Cloudburst Ice Magic (10 page)

“Thank you, Matriarch.”

As the older Demon left, Zach snuggled down
in the fluffy powder beside Lily and made sure the bedding stayed
tucked around her. Her skin remained scalding to the touch and her
breathing shallow.

“Please, Holy Freya, help Lily survive this
change. Help her be my mate.” He bowed his head and kissed Lily’s
hot cheek. “Please, Lily. Fight for me. Fight for us. I love
you.”

****

Lily found herself in a familiar landscape
of crystals, all pointing in various directions. This time, the
crystals seemed to shift in color, from white and clear, to blues,
pale lavender, and soft pink of rose quartz. The temperature where
she sat reminded her of summer in Las Vegas, where heat shimmered
off the buildings and sidewalks like a living thing.

Lily picked up her lacy fan, a delicate
white embroidered confection, and waved it at her face, hoping to
cool herself down.

“Holy cow, it’s hot out here.”

She threw her head back and waved the fan,
trying to cool the sweat rolling down her neck and between her
breasts. A breeze picked up and someone settled beside her on the
color-shifting crystal where she sat. Lily opened her eyes to stare
into the bluer version of them set in a masculine face.

“Linus? What are you doing here?”

Her older-by-ten-minutes twin brother
grinned at her. “Checking up on you. How are you doing, Lil?”

Contentment welled up inside her chest.
“Good. Really good. I took your advice, you know.”

“Oh, yeah? Which advice was that?” His cocky
grin said he knew but wanted to hear her say it.

“I got busy living and went to play in the
snow.”

“It’s about time you saw reason.”

Lily smacked his arm. “Dork!” He laughed.
“But seriously, what are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you
again. I thought you’d moved on.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing, Lil.
Something you want to tell me?”

Linus looked so serious a seed of dread grew
in her gut. “No, nothing that I can think of. I got a job as a
Search and Rescue professional in Cloudburst and I’m helping save
people on the slopes.” She searched her memories. “Zach and I are
good. He’s been working in Nevada, but he drove out to Colorado
to…to help me. We were stuck in a blizzard. He came to help us get
down.” She frowned as she scanned the crystalline landscape,
wishing it could be cooler here.

“You’re sure everything’s good?” Linus
looked concerned.

“Yeah, why?”

“’Cause the only reason you’d be here is if
you’re on the way out.”

“Out?” Lily’s eyes widened. “As in out of
life? Bought the farm? Dying?”

“Yeah, all those, and any other death
euphemism you can come up with.” Linus grasped her hand. “Want to
tell me what’s going on?”

Lily frowned, searching her memories as she
stared into her brother’s blue eyes. “I don’t know of anything.
Zach and I were…” She stopped and her cheeks heated more than the
arm air could account for. “We were together and everything was
good. But then…”

The memory of pain arrowed through her mind
so sharply, she gasped. “I don’t know, Linus. Something painful,
something bad. Why? Am I dead?”

“No, not yet. This place is a hub of
choices, Lil.” He squeezed her hand and gestured to the pulsing
crystals around them. “There are many paths you can take from here.
Some lead back to your life. Some lead onward. You’re at a
crossroads and you can choose which way to go. I’m here because you
are.”

She filtered through his words to get the
essence of them, but it had become difficult to focus. And it was
so hot.

“So I could choose to stay here with you?”
That seemed like a good idea. Sort of. But a thought nagged at the
back of her mind, as if she missed something important.

“For a little while, then we’d both have to
choose our next path.” Linus’s smile turned distant.

“Will it always be so hot?” Lily wiped her
brow with her arm and waved the fan again.

“That is all you, Lil. You’re the one
burning up.”

His words meant more than just what he’d
said, but she couldn’t quite grasp the meaning. It was so hard to
think with the heat.
Think, Sinclair. You’re missing
something.

“What about Zach? Will he be here, too?”

Linus’s smile became vibrant again. “No,
he’s back in your life, waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me to do what?”

“Make your decision, Lily. You’re at the
crossroads, remember?” He squeezed her hand and met her gaze
squarely. “You have to choose to fight to stay in his world or let
go of everything for the next one.”

Lily bit her lip. Dying was easy and
peaceful, and she’d get to be with Linus. Living would let her be
with Zach, but might bring more of the pain she remembered. She
wrapped her arms around her knees.

“What would you do?”

“Oh no, little sister. This is your choice,
not mine.” Linus shook his head. “You have to choose life with Zach
or whatever is beyond the crystals on the horizon.”

The surge of pain and heat flowed through
her again and she groaned. “Will going back to Zach hurt?”

“I’m sure it will, sometimes,” Linus
conceded. “But here’s the thing. It’s an adventure, and adventures
are rarely calm, sedate, peaceful things. Which would you rather
have?”

He rose from his perch beside her and took a
few steps away before turning to face her. “I’ve hung out here long
enough and watched over you for that time, but you’re ready to do
this on your own. Make your decision, Lil. Get busy livin’, or get
busy dyin’. Either way, the choice, and consequences, is
yours.”

Lily stared at her brother, her best friend
for as long as she could remember, and realized she didn’t need him
anymore. The love hadn’t changed, but she’d grown in confidence
while he’d been away.

“I love you, Linus.”

“I love you, too, Lily. What’s it gonna
be?”

She rose and gave him her best smile. “I’m
not done yet. And I haven’t had enough time with Zach.” She waved
the fan, cooling her face. “Which way back to my life?”

Linus laughed and nodded, then pointed over
her shoulder. “That way. You gonna be okay, Lil?”

“Yeah.” Lily nodded. “Better than okay. How
about you?”

“I’m good. Give my best to Zach and to Mom
and Pop.” He tilted his head. “And just say yes, okay?”

Lily raised her eyebrows. “Say yes? To
what?”

But Linus winked and waved, then faded into
the brightening light. Lily squinted her eyes, holding the fan up
to shade her gaze, but everything blazed until she could see
nothing at all beyond white. She closed her eyes and hoped she’d
made it home.

Chapter Twelve

“Lily?”

Lily opened her eyes and tried to find
color, but everything remained white. She blinked, hoping relief
would come into focus. Gray and blue shadows flickered in the
silvery light as she lay buried up to her neck in…
Is this a bed
of snow?

She struggled to free her hands from under
the cool blanket, but something else held her down. Turning her
head, she met Zach’s ice-green gaze, his expression full of intense
concern.

“Hi, Zach.” Why did her voice sound so
tired? “Where are we?”

“Oh, thank you, sweet Goddess!” He pulled
her to his chest, his body trembling with suppressed emotion.

So I’ve been elevated to Goddess
status?
The humorous thought didn’t quite cover her concern for
Zach’s actions. “Uh, Zach? What’s going on and where am I? Are we
still in the equipment shed?”

Zach pulled back to look at her with a
tremulous smile, two silver tears sliding down his cheeks. “You
survived. You’ve made the change and you’re going to be all right.
You’re my lucky number seven.”

None of his words made sense.
Lucky
number seven?
“What are you talking about?” She lowered her
brows. “You’re gonna have to explain ’cause I’m having trouble
following you.”

Zach whimpered and peppered her face with
kisses, his relief palpable. “I’m sorry. I’m just so glad your
fever broke and you can even give me that confused look.”

Fever?
Lily remembered sitting with
her brother in a crystal field with the temperature just a few
degrees less than a Las Vegas heat wave.
So that’s why I was so
hot.

More tears slid down Zach’s lovely white
face and she struggled to pull her hand out of the snow bedding to
wipe them away. “Hey, why don’t you tell me what happened after we
made love so I understand, okay?”

He nodded, swallowing hard until he regained
his composure. “Do you remember biting me when you came?”

Lily tried to hold back the blush, but a new
bloom of heat flowed into her cheeks. “Yes.”

He cracked a watery smile. “You ingested
some of my blood and it immediately made you sick. It’s poisonous
to humans.”

Lily blinked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know.” His eyes filled with
contrite sorrow. “I swear I knew nothing about it. None of the Ice
Demons in my family have ever mated with humans, and I’ve never
heard of anyone choosing a human mate.” He pushed some of the hair
out of her face with tender fingers. “I’m sorry, Lily. Had I known,
I would have been very careful with you.”

She nodded. It was in the past and she’d
survived. “It’s okay. We didn’t know. How did you break the
fever?”

Zach bit his bottom lip. “I didn’t. I
brought you to the Matriarch of the Oro Creek clan and she allowed
us to stay at Mistweaver Tarn while you fought the fever.” He
gestured to the room around them. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Lily followed his gaze and took in the
arching columns and lacy snow coverlet. Nothing seemed to melt when
she touched it, yet she rested surprisingly comfortable encased in
powder. Even wearing so little.

“Hello, am I naked under here?” She lifted
the blankets on her and they rose as if woven together. “Why don’t
I have frostbite or hypothermia?”

Zach took a deep breath and gave her a
hopeful smile. “When you ingested my blood, part of what made you
so sick was your body’s attempt to assimilate it. Either your body
would try to purge it by the fever or it would change with it and
survive.”

“Change? Change how?”

He took her hand and traced the veins and
ligaments on the back with one talon. “You’ve become half ice
Demon.”

Lily blinked a few times, momentarily
shocked silent.

“It’s the only way you could have survived.
And it will make you more impervious to cold while out in the
weather.” His words came in a rush to reassure her.

Half ice Demon
. Her mind filtered
through the possibilities. “Does that mean I’ll be able to shift my
appearance, and turn all white and crystallized?”

Zach paused, his mouth closing with an
audible clack of teeth. “Uh, no, I don’t think so. But you should
be stronger and unlikely to freeze to death.” He tilted his head.
“And your eyes are more silver now than gray.”

“Really?” She struggled to sit up and the
snowy quilt dropped to her waist. “Is this really snow wrapped
around me?”

“Yes.” He grinned as his gaze strayed to her
breasts and back. “It was the only way to keep you from overheating
and dying.”

“I don’t feel cold at all.” She ran her
hands over the quilt. “It feels like real lace.”

“It does.” He caught her hand and brought it
to his lips. “So are you okay with being half Ice Demon? I truly
didn’t mean to poison you or make you change. Had I known, I
wouldn’t have let you bite me.”

“I’m okay with it, Zach.” A smile crept over
her lips. “This’ll make me a better SAR professional, won’t it? I
can already sense the storms. Now I’ll be able to withstand them
better, and get people out easier.”

“Yes, probably.” He shook his head with a
perplexed smile. “You’re not mad about this?”

“Why would I be? This is kinda cool.
Although I don’t think I’ll be biting you again anytime soon.”

Zach laughed. “I’m pretty sure you’ve built
up antibodies against it and it won’t harm you now. But I’m okay
with no biting.” He winked. “Bondage, maybe, but no biting.”

“What?” Lily blinked and Zach laughed
harder. “Does that mean I get to tie you up?”

“Hmm, maybe. But first you have to do
something for me.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

Zach leaned forward until his forehead
rested against hers. “Marry me. Be my wife, my mate, and my kinky
bondage lover all rolled into one.” Cool green eyes met hers. “Will
you marry me?”

Linus’s parting words floated through her
thoughts.
Just say yes, okay?

You sneaky bastard.
She swore she
heard Linus laugh.

“Lily?” Zach looked like he held his
breath.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. Just don’t go
back to Nevada, okay?”

“Not unless you come with me.” He growled
around his grin before he kissed her, thrusting his tongue in her
mouth and setting off fireworks throughout her body.

Lily moaned and kissed him back, her nipples
hardening against his chest. Zach dug his fingers into her hair and
deepened their kiss, taking his time to savor her lips and tongue.
When they came back up for air, he grinned, flashing his long
canines.

“You’re beautiful when you’re all riled up,
princess.” He lifted her hand to his lips then paused as he
examined her fingers. “It looks like more than your eyes have
changed.” He held up her fingers. “You have little talons now.”

Lily gasped and pulled her hand closer to
look at her nails. The tips curved gently over the ends of her
fingers and came to mild points. She raised her gaze to Zach.

“Do you think they’ll be strong enough to
use for climbing?”

He laughed. “I don’t know, but when you’re
better, we can find out.”