Frostbite (Touch of Frost) (12 page)

On all fours, I crawled to Georgia. She moaned. Tears streamed. Her new red bangs clung to her damp forehead.

“Georgia?”

She curled into a ball, hugging her midsection.

“Please say something. I’m freaking out here.”

“So am I.” Her voice was hoarse. “What the hell did you do to me?”

“Oh, my gosh, you swore.”

“Amanda.”

“I don’t know exactly. How are you even here?”

“Your call scared the crap out of me. I snuck out and ran over here. Door was open.” She coughed. “Whoa, wait a second.” She fanned out her fingers. “Red?”

“Can you sit up? Can you make it to the couch?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

I dragged her to the couch. She and I both fell onto it with a huff.

“I feel heavy. I’m so scared, Mandy.”

“I know. I am, too. You’re okay. You’re going to be fine.” I twined my fingers with hers.

“This happened to you?”

I pointed to my hair, then flashed my nails. “Let’s just say I didn’t choose this color.”

“Wait, do I have that, too?” She touched her bangs.

I nodded. “Sure do. Only red.”

My heart pounded so hard, it kicked the air out of my lungs. She was like me? How was that even possible? I jumped up and ran to my bathroom. I cranked open the drawer. Of course my mirror wasn’t there. Never where I needed it.

“Mandy?” Georgia hollered from the other room.

“Coming.” How could she be like me? “Ahh, found it.”

I stood straight and glanced at myself in the wall mirror. Damp strands of hair flopped onto my chest, but surprisingly, the rest of me wasn’t soaking wet like I would have thought. So I’d gone through an ice cocoon-thing twice? And now Georgia?

I zoomed out of the bathroom. Georgia cuddled up on the couch with a blanket around her. “Here. Take a look.”

She took the mirror and sat up. “Oh, my gosh.”

“I like it.”

“How—” Georgia shook her head. “My mom’s going to freak. I know it. Oh, and she’ll blame you, too.”

“Me?”

“She’s always told me you were wild. A bad influence.”

“You never told me.”

“Didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” She glanced in the mirror and picked at her red locks. A smile curled her lips. “Does look pretty cool, actually.”

I sat on the couch next to her.

“I walked in on you frozen? I didn’t dream that, did I?”

I shook my head. “Welcome to my nightmare.”

“You had ice all over your body.
Ice
, Mandy.”

“I know. And you had heat.”

“Please tell me what’s going on.”

The doorknob jiggled as I was about to tell her the great news—I knew nothing. I leapt off the couch, ran to the door, and yanked it open.

“Whoa. Mandy, what’s going on?” Scott stumbled through the doorway, key still in the lock. “Why is the door unlocked?”

I tugged him into the living room. “Where the hell is your cell phone?”

“What? What happened? Are you—?”

“I did that ice-thing again.”

Scott skidded to a stop, and his eyes bulged.

“Hi.” Georgia waved from the couch.

“Hey.” He shot a glare my direction.

“Don’t worry, she knows. She’s the one who found me. I tried dialing your cell, but my frozen fingers clicked her number by accident.”

Georgia nodded.

“There. You’re up to speed. Now help us figure this out.” I sat next to Georgia.

Scott stepped to the chair opposite the couch. “Georgia. I’m sorry you had to see that. Are you okay? You look…different.”

“Didn’t get to the good part yet, did I?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I better sit down.”

“Good idea,” Georgia said. “I’m sitting, but my head is still spinning.”

“She came in, grabbed my hand, it stuck. I think I iced it to mine. She couldn’t let go. Then it happened to her.”

“It?”

“She went nuclear. Totally hot. Burning up. She actually melted the casing of ice around me. Our hands wouldn’t separate. It was like we were welded together.”

“And I got a manicure and hair style out of it.”

“How is that possible?” Scott tugged his hair.

“No clue.” I hated not knowing. I felt like such an idiot.

Four years I’d been in the dark. But now Georgia was a part of it. Dragged into this shit because of me. That changed things.

“I don’t even understand what happened. Can you please tell me what’s going on?” Georgia asked.

“I’m not sure how you fit into this, but my mom had the whole ice-thing going on. It evidently got passed to me. I found out four years ago.”

“Um…
what
?” Georgia’s body stiffened next to mine.

“Like I said, welcome to my nightmare.”

“You hid this from me?”

I glanced at Scott, then nodded. “Had to.”

“But I’m your best friend. You should have told me. You’ve been lying all this time?”

“I know. But this is big, wouldn’t you say? I didn’t want to put you in danger.”

“Danger?”

“The more people who know, the more chance we’ll be found out,” I said. “And that’s never a good thing.”

“Your mom could do this? How?”

“No idea. Neither of us knew about it,” Scott said. “Mandy saw Mom use the power the day our folks were killed.”

Georgia’s jaw fell open.

“It’s a long story, G, but in a nutshell, Mom somehow got these frosty powers. People were after her, maybe to study her. Then they killed both Mom and Dad. They found out about my powers, and now they hunt me. My last name isn’t even Smith.”

She shook her head side-to-side so hard her entire body jiggled.

“I couldn’t tell you, Georgia. I’m sorry. I can’t tell anyone. I was so scared when you saw me covered in ice. That’s a new thing by the way. It happened last night for the first time ever. I woke up with this hair and these nails. I don’t know what it means. I don’t know why I have these powers. And I don’t know why all this is happening to you now, too.”

“I think my head’s going to explode.”

“I’m sorry.” I yanked her into my arms.

I felt so bad, but also relieved. Totally selfish of me, I know, but to have someone who was like me…that just meant I wasn’t alone anymore. Didn’t have to hide myself from the one closest to me besides my brother.

And now that I thought of it, maybe there were others. People like me and Georgia.

Scott stood up. “How are you feeling? Do you need something to drink? Mandy woke up thirsty.”

“Water would be great.” Georgia sagged into the cushions. “What am I going to tell my parents, Mandy?”

“I’m not sure yet. They won’t understand. Well, unless they have powers, too.”

She turned her hands palm up, then down, analyzing them. “What can I do?”

“Maybe what I can, only with heat?” I glanced at Scott as he hurried in with her water.

“Here.”

“Thanks.” She gulped most of it.

The lights flickered off her nails. I thought I even smelled singed hair, but aside from being a little damp, her hair was fine.

“Let me show you.” I touched the bottom of her glass with my forefinger, and it froze. Rather quickly, too. It surprised even me. It felt easier for some reason.

Maybe because I’d been practicing more lately?

“Whoa. How’d you do that?”

“I concentrated on freezing it. Usually works, unless I’m all worked up and it sometimes slips out. Like tonight at the movies. I totally froze my soda.”

“That’s why you ran into the bathroom!”

“And then Zach had to go and kiss me like there was no tomorrow.
That’s
what threw me into the ice-cocoon you found me in. At least that’s the theory I’m going with for now.” I nodded at Georgia. “Give it a try.”

She stared at the glass. Her knuckles whitened as her grip tightened. Her nostrils flared, then she let out a breath. “Not working.”

“We’ll figure it out. We’ll get you some control.” I patted her hand.

“What if I erupt into a ball of flames and burn my house down?”

“No. No. I won’t let that happen. I—”

“How? You can’t be with me twenty-four-seven, Mandy. What if I have a wicked-dream and torch up? What if—” She tugged at her hair. “God, what if I hurt someone?”

“You won’t. We’ll practice. I’ll put the frost on any flames that show up. We’ll figure this out. I swear we’ll figure this out.”

Her knowing about the depths of my freakiness made a fifty-pound weight slide off my shoulders. I didn’t have anyone to help me through this supernatural crap, but I could help her. Train her.

That made me even more determined to find a way to stay here with her.

And come to think of it, Georgia was taking this all pretty well—

“Try it again, Georgia,” Scott said.

She held the glass in her shaking hands and stared at it. Creases lined her forehead, and she narrowed her eyes.

I glanced at Scott. He shrugged. Hey, was that lipstick on his neck? I shook my head and set my attention on Georgia. Her fingernails glowed like a fiery sunset trapped beneath her skin.

The ice crackled. The red tint traveled into her hand, then up her arm.

The ice melted into water. The next second it began to bubble and then boil. “Whoa, how do I turn it off?”

“I don’t know. Tell it to cool down. Tell it to stop.” My hand frosted over just in case.

Georgia looked at me and nodded. I gently pressed my forefinger to her glowing knuckles. Didn’t know if we’d get stuck together again, so I didn’t want to grab it.

A circle of blue formed where I touched her skin. The redness flowing up her arm receded. The boiling subsided.

“Oh, my gosh.” Georgia’s eyes glistened with moisture. Her nostrils flared. “It’s working.” Once her flesh returned to normal, she set the steaming glass of water on the coffee table, kicked off the blanket, then stood up.

She tugged at her hair and paced. I knew exactly what she was going through. I remembered the first time I froze something—er—some
one
by accident. Poor Scott. He hadn’t believed me about Mom. Couldn’t blame him, though. Not many would believe a fourteen-year-old kid who claimed her mom picked up a car and shot ice from her hands.

“Georgia?” She faced me. “Do you think your mom or dad might have this same thing? You know, fire?”

“No. And they’re going to freak when they find out about this.” Tears streamed down her face. “Mandy—I—”

I pushed up from the couch and yanked her into my arms. “It’s okay. Freak out a little. I’m here—we’re here for you. Love you, girl.”

I wasn’t sure how long I held my sobbing best friend but it didn’t matter. I knew exactly what she was going through and I wouldn’t let her do it alone. Ever.

“Maybe her mom does have some powers, and she’s hidden it like our parents did. You only found out because the
Coats
attacked our house,” Scott said.

True. They’d done such a stellar job of hiding it from us we’d never found any mention of it in any of their things.

Nothing. Not a clue. That’s what was so frustrating.

“What’s a
Coat
?” Georgia asked as she stepped away from me and stood in the middle of our tiny living room.

“Scientists. They wanted to take Mom in and study her,” Scott said.

“Well, that’s what we think, anyway,” I said. “She called them that right before she died. They’ve caught me before. And yeah, they wore white coats. So I’m thinking that’s where she got the name.”

Scott shot up from the chair. “Theory time.”

“What?” Georgia’s hand gravitated to her throat, her eyes wide.

He put his forefinger to his bottom lip. “Mandy, you first got your powers after Mom and Dad were killed. Right after the funeral. Totally emotional experience.”

“Yeah.”

“Then, recently, a first date with Zach. Totally emotional experience. You said he was kissing you tonight? Totally emotional experience. Your powers go nuts when you’re freaking out. Stressed.”

I saw where he was going with this. “But, I’ve kissed other guys before.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “I thought—”

“So I tried it a few times, deal with it.” I hadn’t
been-been
with a guy yet or even had any mega make-out sessions, though. Too scared I’d freeze them.

“Well, that blows a hole in my theory then.”

“Not exactly. I mean, I’ve only been with a couple guys, and I never really liked them as much as I like Zach. I was only trying it. You know, practicing the whole not-freezing-them thing.”

“We’re so going to talk about that later. But back to my thought.” He turned to Georgia. “Not to get personal, but did you and Dan…did anything happen with you and Dan tonight?”