Free Frost Fire (Tortured Elements) by Olivia Rivers Page A

footsteps enter the basement dungeon. Then, after a moment, a voice breathed, “Son of a bitch.”
    She recognized the voice as Luke’s. Of course. She should have counted that he’d come looking for her. Luke always knew when she got into trouble, like it was some uncanny sixth sense.
    “Faroh, go get help,” Luke said, just as quietly. It sounded like he’d turned from her, and Allai could only guess that Luke was talking to the guard. She heard rustling of wings as the young guard sprinted up the steps leading from the dungeon.
    “Drake,” Luke said, his voice calm and even. “Let her go.”
    He sounded closer. Allai struggled to open her mouth and punched at Drake’s chest. She needed to tell Luke to stay back. Despite being blind, it would be easy for Luke to know that Drake was holding her hostage; with Drake out of his cell, and Allai’s pounding heart pressed against his, it was really the only plausible scenario.
    But, even if Luke could figure out the situation, there was no way he could actually
fight
Drake. She thought back to yesterday, to the rain drizzling down on Silas’s corpse and his limp hands clutching his chest. She wouldn’t let that happen to Luke.
    Drake snarled, and Allai felt the vibrations of the sound rumble in his chest. She closed her eyes. Her jaw was starting to ache from him clamping it closed. She wished she could bite him, or maybe punch his face. But all she could do was kick at his shins. So she did that, slamming her foot into the middle of his shin again and again. He didn’t even react.
    “Allai,” Luke said, sounding a little more panicked. “Don’t upset him.”
    How did Luke always know when she was getting herself into trouble? Even in life-threatening situations? She tried to sigh, and then shrieked against Drake’s hand when he blocked it.
    “Stay away from me, viper,” Drake snapped, stepping backward. Pressed against him, Allai could feel the raw power of his muscles as they moved. She shivered; Drake was built for destruction. “I’ll kill her if you come any closer,” he warned.
    “Okay, okay,” Luke said. “Just… Bloody hell, take a deep breath. Calm down.” His accent became stronger as his panic grew.
    Drake came to a halt. “I’ll let her live if you let me go. Just get me out of here, and she’ll be fine.”
    “I can’t do that, Drake. I can’t let you go without getting myself killed,” Luke said. “I’d be an accomplice to your escape. So let’s just try to work this out.”
    Drake snarled and dug his claws deeper into Allai’s skin. They’d puncture with just a little more pressure. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.
    “Let’s start at the beginning.” Luke was starting to regain his cool tone. “How’d you get out of your cell?”
    Allai winced at the question. She knew what he was really asking:
Did Allai let you out?
She understood the suspicion, considering all the times she’d tried to convince Luke that Drake had saved her life. But the question still hurt.
    “Your idiot guard didn’t lock the door,” Drake spat. “How else could I have gotten out?”
    “Alright,” Luke said, his tone wavering toward disbelief. “Then I guess it was our mistake. Sorry for that. If our guard hadn’t done that, we might not be in this situation.”
    Allai knew every word wounded Luke. Apologizing to a son of Rhaize? The one who had tried to kill her? He’d probably never regain his self-esteem.
    “Look, I don’t want to talk to you,” Drake said. “I just want to go free. So one more time: Let me go, or I’m killing her.”
    “I can’t do that,” Luke repeated. “I’d get myself killed. I’d get Allai killed.”
    “What?” Drake said.
    “I said I can’t let you go.”
    “No, what do you mean it would get her killed?”
    Luke took a deep breath and then slowly explained, “She’d also be an accomplice to your escape. An unwilling one, but still an accomplice. Most Warriors would get away with that, but