The Winter King Read Online Free PDF

out for her.
    She stared at it, at the foam expertly
decorated on top in the shape of a snowflake, at the steam rising
from it promisingly. Almost afraid at this point, she gingerly
hooked her finger through the loop of the handle and lifted it out
of his grasp. “Thank you.”
    “ My pleasure,” he said. He
raised his in a toast. “To a better night.”
    Their eyes met. A chill went through
Poppy.
    Then she took a sip.
    Poppy closed her eyes, barely suppressing a
moan. Hot, creamy, perfectly delicious liquid washed over her
tongue and down her throat, warming her from the inside out. She
swallowed, and said, “It’s hot. Gods, it’s actually hot.”
    Kristopher lowered his cup. “You’re
surprised.”
    Poppy opened her eyes and laughed a little.
“It’s just that this is something like the fifth cup of coffee I’ve
tried for today, and the first that’s actually been hot. I don’t
know what the deal is; it’s truly bizarre.” She gently shook her
head just once. “And I really needed it today, because I’ve had
this headache that just….” She made a face and splayed her hands
like something exploding.
    He nodded. “Let me guess, it’s sitting
somewhere right about… here?” He reached across the table and she
went stiff as he brushed his fingers through her hair until he was
touching the base of her skull on the right side.
    Instant cold went through that spot,
freezing the pain out of her head. The next throb was softer than
the last, and the one after that was even softer. Over the course
of just a few quick seconds, the headache ebbed to nonexistence,
and she was staring into very blue eyes in both relief and
shock.
    Slowly, Kristopher removed his hand.
    “ How….” She had been about
to ask how he’d done that. But she had a feeling she already knew.
It made perfect sense. He was too beautiful to be human. Clearly,
he possessed some sort of magic. So the real question she should be
asking was….
    “ Who are you?”
    “ I already told
you.”
    “ Okay,” she countered, and
though she was more grateful than she could really say for the hot
coffee and the end to her migraine, her defensive alarms were
screeching. “Then what are you?”
    He took a deep breath and
reclined in his chair, never taking his eyes off her. “What would
you say if someone asked such a question of you , Persephone?”
    Poppy blinked.
    “ What would you tell them?”
he continued. Another pause. “Would you say, ‘I’m human, of
course,” and leave it at that? Or would you say, ‘I’m Persephone
Glacia Nix,’ or ‘I’m of Nordic descent,’ or even… ‘I’m a
warlock,’?”
    A ringing began in Poppy’s ears. The world
around her was narrowing, as if she were entering some sort of
tunnel. There was only her… and the man sitting across from
her.
    “ You see, questions can be
complicated,” he went on. “And their answers, even more
so.”
    Silence filled the shop. Or, at least it
seemed to from Poppy’s perspective. Everything was quiet but for
the ringing in her ears. It was persistent, growing louder. And
then it was quiet. And then it was loud again.
    Wait….
    “ Your phone is ringing,
Poppy.”
    Her eyes widened, and she
looked down at her purse. A spear of aggressive irritation spiked
through her. “I know .” She shoved her hand into her handbag and pulled out her
phone. “And thank you for calling me Poppy .”
    She put the phone to her ear. “What?” she
asked none too gently.
    “ Poppy? You
okay?”
    It was Violet. Poppy sat up straighter and
looked across the table at the blue-eyed stranger who hadn’t
stopped staring at her. She would give just about anything just
then to have a nice long talk with her best friend. She’d had one
heck of a day, and now she was having coffee with someone who was
clearly of a supernatural ilk, and who knew exactly who and what
she was.
    He could be dangerous.
    Oh, he’s definitely dangerous.
    “ Um….”
    “ Poppy, what’s going