Frost (8 page)

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?

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.

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…”