She’ll never doubt me again. Never be afraid to show me her true form.
The chaos prince is still considering his last words, though I’m not worried about letting him wait for a second.
He won’t dare move with my wand trained on him.
It’s like staring down the barrel of an incredibly powerful gun.
I suck in a breath, impatient to get to Avery. “Last chance if you have anything to say.”
His grin only deepens as his expression darkens. “Look behind you.”
My eyes widen as chaos shoots out from behind me in long tendrils that snap out like whips before wrapping around me, dragging me back as my wand is yanked out of my hand by a swirl of ice.
I’m so caught off guard that I don’t know where to attack as ice ropes twist tightly around me, binding my arms to my sides, gagging my mouth.
The ice is mingled with little streaks of chaos, and the combined magic is something I’ve never felt before.
Strong but evil and definitely unexpected.
I try to whirl around, but whoever is holding me just keeps me facing forward as I feel them step up behind my back.
I shudder as I feel cool lips brush my shoulders. I want to knock my head back into whoever would dare to come close now that I have found my soul bond.
But then I feel icy fingers running over part of my shoulder that is bared by my armor.
Fingers with long, cold nails.
“I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” a singsong voice says. “If you would have just come willingly, I never would have had to resort to teaming up with chaos in this world.”
My eyes widen as I realize the implications and what Avery was trying to tell me.
But it’s too late. I was so focused on saving her, on ending the chaos fae in front of me, that I didn’t even think he might have a partner.
The woman steps out from behind me, leaving her magic bonds on me so I can’t move as she walks in front of me to study me head to toe.
As she slowly pushes bracelets off her arm, I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere.
The girl from the club the other night, I realize, in shock.
The one Avery shoved away.
As she transforms into her fae form, I recognize her as one of the ice princesses from a neighboring kingdom.
One of many suitors I had to turn down.
I was so grossed out by anyone touching me who wasn’t Avery that I didn’t even look her in the face that night at the club.
Her wings shoot up, icy and as tall as mine. She pulls out her wand, but her wings stay up because her magic is strong enough that she can power both.
Some princesses are like that.
I glare at her.
Now that I’m trussed up like a turkey, I can only feel like a total fool.
The fae princess in front of me waves her wand, and her chaos-infected ice bonds force me to my knees in front of her.
Where she has always wanted me, I suppose.
“If I take off your gag, are you going to be a good boy?”
I send her a look that hopefully promises the bloody death she deserves for involving my soul bond in all of this.
“So strong,” she says, looking over her shoulder at the chaos fae, who smiles as he walks over to us. “He’ll be an admirable ally when he’s turned.”
“I should hope so. This has been a lot of work,” the chaos prince says haughtily, not even sparing a glance at Avery. “Does anyone really think I’d waste my time over a silly little fire fae?” He scoffs. “She was only bait all along.” He folds his arms. “Why would I have held her for so long that night you showed up for her? I had to confirm that she was your soul bond. Then I could just wait for the right moment.”
The ice princess grins. She’s imperious, tall with long white hair that’s gray at the edges. There’s madness in her eyes. “I have always wanted him, but in my world…”
“Right, right,” the chaos prince says. “You have to follow rules. Here, you can take anything you want if you’re strong enough.” His dark eyes glint at me. “I’m excited to see what he’s like when he’s on our team.” He gives his partner in crime a dubious look. “Do you really think you can turn him?”
She laughs, a light, tinkling sound that is nonetheless evil. “Forcing him to accept my bond in front of the one he loves? Yes, I would think that would cause enough chaos to turn him.”
I send her a look of pure fury because if she thinks I’m going to let her do anything, she’s so very wrong.
Not that I can even really move right now.
I glance at my wand wistfully.
The fae princess rubs her hands together as she comes closer to me. Then she takes a knee and snaps her hand for my gag to come off.
“Oh, magnificent Boreas. Wanted by so many. Now you’ll be mine.”
I cough, gasping for air. “You would ally with chaos? Have you lost your mind?”
She glares, hands turning to fists as she stands up again. She grabs my chin with her hand, coming in close.
“I’m done following the rules if I can’t have you.” She snarls, looking like a monster behind those delicate blue eyes. “If the chaos princes can come here to take what they want and it brings you… then I can have what I want too.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense. If I don’t want you—mph.”
The gag is over my mouth again in a second.
She glares. “I’m the only one smart enough to realize that if they can play without rules here, so can I. Here, the strongest wins, and I am the strongest. In our world, they would let you choose.” She throws back her head in a cackle. “Here, you won’t be so lucky.”
I hang my head because I’m not sure how to get out of this.
I promised I would save Avery, but I can’t fight these bonds.
I was so focused on trying to save her that I didn’t remember to defend myself at all.
A tactical error.
One that’s probably going to be punished in the most humiliating possible way, if the way this gross ice princess is leering at me is any indication.
27
Avery
He came for me. He loves me. And it’s all so bittersweet, so ugly right at this moment, since it led him right into a trap.
All this time, he’s been trying to protect me when he’s the one they really want.
I can’t believe we didn’t see it.
And I can’t believe he made the stupid error he always makes of putting everything he has into protecting others while forgetting to watch his own back.
God, I really love him.
The ice princess grins at me, and I feel sick to my stomach.
So far, these bonds have been immune to my fire, as the chaos prince told me they would be.
I just glare at her, promising death with my eyes if she so much as touches him.
She just grins. “Does it make you upset? Knowing I would go so far for him? I gave up my entire world to have him. What would you have done?” Her eyes
are creepy, like she has already lost her mind.
She grabs Brett by the jaw, jerking him to face her, still gagged, and I feel fire flash inside me, getting hotter by the second.
How dare she touch my soul match?
She seems to enjoy my anger. “What are you going to do about it? Weak, pathetic fire fae.”
While she’s distracted by me, Brett slams his head forward, hitting her in the nose with his forehead. She lets out a shriek as she waves a hand, and his bonds slam him into the ground.
I guess Brett really wasn’t kidding about fae princesses getting aggressive, because the next thing I know, those odd whips of ice and chaos are tearing at his armor, pulling it off plate by plate, tearing at the material underneath while other bonds hold him down.
I struggle as tears of frustration bite at my eyes.
I don’t care what happened between us. I just want to reach him and save him.
Tell him how much I love him.
But I have no idea how.
Rage burns even higher in me as the ice princess steps over Brett and straddles him with a knee on either side of his waist.
Brett bucks, trying to remove her, but she only smiles, making him go still as she snaps her fingers to remove the gag.
“I think I’ll let you call to her,” the princess says. “I want her to hear your moans of pleasure as I force you to be mine.”
I see Brett’s eyes go wide as he turns to look at me, and I can tell at this moment, even now, he’s only worried about how I’m feeling.
He looks as though he’s trying to think carefully about what to say.
Like he feels guilty for getting himself in this situation.
“Avery,” he chokes out as the ice princess uses her bonds to pull away what’s left of his top armor, leaving his chest bare to her gaze.
Oh yes, I’m definitely going to kill her.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “Sorry you have to watch this and that you’re in danger because of me.”
The ice princess ignores him, her eyes hungrily roving over his body.
What a way for Brett to learn that some fae are just as bad, or worse, than humans.
He pins her with furious eyes for a moment, as if that could stop her, but she goes back to studying him because she knows what she’s doing is wrong.
She simply doesn’t care.
Just like every other rapist. I’ll see she dies like one as well.
Brett meets my eyes again, trying to look calm as his attacker’s hands hover just above his chest, trembling like she’s almost too excited to touch him.
“I love you, Avery,” he says as if she wasn’t even on top of him. “You’re my soul bond. I ran because I was upset that you hid it from me, that you didn’t trust me. But I was childish. You know I can be that way sometimes.”
I just listen, my heart crying out to him, rage making it hard to even breathe right now.
He grimaces, distracted, as the ice princess finally makes contact with his skin, touching his hips right where his armor meets his belt.
Still, he tries to stay focused on what he wants to tell me. He’s so strong, no matter what happens.
“I want you to know your true form is beautiful. Fire is now my favorite type of fae in the world,” he says, somehow keeping his gaze tender toward me despite everything happening.
Tears begin streaming down my cheeks, and I can’t tell if it’s because I’m touched by his words or so furious at this situation.
I just know that I need to get free.
The fire in me increases.
“It makes so much sense that you’re fire.” He continues. “Strong. Fierce sense of justice. Kind. Gorgeous.” He cringes back for a moment as the ice princess struggles with his belt.
I fight as hard as I can against my bonds, pinning all my hate on the woman atop my everything.
His eyes are tense as they meet mine, but he holds my gaze. “I love you. I just want you to know that. And if we get out of here—”
“That’s enough of that,” the ice princess snaps, and his gag appears again, forcing his head back down so he can no longer look at me.
I hear the click of his buckle releasing and take deep breaths as I watch her start to pull away his belt.
Mine. Mine.
I love him. I love him so much. Why can’t I just protect him?
As those words scream through my mind, heat overtakes me, making me feel like I’ve been plunged into a furnace, completely surrounded by flames.
The entire clearing lights up, and I look down to see my entire body is burning.
No, my body is made of white-hot fire. It burns through my bonds instantly, and I jump down, putting my hand out instinctively, knowing my wand will appear.
It does, and it’s covered in flames like I am. It’s redder at the bottom, white-hot in the center, and then blue at the top.
I can feel my wings too, shooting out behind me with even more white-hot fire.
I point my wand at the ice princess, who has stopped attacking Brett long enough to look at me.
I see fear in her eyes, and I like it.
Though, it’s love that brought me to this point.
Not rage.
“I am fighting for my soul bond,” I say softly. “Prepare yourself for death.”
She steps reluctantly off of Brett and turns to face me.
Ice covers her body as white-blue wings shoot up out of her back. A long, ominous wand appears in her hand, with jagged white crystals at the top.
“You’ll learn your place soon, fire fae,” she says, aiming her wand at me.
“I know my place,” I say, walking forward. “It’s at his side. When you’re dead!”
And then I jump forward, letting my wings propel me into an arc in the air, holding my staff in front of me.
I land on her, slamming my staff down over her neck, holding it down with both hands as it burns, flames consuming the ice crystals protecting her.
“Impossible,” she says as her skin begins to melt. Everything is hissing.
I call on even more fire, engulfing us both.
I feel weak tendrils of ice and chaos try to attack me, but nothing can touch me now. Not when I’m on fire with the need to defend my love.
She’s burning and screaming, and I keep my wand down, pinning her, as the flames rise higher and higher, along with the pitch of her screams.
“That’s for touching my soul bond. And being a rapist,” I growl as her hair finally catches on fire.
Her last words are something about how this shouldn’t be possible, but they are lost to the roar of my fire as I continue to burn up to the sky, watching her turn into ashes in front of me.
I’m a fire fae. I have rage issues. And yes, maybe I’m a little too eager to fight.
But I guess I’m just what Brett needs to protect him, and right now, that’s all I want to be.
When it’s over, when even the ashes won’t burn anymore, I slowly step off what’s left of her as my flames finally abate.
The wind slowly catches her ashes, blowing them out of sight.
The chaos prince stands across the clearing, clapping. “Excellent job.”
I look over at Brett to see his bonds are gone, and he’s rubbing at his hands, watching me in shock.
Still topless, but at least nothing happened to him.
He gives me a grateful smile, then struggles to stand. I grab his wand and bring it over to him.
I hand it to him and then stand by him, burning, ready to fight by his side.
“I changed my mind,” the chaos prince says. “I do want that fire fae.” He steps forward, a dark cloud gathering behind him, rising up to the sky.
He’s strong. I can tell by the size of his wings, the resolve in his eyes.
But this time, Brett steps forward, holding out his wand.
“No,” I say. “Keep your wings. I’m fighting with you. From now on, always hold something back. I don’t ever want you to see you unprotected
again. Even for my sake.”
He just laughs, shaking his head. “All right, princess. I’ll handle this without my wand. I’m sorry you had to save me, but don’t worry. I’ve got this one. And every one from now on as long as I have you with me.”
His wings shoot out of his back, blue and fiery, as he puts his wand away, facing the chaos prince.
His hair whips out behind him, and as he moves his hand, a bolt of ice shoots out, knocking the chaos fae back into a tree so hard he falls over, stunned.
Before he can even get up, Brett waves his hand and ice shoots out to wrap around his waist, then flings him into the air, where he hovers for a second.
Before he can fall to the ground, Brett moves his other hand toward the sky and then sharply down, and I wince as a huge spike of ice appears from nowhere, then shoots down into the prince, impaling him into the ground with a finality that shakes the clearing.
I hear hissing as chaos flows from the prince’s body, and his dying gasps, but Brett pulls me against him and turns me away from the scene.
And then it’s over, all so quickly.
I guess when he’s not caught off guard by backstabbing rapists, my soul bond is pretty strong.
Then again, I always knew that, I think, smiling against his chest.
My arms are wrapped around him tight, and I never want to let go.
He pulls back just far enough that he can cup my face, and his eyes well with tenderness and love as he slowly lowers his lips down to mine.
But just before I can taste him, we’re broken apart by a loud thump that shakes the ground, followed by two others.
Brett groans as he releases me and turns to see Tanner, Ian, and Flynn, all ready and in full armor.
“We got your distress call,” Ian says, looking around for any chaos. His expression falls slightly as he sees the dead prince pinned to the ground. “Ah, damn. They already finished.”
Brett laughs, keeping his arm tight around me. “Avery handled it. She was amazing.”
Tanner and Flynn turn to look at me, then at the giant black mark on the ground where the fae princess met her end.
“Hm,” Flynn says. “Interesting.”
Tanner just shakes his head, walking over to look closer at me. “Brett, why are you half naked? I understand you two are bonded, but this is hardly the place to—”
Found by Frost: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 1 Page 18