Frostbite (Touch of Frost) (24 page)

I was
not
strong. It was a lie. A front. I didn’t want any of this. I heard the guys mumbling in the background. Jess pointed to the computer screen.

“Jess. How’d you know we called them
‘Coats’
and who are they? Where are they?” I spewed the awful questions out like sour milk.

“Two new faces popped into town this week. Thought it was a bit early for graduation people to start flooding in. I checked into it. Since I saw that video, I’ve been watching things.” Jess pointed to the screen. “The first
Coat
is this guy, here.”

Georgia, Scott, and I stood up and hovered around Jess.

A picture of a short, stocky, geeky-looking guy filled the screen. Buzz-cut hair, deep set eyes, and a big scar on his chin. His neck was thicker than my thighs. “Oh, shit.” I slapped my hands over my mouth. “The guy from the pizza place.”

“Meet Andrey Sidorov. He rented a room at a hotel on the south end of town. I saw him in the general store yesterday while I was on break, grabbing lunch. I researched him last night and saw his hotel records. He checked in beginning of the week. License plate is a rental.”

“
Coats
,” I whispered.

“Not necessarily, people rent cars and drive to town for graduation,” Scott said.

“Not people with absolutely no record to be found. Even if you never get busted for anything small like a parking ticket, you’re online. Somewhere. I had to dig deep, Zach, deeper than I ever have to find just this information. And I don’t have much more than a name and some tidbits.”

“Shit,” Zach whispered.

The doorknob rattled. I seriously almost peed my pants.

I imagined Mr. Thick Neck on the other side of the barrier, eyes bulging in anticipation of drugging and dragging us off to some facility to be dissected.

“Get behind us,” I whispered to Scott.

A thud against the door sent it rattling against the frame. I visualized Andrey’s broad shoulder colliding with the tempered wood. If thick-neck-guy came in here and tried anything, I would freeze off the part of his body he most cherished.

I glanced at my hands, nails were flickering and my fingers were iced over and ready. I’d pelt him with ice bullets like my mom said in the video.

Behind me Scott whispered, “Jess. Who’s the other guy? You said you saw two new people.”

Jess stood beside his desk. “The other one is—”

The door crashed open, and Jasmine’s slight frame darkened the broken doorway.

“—your girlfriend.”

TWENTY-NINE

I
showed Jasmine my palm, ready to fire anything that’d come out. Billows of white plumed with each breath she exhaled.

How dare she toy with my brother.

She raised her hands in the air. “No. No. No. I’m here to help.”

“Yeah right.” An ice ball formed, and I whipped it straight for her face. She gripped the ball mid-air, then cocked her head and crushed it.

“Holy shit,” Scott said.

I sprayed ice and sleet, hoping to encase her so we could get out, but she disappeared in a blur. Fingers clamped around my wrist. She stood beside me.

I yanked my hand but couldn’t get from her grip. She was as strong as me, maybe stronger.

“Trust me. I’m not a
Coat
. I run from them, too.” She glanced at Scott. “We have to go. Andrey’s here, and that’s
never
a good thing.”

I pounded her cheek with all my strength. The shock of it loosened her vise-like grip. I sprayed her with ice and yelled, “Run.”

Jess, Zach, and Scott darted past me.

“Come on,” Georgia screamed. I backed to the broken door, keeping the stream steady.

“My car,” Scott yelled.

Once a block of ice a foot thick surrounded Jasmine, I sprinted to the rest of the gang. We burst out the side doors and found ourselves in the long shadow of the back of the school, facing the football field.

“Ah, wrong side,” Georgia shouted.

“Follow me,” Zach said. “My car is right up front.”

“No. Georgia, Scott, and I need to go. You’re not safe with us.”

“I’m with you, Mandy.”

I glanced at Scott. He nodded.

Following Zach, we sprinted around the side of the school. Jess dashed the opposite direction, yelling that his car was behind the football field. I think I heard him cursing my mom’s disc.

We came up on the side of the building and slowed to a crawl, but my pulse didn’t.

Zach peeked around the corner to the parking lot. “There are still quite a few people milling around. I’ll go get the car and pick you up.”

“Be careful.” My voice sounded so feeble. I couldn’t believe his willingness to help despite my lies.

He nodded, then hurried around the corner. Scott tugged my arm, urging me the direction we’d come from.

“Scott, what are we going to do? We have no time.”

Crunching grass behind us drew my attention. Andrey stormed toward us. Georgia screamed. Heat exploded through my chest, and a chill ran up my spine, over my shoulder and to my hand. Ice flowed from my fingertips and shot out at him. An object plunked off my frozen hand, knocking my stream to the side. But I’d frozen Andrey’s legs good.

“Darts,” Scott yelled and yanked me forward.

Another one hit the brick building a foot above my head. I ducked and pushed Georgia onward. “Hurry.”

A car engine revved. Twigs and rocks crunched.

Zach’s Red Jeep Cherokee navigated the sidewalk curb onto the lawn. “Get in,” he said through the open driver’s side window.

“Go. Go. Go.” I hopped in the front seat, and Scott and Georgia took the back.

Zach gunned it, and the Jeep lurched forward, gravel crackling beneath the weight of the vehicle. I bounced up and nearly hit my head on the ceiling as we went over some bumps. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a short-cut to your house through old man Conroy’s land. Remember? We were there on Sunday,” Zach said.

How could I forget? That was where I pretty much fell for Zach. It’d be nice to be there now, cuddled up with him on the soft bed of flowers instead of working our way through the rough terrain, chased by a thick-necked creep.

“Clear behind us,” Scott yelled. “Let’s get to the house. I’ve got a bag packed with supplies.”

I stole a glance at Zach.

His jaw clenched, and his knuckles blanched as he gripped the jostling steering wheel. Despite my breaking up with him, and the danger I’d put him in, he was here, helping us escape. No thought to his well-being. Only mine.

I wanted to stay here with him. I didn’t want to leave. I’d initially hated Trifle for its smallness, but now I loved it because of him. Because of Georgia.

Something clicked in my mind.

I turned to my brother and said, “Scott. We’re going to stay and fight.”

Utter and complete silence met my declaration. Scott just clung to the door handle, staring at me with wide eyes. But, aside from twigs snapping against Zach’s Jeep, shredding the fine paint job, I heard nothing.

I turned around and flopped back into my seat. Hands fisted against my thighs, I flew through our options. Fighting was one of them. I had Georgia with me now. She and I could—

“I’ll fight with you,” Zach said. “I don’t want you to leave.”

I would have started bawling had it not been for the fleshy blur I saw whiz by our car. “Heads up,” I screamed. “She thawed out.”

Jasmine appeared in front of our car. We were going to hit her, head on.

Zach slammed the breaks, which propelled me forward. In the fury of hopping into the car and zooming away, I hadn’t put my seatbelt on. The windshield came hard and fast. I raised my hands, froze the glass, and shot through it like a cannon.

Georgia screamed. I tucked into a ball and landed on the ground. Something jabbed me in the side as I made impact and I started rolling.

My momentum slowed, and I hopped to my feet. Jasmine stood ten feet from me, hands fisted and jaw clenched.

Setting sunlight trickled through the trees behind us. Ice chunks clung to her shirt and the ends of her long hair. Oh, she wanted to fight? I’d give her a fight. She stepped forward, hand outstretched. I froze it. She stumbled. Car doors clicked open, but I focused only on Jasmine.

“Amanda, I’m not a
Coat
!” She cradled her hand.

I lunged at her, and we tumbled. My fist connected with her jaw again. She howled. In a flash, she disappeared from beneath me and stood behind me, holding me by the elbows.

“Amanda, listen to me.”

I cooled my arms and ripped out of her embrace. “Like I’d listen to you, Jasmine. Son of a bitch, you were my brother’s girlfriend!”

Die!
I showed her my hand, intent on frosting her to the ice age, but she vanished again. Nothing more than a blur. Crackling twigs followed, and two hands grabbed me by the waist and my world spun.

My surroundings blurred like I was on a spinning teacup ride for almost three full, sickening revolutions.

Then, I was airborne.

She’d thrown me! And far.

I squirmed around and saw I was on a direct target for a tree trunk, going entirely too fast. I sprayed snow, hoping it’d soften the impact.

It did, for the most part. My shoulder collided with the unforgiving bark. It shredded through my shirt and stabbed into my skin. Something snapped, and it wasn’t a branch. Pain radiated down my arm and into my fingertips as gravity yanked me down.

I pointed down as I plummeted toward the ground. More pillowy snow streamed from my hands. The landing jolted right through my thin sandals and radiated through my bones, rattling my spine.

I rolled off the pile of pillowy snow and flopped onto my back. Georgia was by my side, flames flickering from her open palms.

“Get back,” she screamed. “I’ll fry you.”

I rolled to my side, coughing, searching for a speck of oxygen to fill my lungs. Felt like they were two sizes too small. Darkness curved my vision. Blood raged through my ears, muffling sounds.

“Please, listen to me.” Jasmine propped her hands on her knees. “I’m not a
Coat
. I swear.”

“What are you?” Scott squatted beside me followed by Zach.

“I’m like Mandy and Georgia.”

“You don’t get to call her that. Get away from us,” Zach said as he reached for my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Peachy,” I whispered. It actually hurt to talk. I had to have broken some ribs—or all of them. “Georgia. Fry her.”

She stepped toward Jasmine, her flaming hands intensified. “Jasmine. I don’t have very good control yet. You better leave. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Jasmine backed up and raised her hands. “I can help you. I’ve been tracking Andrey since he came into town. Hell, I’ve been tracking you two even longer.” Her glare met mine.

“Tracking?” I asked but had to cough through the spasms still constricting my lungs. Damn that girl was strong.

Jasmine looked around. I followed suit. It was almost dark. The Jeep was more than a hundred yards away, still running, lights beaming. She’d thrown me far.

“You have strength and speed,” I said.

“My mom and dad were experiments, similar to your mom. Please, I’m not here to hurt you. I swear.”

“You’ve been lying to me ever since we first met.” Scott petted my hair. “Mandy, can you sit?”

“Yeah. I think I broke some ribs. Maybe my arm.” I sat up and had my answer. My side screamed. “Oh boy.”

Georgia stepped toward Jasmine again. “Girl, start talking, and fast. Scott, Zach, can you get Mandy to the car?”

“I’m fine. I can walk, just help me.” I started getting to my feet. The pain was intense and immediate and it had me stumbling forward, bile stinging the back of my throat.

Zach caught me and held me steady. Okay, moving wasn’t an option it seemed.

Jasmine moved forward but stopped at Scott’s glare and said, “Mandy, heal yourself. We need you healthy if you want to fight.”

“What did you say?” How’d she know I could do that? Hell, I didn’t even know how to, yet.

“I have speed, strength,
and
hearing. I was near the car when you said you wanted to stay and fight. I’ve been listening to things around you guys for a while. Watching over you.”

“I don’t know for sure how to do it, but I’d like to try ice bullets on you right now. You freaking
threw
me into a tree.”

She turned her cheek to me. “Yeah, well you gave me a massive bruise here. And you froze me in the office. We’re even.”

“Jerk.” I wanted to say something else, but thought better of it. “What do I do?”

“No way. You’re not listening to her,” Zach said. “No way.”

“Shut up, Zach. You don’t have a clue about what’s going on.” Jasmine waved him off with a flick of her hand. “Georgia, you, Zach and Scott stand guard. Mandy sit down.”