Frostbite (Touch of Frost) (4 page)

“That’s freakin’ me out a little.” Fear rattled Georgia’s voice.

I stepped closer to her and cooled down the hand she wasn’t squeezing like a vise. I had Georgia with me, and that changed everything. No matter what, I’d keep her safe. I wouldn’t let them hurt her like they hurt Scott before, even if it exposed my powers.

I faced Georgia. “Let’s go.”

Sweat trickled down my back, igniting my skin with goose bumps. When we’d left the campus, it was nearly three-thirty, so, to follow the sun would mean we were heading west, right? Yeah, that sounded good.

“What is this place, anyway?” I scanned the trees towering us. The subtle scent of pine didn’t soothe me at that moment. Neither did the warm, Arizona sun I’d come to love.

“I think it’s someone’s land. You know—someone who owns a bunch but never uses it. I heard kids come out this direction to party. I’ve never been, though.”

“Of course not, Miss I-Don’t-Drink-Or-Do-Anything-Crazy.” I scanned the area again. A shadow darted behind a pine tree about fifty feet back.

Shit.

“This land-owner-person doesn’t happen to have dogs?” Or big, human shaped shadows…

“I don’t know. I never cut through.”

Didn’t matter. I’d handle whatever or whoever showed up. Having to explain it to Georgia if she saw would be the tough part. Maybe she’d understand? Think my powers were cool? I shook my head. Nope. Tried that. My old friend, Toni, in Minnesota, didn’t think it was so cool I could lift a car.

She’d posted all about what she’d seen, and it nearly went viral. That led to another mass exodus in the middle of the night. Another name change. And…another school.

“Wait, I see a break in the trees. We’re close.” Georgia’s shrill voice bounced off our surroundings.

A series of crunching branches crackled through the air. “Oh my gosh.” Georgia pointed behind me. “Something’s coming. What—”

“Run, G.” I pushed her forward as I dove to the side.

She took off. But about twenty feet ahead of me, the front of her foot caught a root, and she stumbled. A dart splintered the bark of the tree beside her, sending shards of wood into the air. Georgia yelped and crashed against the ground. The crack of her head hitting the ground sickened my gut.

Two tall figures, dressed in camouflaged fatigues crept forward, dart guns raised.
Shit.
My heart hammered my ribs to the point of pain, sending a raging rush of blood through my body, pounding in my ears.

One glance at Georgia showed me she’d not moved. I crawled to the nearest tree, jumped up, then flattened my back against the tree. Pricks from the bark stabbed through my thin shirt. My chest heaved as I fought for air through the fear threatening to shut down my lungs.

Save Georgia. Save Georgia.

“Hands up, Hillman.”

Coats
for sure since they knew my real last name.

Images of the men attacking my mom flashed through my mind. She’d constantly been hounded by these assholes. Never free to just live. Be normal. Raise Scott and me like a regular, over protective, dominating parent.

But Mom defended herself and her family. I’d do the same. Had to.

I held out my hands, palms up and said, “Come on, power, help me out a little here, would ya?”

A cool glaze of ice slid over my digits.
Sweet.

“Amanda—”

I picked up a rock by my foot and tossed it thirty feet back where we’d come from, deeper into the woods. I couldn’t have them close to Georgia or the main roads. Not if I had to do what I knew I’d have to do.

My gut dropped at the thought. I’d done it several times over the years. Had to.

I rolled the opposite direction and hopped to my feet. Leaning toward them, I pointed my fingers at the two army dudes.

No streams of ice or snow shot out, but like heat radiating off the hood of a sun-baked car, the air shifted. It wafted and swayed, specifically around my extended fingers, and shot in the direction of my targets.

“Die!” I yelled.

They stopped, dart guns aimed at me, and I half expected the pricks I’d endured before to penetrate my skin.

But it didn’t happen.

Sooner than it’d ever happened before, white frost encased the guys’ hands, starting from the weapon. One grunted and shifted, as if fighting the frost.

No one could fight the ice.

Colder. Colder.
Ice formed at my fingertips, slowly creeping up my wrists.
Die.

They’d just ruined my chances of staying here. Staying with Georgia. My date with Zach. Scott’s store. Damn those
Coats
.

Plumes of white billowed from their mouths. At least until the ice covered their faces.

Tears burned my eyes as they breached my lids and slid down. A metallic taste coated my tongue, and it was then that I realized I’d bitten my cheek I was concentrating so hard.

I let a breath stream out as I stood straight, eyeing my surroundings. No sign of any more
Coats
. Usually they came in packs of four or five, and they shot their wicked darts first. Was this just a little scouting thing? To report back?

“Mandy?” Georgia’s weak voice permeated through my muddled brain, and I turned around.

She reached for her head and rolled to her back.

Back off, just back off,
I silently told the ice encasing my fingers. “Georgia. I’m coming.”

I glanced behind me, and the frozen statues glistened in the sun filtering through the leaves. I’d killed them.
My stomach cramped.
I didn’t have a choice.
Had to protect Georgia. Protect myself.

Shit.

By the time I reached Georgia, the ice had faded from my skin. I never really understood what happened to it, but for now, I was grateful it was gone.

“You all right, girl?” I asked.

“What happened?” She sat up. “Wait, a—”

“Big damn dog, that’s what it was. You ran, tripped.” I reached for her head. “You were out for a few seconds, there.”

She shifted to the side and looked over my shoulder.

I moved in front of her. I was pretty sure the sculptures were out of sight, but it didn’t hurt to block her view. Just in case. “Can you walk?”

Her eyes bobbed in my direction, and she nodded. “Ohh. No nodding. No nodding.”

“Let me help you.” I glanced behind me as I guided her up to confirm no one pursued us, then urged Georgia forward.

We made it out of the thicket and into unobstructed sun. I drank in a deep breath of fresh air, hoping to calm my nerves. It did nothing to ease my guilt. Despite those jerks ruining my life, I didn’t enjoy killing them. In fact, I hated it.

To my right lay a patch of open land, dusted with yellow wild flowers. And with the sun shining down on them, it looked like a soft, swaying blanket of gold.

Yes. This was what I’d seen from the road.
Beautiful.

“Main Street is that way. See the packed trail there?” Georgia pointed ahead of us.

“Got it.” I put my arm around her. “Go slow, hold on to me.”

“Girl, you are sooo not picking any short-cuts ever again. As in ever. You don’t even like to hike, do you?” She touched her head. “I got a goose egg there.”

“I’m so sorry, G. I—”

“Not your fault I’m a klutz. Damn dog chasing us. How’d you scare it off?”

“Just growled louder than he did.” If only it had been a dog. I chanced another glance behind us. Still all clear
.
“It’s pretty here. This is what I saw from the road.”

“This part, I know. You can see some of it from Adams Street. It’s old man Conroy’s land.”

“That’s cool.”

The golden flowers swayed as a gentle breeze breathed over their delicate petals. “It’s just that—well—Mom and Dad took me to a place like this once when I was a kid. I liked it.”

“Oh. Sorry. I know you don’t like talking about them.”

I coughed over the lump in my throat. “Yeah, well…they’re dead. Not much to talk about.”

No matter what town Scott dragged us to I’d always managed to find a spot to claim as mine. One I knew Mom and Dad would like, too. Just my way of staying connected to them. It helped me get through all this
Coats
crap better for some reason.

Looked like I’d finally found it. Too bad it was right when we’d have to up and leave—
again.

“A
re you okay, Mandy?” Scott yanked me into a massive hug. “Georgia?”

“She’s fine. Her dad checked her out. Minor concussion. Her mom’s going to watch over her a little bit tonight.” I hopped onto the counter top, thankful the shop was empty. “So, should I start packing?”

So much for my date with Zach tonight.

“I’ll close up shop and get out to the field.” He engaged the blending shield and pressed chop.

The machine whirled to life, pulverizing the strawberries and bananas to mush. Once again he had to go clean up what I’d done. “I’ll go with you.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Scott. What do you do when I…freeze people like that?” I wasn’t sure why I asked, because I didn’t think I wanted to know.

He poured the smoothie mixture into a glass and turned, holding it out to me. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of it. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He bumped his finger beneath my chin. “Go get ready for your date with Zip.”

“Zach. And no. I’m cancelling.” Crap. I didn’t have his phone number to call or text him.

“Don’t. I want you in public tonight. I’ll go take care of things in the field, then start gathering up our stuff.” Scott rounded the corner of the counter and strode to the door but not before I saw a dark sadness claim his eyes. “It’ll be fine.”

“No it won’t,” I whispered. It never would. We’d always have to keep running. “What if we stayed?”

I wasn’t even sure where the idea came from. It wasn’t an option. The
Coats
had found us. Leaving was our only option.

No. I knew where the idea came from. Scott and I had started a little life here. Sure, it was a dorky town. Small. But I was graduating in a few days—finally. Georgia was here, too.

Scott turned around, arms crossed over his chest. “We can’t stay, Mandy. As much as I hate it, we have to leave.”

“We’ve never tried. They’ll expect us to run. To bolt. Like we always have.” God I wanted something normal. A best friend. A boyfriend. Something other than this running.

“Mandy.”

“Reverse psychology, right?” I sipped the frozen drink and hoisted my feet over the counter to the other side, then jumped down. “I killed the ones after us like I’ve done before.” I made it sound so normal…“We’ve always left. But what if we just stay and keep our eyes wide open. If anyone else comes snooping, I’ll ice them.”

But that would totally suck. I was only eighteen and already a murderer.
Multiple times
. And Scott was my accomplice. I couldn’t ask him to keep doing that either. Hell, I didn’t want to keep killing. But I wanted to stay here more.

Totally selfish thing, I knew that. But—

Scott dug his keys out from his front pocket. “I’ll think about it.”

My phone vibrated in my hand. A text from Georgia.
Facetime me so I can help you pick out your clothes for tonight. Mom the Nazi-nurse won’t let me come over.

“You’ll think about it? Really?” I said to Scott.

He took three long steps to me and yanked me into a hug. “I don’t want to keep running either, Mandy. You’re so close to graduating. I like this town and like the smoothie business. And…I’ve got reasons to stay, too.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Not that I enjoy the thought of you having to defend yourself like you did tonight. But like I said…I’ll think about it.” He playfully pushed me away from him. “Go.
Try
and enjoy yourself tonight. I’ll take care of things in the field.”

I huffed. I wanted to enjoy myself with Zach, but how could I? I’d just killed two people, and with my luck, I’d probably freeze Zach.

SIX

W
hy had I let Georgia make me up? I stared at my reflection in Java Joe’s front window. My long, straight hair draped over my shoulders, down to my elbows. That was about the only thing that looked halfway decent. Georgia picked out the mini-skirt-type thing. I wanted my jeans and Skechers.

Georgia had been on Facetime for crying out loud. I could have just said no. Besides. I shouldn’t have even come on this date with everything that’d happened earlier today. I checked the last text Scott had sent me:
Almost there. I’m fine.

He never let me go with him when he “took care of” my frosty dealings. In a way, I was thankful so I didn’t have to see those I’d killed. But it wasn’t fair Scott had to deal—

“Well, don’t you look nice?”