She turned to Robin, who absorbed the information quietly. The girl turned to Isaac expectantly. Isaac nodded.
“I can’t create portals without…” Robin trailed off. Roxie nodded.
“I know. I’m using something of mine to create the direct pathway to Winter Court.”
What Robin had been trying to say was she didn’t know how to create a portal directly to where they needed to go, but that was okay. All Roxie needed was any kind of portal opened, and she would handle the rest.
She also needed to get rid of the witch and her companion the moment the portal was opened, but that was another scheme altogether. She’d think about the how later.
They began to discuss, with Roxie confirming that she traveled from Rio de Janeiro before getting here. Fairy portals needed ripe spots, and that was the nearest she could find. She kept quiet as Isaac instructed the others on what they needed to do before dismissing everyone.
“Roxie, please stay.”
His tone indicated he might as well have said I’m ordering you to stay. She stifled harsh words and waited as Simon, Robin, and Urban left. When it was just the two of them, she turned back to Isaac and found that his eyes were already on hers, studying her with an intensity that sent a jolt in her stomach. He had that way of looking that threatened to undo his enemies, and he was using it on her now. Refusing to cower, she steeled her shoulders and quietly stared back.
“Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out, Roxie?”
Oh, she was leaving a lot out. But if she told him now, he wouldn’t go through with it—and there would go her last hope for her mother. Frustration sizzled in her at having to do this, but she didn’t let it show in her expression at all, nor in her body language. Instead, she nodded and kept her cool.
“I’m sure. I promised you’d be free after all this, and I keep my promises.”
Except she was lying through her teeth with this promise, and she hoped she was doing the right thing.
CHAPTER FIVE
The scenery during the travel was beautiful, but Simon Alison was having a hard time enjoying it at the moment. Firstly, there was the fact that despite Isaac being no longer their enemy, this still wasn’t friendly territory to begin with, and every precaution was needed if he was to protect Robin at all costs.
Accompany her, he corrected.
Secondly, there was the fairy, whom he still couldn’t figure out even while he tried to. She surprised him by not being the breathtakingly gorgeous being he was expecting, but there was an energy about her that was addictive. He found he couldn’t tear his gaze away, even while his mind rebelled and told him she still couldn’t be trusted.
Thirdly, Robin was making her uncomfortable.
Her animosity with the fairy had only escalated since they got there, and while she was doing a good job of hiding it from the others, he knew her enough to know she would probably attack the fairy if given the chance. It was irrational, and he wondered if it was the same energy he was feeling from this Roxie woman that was making Robin react contrastingly to his own reaction. He wanted to ask, but he doubted they could talk freely in front of the other two.
Last but not least, Isaac was making him uncomfortable, too. The Isaac Hart he knew was ruthless and calculated, and helping anyone outside the clan just wasn’t his style. If there was an agenda somewhere here, then Simon didn’t get the memo, not from Dylan or anyone else.
Isaac and Roxie weren’t talking to each other, that much was clear. Whatever politeness they had back in the main hall when they discussed the travel plan was gone as they deliberately stood far apart from each other. They had just entered the city of Rio de Janeiro, but Roxie said the place she wanted to access wasn’t made available until a certain time at dawn, which meant they had to wait it out.
Now that was puzzling.
But Isaac didn’t question it—another oddity—as he booked an acquaintance’s apartment unit for the night and ordered them all to rest up. He then went ahead and got into the biggest room, closing the door and not coming out well into the night.
Simon looked at Roxie, who looked back at him. Then Robin was pulling him towards the third available room, and his plan to chat with the fairy to feel things out disappeared as soon as he stared at the mid-sized bed.
His cheeks colored. “Uh…I could stay on the couch—”
“Quiet,” Robin hissed. Then to his surprise, sparks kept coming out of her hands, red and gold that surrounded the bed as she muttered under her breath. He then got pulled in the bed, and he colored further as she stared at him with those solemn green eyes.
“Um. Robin? I don’t know what’s going on…”
“Something’s not right,” she said to him. “And I know you can sense it, too. Now talk. I’ve protected the bed from prying ears.”
He raised his brows. “Just the bed?”
Robin shot him a look. “I’m conserving my energy.”
Oh. “Well, yes. Something’s not right. What do you propose?”
“I propose we get out of here as fast as we can.”
He blinked. “No, we can’t. We’re on a mission. You are. I’m just your guard.”
“My companion,” she corrected. “I can defend myself.”
He highly doubted she could beyond her spells, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he asked, “What do you think of the whole thing?”
“I think Isaac has gone bonkers and it’s freaking me out.”
Well, at least they agreed on that. “And Roxie?”
Robin scowled. “I wouldn’t trust her to save my life.”
“She seems nice enough.”
“And so do all other fairies,” she pointed out. “Until they drop the act and curse you for life.”
“They can do that?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. Then Robin began to explain fairy details she knew that had Simon shuddering as she painted a vivid picture of violence and death games. It definitely wasn’t the fairies he read about in books, and it was all the more fascinating. Fairies, apparently, weren’t really believed to be true in this world, and only a few people like Robin’s witch mentor had seen them in person.
“Don’t you think everything is just too suspicious?” Robin prodded. “Isaac acting odd and leaving his precious clan? Dylan not telling us anything about this mission?”
Simon nodded. “It’s odd, yes. But it’s our mission, and backing out would mean failure. How about we just protect each other and see what happens?”
She looked absolutely reluctant but finally agreed. He couldn’t really blame her, because as a witch, she didn’t exactly fall under shifter clan jurisdiction to be loyal and all that—she was only lent to them for the time being to get trained and used to do missions while helping Dylan out, who was an ally of her witch mentor—the infamous witch named Red.
“Fine,” she said. Then she looked at him oddly. “You don’t need to sleep on the couch, you know. The bed is big enough for the both of us. I won’t bite.”
Now that made Simon nervous. Sleep with a…girl in the same bed? He stared at Robin, who looked dead serious as she removed the spell and patted the space beside her.
He gulped. Then he realized he was putting too much thought into things and should just think of her as a colleague. He slipped in bed as carefully as he could, waiting for her to do the same and trying not to smell her. She always smelled like lemons, and he’d grown pretty fond of it.
A few minutes later, he could feel her steady breathing and knew she was asleep. He stared at the ceiling for a while, feeling out his surroundings and sensing nothing but silence.
Then he closed his eyes with the hopes of a power nap.
*****
They woke up at three in the morning to prepare for the rest of the journey. Roxie led the way, and soon they found themselves in a forest area similar to the one at Isaac’s, except the trees were more brown than green. They stood at a clearing in the middle, where the fairy looked at Robin and asked her to open the portal.
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“Where?” Robin asked. She was visibly less antagonistic towards the other woman since her and Simon’s talk.
Roxie pointed towards the center, and Robin stepped forward and began using her witch magic to create a portal. Simon knew portals weren’t easily created and took time, and not all witches could make them. It only proved that Robin, at sixteen, was already powerful in her own right. Simon was pretty sure she was going to be the witches’ ace in no time—a force to be reckoned with, so to speak.
She kept chanting while kneeling down, using powders and stuff that looked unfamiliar. The same gold and red sparks in the bed last night filled the area she was touching now, and soon she closed her eyes.
Isaac watched on blankly, while Roxie watched on curiously. They both seemed to be noting down what was happening in their own way, and Simon found his attention divided between Robin and them.
A gasp came from Robin, and she doubled over. Simon’s shoulders tensed and he took a step forward towards her, but Isaac’s hand shot out to grab his arm. The clan leader shook his head, and they both waited until Robin crawled back to a kneeling position. All of Simon’s protective instincts went on alert.
Then fascination followed as a white glow appeared—small at first before it finally grew big enough to fit even the tallest in their group. Robin stepped back and heaved a sigh, and Simon removed his arm from Isaac’s grasp to hold on to her shoulders and back her away.
Roxie looked at the two of them before stepping forward. She held out a hand, where a nail grew into a talon. She sliced her wrist and blood flowed out. She let it drip on the portal, turning it brighter and bluer.
She then turned to Isaac. “We can’t take them with us.”
Isaac’s eyes narrowed, while Simon and Robin glanced at each other.
“Why not?” Isaac asked, his voice going dangerously low.
“Because the Winter Court is a deadly place, and I don’t want the possible death of two teenagers on my conscience,” she replied firmly.
Simon opened his mouth to protest, but Robin pinched him on the back. He clamped his mouth shut and waited for Isaac to defend them.
But to his surprise, Isaac nodded. “Then we go alone. Simon, Robin, your mission’s done.”
What? Just like that?
Simon blinked. But before he could comment, Roxie was already stepping inside the portal and disappearing from sight. Isaac looked at the two of them. “Go home. Tell Masters that your mission was successful. Robin, please close the portal after I’m gone.”
Then he stepped in, too. A few seconds later, Robin lifted her hand and chanted some more, while Simon held onto her and watched as the portal grew smaller until it finally disappeared.
Now he knew something really was wrong because there had been a flicker of resignation in Isaac’s eyes.
CHAPTER SIX
Isaac braced himself for the impact of traveling through a portal he had no control over, but nothing happened—at least, nothing happened until he got to the other end.
Then he found himself bracing for the cold instead as winter hit him like a punch in the gut and coated every inch of him in a tight fist.
He inhaled a deep, sharp breath. Then he exhaled it slowly, willing his mind to calm and waiting for his body to adjust to the temperature. That was one of the advantages of being a shifter.
He glanced to the side, where he saw Roxie looking perfectly fine. No shivering at all. Had she been human, she’d have already frozen over. This wasn’t the normal snow from his world, and he suddenly realized what Roxie was talking about when she said this place was dangerous for the likes of two teenagers.
Plus, Isabella would probably kill him if he ended up letting those two die, so leaving them behind was definitely the best decision there was.
They were in an alternate clearing with the same forest surrounding them, except the trees were all white now instead of brown. Roxie glanced at how he was doing with the cold, looking relieved that he’d adjusted. Still, he pulled out two coats from his bag, handing one to her. They put them on before she nodded her head and led the way out and into the forest, where he couldn’t sense any movement or detect any sounds at all. The snow even had no smell, unlike the crisp, earthy one back home.
When they finally left the forest, they arrived at a big clearing. Isaac instantly tensed when he saw movement in all the white. He prepared himself to shift, but Roxie put up a hand and shook her head.
“No. They’re harmless, as long as you don’t mess with them.”
Doubtful, he squinted his eyes to see them better. The movement he saw were animals, except they weren’t familiar ones. They had bodies similar to his, except furrier and differing in colors, from plain brown ones to spotty ones.
Their bodies were also covered in spikes that looked sharp and deadly.
“Those aren’t deadly?”
“No. The real danger is up there.” She pointed. Isaac looked up, surprised that he missed it.
It wasn’t clear due to the snow, but yes, there was a castle ahead—a large one that was completely white and looked like it was made entirely of ice. It was surrounded by storm clouds and what appeared to be even more intense snow formation falling down on it.
If they were near it, why weren’t there guards…
Almost instantly, he got it.
“So, if we mess with the King, then they mess with us?”
Roxie nodded, pleased that he got it. But now he was more troubled because he didn’t think the creatures in the clearing were the only ones here. There were probably thousands of them everywhere, and he and Roxie were outnumbered. But she didn’t seem to mind as she walked ahead, and soon he found himself falling in step with her.
“We’ll walk,” Roxie said. “The Winter King isn’t one for pleasantries, so we aren’t going to get any warm treatment.”
“He knows you’re coming?”
“He’s expecting it. He has my mother, after all.”
“And we’re just walking in there?”
“He thinks I’m friendly because I haven’t declared war yet. I’ll let him continue thinking it. I heard you’re good at strategy. You can strategize.”
Easier said than done.
“How long has she been there?” he asked.
“A few weeks. You were my last resort.”
She said it so reluctantly that he had no choice but to believe her. There were still so many questions in his head, but he saved them for later and opted to carefully watch his surroundings instead for any threats.
The creatures followed them not-too-closely as they kept walking towards the castle, but Roxie was right in their threat factor. They didn’t encounter any other obstacle as they went ahead. In less than an hour, they entered another forest area and finally reached a large clearing leading up to the castle. At this close of a view, Isaac could see that the ice castle was surrounded by a frozen moat.
Guards were posted at the main door, and Roxie boldly went ahead and introduced herself as the Autumn Queen’s daughter and him as her companion. Again, he wondered about her self-preservation before realizing the guards probably knew her as they quickly ushered them in without any more questions. Inside, Isaac quietly studied the castle rooms, which were filled with more ice but were surprisingly warmer than the outside. Ice chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and it would appear as though the King had a preference for silver.
They were taken to a round hall, one filled with more snow. Figures in white stood at the sides, and in the middle was a man in a silky silver robe, with snowflakes falling on his head. He was ethereal and glowing, an aura of power that made Isaac wary. Immediately, he already knew who this was.
As if on cue, Roxie bowed slightly before straightening up. Her whole body relaxed as a warm smile slid across her face. It was the first warm smile he’d seen from her, and surprise filled him when he saw her whole demeanor change. A dazzling feeling came over him, and he realized that this was part of her fairy charm—the on
e she hadn’t used on him when she could have done so when trying to convince him to help. Nice to know he wasn’t completely duped. His trust rose a tiny amount in her.
She had been saving it for someone else—someone more powerful.
The Winter King smiled back. It was cold and impersonal, a complete contrast to hers. Then he spoke. “Welcome to my kingdom.”
His brittle voice felt like icicles, and Isaac felt a trickle of unease.
“Thank you, kind King,” Roxie oozed out. “I am honored to be in the presence of someone as powerful and wonderful as you.”
The King’s eyes gleamed. “Let us cut to the chase, shall we?”
“Yes, let’s,” Roxie murmured. “Have you been treating my mother well?”
“Yes. Very well.”
They were acting like sincere friends instead of enemy and rescuer. The trickle of unease turned into a gush. Alarm bells rang in Isaac’s head, but he held still, preparing himself to shift and make a run for it in case something went wrong. No one moved, and the two fairies began to talk in murmured voices. Isaac’s ears perked up when he heard his name being mentioned, and the King glanced at him from head to toe, that same gleam appearing in his eyes.
He knew a predatory look when he saw one, considering he was a predator himself. The alarm bells now shouted, and he stifled the urge to shout at Roxie and tell her to abort the mission, because they were about to be duped. He was just going to have to grab her, shift and make a run for it, and—
Icicles formed on his feet. Then, his hands. Shock filled Isaac when he found he couldn’t shift at all, as his whole body except his head was suddenly encased in ice. He opened his mouth to tell Roxie to go, but the words froze in his throat when he saw that Roxie was safe and sound and now standing a few feet away from him, her golden eyes shining with the same shock.
And guilt.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “But I needed to do this.” She turned to the King. “Your Highness, this is my bargain. A non-fairy for my mother’s release. Do we have an agreement?”
The King smiled again, the coldness of it cutting through. “Indeed, we do.”
Isaac (The Clan Legacy Series) Page 3