Branded by Frost

by Aliyah Burke

  “It’s on low, so eight hours. Come on. I want to explore.” She was by the door, nearly bouncing on her the balls of her feet. “Are you coming, Dex?”

  He shook his head and helped Aminta to her feet. “I think you women have some catching up to do. I will get a bit more sleep—I was up late last night.” He winked at her and gave her another kiss before heading toward his bedroom. “Have fun, ladies.”

  Aminta stared at Roz before putting her gaze down the now empty hall. “Oh hell no.”

  “He kept you up all night and thinks he can sleep while we shop?” Roz sounded as indignant as she felt.

  “He thought wrong,” she vowed.

  Chapter Seven

  “That would be cute to take for Mal,” Roz said as she added it to her basket.

  Dex frowned, unsure how his plans for more sleep had led to him following the women around this rainy day as they shopped. It had to be a trick they’d pulled on him. How else was he to find a way to describe the situation he now found himself in? They’d been out for a few hours already.

  I had no clue there were this many places to shop in town. What would I be doing otherwise? Sleeping. It’s not so bad. Besides I like Roz. She brings out a joy and relaxation in Frost I’d not seen before.

  Right now they were across the shop. Most times this was a smaller town but in winter it had a reputation as a great ski resort. During the summer they had a lot of hikers but it wasn’t the same as it would be soon. Since the snows had begun in earnest in their accumulation in the mountains, more folks had arrived, and he knew they were about to get a lot busier.

  He tracked Frost as she meandered through the aisles with her sister, streaming seamlessly through the crowd of people who’d gathered to escape the downpour. Rolling his eyes at his sappiness, he wandered up an aisle of his own. He passed some knick-knacks then paused and stepped back. They were cute in that I’m-a-total-tourist way.

  “Ready?”

  Frost’s question jarred him. “Sure. This is your show. I’m just tagging along.”

  “You can go hang at the bar or whatever and I can come find you when we’re done?”

  He chucked her under the chin. “I don’t mind. This female ritual you do is intriguing to me.” He grunted and scratched his chin.

  Her retaliating smirk had him grinning. “Okay, Tarzan. You stand there and look hot while you observe our ritual.”

  He winked. “You find me hot? Is this the best pose?” He crossed his arms and did his damnedest to appear stoic. “Or this one?” Hands on hips and with a faraway gleam in his eyes.

  She grunted as he had, as she smacked him. “Yes, Tarzan. Jane find you hot.”

  He laughed as they headed for the door to catch up with Roz.

  “Mina, look.” Roz’s tone was steeped in wonderment.

  He, too, followed her finger. Amongst the mist from the cold rain, he spied a faint trail of what looked to be finely ground gold dust.

  Paying no heed to the rain, both women set out, crossing the street. Dex hastened after them. They were different now. More alert. Cautious, almost.

  The trail ended outside another souvenir store. He reached out to touch Frost’s shoulder. Her gaze remained unfocused for a period until recognition set in.

  “Yes?” She blinked at him.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I’m off to do a broad sweep, Aminta. Checking for The New Order.” Roz slid away with a ripple of grace.

  Frost never altered her direct gaze from his face. “Did you see the gold?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He ignored the rain dripping from his hair down his face and blinked it away. “I know what I saw. What the hell is going on?”

  “Remember the artifact I told you about?”

  He nodded before guiding her to the door of the shop and stepping inside. “I remember that.”

  “The gold marks it so we can see them and get to them.” She gazed about the shop. “Roz went to make sure there are no New Order freaks around. Well, close—I know they are near. That’s who sent the snake.”

  “What are you looking for?”

  Her eyes darted around like ping pong balls. “More hint of the gold.”

  “Why were you surprised I could see the gold?” He snagged her arm when she went to step away. “Frost?”

  “Most people don’t see it.”

  “Aside from?” he prompted.

  “Those who are meant to.”

  “You’re being oddly cryptic.”

  “I need to look. If you see it, let me know.” She ducked from his touch and walked around the shop.

  Dex stepped back outside and searched the thickening mist for any more hints of the golden sheen. While he didn’t spy that, he did see a man across the street watching him with acute interest. Tall, draped by a black overcoat, a black newsboy. He wasn’t positive but to Dex, the man appeared of Slavic descent.

  He walked down the sidewalk to the next store. The man didn’t move from his spot, staring at the shop Frost was in.

  “What’s up, Dex? I thought you’d be sleeping after the rescue.”

  “Colton.” He faced his friend, using the storefront window to keep an eye on the man in black. “I’m hanging out with Frost and her sister, who is visiting.”

  The man whistled. “Is she single? Is she hot like Frost?”

  “She’d like to think she’s hotter than her sister,” Roz broke in. “But no, she’s not single.”

  Dex chuckled as red flushed his friend’s face. “Roz, this is another of our rescuers, Colton Hayward.”

  “Nice to meet you, and sorry if I embarrassed you. I’m blunt like that.” They shook hands and Roz asked, “Where’s Mina?”

  “Same store as before.”

  “Mina?” Colton spoke up.

  “Her name for Frost,” he said.

  “Ahh.”

  “Look, I’m going to go grab her.” She touched Colton’s arm. “You are more than welcome to join us for dinner—I made more than enough in the slow cooker. You work with her so you’re practically family as well. If not, it was a pleasure to meet you.” She went to the store’s door and slipped inside.

  “She’s a lot of energy to deal with. Are you sure she’s not single?”

  “From her mouth, man, she said she wasn’t single. But we’re about to head back if you want to join us.”

  “I’m in. A meal with beautiful women and home-cooked food.”

  The women appeared and he picked up on the shared look between them and the man who still remained across the street. Frost bumped fists with Colton and the men carried the women’s purchases as they dashed through the rain to the waiting vehicle. The interior was full of chatter as he drove them back to the cabin.

  * * * *

  “Did you find anything?” Aminta put the question to Roz, who sat beside her on the sofa.

  The place was dark aside from the fire burning in the hearth. Colton had left hours ago, and she’d been sleeping with Dex after another bout of knee-knocking sex when Roz had woken her.

  “That man who was watching you—or us, whatever. I took his picture and sent it back to Edmond. I don’t know why he seems so familiar to me.”

  “So it wasn’t just me. I’ve seen him before. He’s been staring at me in town previously.”

  “I didn’t see a New Order tat on him anywhere, but I had a hard time keeping from slipping off the roof as I was checking things out. And let’s face it… Given what happened with me and Trent, I’m not sure I would have seen it. My sign didn’t yell, although he reminds me a bit of Blake.”

  Aminta reached out and rested her hand upon Roz’s wrist in a silent show of support.

  “It wasn’t Blake, but he could be related.”

  “I think we should go find him. You know…so we can ask him.”

  Casting a peek back to the hall where Dex still slept, she nodded. “I think you’re right.”

  “Let me put on somethi
ng a bit more suited for this.”

  Roz pursed her lips. “You don’t want to set a new standard for ass kicking? Wearing nothing but your man’s shirt and—I hope to God—panties?”

  “Shut it.” She rose and walked to the hall. “I’ll be back in five.”

  As promised she was, and the women made their way to the door. Outside the rain still fell.

  They slid out of the door and vanished into the darkness.

  “How do you want to track him down?” Roz sent the question.

  “I’m betting he’s around here somewhere. He was a bit too intrigued by what we were doing.”

  “I’m going right.”

  “Meet you around the back.”

  Aminta pressed to the trees and allowed her eyes to adjust. While she didn’t possess as good of night vision as Tiarnán, she had better than normal humans could claim. So even though the rain was not helpful, it didn’t make her blind.

  The sign on her shoulder shifted as it woke and prepared to assist. Weapons slid to her hands as she called them. The familiar feel of the spikes shifted the rest of the fog and euphoric state from being with Dex to the back of her mind. This was the time for business.

  The cold ceased to matter, as did the rain. All her focus—the same dedication and steadfastness that made her a great pilot—was on finding the man who had been spying on her. She moved in a track line search pattern, trusting the rain to cover her tracks. She wasn’t looking for his, but for him.

  “Anything?” she asked Roz.

  “Nothing as of yet. I feel him though. My sign is agitated. Yours?”

  “Nothing on this side. Be careful. And no, it’s silent.”

  “Always.” Communication ceased as the women went back to hunting.

  The temperature dropped significantly and she recognized there would be snow on the ground by morning. The first wet flake hit her cheek and she took a deep breath of the chilled air, allowing it to seep into her. She closed her eyes and listened.

  These were her woods. She spent a great deal of time out in them training, since she hadn’t the opportunity of the gym at the vineyard. And her type of training wasn’t exactly something she could do in the center where the others were apt to walk in on her. It wasn’t easy to explain the moves she had or the weapons that came and went in the space of a thought.

  Trusting her instincts and the fact Roz had said her sign was acting up, she headed in that direction, still making a cautious sweep to ensure this man was alone. She nearly passed the second one. Nearly.

  She spied him the moment her sign shoved a warning through her. Pausing, she gazed about and picked him from where he blended nearly seamlessly with the trees around him. Again, nearly.

  “Roz, be careful. The one you’re tracking has a follower. I’m on him but just in case there are more.”

  “Got it. Ready to take them down?”

  She gave a feral smile. “Hell yes.”

  “Go.”

  At Roz’s word, she exploded into action and released two spikes into the backs of the man’s knees. He collapsed forward with a cry of pain, one that had no effect on her. With a single leap, she straddled him and ripped him over to see his face. In her left hand she held another weapon, a stiletto, against his carotid.

  “Good evening,” she said politely. “Care to tell me why you’re sneaking about the place? Don’t you have a demon to fuck or something like that?”

  The scent of sulfur leaked to her nose and she realized it wasn’t just a New Order goon but a demon disguised as human. The direction of the wind and rain had kept that from her.

  “Roz, this one’s a demon.”

  “This one isn’t. It’s the man who was following you earlier.”

  “Be cautious.”

  “Always.” Roz broke their connection and Aminta focused on the creature between her legs.

  “No sudden moves, you freak. How many of you are there?”

  He hissed at her, his forked tongue peeking through pointed teeth. She stepped back and lifted him from the ground with one arm while she exchanged weapons and called forth the spikes once more. She pegged him to the tree with one in each shoulder.

  His eyes yellowed the stronger the stench became. She put the blade back to his neck. “I asked you a question.”

  “You will die. You and your Guardian sister.”

  “You think so?” she taunted. “Because I’d lay coin on us any day of the week when put up against you.” She applied pressure with the razor-sharp edge and green liquid oozed out, coating the metal with a sizzling sound.

  “You want to be happy with the leaking of your acidic blood but you forget demon, my weapons are created in hellsfire. Your blood has no effect on it.”

  Rain increased and she blinked away the water sluicing into her eyes.

  “How many?” She repeated it for a third time.

  “More than you were expecting,” he gloated.

  “If there are more then I have no reason to keep you alive any longer.” She ripped the blade across his neck, avoiding the arterial spray, then reached for her spikes and returned them.

  “Demon says there are more than we expect.” She sent out a wave of power, searching for more of them.

  “Were we expecting any?”

  “Not really, but you know they are too damn scared to travel by themselves. That New Order prick must be someone of some importance, if he has demons protecting him.”

  “My sign isn’t happy, so they are coming for him.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Aminta began to run, calling upon her speed and blew through the forest like the wind. Utilizing the link between her and Roz, she knew exactly where Roz was and burst into view just as the first demon swooped down from the sky, fire streaming from its mouth.

  “Move,” she yelled.

  She jumped and landed in a tuck, then rolled and came up sending spikes at the demon. Its screech tore at her eardrums. Collapsing in a pile, she whirled in time to see two arrows speed past her nose and pin the demon coming up at her back to a tree behind it.

  The storm increased as the woods came alive with creatures that belonged in the underworld. They materialized from the ground, sky, and it seemed at times, even the air in front of them. Between fighting and ensuring the man on the wet earth didn’t go anywhere, they were both exhausted when the final demon fell.

  “I don’t even want to know how fucking many there were of them.”

  Roz laughed. “You’re just needing to expend your energy fucking that hot man of yours, not battling demons. Let’s find out what this prick knows and go from there.”

  They crouched beside the man who had a chain around his midsection securing him to the tree. Aminta ran a hand through her wet hair and sent a sidelong glance to Roz.

  “This man of yours is teaching you freaky shit. When did you start using chains?”

  Roz’s laugh bordered on maniacal. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “I’m not sure anymore.” She nudged the man with her foot. “Who are you and what do you want with me? Us?”

  He lifted his head, the close-cropped hair no protection against the onslaught of icy cold rain, which had become more of a snow and sleet mixture. Hatred burned in his blue gaze. “Your death,” he spat.

  The women shared a look. “Oh, well now, that’s original.” Aminta was droll. “Anything more than that?”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

  “You don’t have to, no, but trust me, you want to.” She called up a katana and placed the blade against his throat.

  “I’m important. They will trade for me.” He sounded panicked.

  She crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. “Trade? What could The New Order possibly have that we would ever want?”

  “Information.”

  She and Roz both laughed. “Sorry,” Roz said. “We wouldn’t trust anything you tried to give us for a trade anyway.” She patted Aminta on the shoulder. “I say we kill him. You ha
ve your chopper. We can drop him off somewhere high in the mountains. No one will be the wiser.”

  “Good point.”

  “Wait, wait,” he croaked. “I can tell you about who’s been sabotaging things on your station.”

  That got Aminta to pause. “How would you know who’s been doing it?”

  “Because I’ve been watching. If you promise you won’t kill me, I will tell you.”

  Aminta rested the sword against her shoulder. “I promise I won’t kill you. Now tell me.”

  As he babbled the information he knew, she frowned, not liking what she was hearing in any sort of way.

  He fell silent and glanced between them both. His face was pale and wet in the single beam of light from Roz’s light.

  “Okay? You’ll let me go?”

  “Hell no,” Aminta said.

  “You promised,” he insisted.

  “I promised I wouldn’t kill you. I never said she wouldn’t kill you or that we would let you go.”

  “You can’t do this,” he protested.

  “We can. You New Order freaks have been trying to kill us. Why are we not allowed?”

  “Aren’t you a Guardian? Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to protect?”

  “Is that what that means?” Aminta asked Roz.

  “In a way, I suppose it does.” Her fellow Guardian’s reply was calm.

  “But he’s the enemy, so it doesn’t apply, right?” She tapped her sword on her own shoulder. “Because I really wanted you to kill him. I mean, I wanted to, but the promise and all that.”

  Roz stepped closer. “You know They break promises all the time. What’s the harm if we do it this once?”

  “Good point. I mean, it’s just us two. No one else would know if we broke it and killed him.”

  He’d turned green as they spoke.

  “What… What if I say I am no longer with The New Order? If I renounce them.”

  “I’d say it was a lie and a trap,” Aminta divulged. “And I still want to kill you.”

  “I only did it because they have my family.”

  “Life’s a bitch, ain’t it,” she said, unmoved. She witnessed the mist around Roz and knew she was speaking to Lian.

  “He’s coming for him.”