The Frozen Witch Book One (26 page)

It had an effect on me. An emboldening
one.

I shoved back, that fog that had wended
through my mind shifting. I moved just in time, throwing myself
down the opposite side of the sweeping staircase.

I heard Hank just behind me. He spat my name
in between incanting. His voice arced and pitched, each word a
spluttered blast of hatred.

My skin crawled with sweat, my body shaking
with adrenaline as I threw myself down each step. I kept a hand
locked on my bangle, trying everything to wrench it off.

It continued to tighten around my wrist, now
squeezing the flesh so tightly, I was sure it would pinch my hand
clean off. My hands were becoming numb, and with that lack of
sensation, my power weakened all the more.

The light no longer played across my
skin.

He was right behind me now – his breath a
mere few inches from my back, his outstretched hand even
closer.

I reached the base of the stairs and shot
forward, shoes slipping on the smooth, marble floor.

I caught sight of Franklin again – he was
now down on both knees, his head drooping so low it practically
touched the floor. The light of that golden disc surrounding him
dimmed, like a candle burning through the last of its wax.

…
He was about to die –
Franklin. I was sure of it. Just as I knew I had to do
something.

I used all my energy to throw myself at him,
but I did not reach him.

Hank reached me instead. He shoved forward
at the last moment, catching a handful of my hair and yanking me
around.

He wasn’t just strong – his magic darted out
from his grip and sank into me like wave of electric shock after
wave of electric shock.

My teeth rattled in my skull and my eyes
threatened to roll into the back of my head.

I heard a thump as Franklin fell.

Though Hank wrenched me back, I still
managed to see Franklin out of the corner of my eye. That golden
disc was about to grow dark….

Something inside me snapped. It wasn’t the
cold, it wasn’t the chaos, it wasn’t even my mind.

It was that wall that had always kept me
back. The one I’d built in my teens and I’d been adding a brick to
every day since. My anger, my defensiveness – my bitterness at
life. I may have technically grown up in opportunity, but it had
bound me. And when I’d broken free, poverty had bound me
instead.

I’d never been free.

And now Hank had me, I’d be more trapped
than ever with no hope of escape.

At the heart of me, there was something that
needed to escape. That had always needed to break free.

It wasn’t my magic. It was something more.
That part of me that wanted to create, to protect, to make a
difference.

As I reached a hand towards Franklin’s now
still form, I let that part break free.

It erupted out of me. Not just the ice – the
kernel of pure potential that lay at its center.

And that was more than enough to cut through
Hank’s spell. With a resounding, ringing crack, my bangles turned
to dust and scattered at my feet.

Hank still had a hand on my hair, but he
didn’t for long. He had time to suck in a single, terrified
breath.

Then I concentrated on him. The cold spread
from my chest, shooting towards him with such speed, I thought I
could hear the very air freeze and shatter.

Somehow, he tried to fight back. Though the
brunt of my power was flowing into him like a relentless storm, he
still reached a hand out. His fingers jerked as they spread towards
my neck.

I didn’t take a step back, just faced him
and concentrated with all my might.

He fought back, but as his eyes widened to
the point of dropping out of his skull, I saw his fear.

He was a sinner – one of the worst. Yet
somewhere, somewhere within was something that didn’t deserve
death. Yes, Hank Chaplain had killed, but no – I would not kill in
turn.

Though it would have been so easy to reach
forward and snap him with my power, I let it recede. Not completely
– I pushed one last time until the ice blasted across his chest. It
was enough to send him reeling backwards. He fell onto the ground
and skidded to a stop several meters away. He lay still, the last
of his magic crackling from him and discharging into the floor.

I turned from him.

I went to drop down to one knee to help
Franklin to his feet. I needn’t have bothered.

Franklin got to his own feet. Though his
stance was shaky at first, it didn’t take long for his knees to
lock, his shoulders to stiffen, and his head to lift as he faced
me.

“You – you’re alive,” I
managed.

He nodded. His body was covered with
bruises, blood splattered over his shirt from a deep cut along his
jaw. He looked as if he’d been beaten, and right in the center of
his eyes I saw a grain of fear – the fear of a man who’d almost
lost his life.

“Yes,” he managed. “I am alive. Thanks to
you.” He shifted his gaze from me and locked it on Hank’s still
form.

I turned to look at Hank too.

I got the sudden impression that Vali was
checking to see I hadn’t killed Hank.

A fleeting thought caught me – one I tried
to stifle, and yet one that flashed through my mind nonetheless.
What if this had been a test? What if Franklin had never been in
any real danger? What if Vali had held back to see what I could do?
And, more importantly, to see what I wouldn’t do – whether I would
choose to kill or save.

As soon as that thought struck me, I shook
my head and dismissed it.

Expression unreadable, Franklin continued to
stare at Hank.

“I – I don’t get it. Why couldn’t you save
yourself?” I asked.

It took Vali a long time to answer. He
returned his attention to the now still form of Chaplain. I
expected to see anger rippling across Vali’s brow, darkening his
gaze, tightening his jaw.

I didn’t. As Vali looked at Chaplain –
arguably one of the worst sinners in Saint Helios – Vali looked
somber, sad even.

For a moment, something flickered deep in
the god’s eyes. Something that called to me….

Vali ticked his head up and faced me. “To
answer your question, Lily-white, I could not save
myself.”

“I don’t get it – you’re a
god.”

“Yes, I am. Franklin is not. I am…
incapable of drawing on my full abilities at will. The actions of
others dictate what I can do.”

I didn’t understand. It felt like I’d need
an eternity to fathom his mysteries.

My stomach
kicked at the thought, then it
kicked again as Vali considered me, expression
unreadable.

He reached a hand out. “It is
over.”

I looked at his hand then up at his face.
“Are you sure?”

A wry smile spread over Vali’s mouth. He
didn’t answer, just kept his hand held towards me.

It took me a moment, a long moment. A moment
filled with confusing expectation and knotted nerves. A moment of
tight breath and tingling cold. And yet, at its core, a moment
filled with a promise of warmth.

I took his hand.

His smile spread further.

And together, we walked out.

I was an indentured witch working off her
sins for the god of revenge. My life would never be the same again.
No more waitressing, no more arguments with my family, no more
hiding.

It was time to find out who I really
was.

It was over. Somehow, it was over, and I’d
survived. No, I’d done more than just surviving; I’d saved Franklin
Saunders’ life. Now all I had to do was find out the secrets he’d
been keeping from me.

I was standing in his office. He’d healed
his injuries. Don’t ask me how, but Franklin Saunders was back on
his feet, not a wound in sight.

For several seconds, we faced each other in
silence. I had so many questions swirling around my head. There was
one more than any other I desperately needed the answer to: just
what I was.

“So this is it, ha? You still aren’t gonna
tell me what I am?” I faced him, but this time it was completely
different. This time, I didn’t find Franklin Saunders imposing. Not
even Vali underneath. Because this time I was giving in to my
curiosity more and more. Fear may have seen me enter this new
magical world, but it would be curiosity more than anything that
would get me through this.

I watched him take a deep breath, his chest
pushing out hard against his shirt. I waited for him to answer.
Instead, he inclined his head towards the view, pushed up, and
walked towards the window.

I frowned. “You’re not going to tell me,
are you?” I concluded.

“You’re right – I won’t.” He shook his
head as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Don’t I deserve the truth? I may still be
a sinner in your books, but I saved your life and brought Hank
in.”

Slowly, he arched his head and faced me.
There was something so vulnerable about that look, something so
different from the god of revenge I was used to. “You’re right –
you have earnt the truth. I simply can’t give it to
you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means I can’t tell you what you are,
because I’m not entirely sure yet.”

Nerves blasted through my gut, but I
didn’t pay any attention to them as I continued to face him. “Hank
called me a frozen witch, and I know my magic must have something
to do with ice. So why don’t you fill in the gaps?”

He slowly turned from the view. At first,
he focused all his attention on straightening his tie pin. Then he
faced me. “What you will ultimately be hasn’t been decided yet.
Yes, you’re a frozen witch. But unlike other practitioners of
magic, your path has not yet been decided.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked,
receding.

He paused, and I could tell he was trying to
figure out just how much to tell me.

He suddenly smiled, and it was such a
private smile that it stole away my attention.

I didn’t push him again. I waited as he
appeared to come to a conclusion.

“A frozen witch, beyond all others, is
closest to the gods.”

“What does that mean?” I asked through a
stutter.

“Your magic – there’s less of a gap
between you and the divine. So I simply don’t know what will happen
to you next, Lily-white; it hasn’t been decided, yet.”

I still wasn’t following, but there was one
thing I could follow easily: his expression. His direct attention
as it didn’t waver, as he locked me in his unnerving stare.

Suddenly
I realized something. “I’m not
here to work off my sins, am I?”

His brow knotted, and I saw Vali return.
“Yes, you are here to work off your sins,” he said in a strong
tone.

I thought he would turn from me, but he
didn’t. Instead, he continued, “In part,” he added under his
breath.

My stomach
knotted with tight tingles.
“What do you mean in part?”

“You are still the reason your grandmother
died.” He dipped his head low, the shadows beneath his eyes
lengthening. “You have still hurt others in the past without
knowing it. And yet…” he trailed off.

“And yet what?” I prompted in a quiet but
firm tone.

“And yet there is more to this
situation.”

“How much more?”

“We will both have to wait and find out.”
With that, the door to his office opened with a creak.

I turned to it then shifted my attention
right back to Vali. Or was it Franklin Saunders? It was becoming
hard to tell. “I’m not leaving until you tell me more,” I announced
defiantly.

“You will eventually find out all the
answers you seek. But for now, you must get back to work. For
sinners never rest. And until they do, neither will
you.”

The end of Frozen Witch Book One.
The next book in this series – The Frozen Witch Book Two – is
currently available.

If you liked this book, you may also like other urban
fantasies by Odette C. Bell. For a full list of books, please
visit
www.odettecbell.com
.

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