The Frozen Witch Book One (24 page)

Up until now, I’d thought there was
nothing that could unsettle Franklin, because he wasn’t a man; he
was a god. And yet, as his cheeks stiffened and a flicker of rage
blasted through his gaze, I began to question that
conclusion.

Suddenly
Hank darted forward. Just as he
did, I felt a rush of something behind me. Instinctively, I dropped
to my knees, jerking out of the way just in time as a hand formed
right behind my shoulder. A second later, I watched a human being
appear. In fact, I recognized the brute. He was one of the goons
I’d fought outside Barney’s pawnshop. One of the goons Larry had
shot, to be precise. And as the guy flicked me a sneering smile, I
realized he wanted revenge.

I jerked back.

“Lilly,” Franklin snapped in a clear voice
as he brought his hand up and let a sword appear in his grip, “take
your bangles off.” His order was easy, certain, and as he spoke, it
brought me a measure of much needed calm. Enough calm that I dodged
back out of reach of the goon and latched a hand on my bangles.
Last night, it had been easy to take them off; there was a lock in
the middle of the metal. But right now, as I jammed my thumb into
it, nothing happened. They wouldn’t open.

I heard a dull click, and as I jammed my
thumb harder into the lock, I felt a charge of something escape
over the metal and bite into my skin. I yelped.

Hank laughed. “What? You think I didn’t
take the opportunity to cast a spell on those locks? Think I’m a
complete idiot, Vali?” Hank asked, tone dark.

Franklin didn’t respond. Instead, he lurched
forward, that sword held stiffly in his grip. I’d never seen
anything like it. It wasn’t made of metal, but rather of
blistering, burning light. As he wielded it, it sent arcs of power
out like blasts from a sonic wave. Whilst it caught several of the
goons behind Hank, Hank was too quick. He darted to the side,
hefting his own sword in defense.

I tried desperately to unlock my bangles,
grabbing them, trying to wrench them from my wrists. But the more I
fought against them, the more they fought back, sending pulse after
pulse of power biting into my arms until they felt numb like they
would drop off.

“Lilly, get out of here,” Vali commanded.
Not Franklin – Vali. The tone was too strong, his words too punchy
as they echoed through the hall.

I wanted to stay, but couldn’t. I found
myself compelled as I shifted hard on my foot and began running in
the other direction. Problem was, I didn’t get very far. The goon
from earlier today – the guy who’d punched me against the lamppost
– was right behind me, and he was quicker. He may have been
massive, like a polar bear pressed into a black suit, but it didn’t
matter. He was as agile as a gymnast.

As he shoved forward, he put on a burst of
speed, and grabbed me by the arm. He wrenched me around, and I lost
balance on my heels, twisting to the side and falling hard on my
ankle. I let out a half scream, but it couldn’t carry far; the goon
pressed forward and locked a hand around my throat. His hand was so
large, his grip so wide, he practically garroted me.

As my choking splutters filled the air, I
heard Franklin stop.

Hank laughed again. “You should have
brought Megan,” he said, voice dipping low. “It would have been a
heck of a lot more fun. Now, unless you want your pretty new witch
to die, I suggest you give up.”

I knew what Vali would do – knew what he had
to do – sacrifice me. This case was bigger than my life. So why did
he shoot me one sorrowful look and let the sword drop from his
hands? Why did he let Hank give a snicker then dart forward and
knock him on the back of the head? There was a sickening crunch as
Franklin fell to his knees. Blood poured down from a wound in the
back of his head. He had a single moment to make eye contact with
me, then he dropped. Out cold.

I screamed. Then I watched Hank take an
easy step backwards. Swinging his sword over his shoulder, he
smiled at me, reached out a hand, and latched it over my arm.
Instantly, a cold, dense, darting sensation spread out from his
touch.

I started to lose consciousness. The last
thing I did was stare past Hank’s awful sneer as I desperately
attempted to catch sight of Franklin to confirm he was okay. His
body was still, blood trickling down from the wound in the back of
his neck. And me? I was falling into the coldest, darkest sleep I
would ever have.

I awoke, tied to a chair. I was
in a simple, large room with no furniture and no decoration
except for me.
Though it took a long time to fight against the fog of
unconsciousness, I quickly realized I was bound to the chair with
more than ropes. Twisting, writhing chains bound my wrists, neck,
and ankles with such force it felt like it would take an army to
break me free.

It took several bleary, blinking seconds
until I realized there was a figure by the door. As soon as I
shifted my head towards him, he took a step forward, removing a fob
watch from his pocket and beginning to twist it around his
hand.

Hank Chaplin.

I felt my face slacken in total fear, and
as soon as he saw it, a manic grin opened his lips wide. “I’m going
to have to thank that bastard before I kill him,” he said through
another satisfied laugh.

Trying to fight back the tears, I shifted
my head to the side. “Where’s Franklin? What have you done to
him?”

“Why care about him? He made you a slave
to your sins. What exactly do you owe him?”

It was a good question. One I couldn’t
answer, and yet one my heart appeared to know the truth of as it
beat harder in my chest.

Though I knew Franklin couldn’t be in the
room with me, that didn’t stop me from searching for him
desperately. I could still see the sorrowful look he’d shot me
before he’d given up his weapon and Hank had struck him across the
back of the head. I closed my eyes against the memory just as Hank
crossed the distance between us and stopped right before me. He
appeared to assess me for several long moments until he stopped,
twisting his fob watch around one final time. “You want to know
what I’m gonna do with Franklin? I’m going to kill him.”

I shook my head, the move instinctual.
“You can’t; he’s a god.”

Hank just laughed. “You’ve got no idea
what’s happening here, do you, Lilly White?”

I shrunk back as he said my name, shrunk
back as he shifted in close to stare at me from another angle. It
was almost like I was some barnyard animal he was assessing before
purchase. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he grabbed my mouth and
started checking my teeth.

“Franklin is mortal; Vali isn’t. So trust
me, Franklin can be killed. And will be,” he smiled, teeth pressing
wide, “momentarily.”

My eyes drew wide.

“What?” Hank ticked his head to the side
in that same truly unnerving move. “You didn’t know that? That man
of yours, Franklin Saunders, is the worst criminal of all. Don’t
you know how Vali works?”

I clenched my teeth as I tried to control my
surprise.

This elicited a low, dark laugh from Hank
as he continued to spin his fob watch around and around his hand.
“Trying to be tough now, are you? Bit late for that,
love.”

“I… I don’t believe anything you’re
saying,” I managed.

He snorted. “Yes you do. Why wouldn’t you?
You know nothing about this world,” he said slowly as he shifted
forward. Still twisting his fob watch around his hand, he locked
his other hand on the armrest beside me.

I jerked back, terrified as his face came
closer. Without blinking, he stared right into my eyes.

“Yes, you do,” he said slowly, each word a
percussive beat. “You believe me, because you don’t know any
better.”

I grimaced, but hid it as I locked my jaw.
Rather than snap that I didn’t believe him again, I just sat there
in silence.

This drew an even deeper, more resounding
laugh. And by god was it unpleasant. That fob chain flicking around
just a few inches from my nose, he straightened and took a step
back. He began to pace, several meters to the left, several to the
right, then he stopped in front of me once more. “He’s a murderer,
you know,” he said.

I tried so hard to keep my expression
neutral. I couldn’t. My calm cracked, my lips even wobbled.
“What?”

“Franklin Saunders. I mean, I take it you
know that Vali is a murderer. He’s the god of revenge; it comes
with the job. But Franklin Saunders? How do you think he turned
into Vali in the first place?”

I shook my head.

Hank grinned. It was an ugly move. For a
supposedly handsome man, I was starting to realize his looks were
only skin deep.

“I… don’t believe you,” I said
weakly.

“Yes, you do.” Hank chuckled as he finally
stopped flipping his fob watch around and caught it with a snapped
move. “Vali is channeled. He’s the immortal – Franklin isn’t.
Franklin did something so heinous that the only way to live was to
channel Vali.”

“What?” My voice shook, and there was
nothing I could do about it.

“That’s how Vali works. He has to channel
himself into one unlucky bastard to exist. And when that unlucky
bastard pops his clogs, he just moves on to find
another.”

My cheeks paled.

Hank snickered. “What? Thought Franklin
would live forever? Franklin ain’t even going to make it past
tonight. That asshole Vali is gonna have to find another poor
sucker to possess.”

A jolt of nerves shoved hard through my
gut, and I pushed against the binds holding me in place.
“What?”

“Franklin ain’t going to live past
tonight,” Hank said each word slowly as if he wanted me to write
them down. “But you?” He paused.

I froze. “What do you mean?
Franklin—”

“Really? You’re more concerned about him
than yourself? Don’t you want to ask what happens to you next?” He
leaned back, released his fob chain, and began twisting it around
his hand once more.

I swallowed.

“There we go, starting to think of the
future now, are we? Good girl. Because it will involve
you.”

I felt sick. Completely and utterly sick.
It felt like my stomach was trying to rip out of my torso. But I
held it together, held it together long enough to clench my teeth
and pare my lips back. “Go to hell.”

“No,” he said with a shrug, “I plan on
going to the top. First this city, and who knows, maybe the world.
Because you present me with a very unique opportunity.”

I couldn’t pale any further, and god knows I
couldn’t feel any sicker. But I could recede as I pressed all the
way back in my chair.

“Not every century a frozen witch drags
herself out of the ice, ha?”

My throat
was suddenly so dry I could
barely breathe. “Sorry?”

“A frozen witch. That’s you. Did Vali not
even deem to tell you that?”

I couldn’t react.

He clapped his hands together as if he’d
just heard the funniest joke. “Keeping it from you, was he?
Misguided attempt to keep you safe, maybe? Or, more likely, wanted
to keep you for himself,” Hank’s voice dropped real low. The kind
of low that slices hard into the base of your gut and leaves you
shaking. “Anyhow,” he straightened up, stowing a hand in his
pocket, “I’ll leave you to think about that. I have a man to kill.”
He flashed me a smile, turned on his foot, waved, and walked
out.

“No. No! Don’t kill him!” I
begged.

Hank closed the door behind him, leaving me
alone.

….

I sat there, shaking, covered in cold
sweat.

I had to get out of here. Had to get out of
here before it was too late. But how?

This room was empty, but there was a window.
And if I could just get to it, I’d have a good chance of breaking
it. I could scream until I roused a pedestrian outside.

The problem? The problem was these magical
ropes. I had absolutely no idea how to get rid of these.

Whatever Hank had done to my bangles, it
wouldn’t be hard to reverse.

Though I should have been more concerned
about my own safety right now, I couldn’t stop thinking about
Franklin. About what Hank had said. Not about the fact Franklin was
a murderer – I just couldn’t believe that. He was too kind, too
gentle. No, what was driving me crazy was the thought that he could
die. Would die. He wouldn’t see the night through, as Hank had put
it with a brutal laugh.

I fought against my ropes harder, pushing
into them, wriggling, forcing my shoulders forward, trying
everything to loosen them.

But nothing would work. In fact, the harder
I fought, the harder they fought back. Small charges of magic kept
tapping into my wrist and arms, feeling like electric shocks. As I
bucked hard, throwing myself forward with all my force so I could
at least topple the chair, a much harder shock jolted into my arms.
My head spun as stars exploded through my vision.

I did not, however, let myself
blackout.

“Come on, come on, there must be some kind
of way,” I begged.

If only I knew more about my magic, or magic
in general, then at least I might have a chance. Now I was
desperate.

“Come on, come on, there has to be a
way!”

I’d seen Cassidy and Alice use magic. And
god knows I’d seen that asshole from last night produce a fire
sword. Why couldn’t I do that? Okay, I knew what was stopping me –
these locks. How exactly did they work?