Deep Kiss of Winter Read Online Free Page A

around the neck under the male’s collar. The Iceren bellowed in pain.
    The vampire’s lips curled at the sound. Baring his wicked fangs, he laid his palm on another’s face. A hand-shaped brand pressed into the Iceren’s skin.
    Seeming fresh to the fray, the vampire grew evenstronger—and more vicious, appearing intent on making it hurt as he dispatched them.
    Soon scattered limbs littered the alley at gruesome angles. He easily separated heads from savaged necks, yelling as if with pleasure as the blood flowed.
    Yet he never bit them. She saw he truly did forbear, and still he was somehow defeating them, sustaining injuries he didn’t seem to feel, wound after wound that barely slowed him.
    As he faced off against the last one standing, she wondered how much of the blood covering him was his own.
    But one of the Iceren the vampire had felled wasn’t dead. He’d clamped his neck, stemming the rush of blood. Unseen behind the vampire, he struggled to his feet and silently collected his sword.
    â€œLook out!”
    At her warning, he twisted around. The one he’d been fighting tackled him in a wrestler’s grip from behind, holding him for the one with the sword.
    Oh, no, no . . . She’d be damned if she’d let this warrior vampire die.
    A weapon, she needed a weapon. Her gaze fell to her chest, to the six arrows riddling it.
    Was she strong enough to do this?
    She gritted her teeth and fisted one of the bloody arrow shafts. Choking back a scream, she wrested it from her body.
    The pain made her vision waver, her muscles going limp. No! Fight!
    Holding the feathered end, she threw it like a knife. It skewered the swordsman’s neck.
    The last thing she saw was the vampire snapping his head back to smash the face of the one holding him, breaking free to snatch up a sword.
    When she forced her lids open once more, he was staggering toward her, his fangs still bared, his eyes black amid the blood covering his face. He’d savaged them and now was stalking closer to her.
    Yet she was unafraid. He’d told her he was going to give her their heads.
    And he had.
    Dropping to his knees beside her, he reached for her wrist. She shrank from him, but not quickly enough to prevent contact. When she cried out, he jerked his hand away, gaping at the burn mark he’d left on her skin.
    â€œNo . . . can’t be.” His tone was rough, almost snarling. “You’re like them? But you’re a Valkyrie!”
    She blinked up at him. “Part . . . ice fey.”
    In that growl of a voice, he repeated, “You’re like them .” The big male was so unsure, so confounded by her nature. “I’ll burn you?”
    She nodded weakly.
    â€œIs there no way I can touch you?”
    â€œN-Never.”
    â€œWho can tend to you, then? Do you live in New Orleans? With other Valkyrie?”
    â€œThey’ll kill you.” If the vampire brought her to her coven, her sisters would behead him on sight and ask questions later.
    Besides, she didn’t have that kind of time.
    If this vampire didn’t save her . . .
    I’m going to shatter like ice.

F IVE
    With effort, the female whispered, “You . . . help me.”
    â€œHow? When I’ll burn you?” Can’t comprehend this. She’s blooded me, this odd little creature whose skin can’t be touched.
    No, she couldn’t be his Bride. He couldn’t be blooded. But his breaths mocked him, his thundering heart a constant reminder.
    When his heart had first beat in the midst of the fight, it had sounded like an explosion, stunning him and nearly costing him his life. He’d inhaled, shuddering as air flooded his untried lungs, filling him with renewed strength.
    Even now he was dizzy from his injuries, but his body still felt strong.
    â€œI’ll try to find Nikolai—Myst will be with him. She’ll better know what to