In-Between Work and Play (The Jocelyn Frost Series Book 1) (17 page)

I shot him a
glare while the scanner read my wrist.

Finley gave me
another little shove, causing me to stumble into the turnstile.  “Thanks…” No
turning back now.  If I didn’t want to get my ass smacked by the door, I needed
to move my feet forward.

A liquid mercury
type of wall loomed inches away.  I closed my eyes, plugged my nose, and blew
out my ears, stepping into the barrier.

A wave of nausea
similar to bottoming out during a roller coaster punched me in the gut while
making my insides gag.  The first indication that my molecules weren’t going to
be ripped apart came when a blast of freezing-cold wind whipped up my skirt.

Surprisingly,
nothing else on my body screamed to cover up. 

I stepped
forward, allowing Finley to emerge several seconds behind me.

My eyes were
slow to adjust.  The light broke down into various wavelengths, rippling
through the colors of the rainbow until everything was bathed in a beautiful,
intensely bright, white light.  

“Dex?”  I
turned, looking left, then right, and left again.  The only person I saw paying
attention to me was an ivory-white god with translucent, blue eyes.

“Jocelyn?”  The
ivory god, who sounded just like Dex, poked me in the arm.

“Yes?”  I
couldn’t believe my eyes. “Declan?”  I poked him back.

“I told you that
our appearances would change once we crossed into Erda.” He turned around in a
circle so that I could get a good look at him.  Besides the loss of his beige
skin tone and the change of eye color, his dark brown hair was now a golden
blonde.  Other than that, everything else looked the same.

“You’re just as
handsome as ever.” A silly smile crossed my lips.  He so did not look like an
Egyptian demigod.  I expected him to look more like the gods in Egyptian
artwork.  If anything, he looked more like a Norse demigod.  I made a mental
note to ask him about it later.

I shifted my
weight on my heels.  Strange. It felt like I was wearing a different pair of
shoes. Confused, my brows knitted together.  I looked down and found that I was
no longer wearing the outfit I crossed over in.  Instead, I now sported a
long-sleeved, woolen dress with no shape. 

“What the
Helheim?”  My eyes started to lose focus once again while a wave of dizziness
threatened to make me do a face plant.

“Well, you are a
Norse demigoddess. What did you expect?” An arm wrapped around my shoulder,
which was attached to slightly taller, strawberry-blonde version of Finley. 

His clothes
looked a little small on him, but at least, he still had on what he was wearing
ten minutes ago.

“I’m so confused
right now.  I don’t know what to say.”  My eyes went in and out of focus
several times while I allowed Dex and Finley to lead me away from the portal.  
We scanned our ID badges and wrists at another ticket booth. 

My brain could
barely register what was going on.  The first time I crossed over from Earth to
the In-Between, my Norn knocked me out.  He told me that, as my assigned
guardian, it was his job to make sure that I wrapped up my life in forty-eight
hours before he had to take me to the Fastness. 

The bastard
knocked me out exactly forty-eight hours after we met.  I woke up in the
infirmary without all my prior physical defects.  The doctor told me that it
was standard procedure to cross people over unconscious for the first time in
order to protect their sanity.

Now, I
understood why.  I felt like I was going crazy.  In addition to the lighting
constantly changing on me, my perception of sound was fading in and out of
balance. I made an ass of myself, assuming that the transition would be the
same as going to Earth, and now I was paying for it.

“This is exactly
why I didn’t want you to come here by yourself.” Dex helped me sit down on a
bench.  “Your body is adjusting to several things at the same time.”

I pressed my
face into my hands, trying to make the world stop spinning. “Such as?”  Maybe
if I knew what was happening to me, I could speed up the process.

“Well, for
starters, the chemical composition of the air is different than Earth and the
In-Between.  The air pressure is also…”

I pressed my
hand to his lips. “Never mind.”

“Drink this.”
Finley knelt in front of me with a glass bottle in his hands.  “It’s ambrosia,
the nectar of the gods.  It should clear up whatever ails you.”

I felt so sick;
I didn’t even question taking a drink from a man who was a stranger less than
three days ago.  “Thanks.”  I closed my eyes and guzzled it down faster than a
college kid on a drinking binge.  Three flavors tickled my taste buds at the
same time.  “Oh, man, that’s good.”

“What’s it taste
like?”  Dex asked while he rubbed my back.

“Salted
pistachios, green grapes, and mild cheddar cheese. Can I have another one?”  I
blinked several times.  The world seemed to have righted itself.

“Odd
combination.  And the answer is no.  If you drink too much ambrosia, you’ll
become addicted to it.” Finley took the bottle out of my hand.  “We have about
forty minutes until our train arrives; and unless you want to travel while
looking like a Viking, I suggest we find a women’s clothing store.”

Taking in my
surroundings, I found myself sitting in the middle of a fancy shopping mall.
Mermaid venders lounged in babbling circular fountains that were located every
fifty yards.

Dex squeezed my
hand. “Are you feeling better?  Or do you need more time?”

“I think I’m
okay.”

About twenty
minutes later, I found myself standing in a dressing room with an armful of
clothes.  I fell back on my ass, dropping the pile of clothes the moment my
eyes saw the mirror.  I waved my hand back and forth.  Not only were my clothes
strange, I looked different, too.

“Is everything
all right in there?” The friendly, fairy shopping consultant asked from the
opposite side of the door.

“I’m okay,
thanks for asking.”  Not really. I wanted to cry.  Why did my hair turn blonde?
And why were my boobs bigger?  I wasn’t entirely sure, but I think I grew a few
inches, too.  Crap, when this was all over, I was so going to have a mental
breakdown.  Maybe that would shave a couple of years off my contract.

After pulling
the strange, green linen tunic over my head, I dumped it on the floor next to
the woolen apron dress.  “Hey, are you still out there?”

“Yes, miss. What
can I get you?”

I looked down at
my bare legs and hips. “Could you umm… get me a bra and panties?  Mine seemed
to have disappeared.”

“Don’t worry,
miss. I put a matching set with the outfit I picked out for you.  They’re real
pretty, too.  Your boyfriends are going to love them.”

Leave it to a
fairy to think that I needed cute underwear to impress my boyfriends.  Please,
like I’d participate in a threesome.  It’s not like either one of them was that
into me.  Well, maybe Dex was, a little.  The jury was still out on that one. 
For all I knew, he might just be pretending to like me in order to get
enchanted condoms.

I pulled the bra
and panties out of their packaging and slipped them on.  The lacy white fabric
magically adjusted to my skin until they fit perfectly.  Damn, they really were
pretty. 

I was about to
pull on a set of thermal leggings when a bright, golden light erupted between
my breasts. 

A large, gold
ring dripped onto the floor.  Bending over, I carefully examined the new ring. 
It perfectly matched my father’s ring.  A second later, another ring fell onto
my discarded dress.  It was just like the last one.  After the eighth one fell
to the floor, I held my breath, waiting to see if any more would follow.

So, there I was,
kneeling on the floor of a dressing room with only a bra and thong panties on. 
In my hands were eight gold rings identical to the ring my father left my
mother after their one-night-stand.  Up until that point, I always believed
that the ring was one of the eight that dripped from Draupnir while my father
was in Helheim.  You see, Draupnir was forged by the ancient dwarves for Odin,
King of the Aesir, also known in popular culture as the Asgard.  When my father
died, Odin placed this heirloom on his funeral pyre to pay tribute to the life
he lived.  I never actually thought it was the real Draupnir.

And why would
I?  It never dripped eight rings before.  Wasn’t it supposed to do that every
nine days?  So just because I entered Erda, it magically turned back on?  For
the love of Odin, I only hoped it wasn’t going to play catch up and drip
twenty-eight years’ worth of rings.  Mental math wasn’t my strongest subject,
so I could only estimate that would be more than a thousand gold rings.

This could not
be happening.  Maybe someone accidentally enchanted it when I crossed into
Erda.  Yes, that had to be what happened.  The legend stated that
Hermod
retrieved Draupnir from Helheim, which was eventually given to a different
god.  But what if
Hermod
retrieved the wrong ring?  And why would my father leave the real Draupnir with
my mother?

“Miss, are you
okay?  Your boyfriends are getting worried that you’re going to miss your
train.”

“Yes, I’m fine. 
I’ll be out in a minute.”  Aww, fair Frigg, what should I do with the extra
rings?  I spotted my purse and decided to just chuck the heavy gold rings into
the pocket with all my emergency tampons.  No one would dare to dig through
those!

About two
minutes later, I exited the dressing room.

“Let’s go,
Frost. Move your ass already.” Finley frantically waved from outside the store.

Dex met me
halfway to the register. “It’s already been taken care of.  We even got you
something for tomorrow.”  He held up the bag in one hand while taking my hand
in the other.

I looked over my
shoulder at the fairy that helped me and shouted my thanks. 

Finley was
already jogging up ahead of us when we exited the store.  Hand-in-hand, Dex and
I broke out into a sprint to catch up with him.  Some shoppers jumped out of our
way while others were totally oblivious. 

“Where’s the
train station?”  I panted when we finally caught up with Finley.

“Two levels
down.  They announced that it was arriving early.” He dodged a ghoulish woman
with a baby stroller. 

“Slow down,
there’s a security station up on the right.” Dex clasped Finley on the back to
make sure he didn’t draw attention to himself.  Odin forbid it, the last thing
we needed was to be questioned by the Enforcers, thinking we were shoplifters.

I adjusted my
purse on my shoulder.  “If the train arrived early, does that mean it’s leaving
early?”  Three Enforcers in hunter-green uniforms were working in the security
station.  It looked like a large kiosk with monitors on both sides.  I wasn’t
sure exactly what species the Enforcers were.  The only other species I managed
to figure out were the fairies because of their wings, and the mermaids because
of their fins.  But everything else looked different from what I was used to
seeing, and since we were in such a rush, I didn’t have time to process half of
what I saw.

As we passed the
security station, one of the Enforcers turned away from his monitor to stare at
us.  My heart hammered in my chest, fearing that he might delay us.  If that
happened, we could kiss our train goodbye.

“I can’t believe
the train’s arriving early.  If I had known that, I wouldn’t have spent so much
time picking out panties.  You’re going to love them, honey.”  I wrapped my arm
around Dex’s waist.

Dex’s eyes
widened as his snow-white cheeks sprouted flames. 

Finley didn’t
miss a beat.  He turned around and started walking backwards. “Are they like
those pink cheeky ones with the ruffles?”

I pointed my
finger at him. “You, sir, are never allowed anywhere near my laundry again. 
It’s bad enough…” I blew a stray piece of hair from out of the corner of my
eye. “Oh, you know what? If you like them so much, you can keep them, okay? 
I’m sure they will look lovely on you.”  A smirk twisted my lips. 

“But sweetheart,
I haven’t seen those on you yet.  I don’t want you to give them away to another
man.”  Dex finally caught on.  He even gave my ass a squeeze right in front of
the Enforcer.

“The
eight o’clock train to Castordale is now boarding.  The eight o’clock train to
Castordale is now boarding.”

“Come on, maggots,
if we don’t hurry along, we’ll be waiting another two hours for the next
train.”

As soon as the
Enforcer stopped paying attention to us, we picked up our speed.  The good news
was: the stairs were in front of a nearby department store.  The bad news was:
we weren’t the only ones going down. 

An eight-foot
Cyclops with horns sticking out from his joints took up most of the stairway. 
We tried to maneuver around him, but he was just too large and dangerous. 
Luckily, he got off one flight down.  We had to practically jump from landing
to landing while making sure we didn’t kill anyone. 

“Last
call for the eight o’clock train to Castordale.  Last call for the eight
o’clock train to Castordale.” 

My knees ached
from all the pounding, but it was worth it.  We only had one set of stairs to
go.  The train’s doors were still open.  A conductor waved for us to keep
moving.  Several stragglers lingered on the platform, waving goodbye to their
loved ones.  I almost ran into one when she backed up, but thankfully, she
stopped short.

“Almost didn’t
make it.” The conductor tipped his hat. 

“The lass was
shopping.” Finley motioned toward me.

The conductor
gave him a sympathetic look. “My girls are the same way.”  His eyes scanned
each of us in turn. “Tickets?”

Dex and Finley
pulled printouts from their pockets, while I internally winced.  I didn’t have
a ticket.

Just when I
planned to ask if I could buy one, the conductor punched two holes in Dex’s
printout, indicating that he printed out mine as well. Then he punched a single
hole in Finley’s.

“Enjoy your
ride.” He stepped aside.

I half-expected
the train to look like the ones I’d ridden from my college campus into New York
City.  Those trains were pretty open with racks along the walls for luggage. 
This train was straight out of a Wild West movie.  The walls were carved wood
panels.  Large, rectangular windows covered the walls between the framing.  A
snow-dusted, glass ceiling allowed as much exterior light as possible to
illuminate the interior. 

“Each carriage
was designed for a particular group of fae and mythos riders.”  Dex motioned
for us to keep moving. “This one is for seelie fae.  They are allergic to iron,
so all of the exterior framework is made out of titanium and aluminum alloys.” 

“So, where do
the demigods sit?”  I stuck close to him, not because he told me to, but
because I was getting some really odd stares.

“We’re in one of
the carriages with compartments.”  Dex’s fingers warmed my hand, beating back
the chill that I didn’t realize was there. 

After passing
through a second carriage, I began to feel like an intruder.  Large benches
lined the wall filled with equally large occupants.  Various smells from
decaying roadkill to fresh blood lingered in the air.  I didn’t even want to
know what I was stepping in.

The train lunged
forward, sloshing unidentifiable liquids on our shoes.  Dex hastened our
retreat to the next car when one of the demi-giants started to sniff the air. 
It moistened its lips with its tongue.  I thought I heard it mutter the word
“demigods” to its companion.  Before the two of them could decide if we were
going to be a snack, we reached the end of the carriage.

Fresh, freezing
air greeted us when we crossed between the two cars.  The next box of horrors
consisted of an aisle with curtains on either side.  Hissing noises and raspy
cackling assaulted my ears.  Gorgons.  At least, the ones that worked in the
In-Between looked human enough.  They normally wore special glasses or veils in
order to protect their co-workers from their stony gazes.  Here, who knew?  I
certainly didn’t want to find out.

When we finally
reached our carriage, I felt traumatized enough to seek counseling.  Although,
now that I think about it, walking through strange carriages was hardly the
worst thing I experienced that week. 

The separate
compartments were enhanced with what, I guessed, was magical glass panels.  If
people wanted to black out the glass for privacy, they could. 

Before we sat
down, my gaze fell on an old-fashioned mercury thermostat hanging on the wall. 
The mercury slowly decreased as the air continued to chill the further north we
traveled.  

Dex and Finley
pulled fleece jackets out of their overnight bags while I investigated the
shopping bag.  Inside, I found another sweater dress, thermal underwear,
leggings, boot socks, and a matching bra and panty set.  Most importantly,
there was a quilted, fleece jacket, complete with a scarf and gloves. 

“I’m going to
pay you back, I promise. This is way too much stuff.”  A sigh escaped my lips
as I zipped up the warm jacket.

“Don’t worry
about it.” Dex sat down next to me.  His arm wrapped around my shoulder,
pulling me to his side.  Instantly, I felt at least ten degrees warmer.

“Don’t say
that.  I always pay my debts.” I snuggled up to him.  “Now, tell me why we are
all pasty white with either blonde or red hair.  And what’s with the blue
eyes?”

Dex shrugged.
“We’re all part of the same mythos species.  Our DNA has a third helix, which
is generally inactive while on Earth and the In-between.  Once we crossed over,
it was activated.”

This was the
first time I ever heard about a third helix.  “So, our,” I used air quotes,
“’human’ DNA is currently being repressed?”

“That’s one way
of looking at it.  We look more like our godly parents in this dimension.  Once
we leave Erda, we revert back to looking like our human parents.” 

I guessed that
made sense.  Growing up, all of my mother’s friends used to comment that I was
her little clone. 

My mind
temporarily drifted toward my demigoddess clients.  Several of them were from
Erda, but they never mentioned dealing with physical transformations.  Although
I doubted Gwen would have noticed the difference, since she was already blonde
with blue eyes.  The others, I wasn’t so sure. 

Guilt tugged at
my heart.  Poor Lucinda. She died for me.  And I didn’t know why.  I hoped she
would understand why I decided to take this field trip. 

Dex was the
perfect distraction; and just being with him made me feel physically different,
but in a good way.

“Let’s say I
believe you.  Please, tell me why you don’t look anything like the paintings of
Thoth found in Ancient Egypt?”

“It’s part of
their glamour.  Our godly parents masked their appearances to perpetuate the
expectations of their charges.”

 “Well, I guess
it could be worse.  We could be walking around, looking like the Roswell
Greys,” I muttered, glancing up through my lashes at Dex’s reaction.

“I would
definitely take looking like a Roswell Grey over a parasitic worm,” Dex
grinned. Wow, he was just as dorky as I was. Got to love a guy who likes the
same cheesy, science fiction television shows as you.