Night soon fell over the forest, and my time for attack came when Draya ventured out of the cabin to grab something out of her car. There were only a few seconds to react, and I took it.
As soon as I had her clutched in my grasp, I summoned my magic and pulled her through the portal to my realm. She screamed, but no one would hear her in the cold depths of the Ice Court dungeons.
I thrust open the ice cage door and pushed her inside, watching her slip and fall on the floor.
“What the hell!” she shrieked, trying to get to her feet and failing. Her body shook with chills. It took a few tries, but she eventually got to her feet, her Summer skin turning blue as she held onto the icy bars. “W-who are you?”
I could hear her teeth chattering. It was dark, and I knew she couldn’t see me.
Holding out my hand, I summoned my fire magic, and a ball of flame lit up the room, giving her a clear view of my face. “Now, do you know who I am?” I spat.
Draya’s eyes widened and she scrambled away from the bars. “You’reher.” She jerked her gaze around the dungeon. “Which means . . .”
“You’re in the Land of the Fae,” I finished. “And you’re going to stay here until I get what I want.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at me and turned her back, her body shaking uncontrollably from the cold. “I’m . . . n-not . . . t-telling you a-anything.”
A raging fire burned in my gut. “Oh, yes, you are.”
I’d never used my magic to torture anyone, but I wasn’t about to show mercy to an enemy. Concentrating on the air, I envisioned it leaving her lungs. I pulled it away and watched her fall to the floor, writhing in agony. She grabbed her throat, her mouth hanging wide open in a silent scream.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?” I asked.
I thrust the air back into her lungs and she gasped. Her chest heaved up and down as she sucked in the air.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, returning to her feet. Her blue eyes gleamed with hatred as she stared at me.
“What does your leader have planned?” I demanded. She lifted her chin defiantly and clenched her jaw. “You know what,” I said, grinning wide, “it doesn’t matter what you tell me. I can just find out for myself.”
Draya scoffed. “Good luck with that. The second my guys see you, they’ll put a bullet in your head.”
I laughed. “Not if they seeyou.”
My magic trembled across my skin as my body transformed into hers. I was the exact replica of her, dressed in a red sweater and jeans with her golden blonde hair and blue eyes. My skin was no longer cold like a Winter fae but warm like Summer.
She stumbled back and grabbed her chest. “Holy shit. That’s insane.”
“So, now you see,” I said, “I don’tneedyour help. I just needed you out of the way. However, if you had just cooperated, you could’ve earned yourself a warmer room for the evening.”
“Screw you!” she spat.
I held up my hands. “So be it. I’ll check back on you in a couple of days. Maybe you won’t freeze to death.”
I opened a portal back to the mortal realm, and before I could step through, her following words froze me in place.
“I spent my childhood hearing stories of how amazing it was in the Land of the Fae. I dreamed about the day I could come here. That is until I heard the real story.”
Closing the portal, I turned around and looked at her. “What are you talking about?”
Her jaw trembled from the cold. “I’m talking about my father. He was a good Summer fae man who worked his entire life for your grandparents. But then their stupid rules tore him away from the only woman he ever loved.”
Long before my parents or I was born, there was a time when it was forbidden to be with someone from a different court.
“Was she from Winter?”
Draya snarled. “Yes. And my father was banished to that shitty excuse of a mortal world while your people lived the good life here.”
“We don’t have rules like that here anymore,” I snapped. “That changed long before I was born.”