Freeze (Faerie
Song Trilogy #2.5)
By: Michele Barrow-Belisle
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Romance
Publisher: Astraea Press/
Cleanreads Publishing
Publication: September 1, 2016
Word
Count:
70,000
Cover
Artist:
AM Designs
In a twisted game of following impossible
clues to ceaseless dead ends, The Shadow Faerie Zanthiel is forced to search
for the girl he'd let go.
Lorelei may be out of his life, but she’s
never far from his mind with the prophecy pulling them together. They both feel
it, yet they both have reason to fight it. He might not be able to have her,
but no force in this world, or any other will stop him from saving her.
Time is running out, and Zanthiel has
only a fraction of it left to find her, before those hunting her find either
one of them.
PROLOGUE
My blood froze to ice in
my veins when I saw her.
Lorelei.
Lying there broken.
Bloodied. Bruised.
I'd kill whoever did
this to her. Then I'd slaughter their entire family line. My steps hurried, but
I could not reach her quickly enough. She was pale. Weakened from the loss of
too much blood, and too much cold, and too little hope. Her light was fading
from this world and all others.
"No. No. NO. I will
not let you die. I forbid it, do you hear me?" My voice rose as I scooped
her into my arms, barely any weight at all, which set my fears even deeper.
Live. You must live. Live. For me.
I had to get her help,
but I feared there wouldn't be anything left of her to save once I had. My
powers were useless against whatever treacherous magic this was, but there was
always an undoing. A workaround for nearly all spells, even a curse or hex.
Something had to be able to change this, reverse the effects and restore her
life. A cure existed—I wanted to believe that. It just meant finding it.
This was my fault.
Things of beauty are never meant to be broken. But I did this. I allowed her
into my world, into my life, and I broke her. I deserved to suffer the same
fate. Worse than her fate. I never intended to be her nightmare, only her
savior. And I failed. Vows signed in blood, giving me ownership of something no
one deserved—her body and her soul.
Flames ignited from
within, consuming her whole, ‘til only her ashes remained. Like a breath of
snow and ash they fell gently upon subtle winds—air and shadow carrying both in
equal measure to their final resting place. To love someone is to grieve them.
For it thrusts you into a black hole—an abyss from which you can never escape.
She was worth fighting
for. This time, I would fight for her, until my last breath.
****
I awoke with a sharp
gasp, ripples of fear tensing every muscle in my body. It took several breaths
to realize it had been a dream. No, not a dream. A dream implies something
unreal. Wild imaginings of the mind. This was something else. It was a
foreshadowing. A glimpse of what may come to pass. But why was I seeing it? By
now she'd be leagues from here, safely back in her own world. There should be
no cause for what I'd witnessed. Pain and suffering were not supposed to be her
future. I'd rather it was mine.
I pushed off the fur
pelts and climbed from of the wilted mattress stuffed with dry leaves. I was
grateful to the Dwarf Tilak for allowing me to stay in his home. A hovel
really, but shelter nonetheless. I was still being hunted by Queen Mab's
armies. I'd deserted her and the marriage agreement I'd entered into, and word
would have spread by now. Thankfully, Lorelei was safely back in her world,
with the elf Elf Adrius. I could almost hear her chastising me for not using
his name. And I knew it well, for we were friends once.
The human world was her
home, but it could never be mine. I did not belong there. Each visit was the
same as the one before, and it was only her presence that made those visits
tolerable.
Humans—you could smell
their weaknesses. Their needy desires. Their constant craving for more. Their
eternal fear. Like a toxic cloud that hovered over their land. It sickened my
stomach with each inward breath. I'd hold it for a moment. Then another. Then gasp
for air when I could hold it no longer. Ignoring the stench, I'd searched for
her. For her face. Her smile. Her eyes that shone in the dimness of her world.
The fear strangely mixed with curiosity when she would set her eyes upon me.
And without fail, she’d smile.
No one else would see me
but her. I was careful. For to break that code would mean my death. Her father
was specific in his orders. "Watch her. Keep her safe. But remain unseen
by the humans." But she wasn't human. Not fully. She was part fey, like I
was. And from the very first moment I saw her, she stole my heart away.
I shuffled to the wash
basin, splashed icy water over my face and dried it on my sleeve. My hand slid
across the uneven surface of the mirror. The cracked glass scraped my palm, but
I kept it there, watching the blood drip down the surface before it froze to
crimson slush.
Leaning in, I stared at
the reflection, at the steely eyes glaring back at me. Full of accusation and
blame.
I lost her.
No, I didn't lose her. I
threw her away.
She was my protégé.
We were never supposed
to be together. Never meant to fall in love.
I was careless.
She got hurt.
And now she was gone.
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A dreamer at heart, Michele
Barrow-Belisle has always lived with one foot in this reality and one foot in
another, one of her own imagining. So it follows that she would grow up to
write about the characters from those enchanting worlds she knows and loves so
well.
A fan of all things romantic, her young adult novels are populated with
scintillating witches, vampires and fey.
Her bestselling debut book series Fire and Ice (Faerie Song Trilogy) was
optioned for a major motion picture this year.
Michele resides in southern
Canada with her hubby and son who indulge her never-ending obsession with
reading, writing and most importantly… chocolate.
Website:
www.michelebarrowbelisle.com
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/authormichele
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/MicheleBelisle
Pintrest:
www.pinterest.com/micheley26
Instagram: www.instagram.com/michele.barrow.belisle
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