Free Enchanted Frost (Frost Series #8) (A YA Romantic Fantasy Adventure) by Kailin Gow Page A

brain.
              Logan
took my hand. “We'll find him, Breena,” he whispered. “Don't worry. My priority
in life is keeping you safe – and if that means keeping Kian safe as well, then
I swear to you, I'll do it with all my heart. I would give my life for you,
Breena, you know that. And so I would give my life for him as well, as much as
it hurts me to say this. I can't let you be unhappy a moment longer. It kills
me, watching you suffer like this. I used to wish Kian out of the way – but now
I wish he were here, if only to see you smile again.”
              I
did smile – albeit a bitter one. I smiled through my tears as I looked into
Logan's steadfast, loyal eyes. Even through my misery I couldn't deny that I
was happy to have Logan here by my side. I'd missed him – and now that Kian was
gone I couldn't deny that our friendship was stronger than ever. Just having
Logan near me – to talk to, to confide in, to hold me when the world seemed too
wide and too strange for me ever to find a place in it – was good enough for
me. I hadn't realized until now just how much his earlier absence had left a
hole in my life. Logan brought out a different side of me than Kian did. He
didn't bring out the Fairy Queen, the beautiful and unattainable woman that
Kian seemed to see in me. Instead he brought out something calmer, quieter,
more natural. The human girl I used to be. The girl who laughed and joked; the
girl who had fun. The girl who could – for a few seconds of the day –
forget the passionate drama of her engagement, forget the wars and battles that
characterized her rule as queen – and just be...herself. I felt like me again
– for the first time- like the human Breena from Gregory.
              But
for all this, I knew, I had never been more unhappy. What use was it to get in
touch with my human side if my fairy side – the side that loved Kian, that
longed for him and missed him – was left bereft? I had to find Kian – and fast
– before I risked losing him forever.
              But
alas, that was not to be. No sooner had Logan and I made preparations to depart
for the Winter Court, where we planned to start retracing Kian's steps as best
we could from his palace, than we were interrupted by the arrival of a
messenger, a young man I recognized from the town. He was out of breath from
running; he was covered in blood.
              “What's
going on?” I said, as he bowed at my feet, pressing his forehead to the floor.
“Is it the rations – are there not enough?”
              “No,
my Queen,” he wheezed. “It's not the rations – got nothing to do with that.
There's something else going on. Some strange magic in the air...”
              I
turned to Logan, my heart sinking as he and I exchanged a glance. Were the
Wolves' newfound magic powers – a secret Logan and I were keeping as best we
could – at the heart of this?
              “Strange
magic?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as polite and level as I could. “What
do you mean by that, my friend?”
              “Couples...”
he said. “Hundreds of them. Married couples who have been together for years if
not decades; engaged couples, newly in love, who decided to follow yours and
Kian's example by announcing their impending nuptials...”
              His
words cut deep, but the smile remained frozen on my face as I tried to mask the
sting of Kian's name, and of the reminder of his absence.
              “Yes?”
I prodded him. “Go on – what about them?”
              “They
hate each other!” The man was aghast. “All of them – they started fighting,
quarrelling, screaming at one another. All of them – all at once. Couples
breaking up, divorcing, turning their backs on one another. Not a single pair
is still together. Love is being transformed into hatred”
              “Where
is this happening?” I traded a glance