Frost Read online

  But I couldn’t exactly ask my rescuer to sleep on the rock-hard couch, could I? We both looked at one another and then at the bed. It felt different now that I wasn't exhausted.

  "I can sleep on the couch," Loki said.

  "No," I said too hastily. "I mean, it looks really hard, and, um… We'll just take sides. I'll stay on mine and you stay on yours. That's all."

  "Don't worry." His smile looked relieved. "I don't sleep naked."

  "Thank God for that."

  Thankfully, the room was pretty dim, so he couldn’t see the blush coloring my cheeks.

  I changed back into my nightgown and reemerged from the bathroom. Loki, standing by the bed, facing away from me, was tugging his shirt up over his head, revealing a beautifully sculpted back. In the firelight, his skin was dark and smooth, the light playing over his muscular figure.

  The guys at school had never looked like that. At least, not in the limited dating experience I had. For a few seconds I stood there awkwardly, then realized he might turn around and catch me standing there awkwardly. So I hopped into bed and pulled the sheets up to my chin.

  When he turned around, he grinned, and I smiled back, trying to keep my eyes from straying down to his torso. He was lean and fit and...he was only wearing boxers.

  Oh, crap. I was staring.

  Loki crawled into bed without looking at me, but he must have known I’d been staring, because he had a crooked smile on his face. I stretched over and turned the lamp on the nightstand off, plunging the room into darkness. How humiliating.

  The silence lay thick between us, and we both kept completely still. He stayed on his side, and I stayed on mine, a little afraid to even breathe.

  What if I moved my hand and brushed his leg? Would he think I was trying something? How embarrassing would that be? The thing was that I wanted to try something. Not just something—I wanted kiss him. Maybe run my fingers through his hair. It was a ridiculous thought, but he looked like he’d be a good kisser.

  Oh God. That would be bad. Really, really bad.

  I'd only had one kiss, and it had not turned out well. What if Loki was wrong and it happened again?

  Something brushed my pinkie finger, and I jumped.

  "Sorry," Loki murmured.

  I glanced over. In the dark, his face was a mystery. "Are you?" I asked.

  "Not really." His warm fingers crept over mine and stayed there.

  We lay that way for a while, his hand over mine. It seemed to calm my dizzy thoughts somehow. Of course, I couldn't freeze him. In fact, his hand felt warm.

  Eventually he pulled away and turned over, mumbling a sleepy goodnight over his shoulder. I told myself that it was better this way. It was dangerous to lie in bed next to a guy I barely knew. It was making me a little too daring, even if it was just in my imagination.

  It was actually a little disappointing, but one good thing had come of it—I hadn’t frozen him. Finally, I relaxed, and sleep gradually drifted down to blanket me like the quiet fall of snow.

  ~ * ~

  The bed was empty when I woke up, and I had a moment of panic.

  He left me. I drove him away somehow.

  When I propped myself on my elbow, I spotted the slip of paper tucked under the washbasin on the nightstand. I stretched over and snatched it up, blinking to clear the sleep from my vision.

  Megan,

  Gone into town to get us breakfast. Be back soon.

  PS – You're cute when you snore.

  My mouth flew open in horror. I had been snoring last night? No, he had to be joking. No one had ever told me that I snored. My jeans were crumpled on the floor, and I struggled into them, dressing quickly in case Loki came back.

  The bathroom mirror was a harrowing experience. I had huge, dark circles under my eyes, and my hair still seemed a tiny bit too light. Maybe I was turning into the girl in my dreams.

  If I started chopping up people with swords, we were all in trouble.

  I scrunched my hair into a messy bun, looping the elastic around it. There—it wasn't noticeably lighter pulled back, right?

  It’s just my imagination. It has to be.

  Determined to distract myself, I picked the remote up from the side table and was about to flick the TV on when I heard a metallic buzzing noise. I froze.

  The buzzing sounded again. Loki's cell phone was vibrating like mad on the corner of the table by the door, about to pitch over the side. I rescued it from biting the dust just as the ringing stopped.

  Guilty indecision washed over me. I so badly wanted to look at his messages, but that would be an invasion of privacy. My thumb hovered over the button, and an obnoxious little voice told me to put it down. It wasn't my business.

  Shut up, conscience. You're no fun.

  I hesitated for a second longer and then took the plunge. The screen lit up, a picture of a shiny, red car in the background. So…he liked fancy cars. Nothing crazy so far.

  The text was from someone named Jared, and I didn't have to open it to read it. It was only three words.

  Is it done?

  The longer I stared, the more I began to think the text wasn't asking if I was safe. The words sounded ominous.

  Was what done?

  Chapter Ten

  I scrolled through his messages, reading the previews without opening them. There was nothing else to give me a clue what that text might mean. I would have to go down the rabbit hole if I wanted to see what else they’d said.

  If I opened it, Loki would know it had been read. If I didn't open it, I would never know if Loki was truly on my side or just pretending. My gaze kept darting back to the door, my heart beating hard against my rib cage. I kept expecting him to walk in and discover me. Now or never.

  I took a deep breath and hit the enter key. The text bubbles popped up.

  Make sure there are no screw-ups.

  Of course

  You're walking a fine line, Loki.

  Thanks for worrying about me, honey.

  Your attempt at humor isn't doing you any favors. Just make sure you get the job done. None of them can reach her.

  Gotcha.

  No tricks. No foolery. Just do it. If any of them turn up later, Surtr will fry our asses.

  Relax. I've got this.

  The text messages ended, leaving me staring blankly at the screen.

  If any of them turn up later?

  I jumped up, slamming the phone down on the table, angry I’d let myself be drawn in by him. The fear hit right after, with the realization that I was in very real danger.

  My hands shook as I pulled the leather boots on. Pushing the tangle of fear and anger aside, I moved as quickly as I could, gathering up my nightgown, shoving my cell phone in my back pocket.

  Muffled footsteps sounded down the hallway.

  For a second, I froze. Then I shook myself out of it and dove for the bed, fear clawing at my chest. Scrambling under the sheets, I shut my eyes tight. The door clicked open, and the floorboards creaked.

  Even with my eyes shut, I could picture him walking in, smiling at me. Plastic rustled as he set his bags down beside the bed. Realization hit me, and my breath caught in my throat. If he looked down at his cell phone and saw that the message had been read, the jig was up. He would know I wasn't really asleep. He would know I knew.

  The footsteps continued, not stopping by the door as I'd feared, and I heard him chuckle softly. The bed sagged under his weight, and I tried not to flinch as warm fingers touched my shoulder.

  "Megan?" he said softly.

  I gave what I thought was a convincingly sleepy groan and turned my face away from him.

  "All right. I guess you must be pretty exhausted. I'll leave your breakfast on the nightstand. I'm gonna take a shower."

  To my immense relief, I heard him walk into the bathroom and then the door clicked shut. There was a squeak, followed by the sound of water running, and I scrambled to my feet, impulsively snatching one of the bags off the floor as I bolted out the door.<
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  Down the hall, I took the staircase two steps at a time. Thankfully, the front hall was empty, and I made it out the door and down the icy pathway without anyone seeing me.

  I stopped in the tiny parking lot and looked around in dismay. How was I going to get away? I should have swiped the keys to the van.

  I looked down at my phone. Charlotte still hadn't answered, and my battery was nearly dead, which made my mind up. I needed to know she was okay and if the other girls were gone.

  I looked up, startled, as a car roared into the lot. A woman and man got out and began unloading luggage. I shoved my hands into my pockets, concealing how much I was shaking, trying to look casual. Neither of them even looked at me.

  I glanced back at the house, at the second-floor windows. No one peered out to search for me, but I had better stop standing in the middle of the parking lot like a complete dumbass.

  Finding a taxi service was easy enough. I punched in a search on my phone, and in no time, I had an automated voice assuring me that my ride was five minutes away.

  Five minutes. Enough time for him to discover I was gone.

  Should I hide?

  I settled for walking to the end of the driveway. The treeline kept the house fairly well hidden from the bottom of the hill. If Loki started down the driveway, I would spot him and run like hell. He was probably still in the shower.

  But boys didn't shower that long, did they? Maybe he was out by now, walking around in a towel...

  I shook my head, frowning. The fact that I was picturing Loki in a towel annoyed me. The guy had probably been sent to kill me, and here I was, daydreaming about him. Imagining him glistening wet, the steam rising off his dark skin...

  Stop it.

  Several tense minutes later, the shushing noise of tires rolling through the slush announced the arrival of my taxi. The driver had barely come to a stop before I slid onto the backseat, slammed the door shut behind me, and sighed in relief.

  Of course, I wasn’t home free, but at least I’d slipped out without Loki seeing me. I still had to pay the taxi somehow, and all I had on me was a nearly dead cell phone and a flimsy nightgown. Hopefully someone at school could lend me the money.

  Charlotte has to be there.

  "I need to get to Grande Prairie High."

  The driver—a swarthy man with a sullen face—nodded and turned back toward the road. The taxi lurched, bumping over the packed snow, and I allowed myself another sigh of relief as the bed and breakfast grew smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.

  ~ * ~

  I found myself biting my nails as we got closer. Trying to distracting myself, I peered into the bag I’d stolen. There were a couple sandwiches and a water bottle. At least I wouldn’t starve.

  But if Charlotte was gone, along with the rest of the girls, then what was I supposed to do? Storm the magical castle? I didn't even know where the stupid thing was. Was I supposed to click my heels three times and wish to go home? Loki had been vague at best.

  "We're here."

  I jumped. It was the first time the cab driver had spoken, and I gave him a nervous smile. "Can you just wait for a few minutes?"

  He grumbled an affirmative, and I thanked him again and exited the cab, taking a deep breath on my way toward the school's front doors. The clock on the meter had read twelve twenty. Lunch ended in ten minutes.

  Enough time to get in and find Charlotte.

  I peered around the corner, making sure Mrs. Burns was distracted before I snuck by. She would ask where I'd been this morning. After wading through crowds of children, I made it to the upstairs hallway. It was packed and noisy, but there were no ridiculously tall, blond girls anywhere in the crowd, and they weren’t at their usual place by the lockers.

  My heart sank. I should have spotted Amy and her crew by now.

  Pushing into the crowd, I shouldered my way past groups of people. Someone poked me in the back—one of the shaggy skater guys who'd called us clones.

  "Hey, where’s the rest of your Barbie friends? They playing hooky today?"

  "Screw off," I muttered and turned away, determined to find Charlotte if she was still there.

  "That's not nice, Barbie.” He smirked, trailing behind me. “Can I be your Ken doll? C’mon. Why are you walking away? Too good for normal people?"

  He grabbed my arm, and I jumped, my pulse spiking. A chill zipped up my arm so fast it startled me.

  Skater guy wheezed in surprise. His breath came out in a puff of white, and he jumped back, teeth chattering. "What the hell?"

  I stumbled and then kept moving, pushing through the students, feeling sick. I shouldn’t touch anyone. I was too upset.

  The door to the English classroom was open. A lone figure sat on the couch, bright-blond hair drooping over her eyes as she stared at the sandwich in her lap.

  "Charlotte!"

  When she saw me, her face lit up. "You’re here! I was so worried."

  I threw myself onto the couch beside her and grabbed her in a hug, and she squeaked in surprise.

  "You were worried? I was worried! You didn't answer my text this morning."

  "Oh, that. I think someone stole my phone. Or maybe I lost it. I'm not sure which." Her expression turned grave. "Do you know what's going on? Amy and Stacy—none of them showed up today. The principal phoned their parents because he thought it was weird. He thought they might all be playing hooky, but I overheard him talking on the phone—they can't find them." Her eyes were wide.

  "I almost didn't show up, either," I said grimly. "Someone tried to kidnap me yesterday."

  "What?" Her eyebrows shot up. “What happened?”

  I paused, trying to figure out how to explain. It sounded insane. But I was practically bursting, and I had to tell someone.

  Maybe if I left out the craziest parts, didn’t talk about the jotun…

  So I told her everything—the two men in the van, and Loki, and how I ran away from him—hardly stopping to breathe.

  Her eyes grew wider with each detail.

  "This is going to sound really weird, but you know how Amy thought that we might all be related or something?"

  "Yeah. Wait, we are?"

  "Sort of." I struggled to explain without bringing the frost giant thing up. She would think I was crazy. "We were like a genetic experiment, and now, they want us back."

  "But not me." She almost sounded sad.

  "Be grateful."

  "Can't you go to the police?"

  Right. I could only imagine trying to explain to them about the jotun and the fact that I was worried about freezing people.

  "I think this might be bigger than the police."

  Charlotte's drew her knees up to her chest, her shoes leaving dirty indents on the couch as she shifted. "Like...government stuff?"

  "Um, something like that. I just had to make sure you're okay, but now, I have to go. I'm going to catch a bus." I suddenly felt awkward. "I have a taxi outside, but they took me in my pajamas, so I don’t exactly have any money…”

  “Oh, of course!” Charlotte, bless her soul, dipped into her purse without question, her face filled with concern. "Where will you go?"

  "I don't know. I have friends—" I stopped myself from telling her about California. Nobody could know. "In, um, other places. I'll stay with someone till I get on my feet."

  "Call me, okay? From a payphone, like in the movies, so I know you're okay." She tipped her wallet upside down and shook it, finally handing over a crumpled ten dollar bill and about a million quarters.

  Charlotte smiled at the look on my face. “For the coke machine. It’s a problem. Anyways, that's all I have. Is that okay? Do you have clothes or anything? Here." She emptied the books from her backpack. "I always carry a few extra things with me. You never know."

  "Thank you." With shaking hands, I took the bag.

  Loki was probably good enough to track me. I needed to leave now, but I felt paralyzed.

  Charlotte frowned. "You can't run away on fo
urteen dollars. Look, there's a credit card in the pocket of the knapsack. Just...don't buy a car or anything. In a few weeks, I'll tell my parents I lost it."

  "I can't take your credit card."

  "Yes. You can.” She directed a stern look at me, which was a bit odd coming from her. “You can pay me back later. I will see you later, when this is over."