Frozen: A Winter Romance Anthology

by Melange Books, LLC

  “You read my mind,” he said.

  Looks like she found her three week romance, Lilly thought.

  Everyone kind of huddled together against the cold when they got outside. Then they all piled into two long vans. The four new friends ended up talking and laughing in the second row of one of the vehicles.

  Lilly was surprised to find that she had so much in common with Parker. They were both there because they had a thing for the cold and could never learn enough about it. They were both an only child being raised by a single parent.

  While Lilly did find herself very attracted to him, she couldn’t help but think of Jack—always Jack—and wondered if going out with Parker was wrong. She knew she couldn’t spend her entire life holding out for a man she couldn’t see and could never be with, but things were different this year. He was opening up. Still, she had to wonder if her longing for him would condemn her to a life of loneliness.

  “There it is up ahead,” Mr. Haskans said from the driver’s seat, breaking into their conversation and Lilly’s thoughts of Jack. She had to lean against Parker so she could see between the front seats to the big cement building with a blue clay roof. A street lamp and the light pouring from every window they could see lighted the whole place.

  Once the vans were parked, everyone grabbed their bags and carried them into a big yellow room. The carpet and walls were a creamy yellow. The formal sofa and chairs were off-white. Even the chandelier in the center of the ceiling gave off soft, almost yellow light. It had a cheerful warming effect Lilly loved. Her favorite part of the cozy room was the pictures hanging on the wall saying things like Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow and Sugar and Ice and Everything Nice.

  “You can all leave your things here for now and follow me this way,” Mr. Haskans said as he moved around the crowd to go through the door on the left side of the room. The students followed him through a long white hall past several doors, some of them emitting strange aromas. “These are the laboratories.” Mr. Haskans walked backwards to explain. “They’re off-limits unless we’re using them as part of a class or you’re being supervised by an instructor. Anyone caught breaking this rule will be expelled.” He didn’t sound mean or angry, but Lilly decided he was a man who meant business, even if he kind of reminded her of a beardless Santa Claus.

  He walked through the door at the end of the hallway into a cafeteria full of folding tables and chairs. Two middle-aged men and a skinny young woman stood at the front of the room. Lilly assumed they were teachers.

  The two girls followed Brian and Parker to the back of the table nearest the door and sat down. Everyone else took seats here and there. Most of them seemed excited, but it was obvious that a few weren’t happy to be there at all. Lilly figured the second type was probably forced to come by their parents so that they could spend the holidays free of their own children.

  “I hope you’re all as excited to be here as I am to have you,” Mr. Haskans began, “and hopefully you’ll survive the jet lag. Now I know you’re all old enough to take care of yourselves, but there are a few ground rules we expect you to follow. Number one, no bullying. Period. Two, cell phones off during the day except on weekends. Three, like I said before, do not go into any of the labs without an instructor. And four, be in bed, lights out, by nine-thirty on week nights. Everybody got it?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “All right, follow these rules, and we won’t have any problems. We meet in here every morning at eight o’clock and finish classes around three. Dinner’s at seven if you’re eating here. You can also walk down the street in the direction we came from, and you’ll find a few shops and restaurants. Just be sure you wear a parka when you’re going out. They’re hanging in the closet by the front door, and we wash them every day. You’ll be sorry if you don’t, trust me. Same thing for when you want to go out and explore the woods on our other side. And since it’s almost seven now, you can stay in here until dinner starts if you don’t have other plans.”

  The group of four waited a few seconds for the buzz of voices to ensue before Brian stood up and said, “To the parkas for us.” He rested a few fingers on Rebecca’s back as they crossed the wide hallway and went to the closet full of coats.

  Chapter Five

  The walk to Cecile’s wasn’t terribly long, but the frigid cold made it seem that way. Halfway there, Lilly’s teeth were chattering enough that she struggled to carry on a conversation with Parker, but he seemed intent on keeping it going, even if it was chattery and broken. Of course, this made the warmth and ambience of entering the restaurant that much sweeter as both washed over them like waking from a long, deep sleep.

  Accordion music played over the radio as a heavily mustached man with an Italian accent approached them. “Good evening, monsieurs and mademoiselles. Table for four?”

  “Yes, sir,” Brian answered.

  “Right this way.” They walked between simple square tables—only three containing occupants—and were seated in a red padded booth beside a pair of red and white drapes which were closed. “Your waitress will be with you very soon.”

  Parker draped his arm around Lilly’s shoulders and winked at her. “So tell me, Lilly Donavan, what’s your hometown like?”

  Lilly delved into the little bit there was to tell and then listened to him talk about where he was from.

  As the evening progressed, the fresh falling snow began to pick up with a certain discord. Each time Lilly looked through the dark crack where the curtains parted, the wind seemed to howl a little bit louder. She could almost feel a great anger being unleashed, which made it difficult to pay attention to what anyone was saying.

  When they finished eating and Parker decided to put his arm back around her to whisper something in her ear about Brian snoring, it made Lilly shudder. She managed to laugh half-heartedly as she reached for the stiff window cover and pulled it to the side. She gasped and let the fabric drop when she saw a frosty handprint pressed against the glass and no one nearby. It was Jack. She was sure of that.

  “What’s wrong?” Parker asked, leaning forward.

  “Nothing, I just—nothing. Would you mind if I went back? I think I’m getting a migraine,” she lied, wanting to get away from the others.

  “But I ordered dessert,” Rebecca said.

  “I can head back on my own.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Parker said. “They’re the only ones having dessert, anyway.”

  “I’ll be okay, if you wanna stay.” Lilly really didn’t want to walk back alone with him, especially since Jack would certainly be there, too.

  “I’d rather walk with you. You are my date, after all.” He was serious about this. And he was really cute perfect for Lilly, but it didn’t feel right to her.

  She refused to be rude, though. “All right.”

  Parker took a twenty from his pocket and laid it on the table before he stood up to let Lilly out of the booth.

  * * * *

  It hurt—like daggers to his heart. Watching that putrid mortal with his greatest treasure, the way he smiled at her like he knew her at all. Watching them through the sliver of an opening in the drapery inside was enough to make Frost want to run away, all the way back to Minnesota to wait for her there, anything to escape the terrible sight before him. But he knew that would be much worse, because then all he would be able to do would be to wonder.

  “Why?” he asked her through the glass, wanting to get her away from the man beside her.

  Frost knew he couldn’t keep her to himself forever. She would want a family of her own eventually. He was holding onto the hope that someone would hand over immortality one day, and she would become his forever. Each time he saw her, he only loved her more. Recently, in the last few weeks, it had become so much more. He wasn’t even sure if he could live with the only one he cared about ending up with someone else.

  As his angering thoughts raced faster and faster through his mind, the drapes moved aside and Lilly stared at him in shock.
Frost realized he’d been too careless and let his hand freeze the glass around it.

  And she knew. He felt his face flush and took a few steps back as she let the cloth fall. What if he had scared her? Or what if she was so disgusted by him watching her that she wanted to be done with him forever? He couldn’t bear that.

  He heard the music drift out of the diner when the door opened, and someone walked out. He waited at the side of the small building until he saw Lilly walking down the sidewalk with the man he now hated more than anyone else, the one now taking her hand in his.

  Frost followed the couple. With each step, the ground cracked under his feet as ice spread over the pavement.

  What is it with mortals these days, moving relationships forward at the speed of light, and then ending it just as quickly?

  “There’s something I should probably tell you,” Lilly said, pulling her hand away to tuck into her pocket.

  “Yeah?” Parker looked over at her.

  “There’s this guy back home I’m really into, so I’m not looking to start something with anyone else.”

  Frost stopped in his tracks as the hurt only worsened, while Lilly wondered how she would explain this to Rebecca when word spread.

  “Why didn’t you mention that sooner?” Parker asked.

  “Because this wasn’t supposed to be a date. It was supposed to be four friends going out for fun.”

  “I guess so. It’s just fun to flirt with pretty girls.” Parker smiled good-naturedly to show that it was all good.

  Frost picked up the pace, eager to know who this ‘guy back home’ was and how serious things had become between them.

  “So what’s this guy like?” Parker asked curiously.

  “Well...” Lilly struggled for words. “He’s sort of indescribable, not like anyone you’ve probably ever met before.”

  “Does this indescribable someone have a name?”

  “Jack.”

  Frost stopped again, this time filling with a wonderful sensation. Had he heard right? Could she really feel the same way about him?

  Parker nodded, and the rest of the walk was pretty quiet.

  “I think I’ll stay outside for a f-f-few more minutes,” Lilly chattered as they walked into the parking lot of the arctic center.

  “But it’s freezing,” Parker said.

  “I’ll be all right for a minute more.”

  “Um—do you want me to stay with you?”

  “I’ll be okay.”

  “All right.” Parker hurried inside, eager to escape the freezing temperature.

  Lilly turned to face the way they’d come from at the edge of the little parking lot. Frost stared at her concerned eyes for only a moment before placing one hand on her cheek. “I’m sorry, Jack,” she whimpered, her eyes filling with tears. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  Frost hated the wretched mortal for making her cry. He was an arrogant thing, probably strutting around inside, unaware and not caring about the position he’d put Lilly in. But Frost would end the pain. Willing a mortal to hear his voice took massive amounts of energy, but he had to make this better.

  “It’s all right,” he murmured, wondering if she would have stopped the mortal’s advances if she hadn’t recognized his presence.

  There was only one-way to know for sure, but he was terrified of doing it, because there was no way of knowing what would happen. The results were different for every spirit, depending as largely on the mortal as the immortal. It would replace shards of her being with splinters of his, and then fill his empty crevices with the precious pieces of hers. Frost had found himself imagining it and yearning deeply for it quite often recently.

  He wanted Lilly’s kiss. His desire to know and the intense love he felt for her was much greater than any of his reserves. So he leaned forward, his breath a delicious jet of icy heat against her face, and kissed her. Her lips were warm, like honey flowing into his mouth and down his throat as her arms went around him.

  He felt her apprehension about going to that eatery and the pressure she was under to help out her friend. He heard her thoughts and feelings concerning him, and the lack of any romantic feelings she had for the young man she’d just turned away or for any other male. The many faces she’d painted of him flashed across his mind, and he felt her innocence and her longing for him throughout three seasons of the year. He also saw that the love she had for the cold existed only because it helped her to feel closer to him. Lilly truly loved him.

  When he was satisfied that there could never be any other man, he drew away reluctantly and opened his eyes to see the faint strands of silver light that reached from his lips to hers break apart and die away. He wondered how much of himself that kiss had poured into her and what effect it would have.

  “Jack?” Lilly asked mildly.

  He watched the silver light appear again as it washed over her face and then faded away. “Can you see me?” he asked, thinking that would be the best reaction their kiss could have caused.

  She nodded as she reached out to touch his face with shaking fingers. Every part of her was shaking. She was becoming too cold, Frost realized.

  He took her fingers away from his cheek to kiss their tips and say, “You need to go inside and get warm.”

  “I d-d-don’t want to leave you.”

  “I don’t want you to either, but it’s too cold for you out here.”

  “But it feels like I j-j-just found you after y-years of searching—”

  Blinding light suddenly swept over everything as Frost felt Lilly’s hand being jerked away from his. Her phone fell from her pocket against the salty pavement and broke into two pieces. And then unquenchable flames surrounded him. Lilly’s screams filled the air as he watched her disappear into the night sky.

  What’s going on? Frost struggled to fly away from the flames. He blew snow and ice against it to no avail. The flames had been created by an immortal to weaken him, and the exchange he’d had with Lilly had already done that. They wouldn’t spread, but they wouldn’t go out any time soon either. It felt like iron hands were binding his feet to the ground and holding his body in place. He fought against this force, fearing for Lilly.

  Without warning, the van at the edge of the fire exploded, throwing him to the other side of the road when the hood slammed into his stomach and carried him through the air with it. As his warm body sank into the thick snow, his immortal strength returned, and he stood up to throw the hood out of sight like a Frisbee.

  Screaming mortals emerged from the building as Frost flew away in the direction he’d seen Lilly go. He flew over houses and trees until he saw the fires in a secluded field. Winter for Your Woman, they told him.

  “Flint has her,” he muttered furiously. And he’ll only give her back if I trade him for fire.

  Chapter Six

  Flint had just reached Alaskan lands. Feeling the nearby presence of a spirit out of place, he came to investigate and arrived in time to see Frost kiss the young woman. He only thought about it for a moment before he took her away. The light that spread between them in that kiss was a sure sign of unending love, so Flint knew Frost would give anything to have her back.

  Now, soaring through the air as she screamed incessantly, it was taking all his concentration to keep the arm holding on to her cool. He didn’t want to burn her.

  This time tomorrow, he’d be a lord of the cold. At least that’s what he was counting on.

  He growled with irritation as his ears began to ring. “Would you shut up?” he shouted down at the woman, whose screaming continued. Flint was sure another fifteen minutes of this would do him in.

  Therefore, he calmed the heat in both arms as he stopped, flung her upward into the sky and caught her under the arms. “Shut up!” he managed to shout before she reached forward and frantically tried to wrap herself around him, breathing noisily.

  Then she was howling in pain as her skin began to scorch. “Calm—down—” Flint fought to say, but she was out of her mind w
ith fear. He had to extinguish his entire body for the woman’s safety. Then they were falling. He couldn’t fly when he shut down his system that way.

  Her screaming became louder and his frustration complete. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and clung to him for dear life. “Let go! Are you crazy?” Flint said, trying to pry her death-grip away. “You’ll die.” But she kept screaming and holding on. He finally gave up and held her close, turning so that his body would hit the ground instead of hers.

  He felt the impact of hitting thick branches, going through something solid, and then landing on hard ground. Above, he saw moonlight pouring in from the hole they’d ripped through a roof. Since all was silent, it seemed that no one else was there.

  Flint realized the woman lying on top of him had gone still.

  * * * *

  Frost sped over bodies of oceans, trees, mountains and cities. There was only one place Flint could take Lilly where he wouldn’t be able to take her back, in the deepest recesses of the earth where no mortal could survive for very long. Even some immortals had a difficult time down there, especially the ones like Frost.

  He flew down when he saw the steamy craters and cracked barren ground. Only a fire spirit could feel at home here. The low cave entrance to their world loomed not far away.

  Frost knew that once he was inside, he would become powerless. He had to get Lilly back. Already he longed to kiss her again, hold her in his embrace and find a way to make her his forevermore. So he ran to the deep entryway and jumped into the dark hole in the ground.

  Instinctively, he fought to fly up, slow himself down at the very least, but he only continued to fall. The sound of his body crashing into the blistering ground echoed through a wide hollow with five tunnels leading away in different directions.

  “A winter spirit?” someone grumbled.

  Frost sat up and saw two fiery guards standing on either side of a tunnel. One was built like a giant, with bulging muscles. The other was quite normal in size, but seemed like a dwarf in the presence of the first.