Ice Like Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

face is wide with astonishment. He’s pleased with this find, he’ll want to open that door, and seeing that expression on him makes me reel even more. I didn’t think. I charged in here without remembering who Theron is, who he really is—not just a source of comfort, not just my friend. He wants this. Cordell wants this.
    I back up, farther from him.
    Theron reaches out for me. “Meira?”
    Biting and sharp, a cold sensation cuts through my bodyin a heave of magic. My magic, not the spark in the air. I slam to a halt.
    Meira! comes Hannah’s voice. She’s upset. Afraid. Of what?
    Theron follows my retreat. His foot hooks on the floor and he teeters forward, arms flailing as he collides with me and sends us toppling down, closer to the carved door.
    Meira, get away from here!
    So cold, so cold —
    MEIRA! Hannah cries. Mei—
    Silence. Utter, aching silence, like a door slamming shut, cutting off all noises beyond.
    Fiery, determined heat eats at my body in mad snatches of relentless pain. Just as frigid as my magic is cold, this is hot, spreading in singeing fingers up my limbs and across my chest and neck. It cauterizes my throat into a lumpy, impenetrable knot, intensifying and raging against every nerve so that when I scream, it goes unheard.
    Theron’s body presses against mine, and all I know beyond the licking warbles of pain that eat up my insides and remain trapped behind the knot in my throat is that we’re causing this. Or me —I’m causing this, because Theron isn’t in pain. His brow furrows only in confusion.
    “Meira, what—”
    An invisible force launches us through the air, hurling us back at the entrance to the room. Our bodies pop with a chorus of blows against the stone wall before we collapse ina heap on the floor. Everyone by the door shouts in alarm and dives toward us, but somewhere along the way the knot in my throat released, and the pain comes rushing out of my mouth in a scream that doesn’t even sound human. My body throbs and I curl into a ball, head to my knees, arms over my ears, rocking back and forth, trying to find some position that doesn’t feel like I’m being burned alive.
    HANNAH! I shout at her, at the magic, at anything that could make it stop—
    Silence, still. Just silence, that’s all I get from her. Dread plummets through me before thick darkness slides into my eyes and down my throat and fills me top to bottom in a prison I know far too well.
    “Meira!” Theron’s fingers bury in my hair, his arms fold around me. “Meira, hold on—”
    A blink, and I’m left alone in darkness, fire, and ice.
    Blackness subsides, unfurling in the yellow glow of torches. I’m almost grateful for the light—I’m awake; I survived; I’m okay—until my eyes adjust to the room.
    A cell reveals itself in the flickering light, grimy black stones glinting with putrid stains. In the corner sits Theron, staring at the door with a concentration spurred by intense fear.
    Because in that doorway stands Angra.
    “The heir of Cordell,” Angra announces as he walks forward and crouches before Theron, leaning on his staff. “You give new meaning to the word valiant . What was your plan? Sneak into my city and free my latest Winterian slave?” He reaches out, grabbing Theron’s chin and wrenching his attention up.
    “Or are you expecting your father to sweep in and save you both?” Angra purrs.
    Theron’s stoicism breaks in a gasp that matches my own.
    This is what happened to Theron while he was imprisoned in Abril.
    Green eyes narrow, Angra cocks his head as if he’s listening to an echo. His expression flashes with a look I never thought his face capable of. Eyes relaxed, lips parted: shocked awe.
    Angra recovers, stroking his thumb along Theron’s jaw. “Do you really think he’ll come?”
    Theron’s brows peak, a spasm of doubt that he might not even be aware of.
    Angra latches on to it. “You and I are not so different. Shall I show you how similar we truly are?”