Frost (6 page)

Loki shuffled down toward my feet, still on his haunches, and began picking at the knots at my ankles. He bit his lip like he was trying to repress laughter. "They really didn't tell you anything, did they?"

"Tell me
what
?" The men had talked about freezing someone earlier. Maybe this wasn’t something the police would be able to help with. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that I can't feel the cold? Am I some kind of genetic freak? Wait, is this a government thing?"

"Um..." Loki smoothed a hand over his jaw. "Something like that. Come on. We have to get you somewhere safe. These guys won't need their van for a while. We’ll borrow it." He helped me to my feet, his hands on my waist as he guided me across the piles of junk heaped in the back of the van.

He jumped down off the tailgate, boots crunching on the snow, and offered me a hand. "Come on. Steady now."
              My legs shook as I stepped onto the snowy road, careful to tread slowly so I wouldn't slip. Wind whipped past me, penetrating the thin nightgown, blowing my hair back. I blushed a little as Loki steadied me with his hand on my shoulder.

"Not cold at all, huh?"

I shrugged. "No. I don't know what's wrong with me. Thanks for the rescue, by the way. What did you do to those guys?"

"Ah, they'll be fine." Loki waved one hand dismissively. "Minor concussions is all. Their skulls are too thick for it to really make a difference."

We came around the front of the van. Two men were lying on the side of the road, sprawled out in the snowbank. One I recognized as the man who'd been standing on my front lawn. I stepped forward for a closer look, taking a shaky breath to steel myself. He almost looked like he was sleeping, except for the blood on his temple. He had very blond hair and sharp, cold features.

I shivered and glanced over at the other man. Shock punched me in the chest.

There was no mistaking the beanpole figure splayed out on the ground. His spectacles lay beside his head, one lens shattered. Beside his left hand was the butt of a cigar, black ashes speckling the snow.

"Mr. Scott?"

"Someone you know?" Loki leaned against the van, hands in his pockets as he watched me.

"My English teacher." I rubbed at my eyes, as if that might make it go away.

Mr. Scott was the creep following us around?

"Okay." I rounded on Loki. "Tell me what's happening."

"Get in." For the first time, he looked stern. "I have to get you somewhere safe first."

I wasn’t sure I wanted to get back in the van. But it was either that or stay there with Mr. Scott.

"Fine. But explain on the way."

"Deal."

The keys were still in the ignition, and Loki got us turned around, heading back toward Grande Prairie.

"Where were they taking me?"

"Jotunheim, I expect."

When I stared at him, he blinked. "What?"

"That word sounds made up."

Loki shrugged, turning back to the road. "Well, it's not. It's where the jotun live."

"The who?"

"This is going to be a long ride." He cleared his throat. "You girls are from a very long line of jotun. I mean, you're not full jotun. You've only got some blood in you, but it's enough."

"What the heck does that mean? Is that some kind of family name? How does this explain why I can't feel cold?” I crossed my arms and pressed my back into the seat, squirming. "And why did the first guy I kissed turn into a Popsicle last month?"

Loki glanced at me again, a crooked little smile appearing on the corner of his mouth. "You had your first kiss last month?"

"I tell you I froze someone and
that's
your takeaway?" I blushed furiously and looked down at my bare feet. A pool of slushy ice had formed beneath them.

To my profound relief, Loki turned his attention back to the road. "I'll try to explain. Those people back there are your kin."

"What? Like, family? I don’t have one. Just Uncle Dave.”

His smile flattened. "None of your story is really true. You weren't abandoned. Your human mother was...
convinced
to leave you at a young age."

I blinked rapidly, almost expecting tears though my eyes were still dry.

This was all terrifying and confusing.

When I spoke again, my voice cracked. "Why?"

"I think maybe the queen believed the bond between a real mother and her child was too strong.” His voice was quiet. “Plus, your mother would have known who your father was."

"The queen?" I was barely keeping up here.

Maybe this was some kind of weird reality TV show. What would it be called
Kidnap and Prank
? Pretty sure that was illegal.

"Wait, did you say my father? He works on commercial fishing boats or something. I’ve never even met him.”

"That’s not exactly true, either," Loki said grimly. "Your father was a full-blooded jotun. A frost giant."

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

It wasn't a particularly happy laugh. In fact, it sounded more like the hysterical bleat of a terrified sheep. Loki stole a glimpse at me out of the corner of his eye. "Don't believe me?"

I
wanted
to point and laugh at him, to call him a nut case. I wanted to shrug all of this craziness off and go back to California. Then I looked at my feet, at the puddle of melted ice that felt like bath water, and I knew he wasn't lying. It was still hard to wrap my head around though.

"I can understand if you need a minute," he murmured.

Out the window the silent, white landscape rolled by. My mind felt like scrambled eggs—one big, jumbled mess. "So, this queen—she's jotun."

Loki’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, and his knuckles paled. “She is.”

"And she had some jotun men go and...and have sex with human women. The babies were adopted. And now, she's trying to get us back?"

"The ones who survived, yes. She had more. Some of the blood didn't mix well, and some of it died out altogether. But a lot were successful. They're bringing them to the palace now. We think it was some kind of experiment."

I looked at him sharply. "And who is
we
? What's your stake in all of this? Are you with the government or something?"

"Not quite. I'm a son of Muspel, of the Fire Giant Clan." He said it with a flash of pride, straightening his shoulders.

I groaned, leaning back against the seat, scrubbing my hands across my face. "You've got to be kidding me. I was barely dealing with this frost giant thing."

"Sorry, but it's true. Our people have pretty much always hated each other."

"Then why are you helping me?"

Loki hesitated. "I'm supposed to make sure you don't get to the queen. That's all."

"What does the queen want with me?"

"We're not sure. She experimented with human and frost giant blood. But we've always mingled with one another, so that's nothing new. We've had surveillance on her for some time now, since she's bound and determined to start a war and kill us all, so we know she has plans for you. We just don't know what those plans are."

"Well, that's comfortingly vague," I muttered.

"All I know is that you don't want to get mixed up with her. She's sort of a bitch."

Clearly, since she’d ordered them to knock me out and all that. I dug my nails into the leather seat. "Where were they taking me? It couldn’t have been anywhere near Grande Prairie."

"It's not near anywhere, actually."

I groaned. "You're going to tell me it's a different dimension or something, aren't you?"

"Something like that." Loki bit his lower lip, fighting smile.

Not something I could think about right now.

“So, what now? We're going to lie low until she gives up on me?"

His smile faded. "She won't give up on you. You can't stay in Grande Prairie. Do you have friends anywhere else?"

"I... Yes, I guess so. I could go back to California for a while." That didn't sound bad at all.

But Loki was shaking his head. "No, I'm saying you'll have to hide there permanently. They'll keep looking for you, so you can't come back here, and you can't tell anyone where you're going."

I frowned, my chest constricting. "But my unc—"

"They can't know. No one can know."

"But they'll be
worried
." At least, Uncle Dave would be. Janet would probably throw a party if I went missing.

“Sorry. That’s just the way it has to be.” Loki flicked the turn signal on, eyes focused on the road. “You have to run. These people don't play games, and they're not nice."

The memory of the smothering cloth pressing over my mouth and my nose was still sharp in the back of my mind. I shuddered.

"I'm sorry." He reached a hand out, and his fingers brushed mine, surprising me. "I really am." Then he withdrew.

I found myself a bit disappointed. I had the crazy impulse to grab his hand and hold on. Somehow, he was both strange and comforting.

"Look, I'll take you there—to California. It will take a few days, but this van should get us there."

"Is that part of your job too?" I asked. "Driving me to California?"

"Sure it is. Why not?" Loki punched the buttons on the radio, tuning into a rock station.

I lay back and shut my eyes for a while. My mind wandered as I tried to picture how this would play out—me running away to California without telling Dave—but I just couldn't do it. He would notice I was missing. Other people would too. Like the people at school.

Charlotte's face swam in my mind's eye, and I jerked upright, guilt pulsing in my stomach. I hadn't even considered the girls at school.

Amy and her friends must have been taken the same way I had, but what about Charlotte? Was she one of us? Maybe Amy was right in thinking she'd missed the cut. Loki had said that the experiments with mixing blood hadn't always worked. Was Charlotte a castoff? I hoped so. The thought of someone clonking little Charlotte over the head and dragging her off made me break out in a cold sweat.

I shifted in my seat, and something poked me in the hip. My cell phone.

Somehow, it had stayed in the pocket of my nightgown despite the events of the night. Probably because it was the ugly, bulky kind. For once, I found myself grateful that Janet had insisted on cheaping out.

I didn't have to worry if Charlotte was okay. I could text her and make sure. My fingers hovered over the buttons. What should I write? Pretty sure I shouldn't say, “Hey, been kidnapped yet?” I settled for a simple, "Hey," and obviously, if she texted me back, I’d know she was fine.

Loki had been singing along with the radio, and now, he paused to stare at me.

"Don't worry. I'm just texting one of the girls at school. She looks like me, but she isn't tall. Do you think the queen would want her too?"

"It depends what she wants them—
you
—for. It sounds like her blood didn't mix well though, so probably not."

I relaxed against the seat, slipping my cell back into my pocket. Charlotte was fine. She'd probably text back in a minute with the latest piece of school gossip.

We drove for another hour, and Loki talked almost nonstop about the city of Muspelheim, which was apparently where he'd come from.

"You should see it. It's amazing." His face was glowing as he spoke, like he was reliving memories.

"And what does the ice palace look like?" I asked eagerly. "What's it like?"

His expression went flat. "Cold. It's made of solid ice."

My mouth dropped open. "Get real! I thought that was just...y’know, like a name or something."

Loki glanced over at me and chuckled. "You should see your face! I
am
real. The whole damn thing is made of frozen water."

I shivered. "Sounds unpleasant."

"Oh, it is. Horrible place. So
cold
."

"I probably wouldn't feel it." I flinched as Loki grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. His palm pressed against the back of my hand, heat radiating from his skin.

"H-hey..." I stammered, my cheeks burning. "What are you—"

"Yup, just like I thought." He released my hand. "You're freezing."

"Well, I'm always cold here. I mean, to other people, I feel cold." I rubbed my palm against my leg as the tingling warmth of contact slowly faded. "And you feel hot."

He gave me another mischievous grin. "Why thank you."

"That's not what I meant!"

"I know. I'm just kidding. My body temperature is actually way higher than a normal human being, and yours is way lower—and still dropping." He regarded me seriously. "You'll have to make sure you avoid contact with people. Wear gloves." His mouth quirked at the corner. "And don't go freezing any more boys."

It was obviously some kind of joke to him, but the flashback of Adam that came with the thought wasn't at all funny—his skin turning blue, the way he’d shuddered and gone still.

"So this is permanent. I can't
touch
people? I can't ever have a normal relationship?" I tucked my hands under my knees, feeling a little sick at the thought.

"With another frost giant, you could." He grimaced. "Most of them are horrible in relationships though. But you didn't turn me into a Popsicle, did you?"

"No," I said slowly. "So, your heat counteracts my cold?"

"Exactly."

I let that one stew for a while, watching the snow-crusted houses flick past as we drove onward. We were back in Grande Prairie, but we must have been on the outskirts, because I didn't recognize the area.

"We're here."

We pulled into a long, winding driveway at the bottom of a snow-laden hill. The van's tires crunched and squeaked on the way up, spinning uselessly a couple of times, and we almost didn't make it. Finally, we crested the hill, finding an empty spot alongside several iced-over cars in the tiny parking lot.

"It's a bed and breakfast. I know the woman who owns it," Loki explained. "I figure they'll be checking all the hotels, and this place is pretty tiny and out of the way. We'll wait here for a day or two. I'm betting they'll expect you to hightail it out of town right away, so they'll be watching the roads."

"Okay, great." I paused in the doorway and glanced down. My dressing gown was embarrassingly thin, and it only went to my knees. It was bad enough that I was wearing it in front of him. "Um, Loki?"

"Crap." His cheeks colored, and he shrugged out of the jacket he was wearing and handed it to me. "Here. Zip that up over your nightgown. It'll kind of look like you're wearing a dress." He chewed his lower lip. "I don't have any shoes for you though. Damn."

"It’s fine. I don’t get cold." I looked at my feet. Blue toenail polish.

How prophetic.

We climbed out of the van and walked to the door together. Sure, they wouldn’t notice a pair of teenagers—one in a dress and no shoes in below-zero weather. Not weird at all.

Loki rapped on the door. After a moment, there was the soft pitter-patter of footsteps inside, and the door creaked open to reveal a short woman in a yellow dress.