Natalia’s POV
“You think you could kill me so easily?”
The King’s face was close to mine. Too close. I could feel his hot breath on my neck, could scent the fetid stench of rot and decay. His face was half decomposed, skin sinking and peeling away. Not from insects, but from the hot, sulphuric vapors that ate away at everything they touched.
They were eating me, too. The steam was all around us, blurring my vision, blocking out all attempts to escape. Everywhere I turned, I saw only greenish vapor.
And him.
The Winter King.
He grabbed my left wrist. Yanked it hard, so hard that the skin fell away and the bone cracked. I screamed, stumbling backwards. Surprisingly, I fell easily, even though he was holding me fast.
It took me a long moment to understand why.
He was still holding my
