Chapter 3 Drowning in the Glacier

BANG.

The heavy oak door of the midnight-black carriage slammed shut, a final, percussive knell that orphaned me from the rainy night and my last shred of hope.

In the suffocating darkness, the interior felt less like a transport and more like a predator's den. It was colonized by his scent-a sharp, frigid aroma of aged cedarwood mingled with the acrid, metallic tang of high-octane fuel. It was an overbearing, masculine fragrance that claimed every inch of available oxygen, forcing me to breathe him in until he coated my lungs.

I was thrown onto the velvet seat as the carriage lurched forward. The Cold-Iron chain around my neck let out a crisp, musical clink, feeling like a serpent coiled between my collarbones, its fangs sinking into my skin to drink the heat from my blood.

"Don't move."

In the gloom, the man sat beside me. Too close.

His thigh pressed hard against mine, a pillar of unyielding muscle. Through our rain-soaked clothes, I could feel that terrifyingly low, glacial body temperature radiating from him. It was a cold that shouldn't belong to a living thing-a sub-zero void that made my soul ache with a desperate, shameful longing.

I tried to shrink into the corner, clawing at the velvet upholstery, but the aftershocks of the Magic Overload surged back like a tsunami.

Although the Cold-Iron collar was venting a steady stream of frost to suppress my fire, it was a mere bucket of water thrown against a forest fire. My internal organs felt as though they were being cauterized; my blood was a roaring furnace. My vision shattered into a chaotic smear of exploding white light and throbbing fractals.

"Ngh..."

With a violent jolt over the cobblestones, my leaden body gave way. I pitched sideways, gravity dragging me down, but I didn't hit the carriage wall.

A powerful arm snared my waist, arresting my fall with brutal efficiency. Linus hauled me back-not to the seat, but flush against his chest.

"I told you not to move."

His voice vibrated through my ribcage, laced with irritation, yet underlying it was the icy arrogance of a man who owned everything he touched.

I wanted to struggle. My reason screamed that this was the monster who had collared me-the Church's cold-blooded executioner. I should be clawing at his throat. I should be spitting in his face.

But my body was a traitor.

The moment my cheek pressed against the biting chill of his damp trench coat, I let out a long, shuddering sigh of pure, primal bliss.

Heaven.

It was the feeling of a parched fish finally returning to a freezing, deep-blue ocean. The heat that had been boiling my brain instantly began to dissipate into his massive frame.

I didn't push him away. Instead, I did the unthinkable.

My fingers, trembling and weak, reached out and clutched his lapels, bunching the expensive wool in my fists. I buried my scorching forehead against the crook of his neck, nuzzling into the damp skin there, greedily drinking in every drop of frost he offered.

"You bastard..." I choked out, the words sounding more like a breathless endearment than a curse. "Let go of me..."

"Your mouth says 'let go,' Miss Wylde."

Linus's large hand cupped the back of my head. His icy pads pressed against my burning scalp, sending waves of numbing, addictive relief crashing through my nervous system.

"But your body is begging me to save it."

He let out a low, dark chuckle. The sound resonated deep in his chest, vibrating against my ear like the hum of a dangerous, idling engine.

"Admit it. You're burning in hell, and I am your only block of ice."

I bit my lip until I tasted the metallic tang of blood. I couldn't refute him. In the swaying, pitch-black silence, I found myself surrendering, nuzzling deeper into the hollow of his neck, seeking the lethal chill of his marrow.

He didn't push me away. He kept his hand on my head, his fingers tracing the line of my skull, petting me. It wasn't gentle; it was possessive. He was soothing me the way one would calm a feverish, dying pet.

Finally, the carriage groaned to a halt.

"We're here."

Linus released me.

Without his support, I swayed, the sudden loss of his cold making the fever flare up with vengeful intensity. The door opened, letting in the roar of the storm. I expected to see the grim mouth of a dungeon, the iron bars of the Inquisition's cells.

Instead, through the blur of rain, I saw a monolithic black spire reaching toward the storm-tossed clouds, tearing the sky apart.

The Tower of Silence.

"This isn't a prison..." I whispered, my voice a haunted rasp, staring up at the gargantuan structure.

Linus stepped into the rain and gave a sharp, sudden tug on the Cold-Iron chain.

"Ah!"

The jerk forced me to stumble down the steps, falling straight into his waiting arms. He caught me with effortless strength, his lips brushing the shell of my ear as the rain hammered against us.

"Prisons are for the dead, Lillian. You are far too useful."

He swept me up into a bridal carry, bridging the distance to the massive black doors engraved with leering deities.

"This is my private residence," he murmured, his voice cutting through the thunder. "And from today until I have unearthed every secret in that mind of yours..."

The doors slammed shut behind us, severing the sound of the rain and sealing my fate.

"You belong to the Tower."