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the room.

“No need. I can take it from here.” Rio said seriously before mumbling, “I could have taken it from the start if someone hadn’t jumped in so fast.”

He pressed his hand to the ice sheet much like Levent had, but this time the air in the room did not change. In fact, for a solid minute I was sure whatever the half-blood had planned was not going to work. Then a smile flashed across his face and the ice melted instantly in a torrent that washed over our feet. When it hit my hooves I shrieked. Despite being melted, it was still intolerably cold.

“Sorry, m’lady,” he said. “Better get those hooves dry before they freeze.”

Male were too reckless, I thought bitterly as I sat on an ice-covered rock and furiously tried to warm my feet with a cloth Rio offered. I wondered if it would have been better to be hit on the head with an icicle instead.

Kewyn began shoving at the door. There was no handle or lock, and it would not budge. She sighed in defeat.

“Well, what do we do now?” The blonde asked.

“Too bad we can’t just blow it out of the way,” the half-blood said, miming an explosion.

“We can,” the kin said from beside me, making me jump. “Stand back there,” he instructed, pointing to the other end of the hall.

For a moment we looked at each other. Rio, Kewyn and I then ran down the hall and ducked behind some of the snow-covered rubble without a backwards glance.

“Can he really blow a door down with fire?” Kewyn asked quietly.

“Probably,” I answered.

“Either way, I hope he doesn’t bring the ceiling down on our heads,” Rio mumbled morosely.

We peered over the rubble and watched the kin assume a wide stance, his hands clenched together in front of his chest. For a split second it was like all the air had been taken from the room, and then a wave of hot air blew my hood off. I ducked behind the rubble again as Levent tossed a huge fireball at the door.

The noise was tremendous. Rio made a squeaking sound as a shower of ice came down on us. Huddling together, we stayed still until the ceiling stopped falling. When I summoned the nerve to look down the hall again, I found the kin looking back