The Frozen Witch Book One (22 page)

I crumpled my hand over my mouth. “I- I’m
so sorry.”

She turned from me sharply. “Don’t be
sorry. Just catch that bastard.”

Her fear and anger ignited something in me.
The same feeling that had ignited when I’d chased John Lambert to
the basement. I was now in the impossible position of saving people
again.

We sat in silence for several seconds
until I couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m not ready to do this,” I
suddenly muttered under my breath. “I don’t know enough about magic
to go tonight.”

At first, she didn’t reply. Then she
slammed her makeup bag down on the desk, locked a hand on the wood,
and turned to me stiffly. “You have no option. Plus, Franklin
wouldn’t be taking you along unless he was confident of your
abilities.”

“Of my abilities?” I said through a choked
breath. “I don’t even know how to use my power,” I
began.

She suddenly put a hand up stiffly. “Stop
right there.”

“Sorry?”

“You aren’t allowed to tell
me.”

“I’m what?”

“Franklin told me never to ask, and I will
not pry.”

“Wait, what do you mean? I’m not allowed
to tell you what kind of magic I do?”

“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Now lean back so I can get your cheeks.”

I shifted back without protest, gut
suddenly curling. Why was Franklin so scared of my abilities that
he wouldn’t even tell his trusted secretary? None of this made any
sense. If he was vulnerable, and this job tonight was important,
why the hell would he take me? I got lucky last night because I’d
taken my bangles off. But I had absolutely no control whatsoever
over my power. So if anything happened tonight, I would choke. And
the consequences? I couldn’t face finishing that
thought.

I squeezed my eyes tightly closed. I heard
Megan take a frustrated, angry breath. But as I warily opened my
eyes and waited for her to give me another serve, she stopped. She
leaned back and locked a hand over her face. “Franklin’s right –
I’m too close to this case. I won’t be able to keep it together if
I had to face Hank again. So you’re all he’s got,” she admitted.
She jerked her hand back and faced me. She faced me with such
honesty, her expression so unguarded, I realized for the first time
I was seeing the real Megan.

I watched her shift away and carefully
pick up a dress. “Look, I’ll be honest – I don’t like you. But
right now, I need you to do me a favor: you have to do whatever you
can to bring Hank in and keep Franklin safe.”

I was in no position to make a promise, yet
I still nodded. I couldn’t say anything, couldn’t break the tense
silence that spread between us.

“You won’t have to worry – Franklin will
be there, and he won’t leave your side. When it comes to the fight,
he’ll tell you exactly what to do. Don’t question – just follow his
every order.”

I nodded.

Megan appeared to relax. Without another
word, she continued to do my makeup. The entire time, I simply
stared at my reflection. If you’d asked me several hours ago, I
would’ve said Vali was a monster, that this entire operation was
nothing more than vigilante justice. Now? I had no idea what was
going on.

It didn’t take too much longer until Megan
pronounced me as ready. Though I took a fleeting glimpse into the
mirror and realized I looked great, suddenly I didn’t
care.

She gestured towards the door. “Franklin
will be waiting.”

I took a hesitant step forward. I wanted
to know more about what had happened to her, whatever the hell Hank
Chaplin had done. I didn’t get the opportunity to ask. She faced
me, expression drawn and yet a hard glint flickering deep in her
gaze. “Just don’t let that bastard get away.”

I nodded low. I turned and walked out of the
room, strangely ready to face the greatest fight of my life.

So this was it, ha? Time for my first real
job.

It hadn’t sunk in yet. What I was here to
do. The nerves, however? Oh, they were sinking in fine. They chased
right through my stomach, up my back, and hard into my jaw until my
teeth clattered in my skull.

“Just relax,” Vali said. Or maybe it
wasn’t Vali. As I shifted in my seat and surreptitiously shot him a
look out of the corner of my eye, I realized his expression was too
soft.

It had to be Franklin.

Not for the first time, I wondered how the
hell this worked. How could a man be two different people? Okay, he
wasn’t a man – he was technically a god. But seriously, how did it
work? And what decided when he would switch? Did he get to decide?
Or was it other people?

The more I learnt about Vali, the more
intensely curious I became. And as was always the case with me,
that curiosity was the only thing that could fight against my
nerves.

“You will follow my lead,” he said for
about the tenth time.

With a hand flattened on my stomach so my
gurgling, bubbling, nervous gut didn’t rumble too loudly, I managed
a nod.

“No matter what happens—” he
began.

“I won’t take off my bangles. Got
it.”

Well, at least I hope I had it. There was
still so much I had to learn. But I wasn’t exactly going to be
offered the opportunity to calm down and figure this world out.

No, I would just have to continue at
breakneck pace.

It didn’t take too much longer for our car
to pull up along the curb.

The first thing I noticed were the other
cars, if you could call them that. They were about as far away from
ordinary cars as gold was from tin. Some of them were so fancy, I
didn’t even recognize their makes. Everything from Bentleys to
Rolls-Royces to Ferraris were arranged along the street.

Though I’d worked plenty of high-class
functions, this would be the first time I’d ever attended one as a
guest. Still, at least my work experience gave me a modicum of
familiarity. I’d seen the guests at these kind of gigs; I knew
exactly how they acted. Picked at the canapés and wine, laughed at
the wealthiest man’s jokes, and kissed ass whenever they could.

Vali paused to look at me, and I could
feel his gaze along the back of my neck. Though I’d been turned to
the window, staring at the street outside, slowly I shifted and met
his stare. “… What?”

“Don’t disappoint me,” Vali
said.

And I was pretty sure it was Vali. That hard
expression was back.

Great.

I didn’t wait for him to open the door for
me – fat chance. I shifted forward and fumbled with the door
handle, realizing too late I was still wearing my seatbelt.
Swearing softly under my breath, I gathered the coordination to get
out of the car. Then I stood there on the pavement and sunk my top
teeth into my bottom lip.

A new rush of nerves was growing in my
gut, and it wasn’t just at the sight of the other
guests.

And the cold? It was back. First nothing
more than a grain in the center of my chest – with every second, it
grew as if a freezing cold ocean had replaced my blood.

I felt Franklin’s gaze on me once more,
searching, questioning.

He didn’t say anything, though, just
inclined his head forward, ticking it towards the building.

I wasn’t a stranger to wearing heels, I wore
them all the time when I was waitressing. But right now, I was
finding it so goddamn difficult to hold my balance. Every pockmark
in the pavement felt like a great big hole.

Franklin didn’t give me a chance to pause
and catch my breath, he motioned me on with a flick of his hand.
Drawing close, I heard his gravelly voice right by my ear. “You
follow my lead and never leave my side. Understand?”

I offered a tight nod. I understood. As to
whether I could comply? We’d just have to see.

…

Hank Chaplin

He pulled the gold fob watch from his pocket
and slowly twisted it around his hand until the watch slammed into
his palm and he caught it. It was his go-to move whenever he was
intimidating a man, and it always worked without fail.

Barney, bleeding from a massive gash in his
head, shifted back in his chair. But there was nothing he could do
to fight against the magical ropes that bound him. Hank had paid a
whopping half a million for them, after all. He’d bought them from
his contacts in the Russian mafia. And whilst they’d once tried to
swindle him, after he’d broken a few skulls, they’d learned their
lesson.

It was time for Barney to learn his.

Slowly, making sure Barney could see every
muscle in Hank’s neck, he leaned down and inclined his neck from
side-to-side as if he were looking for witnesses. “We’re all alone
now, Barney. So it’s time you fessed up and told me where the box
is.” Hank’s voice dropped as low as a rumble of thunder.

Barney simply stared back, blood still
pouring from that deep gash in his brow and stinging his eyes. He
blinked wildly, shifting his head as he tried to jerk the blood
from his gaze. But with his hands tied, there was nothing he could
do.

Slowly, Hank let his lips curl up into a
smile. Or at least a grimace. “I kind of liked you, Barney. You
always kept to your own patch. So, why, oh why, did you have to
steal that box back from me? Does this have something to do with
that bastard Larry McGregor?”

Barney winced. Hank just chuckled. “You
know he works for Vali now?”

“What?” Barney’s face
slackened.

“Sure. Haven’t you heard Larry’s already
sold you out? Went to the competition squealing for protection.
That means that asshole Vali is going to know every single one of
your crimes by the end of tonight. How do you think that will work
out for you, Barney?”

Barney couldn’t answer.

Hank chuckled. He also leaned forward and
locked a hand on Barney’s shoulder. The move was convivial, yet his
shoulder locked in case he needed convivial to turn into violent
real fast.

Barney stared into Hank’s eyes and gulped,
his throat pushing hard against his tight collar. “Larry got a deal
with Vali. How?” his face crumpled in confusion and fear, the blood
still dripping down the side of his face and splashing over his
rumpled collar. “I got rid of those two agents in my
store.”

“Turns out there was a third waiting right
outside,” Hank said through a stiff smile.

“Wait, you mean Lilly? She’s not an agent;
she works for Larry, one of his waitresses. I saw her only a couple
of days ago.”

Hank frowned. “Then it looks like this
Lilly must have done something real bad to come to Vali’s attention
so soon. Speaking of which,” Hank leaned in and locked a hand on
Barney’s shoulder again, making the move real slow and real
intimidating, “if you don’t want me to add to my own considerable
list of crimes,” he let out a ringing chuckle, “then I suggest you
tell me where the box is.”

“Fine. Last I knew, Larry took it back to
Vali. Happy?”

Hank’s face stiffened. It felt like
someone had injected ice into his veins. “Happy? Quite the
contrary.” He displayed just how unhappy he was by wrapping the fob
chain around his knuckles and slamming his fist into Barney’s
face.

The old man jerked back, head shunting to
the side with a sickening crunch. More blood dripped from a fresh
gash over his cheek. With wide pulsing eyes, he stared back at
Hank. “Look, I told you what I know. There’s nothing I can do to
get that box back. It’s in Vali’s hands now, and not even you can
go up against him.”

Hank took the opportunity to tilt his head
back and laugh. “I reckon I’ll come up with something. You see,
Barney, I want that box.”

“You’re mad. You won’t be able to use its
power,” Barney stuttered under his breath.

Hank’s eyes widened in interest. “So you
know what it is, then?”

“The box of the gods,” Barney supplied
through a croaky breath.

Hank nodded in agreement. “Box of the
gods. If you can wield it, you can access the true magic of the
divine.” Hank released his hand from Barney’s shoulder, took a step
back, and brought his arms up wide like a narrator making a point.
“There’s a lot a man can achieve with a box like that.”

“You think Vali is gonna roll over and let
you do what you want with that thing?”

“No, I think Franklin Saunders is going to
roll over and die, and Vali will have to find a new avenue into
this world. And that, that will take time, giving me enough time to
figure out how to use that box. And you, Barney? You’re gonna help
me.”

“There’s no fucking way,” Barney
began.

“There’s every fucking way.” Hank leaned
in again, latching two hands on Barney’s shoulders, staring
meaningfully into his gaze. He let a slow smile spread across his
face, his canines glistening. “You help or you die. Now, you’re
going to tell me everything you know about that box. And maybe,
maybe I’ll stop rearranging your face for fun. What do you
think?”

Barney paused, but the pause didn’t last.
The old man had clearly been around long enough to know there was
no way out of this deal. He nodded slowly.

Hank shifted back, smiled, turned on his
foot, and walked out the door. He had a party to attend.

…

Lilly White

I felt entirely exposed, worse than a doll
on a mantelpiece. I was like a specimen scientists were gathering
around. It wasn’t the dress. It wasn’t the makeup. And god knows it
wasn’t my face.