A giant ice wolf, they called it,” Kham muttered as she scrambled up the tree. “Ice wolf, my ass. Show me one wolf – just one! – that can climb a tree!

Shei’tani... wilt thou swim with thy beloved in a river of dreams?

Such a dangerous word, “why.” Because so often its answer led to places a person didn’t want to go. Vulnerable places.

Hope was a fragile flicker that he wanted to cup with both hands to protect against the harsh winds of reality.

I am not a good man, shei’tani,” he corrected. “I never have been. But for you I will strive to be better.

His hand trailed down the side of her face, brushing back spiraling tendrils of hair. “Come, shei’tani, dance the skiles with your mate.

Displease the Winter King and we’ll none of us see another spring.

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, a tender gesture that made her heart melt. “Come. Let us dance the skies together.

Well,” she said again, turning to him and tipping back her head to meet his gaze. “As the begetting of an heir holds such dire import, I suggest we get to it.

She had prayed for someone else, anyone else but Den. She’d been hoping for a nice, quiet man like Papa. Instead, the gods had sent her the man who’d scorched the world.