Frostbite (Touch of Frost) (7 page)

Oh hell, if we ran I’d have to kill again.

So much death.

If only Mom were here. She’d be able to show me how to do this. I just wanted to know why I could do this amazing stuff. Why could she? Was she a super-spy or something?

Images of Mom’s dead body flashed in my mind, and my rage swelled. I kept my eyes shut, refusing to let any more tears fall. I wanted to be done crying.

“Mandy. Stop.” Scott’s voice rattled.

I was probably scaring him, but the memories blasted into my mind without my permission. I needed Mom here, but I’d let her down.

I’d let her die.

I rested my face in my hands and bawled. I bawled harder than I had in ages. Sick of moving. Sick of hiding my powers. Sick of everything.

Two warm hands took hold of my shoulders. I knew it was Scott, but if I opened my eyes Mom’s continued absence would be that much more vivid. I’d rather imagine it was her giving me a hug. Telling me it would be all right.

“Mandy,” Scott yelled, shaking me.

Too late. My world went dark.

EIGHT

“M
andy?” A voice called my name. It sounded muffled. Distant. I went to open my eyes, but my thick eyelids seemed fused together. After the third time trying, they finally budged. Oh, but they scratched as they fluttered. I rubbed them, and light broke through the fog.

“Scott?” What I wouldn’t give for a pitcher of water, filled with ice. Even if I had to chill it myself. “Water.”

“Mandy. Can you hear me?” Scott shook my shoulder.

I swatted at him. “Yeah, yeah. Stop shaking me.”

“Shit, Mandy. You scared me to death.”

Everything fell into focus. I lay on my bed, and sunlight beamed through the open window. But I’d been on the floor before, and it was dark.

“What time is it?”

“Ten o’clock.”

“Ten?”

“On Saturday morning.” Scott’s hands framed my face, turning it toward him.

His wide, bloodshot-eyes analyzed me like he had x-ray vision. Worry-lines etched his forehead.

I coughed. “I need some water.”

He picked up a glass from my nightstand. “Sit up.”

I snatched the drink from him. Few things felt heavy to me, considering I could bench-press a trailer home, but the cup of water I held rivaled the weight of a semi-truck. With concerted effort, I brought the glass to my lips, and gulped until my stomach sloshed.

“Feels like I ran fifty miles,” I said.

Scott wrapped his arms around me and for a minute I thought maybe he’d inherited super strength.

“Can’t. Breathe.”

“Mandy, what happened?”

“How the heck do I know? I just woke up.”

Scott let me go. I took a gulp of air and sifted my fingers through my damp hair. What the heck? I racked my muddled brain for details about the previous night. I’d sat on the floor, pissed off about things, but then we’d started talking about Mom.

“Oh. Yeah. Mom. I got really ticked. Relived when the
Coats
nabbed me in Arkansas. The last thing I remember is you touching my shoulders, which made me even more mad for some reason.”

He petted my hair.

“And now, here we are. Feel free to fill in the gaps.”

“First, I need to sit down. I think I had three heart attacks last night.” He sagged onto the desk chair, clutching his chest.

“Why is my hair wet? How’d I get in bed?” The door and windows were open, and a breeze busted through the room. The sun warmed my skin.

“You were on the floor, balled up, freaking out. Mom seems to trigger it for you. Thank God we were here alone, because you went absolutely nuts.” He turned his head to the side while rubbing his neck. “At least your body did.”

Strands of Scott’s shaggy, brown hair stood on end. Dark whiskers dusted his square jaw. A raccoon would be jealous of the circles around his crystal-blue eyes.

“You frosted over, Mandy. Like your fingers do when you’re chilling things. It spread up your arms, over your clothes, your hair, everything. Like a thin cocoon of ice. It was amazing. Scary, but amazing.”

“Holy crap.”

“I tried to shake you awake. You flopped to the side, still covered in ice. Your lips were blue. I didn’t know what to do. It’s not like I could call 9-1-1.”

I shook my head. Yeah, how would he explain that? It’d only lead to more needles, more testing, more misery.

“I put you in your bed and watched over you. I—” He picked at his fingernails. “I couldn’t feel your pulse through the ice around you. I was—”

Scott had only cried in front of me once, and that was at Mom and Dad’s funeral. Four years ago. Mostly since then I’d just made him mad. No tears there.

Scott coughed and regarded me with moist eyes. “You stayed frozen for a few hours.” His nostrils flared. “Only started melting a couple of hours ago. I opened the windows and curtains to let the warm sun hit you. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Who’s watching the store?”

“I called Georgia.” He rested his elbows on his knees.

I crept out of bed and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.” Then, I started bawling again. I was like a five-year-old. Crying, carrying on. What happened to me last night?

He embraced me tight and joined in with his own set of tears. “I thought you were going to die. You’re all I have left, Mandy.” He hugged tighter. “You’re not making it easier on me with all the skipping school, getting in trouble. Can you help me out a little?”

I nodded. Couldn’t talk too well while blubbering. I stepped away from him, and slid my hand over my cheeks, trying to plug the dam that had broken.

“Oh, and you might want to do something about your hair.”

“My hair?” Instinctively, I patted it down. Other than feeling damp, it was fine. I whirled around and stood in front of the wall mirror beside my door. A streak of neon blue cut through my drab, blond locks. “What the heck?”

“It happened while you were frozen. I snuck out to grab some water, and when I came back, you had that.” He reached forward and touched it.

I leaned in toward the mirror. “Oh, man. How the heck am I going to explain this?”

“Can’t you use some hair dye?”

“What a freaking pain in the butt.” I was more of a roll-out-of-bed-and-go-kinda gal. Not the dye-my-hair-and-primp-kinda gal. I combed at the blue strands with my fingers. Like that’d make it go away.

A chill slithered down my spine. “Wait. Do I remember hearing you say we’re staying in Trifle? For real?”

He smiled. “For now.” He pointed at me. “But stay alert. And stay off the radar.”

I nodded. And I would, too. If it meant I got a taste of what normal might be like, I’d do almost anything.

“N
o way.” Georgia shrieked when she laid eyes on me.

I ducked at the volume and glanced around the store. Everyone else in the smoothie shop stared as well. I scurried toward her. “Shhh.”

“Thank you, sir.” Georgia handed the customer his change, then whirled to face me. “No freaking way, Mandy. You did
not
do this without me.”

I smiled and hitched my hip against the counter. “Like you’d dye your hair blue anyway.”

“I know, but…Oh man, it looks so cool. When did you do it? We were just on Facetime last night. You didn’t have it then.”

“After we hung up. I got a whim.” Or something like that. Scott shot me a knowing look through the prep-area window.

I squatted and clicked open a cabinet. Beside the stock of napkins and straws, my emerald-colored apron lay in a crumpled heap.

The front door chimed. I snatched my smoothie-making garb and popped up to see whom I’d be making a smoothie for.

“Zach?” I seriously almost lost the cereal I’d scarfed down after my shower.

Oh, he looked good in his cargo shorts and tight, white shirt. His flip-flops slapped against the tile floor as he moved to the counter. Someone else trailed in behind him. I couldn’t remember his name, though.

I glanced at Georgia, and she grinned. One of those satisfied-with-herself grins, too.

“What’d you do, girl?”

“Nothing. What do you mean?” She leaned to the side. “What am I making you, Dan?”

I edged to the side while Georgia talked with Dan. “What are you doing here, Zach?”

“You didn’t think I’d just let you get away with bailing on me like that, did you?”

I swallowed hard. I’d actually expected to be halfway to Mexico by now, never to return to Trifle. So his being here…kind of made things almost perfect.

Had I not just woken up from a full-scale ice-episode.

He leaned forward, palming the counter in front of him. His hair shifted onto his forehead, and he smiled. “We’re going out. Can you get away from here?”

“No. I—wait, what?” Could I get more tongue-tied? “I can’t just leave. I need to—”

“What’s your favorite smoothie?” he asked.

“Strawberry-banana.”

“Then that’s what I’ll have.”

Dan stepped beside Zach and said, “Nice hair.”

“Oh, yeah. The hair. What’d you do to it?” Zach brushed his fingers through the supernaturally died locks. A wave of his spicy fresh scent washed over me.

“Messed around with it last night.”

“Cool.”

“Now that I have your approval I’ll go make your smoothie.” I swallowed hard as I turned around to start Zach’s drink. Was it my imagination again, or did the temperature drop a few degrees?

His sudden appearance and asking me out again kind of threw a kink into my brain, and I couldn’t quite think straight.

Scott peered through the opening into the prep area. “That’s Zip, huh?”

“
Zach.
And if you embarrass me, you’ll wake up with frostbite. Got it?”

“Yikes. But, hey, it’s getting chilly in here. Off the radar, remember?” He made his way around the corner.

“What’s up guys?” Scott held out his fist to rap knuckles with Zach.
Oh jeez
. I was so mortified. But he was right. I needed to calm down.

I scooped up some chopped bananas and strawberries but a flash of blue near my fingertips caught my attention. Did a blueberry get mixed in with the bananas?

I tipped the glass toward me. It wasn’t a blueberry. It was my fingernails! I held up my hand and sure as shit my nails were freaking blue.

When did that happen? I hadn’t noticed them while showering.

I fanned out my fingers. Perfectly manicured nails the same color as the neon blue streaking my hair. I set the tin cup down and touched them. Smooth, like glass, no ridges or anything. And they’d grown. No longer chewed stumps.

This was totally freaking me out. Was I turning into an ice cube, or human iceberg or something? A hand slapped my shoulder, and I jumped, knocking the tin cup over. It clanked on the countertop and rolled to the side.

“Sorry, girl,” Georgia said. “Jumpy much?”

“Well, Miss Stealth, you snuck up on me,” I whispered through my clenched jaw.

She shoved me. “Why is Zach standing in this smoothie shop right now with his best friend?”

“Probably got a craving. It’s not like there are tons of smoothie shops in this tiny town.”

“Has he ever been here before?”

“Maybe while I wasn’t working.”

“You’re impossible.” She elbowed my rib. “Move over. I need some mangoes. And you’re welcome. He called here this morning asking if you were working.”

“I knew you did something.”

She grinned as she worked on Dan’s smoothie. “I might have mentioned he should come over. Didn’t realize he was going to bring a delicious specimen for me, too.”

“You stinker.”

“He was determined, I just…helped him along a little.”

I shuffled to the side and checked on Zach and Scott. They were still talking. Oh, great, what was my brother saying about me? Too bad I hadn’t inherited super-hearing from my mom.

Wait, what was I thinking? I had enough to worry about with my frosty tendencies.

Georgia stepped beside me at the mixer. “What if he asks you out again?”

“He just did.” I poured the strawberry-banana goodness into a cup and snapped on the lid. I gave Georgia a little hip-check, then stepped to the counter.

“So, you’re running at State next year, huh?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, got a scholarship,” Zach said, eyeing me like a lion about to devour his prey.

Damn that made my cheeks flame…and other places. No one had ever looked at me with that type of intensity before. And I kind of liked what it did to my body.

I slapped Scott on the shoulder, hoping he’d take the hint and leave.

“On the house, guys. Keep up the good work.” Scott smiled. “I’ll watch the counter if you and Georgia want to take off. I hear The Pier is fun.”