A Touch of Frost (2 page)

Chapter 2

Lacey sighed as Ginger, the beautiful three year old Golden Retriever that had been dropped off at the Touch of Magic Animal Shelter two weeks ago, wagged her tail as she stepped into the large airy barn. The sound of puppies growling in the stall behind her brought a smile to Lacey’s lips. The smile felt stiff and unfamiliar, but at least it was a smile.

“Hey, girl,” Lacey murmured softly. “How are your babies doing today?”

A wet lick of a tongue and a tired sigh answered Lacey’s question. A malnourished Ginger and her litter of four puppies had been dropped off a little over six weeks ago at the gate leading to the animal shelter Lacey and her husband, Sean, had started six years before.

Lacey sent a wave of warmth through her fingers to the tired mother. The smile on her lips widened when Ginger picked up the bright orange tennis ball she liked to carry and stood up with renewed energy. Lacey reached down and took it, ignoring the dampness. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the ball into the outer courtyard area.

“Go have some fun, girl. I’ll look after your babies for a little while,” Lacey told the wagging Golden before she called out to Evan, one of her part-time helpers, who had picked up the ball as it rolled by him. Lacey watched as he began to play with Ginger. “Thanks, Evan.”

“No problem, Lacey,” Evan called back cheerfully.

Lacey sighed again as she turned back toward the stall containing the puppies. She knew it was crazy for her to be down in the dumps today, but not even the sunshine outside could soothe her restless soul. A sense of apprehension swept through her as she thought of the unusual storm that had rolled through last night. She could smell the change in the air. Something was coming.

“Yes, something is coming,” Topper said, leaning against the door to the stall.

Lacey jumped, startled as her eccentric aunt’s tiny head popped up. Today her hair was a blaze of purple that matched her eyes. Lacey couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped her.

At almost sixty, Topper was just one of the colorful residents of Magic, New Mexico. The town, aptly named due its unusual assortment of residents, was home to a strange mixture of people from all over the world. It was a place where people could be themselves without fear of being labeled bizarre, threatening, or being hunted down for research. Topper was just one of those residents.

“Topper, I thought you were in Bermuda!” Lacey exclaimed. “You scared the daylights out of me.”

“I was, dear, but I could feel your sadness all the way there. I thought you might like a bit of company,” Topper said cheerfully.

Lacey looked skeptically at her aunt. “I’m fine,” she started to say before she stopped short. Rolling her eyes, she knew her aunt didn’t believe her when her bottom lip stuck out. “Okay, so I’m not ‘fine’, but I will be.”

“Sean wouldn’t want you to feel sad, love,” Topper commented, opening the door to the stall. “Come in and sit with the new babies. They are so much stronger now.”

Lacey’s mouth drooped at Sean’s name. No, he wouldn’t have wanted her to be sad. He loved life and would have wanted her to embrace the beauty surrounding her and to appreciate every day for the joy it could bring. She missed him so much.

Lacey started again as a withered hand captured the tear that began to slide down her cheek. She released the breath she didn’t realize she was holding as the glistening drop rose into the air and burst into a million tiny diamonds.

Sean’s laughing face formed for a brief moment. Lacey closed her eyes as warmth brushed across her cheeks, eyelids and lips. When she opened her eyes, a deep sense of calm swept through her, lifting her mood.

“Thank you, Aunty,” Lacey murmured.

“Anytime, child. Now, look at what these darling little fur balls can do,” Topper replied, grabbing Lacey’s hand and pulling her down into the hay next to the litter of rambunctious eight week old puppies.

Lacey covered her face as the puppies realized they had a new play toy, namely her. Laughing, Lacey couldn’t quite protect her face as the tiny mouths pulled on her hair and licked her chin. She was gasping for breath by the time they all piled onto her stomach and chest to wrestle with each other.

Dropping her hands, she lay back against the fresh hay as all but the runt of the litter hurried over to their mother to play as Ginger came back in to check on her family. Soon, the puppies were piled on top of each other, content after their feeding and play time. Well, all of them except for the runt. Little Bit was busy working on the top button of Lacey’s red blouse. How anyone could just dump such a wonderful little family, Lacey would never understand as she ran her hands over the blondish-brown pup.

“I felt a change in the air,” Lacey murmured as she continued to stroke the puppy that had settled down for a nap. “Something is coming.”

“I felt it too. There will be a battle between good and evil,” Topper replied, stroking her purple hair. “But it will be more than that.”

Lacey glanced at her aunt in surprise. Premonition was one of Topper’s specialties. She could sense things better than Lacey. If only she had been here when…

“It would not have stopped what happened, Lacey. It was Sean’s time to go. You have to accept that, love,” Topper said gently.

“Maybe if I had been there instead of staying here…” Lacey began as she gently picked up the drowsy puppy in her hands and sat up. Cradling it against her chest, she drew in a deep breath. “You’re right, you know. Sean told me the same thing. He knew that it was his time. I just miss him.”

Lacey thought back to the bus accident that took her young husband’s life three years before. Sean had gone to see his parents who were visiting an old family friend in Sante Fe. His car was in the local garage so Sean had taken the bus. A tire on the bus blew out as it rounded a curve in the road. The blowout had sent the bus careening into an oncoming semi-trailer carrying a load of concrete culvert pipes.

Eight people had died instantly including Sean. As his spirit released from his body, Lacey had been awoken from a dream where she had been sitting beside him. Her screams were so loud that they had carried on the wind, drawing her sisters and aunt from their houses almost a quarter mile from the shelter that she and Sean had built.

“He still watches over you, love. He is a pretty stubborn spirit,” Topper said with a satisfied nod.

“I need to let him go,” Lacey replied softly. “But, I don’t want to.”

Topper patted Lacey’s hand. “I don’t think it’s you, dear. Sean wants to make sure that you are not alone before he is ready to leave. This is not about what you want, but what he is determined for you to have.”

Lacey glanced stubbornly up into the dancing purple eyes of her Aunt. She shook her head in determination. She would never again open herself to such pain. She would never allow herself to love someone the way she had loved Sean. She would… well, she would put a hex on any man first before she would allow herself to love again, she thought in defiance.

“So, what do you think is going to happen?” Lacey asked curiously, wanting to change the subject. “You said there would be a battle between good and evil. What type? Is it something we should warn Theo about?”

Theo was the local sheriff of Magic. It had taken a while after he first arrived to understand the strange residents, but after a few months, he had reluctantly begun to listen to them when they told him something was about to happen. This might be another one of those times if both Lacey and Topper were feeling the same sense of pending danger.

“No,” Topper murmured, stroking her hair again. “No, I think this time Theo should stay out of it. There will be another law man who will deal with the situation.”

Lacey groaned and shook her head. “Theo isn’t going to like another law man on his turf without his knowing. You know how protective he is now that he knows everyone.”

“He won’t have much to say about this one,” Topper replied as her eyes began to glow with delight, as if she was seeing something that had surprised her. “No, he won’t and neither will…”

“Neither will who?” Lacey asked with a frown.

“Nothing to worry about, dear. Everything will work out for the best,” Topper said, standing suddenly. With a wink, she tapped Little Bit on her head. The puppy jerked awake in Lacey’s arms, a small growl escaping her at being startled awake. “You, you little devil, are going to be a wonderful protector.”

Lacey carefully set Little Bit down by her sleeping brothers and sisters. Immediately, the tiny puppy pushed through the sleeping pile and settled on top of the others. Lacey shook her head at Topper’s confusing statement.

“What…” Lacey started to say when she realized she was alone again. “Oh, Topper, what am I going to do with you?”

Lacey placed her hands on her hips and glanced down at Ginger who lifted her head up and blinked sleepily at her. Well, there was no use wondering what was to come. Things always happened for a reason. Sometimes they were for the best, other times it was hard to see where the good could be. Still, it wasn’t a part of Lacey’s personality to focus on the bad for long.

“Okay, I have chores to do. If she comes back, warn me next time, will you?” Lacey asked in exasperation.

Ginger answered her by laying her head back down and closing her eyes. Lacey chuckled. She felt like doing the same thing after a sleepless night. Still, she had eighteen animals of various breeds that she needed to attend to. Evan was a great help, but at thirteen there was only so much he could do.

Lacey quietly stepped out of the stall and closed the door behind her. A special doggy-door in it would allow Ginger to come and go while keeping the puppies safe.

A smile, this time a little easier than before, lit Lacey’s face as she stepped out of the barn and raised her face to the sun. For just an instant, she swore she could feel Sean’s fingers running down her cheek. For the first time in three years, the heaviness that had threatened to drown her felt lighter.

Soon, Lacey,
Sean’s voice whispered as he watched over her.
Soon, my love, there will be another who will make you smile and laugh again.

Chapter 3

Frost settled the transport he had been given in the desert not far from the damaged vessel Taar had stolen. He quickly went through the procedures to shut down and secure the spaceship. Unstrapping, he rose stiffly from the pilot’s seat.

Even with the advanced technology and engine system, he had arrived at least a day behind Taar. He cursed the Warden of the mining prison for the hundredth time. Not only had the male disengaged the self-destruct on the spaceship that he had commandeered from a pirate imprisoned there, the ship had been modified giving Taar the needed power and resources to travel this far.

Frost checked the readings on the console. The atmosphere was conducive for life. He grimaced when he noted the temperatures. It was dark and cold now, but it would heat up once the sun came up.

“Computer, scan for surrounding life forms,” Frost ordered.

He opened a side compartment and pulled on a vest containing the necessary tools and weapons he would need. Taar was deadly. If he was lucky, Frost hoped to catch him before he reached any of the habitats containing the local species. If not, he would have to follow the line of dead bodies. There was no doubt in his mind that Taar would leave one. It was a pattern of the Learian; find, use, kill, move on to the next food source.

Frost checked the weapons. Blasters were useless. The energy pulses bounced off the thick, leathery skin of the Learian. The sharp explosives would stun him momentarily, but unless Frost was close, Taar would recover before he could strike. The only way to kill the beast was holding him still long enough to remove his head from his shoulders.

He had captured him by freezing the bastard the last time. It had taken him two weeks to recover from the amount of energy he had expended during the fight. If he had not laid a trap and been close enough to wrap the energy cuffs around Taar’s neck, hands and feet, he would have been the sixth dead Star Ranger.

“Surrounding area shows four dead life forms,” the computer stated. “Analysis indicates that death occurred within the last hour. Tracking patterns and the remains show the fugitive you are seeking continuing in a north-by-northeast path.”

“Information confirmed. Computer, begin the comprehensive elimination of evidence of Tridbarrian transport. All evidence of vessel must be erased,” Frost ordered. “Set self-destruct of this vessel for five days, four hours, thirty-two minutes unless I give verbal cancelation.”

“Directive confirmed, the self-destruct sequence has begun, elimination of Tridbarrian transport has commenced,” the computer replied.

Frost rolled his head back and forth to relieve the tension before he pressed his hand against the panel to open the outer door. He stepped down the ramp as it lowered to the dry sand and gravel soil. Drawing in a deep breath, he let the cold, fresh air rush through his body. Re-energized, he glanced at the speckled landscape, documenting key formations as a reference point.

He skimmed down through the readings on the scanner. A small dot blinked steadily. There were life forms ten clicks from his position. Taar would be hungry and would head for the nearest source of food. Nothing else showed on the close-range scanner.

Pocketing the device, Frost glanced up at the night sky. It would be light in approximately two hours. Taar would make it to the life forms before he did.

Hopefully, he would be able to catch him after he had eaten. The Learian would be slower and more lethargic if he was full. What would really help was if he came upon Taar while he was feeding. If he could catch the male when he was distracted that would be the best option, not to mention the safest.

Frost took off at a steady pace across the dark landscape. He concentrated on the terrain in front of him, ignoring the beauty of it. He had a lot of ground to cover if he was to arrive at the dwellings before the sun rose too high in the sky to give him adequate cover.

He focused on the different scenarios he might encounter with Taar as he ran. He needed to determine the most humane way to eliminate any of the native inhabitants he might come across if wiping their memories didn’t  work.

*.*.*

Taar’s lip curled back as he sniffed the air. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that it had been over a week since he’d had a decent meal. The few small creatures he had caught shortly after he crashed barely constituted a snack.

The fresh fragrance of meat and blood poured through him as he drew in another deep breath. He could feel the pounding of blood as it flowed through the veins of the creatures close by.

His dark eyes moved over the different buildings as he tried to determine which one to attack first. His mouth watered as he watched several large creatures move restlessly around in a small arena. He was about to begin with them when the sound of another creature broke through his concentration.

A small furry mammal with golden hair covering its body was sounding a loud alarm. He snarled and stepped out from the shadows of the small clump of trees. The creature backed up toward the large brown building behind it, growling menacingly at him.

“Ginger, what is it, girl?” A voice called out from the large white structure he had been eyeing as well.

Taar slipped back into the shadows as another creature belonging to this strange world stepped out into the early morning light. The sweet scent of her blood danced in the wind, teasing him. Hunger burned through him like boiling acid, churning his stomach and heating his blood. This was the one he wanted to sink his teeth into last. He would savor the creature’s sweet blood as he slowly drained it from her. He would need to feed on the other creatures first. His hunger was too great to control. His eyes moved to the golden creature that was whining and growling at him at the same time. He would start with that one.

*.*.*

Lacey glanced around the courtyard. Something was there; something she had never felt before. A sense of unease swept through her. With a glance at the gate to the corral, she slid the lock back and the gate slowly opened. The two horses and one mule bolted out of the enclosure. She didn’t worry about them. They would head for the open pasture area that separated her and her aunt and sisters’ homes.

Her hand wrapped tightly around the steaming cup of coffee she had just poured when she heard Ginger’s frantic barking. The hair on the back of the Golden was standing straight up and the sound of distress in her voice told Lacey that the unease she’d been feeling was based on a genuine danger. Unsure of where the threat was, Lacey walked calmly over to Ginger and sent a wave of warmth to the young mother. She also muttered a swift protection spell for her and Ginger as a precaution.

“It’s alright, sweetie,” Lacey murmured, glancing around the open area. “Go back to your babies.”

Ginger sneezed and pressed up against Lacey’s left leg. Her dark brown eyes remained frozen on the shadows near the clump of Juniper trees. Lacey carefully turned her head to stare into the shadows. A shiver raced through her and she whispered for Ginger to return to the barn again.

“I’ve got this, girl. Go take care of your babies,” Lacey ordered in a slightly harder voice and with a ‘push’ for the Golden to listen to her. “Your babies need you.”

Lacey waited as Ginger reluctantly backed up before turning and slipping back into the safety of the barn. She never turned her eyes away from the shadows. Biting her bottom lip in uncertainty, she paused before deciding retreating was the smart thing to do. Whatever was hiding it was definitely different from anything she had ever felt before. All of her natural warning systems were going crazy.

Dropping the cup of coffee in her hand, she turned on her heel and took off running for the house. A loud snarl, like that of a feral animal, exploded behind her as she ran the twenty feet to the house. She practically flew up the steps in a desperate attempt to get to safety. A wave of her hand had the screen door opening outward even as the front door opened inward. The moment she was through them, the doors slammed shut and locked.

Lacey stumbled forward and had just turned to invoke a protection spell when both doors shattered inward. She cried out as small pieces of metal and wood flew toward her. Throwing her hands up to protect her face, she screamed when something hard and heavy hit her around the waist.

She fell backwards onto the wood floors of her living room sliding several feet before coming to a stop next to the end table. The fall knocked the breath out of her as she hit the floor, leaving her gasping for breath. She instinctively raised her hands to push against the weight pressing down on her. Sharp claws threatened to pierce the soft skin of her waist even as her hands moved to push the creature off her. Lacey’s eyes widened when she got her first look at the creature on top of her.

“What…?” She gasped in shock.

*.*.*

Taar’s lips pulled back as he pressed down on the body of the alien under him. Every instinct in him demanded that he satisfy his hunger. The warm, fragrant scent of her blood and skin wetted his appetite to a raging inferno.

He parted his sharp teeth and let his long forked tongue unwind so he could run it along the smooth skin. He jerked when he received a painful shock the moment it touched the creamy flesh. He shook his head and growled in displeasure as a torrent of bitterness filled his senses, replacing the fragrant smell.

He pulled back, releasing the creature, as the taste continued to course over his taste buds. He needed something to wash it away. A sense of desperation filled him as the awful taste continued to build. Rolling to the side, he quickly rose and shook his head again. His eyes lit on a small bowl filled with water on the table by the female.

Taar snatched the clear bowl up and poured the entire contents of the bowl down his throat. He ignored the small rocks as he swallowed. He tossed the glass bowl to the side, ignoring the soft cry of distress from the female and the sound of shattering glass as it struck. A dark frown creased his leathery brow as he watched the slender figure scoot backwards before she gripped the table and pulled herself up.

“You ate Alfred!” The female cried out in dismay.

Taar snarled and shook his head as her voice resounded through his head. The damn translator that had been implanted in his ear at the mining prison echoed loudly. He gripped the side of his head as it pounded.

“Silence,” he ordered with a menacing voice.

“What are you? And what are you doing here?” The female demanded, ignoring his order.

Taar roared as the translator echoed loudly again. He reached out and gripped the front of the female’s clothing. With a rough push, he knocked her down onto the long dark red cloth-covered couch.

The horrid taste continued to plague him. The combination of foul bitterness and the loud echo from the translator infuriated him. He needed sustenance. Twisting around, he used his tail to toss a low table out of his way when he stumbled into it. He needed food and weapons, but he also needed to remove the translator that was pulsing with a piercing shriek in his ear.

Slicing one claw across the back of his ear, he reached the sharp tip through the opened tissue until he was able to grasp the small metal implant. Snaring it, he jerked it out ignoring the green ooze of blood that came with it. Satisfied by the sudden silence that followed, he dropped the tiny device and stepped on it.

Rolling his head, he growled at the female now standing in front of him with her arms folded across her chest. A frown creased his brow when he discovered that instead of quaking in fear as most species do when he was near, she was glaring at him in what looked suspiciously like anger. He started to reach for her again, but this time the jolt of electrical charge that he encountered when he tried to touch her jumped from her skin to his, searing a deep burn through his leathery hide. Surprised by the sudden pain, he roared in rage.

“I don’t know who or what you are, but one of the kids must have really mucked up a spell when they created you! I want Alfred back,” Lacey snapped, holding out her left hand. “Now! He has been in the family for six generations. I am
not
about to go down in history as the one who lost him.”

Taar snarled at the female. He didn’t understand a word she was saying now that the translator had been removed. Instead of cowering in front of him, the female impatiently snapped her fingers. This time when his mouth opened it was because his stomach was heaving and rolling. He tried to swallow the bubbling in his throat, but whatever he had just swallowed was determined to come back up. With a loud belch, a round bubble containing a strange scaled creature popped out of his mouth and floated into the female’s extended hand.

For the first time in his life, Taar felt a sense of unease. He watched as the female mumbled a series of unfamiliar words in her language. The shards of glass from the bowl he had grabbed swirled like a small tornado until the bowl reformed. The moment it did, the bubble containing the tiny creature popped over it and it fell into the clear container that was once again filled with water.

“What are you?” Taar demanded, gazing at the female with suspicion. “Can all your species do this?”