Ice Baron (Ice Chronicles, Book One (science fiction romance)) (6 page)

“Anya, where are you?” Frustration
roughened his voice. His gaze flickered to the starry heavens. The cloudy gauze
of the Milky Way, sparkling with millions of tiny stars, was breathtakingly
beautiful. God had made it. God knew where Anya was right now.

Joshua wasn’t in the habit of
talking to God, although he did completely believe He existed. “Help me find
her,” he muttered. “Please. I need h…I need to find her.”

Desperation and growing fear
twisted his gut. His gaze searched the horizon again. Nothing but blackness.
Moonlight glinted white off a few snow-spangled bushes, and yellow rocks
glowed...

His gaze swung back. A fire.
Someone burned a fire out here, in the middle of nowhere. A jagged bolt of hope
shot through him. Anya.

So. She was here. She had come a
lot further than he had expected.

The sound of the aircraft might
spook her, so Joshua left it, and walked swiftly by the light of the moon
across the frozen terrain. The light dimmed to almost nothing as he reached the
lower elevation, as if hidden behind a rocky outcropping. The fire had to be in
a cave.

She was there. He felt it.

And yet a few minutes later, when
Joshua truly saw Anya’s dark head bent over the fire, something settled inside
him. Relief. And more.

Shortly following, a whole lot of
anger welled up to replace it.

CHAPTER FIVE

Anya still didn’t want
to put out the warm, comforting
fire. What did another few minutes matter? So far, she had eluded Joshua’s air
fleet. Now freedom was as close as her next frosty breath. Only one aircraft
whispered through the skies now. The others had given up. Soon that one, lonely
one would, too. Perhaps then she could walk during the daytime.

After she traversed the Dzungarian
Gate tomorrow, it would be another week, perhaps, before she reached her uncle’s
nearest outpost. Hopefully, Richert would welcome her. Every bit of her
outrageous plan hinged upon this tiny hope.

Pitch black had settled in
outside. With it, a deep, biting cold swirled into the cave.

She really should put out the fire
and get going. Although the cave entrance was partially blocked, someone at the
perfect angle might see the light. Maybe that one, last, persistent
pilot—although she hadn’t heard the craft since noon. He must have given up,
too. For now.

She wondered if Onred’s men would
join the search. Thankfully, her sisters were too young to be considered as an
exchange for a bride. If it had been different, she would never have left. But
she did trust Joshua to protect them. He’d never think to relinquish one of
them to the wolf. He had always expected more of her. Demanded more, really.

Home. It hurt unbearably to think
that she might never see her family or Astana again. If her plan failed, she
would not. Even if it succeeded, would Joshua allow her back into the city?
Surely he would not be cruel enough to forbid her. But he was not a man who
suffered insubordination well. She had disobeyed the baron’s direct orders.
Banishment would be acceptable punishment in the eyes of the Donetski people.

Tears filled her eyes, thinking
about Marli, Elise, and her brothers, but she blinked them back.

She really should put out the
fire.

But it was so warm and friendly.
And she felt so alone.

Put it out, Anya.
After all, when she reached her
destination, she could light as many fires as she wished. And after she fought
for peace, she would be her own woman. No one would ever rule her life again.
No one would ever sell her again. Like Joshua had, for peace. And to keep his
title of Baron, she reminded herself.

Unfolding her trowel, Anya chipped
up a mound of frozen ice and mud and cast it onto the fire. It flickered, but
didn’t go out.

“Don’t put it out on my account.”

The low, rough voice made her
gasp, and she whipped out her laser.

Joshua.

He seemed to fill the entrance.
The elite, cream military parka made his shoulders seem wider, his body more
solid and forbidding.

“You.” Hands trembling, she
lowered the weapon.

“Of course it’s me. I’m your
protector, foolish girl. Who did you think would come for you?”

Palpable fury simmered in him,
deep and hot, yet tightly leashed, as were every one of his emotions, always.
In the past, she had wished that just once she could break through the
impenetrable shell he enclosed around himself. Just once, she’d like to see him
snap, to glimpse the true man underneath all the medals and the power that fit
him like a glove. To especially see beyond the shiny honor of hero worship with
which she’d clothed him when they had first met. She had always wanted to
please him.

No more.

Anya realized now that Joshua was
the lone pilot. Part of her had known it all along, and it was why she had
worked so hard to stay hidden. Joshua was clever and the bank of medals on his
uniform proved the Donetsk legend that he was difficult to outwit. Apparently,
she hadn’t done a good enough job.

“I didn’t want to be found,” she
said shortly, reholstering the laser.

“Then you should have put out your
fire.”

Yes, she should have. So, was this
to be the end result of all her efforts, of walking at night, freezing the
exposed bits of her skin to a brittle crust? All for what? To be found in three
days?

Joshua entered her cave. Invaded
it, it felt like. His personality and presence felt as strong as a magnet to
her soul…to her foolish heart. She looked away. “I didn’t want to be found,”
she repeated. “Go home.”

“What was your goal? To go south?
Meet your uncle?”

He was too smart by half. But he
didn’t need to know her true plan. He’d only forbid it. Then she would need to
mutiny against him again. Simpler to stay silent and plot her escape.

He said, “Onred thinks the
marriage offer was a trick. He’s threatening to attack.”

Anya had hoped that wouldn’t
happen. Now she’d need to get to her uncle’s stronghold even faster.

“Onred can go to hell,” she bit out,
ignoring the inbred guilt for uttering the crude words. After a moment, she
baldly finished, “And so can you.” That should make it clear that she would not
return home with him.

“I’ve never allowed you to swear
at me before.” His voice held a soft bite. “I won’t begin now.”

Heat flashed. She didn’t want to
feel guilty. However, ingrained respect made it difficult to ignore the quiet
chastisement. As well, his soft tone was misleading. She knew the inflexible
steel that lived inside him. And the unswerving determination to have his own
way, no matter the price.

But the real truth was far worse.
She wanted to please him. Still.

“I’m sorry,” she allowed. “But you’re
no longer my protector. You discharged me, remember? Your authority over me has
ended.”

To her complete, consternated
surprise, he swiftly closed the distance between them. She leaped to her feet,
reaching for her knife.

His hand was on her jaw before she
could draw a breath, and he tilted up her chin. His fingers felt cool, yet
firm, and her heart pounded much harder than she liked.

“What happened to you?”

Disconcerted, Anya jerked her chin
back. “It’s from the fall. I mean, the landing.”

“It’s a bad gash.” Ignoring her
retreat, he cupped her chin again, angling it up so he could see better. His
fingers unexpectedly gentled, and for a second felt unbearably tender. “You are
all right?”

Flustered, she swallowed. “Yes.”

A heartbeat elapsed, and then he
released her. He loomed very close now, a few inches taller than she. His broad
shoulders blocked part of the firelight, and his tawny hair was rumpled. He
looked disarmingly approachable. But she knew better. He hadn’t accomplished
his mission yet.

She took a step back. “Go.”
Distinctly, she added, “Just so we’re clear, I won’t go home with you. I will
not marry that disgusting Onred.”

The dark eyes held hers. “Is there
someone else?”

“No.”

No one but you.
Anya swallowed. She would never
admit that wretched truth to her unattainable protector. How could her heart so
quickly forget that he had sold her and refused to reconsider his decision,
even after she had begged him to do so?

Again surprising her, he went down
on his knee and took up a cross-legged position near the fire. “Perhaps we can
negotiate.”

Another disarming pose. She had
sensed the heat and force of his anger when he had first arrived. Once again,
he was strictly under control. Wasn’t he always?

Anya sat, but not too close. The
fire felt warm, and that heat doubled when Joshua fed a branch into the licking
flames. A blast of warmth hit her face as the flames leaped higher. She
shivered.

“Cold?” he murmured, not looking
at her, and fed in another branch.

“I can take care of myself.”

“I can see that.”

“I don’t need you anymore.”

Quietly, Joshua said, “I need you.
Your territory needs you. We can make things right.”

“No!” Agitated, she sprang to her
knees, but his swift, light pressure on her wrist stayed her.

“Thousands more will die.”

“Thousands will die anyway. Onred
is dishonorable. He won’t keep his word.”

Joshua’s gaze cut sharper. “You
don’t trust him.”

“Of course not! Not after…” She
cut the words short.

He prodded, “After what?”

Anya refused to reveal her
humiliation to him. Joshua had a way of making her feel far more vulnerable
than she wanted to feel. She wouldn’t slice that part of herself open to him,
too. He already wielded far too much power over her heart.

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

His thumb rubbed her wrist, as
though absently, but his brown eyes gleamed tawny and warm in the leaping firelight.
They held hers. “Tell me.” That gaze softened something inside of her, and
beckoned her to give him everything he wanted.

She closed her eyes to break the
spell. How weak she was to him. Did he know? Did he suspect? She should hate
him. He had sold her!

He waited.

Why not tell him, she thought
recklessly. It would shock him, as he deserved. Yes. Why not?

So, looking into the fire, so she
wouldn’t have to see his expression of disgust when he learned of the soiled
creature she had become, she told him everything that Onred had done. Bitterly,
she finished, “Onred said that he’d paid for me. That he had the right to do
anything he wanted.” Then she shot a glance at him.

Joshua stared into the fire, too.
His shoulders moved up, and then down, matching the movement of a barely
audible breath. His shoulders heaved again, and his skin unexpectedly flushed
dark. He bolted to his feet and strode to the back of the cave.

She had shocked him; and a bit
more violently than she had expected. Meanly, that felt good, after all that he
had put her through.

Joshua silently paced for long
minutes. After a while, it unnerved her.

“Well?” Anya said. “Aren’t you
going to speak?”

He ground out, “You don’t want to
hear it.”

“Are you really so shocked?”

“Yes!” The one word hissed through
his teeth. “It’s my fault. I failed to protect you.”

Now her revenge felt petty. “It
wasn’t your fault, Joshua.”

“It was. He knew.” His voice
sounded rough.

Anya frowned. “Knew what?”

“That I…” His fists clenched, but
he did not complete the sentence.

Joshua said no more, but his
pacing stopped. He stared out of the cave, as if picturing a scene in his head.
No expression flickered across his face. It disturbed her. Once again, he had
bottled up his emotions.

“I won’t marry him,” Anya
repeated, just to try to break through to him.

He nodded, shoved his hands in his
pockets, but said nothing.

“Joshua, what are you thinking?
You’re scaring me.”

*  *  *  *  *

Joshua could barely think for the
white fury searing his brain. He burned to kill Onred, the bastard. He’d
finally come to realize he was a jackal, but this…

His fingers itched to squeeze the
life from that leech’s throat even now. He had touched Anya. He had hurt her.
Joshua’s mind would let him go no further. The broken, wild hellion of a boy he
had once been wanted to break free and scream his rage to the heavens, then
annihilate the man, his troops, his territory…everything Onred held dear.