Frost (Midnight Ice Book One)

by Kaitlyn Davis

  The ache was unbelievable.

  So much worse than anything Pandora had ever felt from a protector conduit before, as though she were being burned at the stake, crisped and fried like meat on a grill.

  But she wasn't going to let Kira know that.

  "And here I thought we were becoming friends," Pandora sneered, trying to sound as unaffected as possible, as though getting into life-or-death battles against her mortal enemy were just another Saturday night.

  The conduit frowned. "It's not personal, just business."

  She's left me an opening, Pandora thought, trying to focus through the pain. Because Kira wasn’t a normal conduit, she’d caught Pandora off guard, and if Tatsuya was coming, he was almost here. At this point, surrounded by surprisingly impenetrable fire, her capture was starting to feel sort of inevitable.

  In the little time she had left, she needed to focus on the other aspect of her plan, gathering as much information as possible about the head vamp and his power. Because that dungeon she’d been meaning to break into? Well, it looked as though she would probably be going there a few weeks ahead of schedule—as a prisoner, no less.

  Maybe if I feign ignorance, she’ll tell me everything I need to know, Pandora thought. After all, conduits were used to being the good guys—working with a head vamp went entirely against her nature. If Pandora could come off as an innocent victim, maybe the girl would sympathize with her—maybe she’d feel the need to justify her actions.

  It wasn’t her best plan.

  It wasn’t even a great plan.

  But it was the only one she had left.

  "And what business could a conduit possibly have with Tatsuya?"

  Kira shrugged. "He asked us to find you."

  Pandora narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

  The girl shrugged again.

  Okay, different angle.

  "In exchange for what?" Pandora asked instead. She already knew the answer, but she just wanted to keep the girl talking to see what she might reveal.

  The conduit paused as though torn, and then softly admitted, "He's going to publicly support the cure for vampirism."

  And as she stared into Kira’s honest eyes and heard those words, for some reason, everything finally clicked. Why her name sounded familiar. Why she was so brazen. Why she was so powerful. Why Tatsuya had called her, of all people, for help. Why she'd make a truce with someone so evil. Why she cared about supporting the cure so much.

  Pandora dropped her jaw open and she gasped. “You're her, aren't you?"

  The conduit grinned. "If by her, you mean Kira, the girl who discovered the cure, then yes, yes I am."

  A few years ago, this girl was all anyone in the supernatural world could talk about. Her name was on every tongue, in every conversation. The incredibly powerful conduit who’d fallen in love with a vampire, who’d risked her life to save his, who’d done something no one had ever thought possible—cured him.

  I wonder if she could cure me. Right here, right now.

  Pandora couldn't stop the thought from coming, and as soon as it was there, she wished she could take it back.

  Idiot.

  She had to stop allowing the cracks to show, allowing the hopes and the dreams and the nostalgia to creep out. It just made everything so much harder, so much more painful.

  And this time, she couldn't even blame it on Jax.

  It was all her.

  The fire pressing against Pandora's skin eased up, growing less painful, leaving a little more room for her to breathe but not quite enough to escape. She turned her attention back to the conduit, staring at her through the flames, noticing how her skin glowed vibrantly in the heat.

  Kira stepped closer, staring at Pandora as if she were a code to decipher.

  "Why do you steal things?" she asked softly.

  Pandora swallowed around the sudden tightness in her throat, trying to wrap the icy freeze of vampirism around her limbs again, trying to bring back the wall the fire had somehow melted away. Channeling her last little bit of defiance, she replied, "I like to live on the edge."

  Kira's expression just grew more prodding. Completely unafraid, fully aware she had the upper hand, the conduit moved even closer. "What are you running from?"

  When did I become so easy to read? Pandora thought, wondering what had happened to the big bad vampire mojo she was supposed to have—the one that made her an emotionless rock, that made her a lifeless undead.

  But she didn’t feel that way, not really.

  And maybe it was the fact that this conduit was looking at her as though she were someone worth saving, or maybe it was the general strangeness of the evening, or maybe it was the fact that she was talking to someone she was certain she'd never have to see again. Whatever it was, Pandora wanted to be honest, just this once. Maybe that would make it easier to keep running, to keep going.

  Because as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew she wasn't running from Jax. She wasn't running from the titans. She wasn't running from their betrayals and their false words and their lies. She wasn't running from her past.

  She was running from her future.

  Running from a destiny she couldn't face.

  Running from a fate so horrible she'd erased it from her mind, leaving only the gut reaction to keep going and going without ever looking back.

  Pandora stared into the conduit's eyes. Her reflection stared back, clear as though there were a mirror deep in those flaming irises, forcing her to admit the truth to herself for the very first time.

  "I'm running from the same thing everyone else is," she answered, voice gritty. "Myself."

  Kira looked away as a sort of understanding flickered in her expression, as though maybe she'd once been running too. Her gaze dipped toward the tomb, toward Jax, before she spoke. "You could go home, you know." And then she lifted her gaze back to Pandora. "Seems like there are people there who miss you. I can help you get there. I can help you become whoever you were before."

  Pandora laughed, an empty, bitter sound. This girl didn't understand. No one did. Maybe not even Pandora herself. "There's no turning back, not for me. I—" But then she stopped, listening as voices carried on the wind, still unintelligible, but this time Pandora wouldn’t be fooled. There were no rebellious teens, no groundskeepers, no nothing. Just Tatsuya coming to carry her away. "He's here."

  The conduit bit her lip, eyes ticking back and forth as she thought. And then she stepped forward, closing the distance between their two bodies, not the least bit concerned that her neck was close enough to bite. One nip, one slurp of conduit blood, and Pandora could be free. Drinking their blood gave a vampire immunity to their flames—their greatest weakness. One sip and she could slip away into the night. She could disappear. And with the smell of that sweet conduit blood filtering through her nose, reeking of warmth and power, the idea was definitely tempting.

  No. Stop.

  Pandora forced her fangs back in, pushing the hunger away to listen. Because she needed information more than she needed to escape. No matter what happened, she wasn’t going to turn her back on all those forgotten people Tatsuya had trapped somewhere in this city. Either way, she’d face the head vamp eventually—tonight or in a few weeks. The choice was hers. But the conduit was about to reveal something big—Pandora knew it. And she might never get another chance like this one.

  "Don't look into his eyes," Kira whispered directly into Pandora's ear. "After an hour or so, his power will wear off, and if you're invisible, he won’t be able to touch you."

  Is it really so easy to escape him?

  Pandora stared at the conduit, utterly shocked. Tatsuya could only control her if he had eye contact with her? And the control only lasted for an hour at a time? All she needed was one second of freedom, one moment, and she'd turn invisible. Without access to her eyes, he'd never catch her again.

  Whoa.

  She'd been hoping for some information, any information, but this was way more than she'd bargai
ned for. And she'd gotten it by being honest—not through her fists.

  Huh. Maybe I should rethink my whole punch first, ask questions later motto…

  Kira's voice grew hurried. "Don't let fear own you. When you're ready to face whatever you're running from, come find me. Your life doesn’t have to be this way. Trust me, I know because I've seen it. I've saved it."

  Her tone was utterly sincere.

  And despite herself, Pandora buried the words deep in the center of her soul, right in the core of her frozen heart, in the little dying flame of her humanity, just in case one day she needed them.

  Without a moment to spare, the door to the mausoleum flew open, slamming against the wall with a thunderous bang.

  Tatsuya was here.

  "My thief," he murmured, delighted.

  Pandora had never seen the head vamp as anything but utterly controlled, almost mechanical. But now, his eagerness flashed. With each passing moment, his eyes glowed brighter and brighter.

  The conduit stepped back, turning toward Tatsuya and leaving Pandora trapped within her burning flames.

  "Delivered as promised," Kira said.

  Yes, you did. Pandora grunted, annoyed, as she futilely pushed against the wall of fire one final time. There might as well be a freaking bow attached to my forehead.

  But the conduit continued. "I expect you to make good on your end of the bargain."

  Tatsuya finally lifted his excited gaze from Pandora, giving her a moment's relief from the many terrible possibilities his eyes seemed to hold. "As I said before, I'm a man of my word. You'll have your public support. Expect the whisperings of my changing views to spread within the week."

  His attention snapped back to Pandora.

  Without another word, he walked calmly toward her, moving through the flames without an ounce of pain or hardship.

  He's got a conduit trapped in that dungeon of his, Pandora thought, disgusted. It was the only way he could possibly be moving so fluidly through fire that had easily nailed her to the wall. Before coming here, Tatsuya had clearly had his fill of conduit blood, drinking enough to make himself immune to their power.

  Well, enjoy it while you can. ‘Cause you won't have that conduit too much longer, Pandora seethed silently, fuming at the thought of any poor, innocent person being trapped within his care like nothing more than another blood bag.

  Maybe right now he was winning.

  Maybe right now he thought he'd won.

  But Pandora knew the truth. She was a fighter. She'd never stop. And now that she knew his secret, knew his power only worked through eye contact, she just needed to bide her time and allow him to think she'd been beat. Eventually, the perfect moment to strike would come. Because a few moments ago she’d had her chance to escape, and she didn’t take it. She chose to stay and fight—so that was exactly what she intended to do.

  Tatsuya gripped Pandora's chin.

  She kept her eyes wide open, and she met his blazing cerulean irises with blatant defiance, promising that her time for vengeance would come.

  Just, well, not right now.

  "Hold your hands behind your back," Tatsuya said. Against her will, her arms immediately snapped backward, folding completely uselessly against her lower back. Her eyes, though, remained sharp as daggers. "Retract your fangs, and remain within two feet of my body without touching me or anyone else until I say otherwise. Oh, yes, and one more thing. No more turning invisible unless I ask you to."

  This crap better wear off soon.

  Pandora struggled against his command as best she could, but it was useless. Her teeth retracted back into her gums, no longer threatening. Her body inched closer to his, even as the fire dug into her skin, making her cringe. And when she tried to pull the shadows around her body, tried to hide herself from the light in the way she'd been able to for as long as she could remember, nothing happened. The shadows either weren't there, or they weren't listening.

  Tatsuya's lip twitched into a smile that vanished a moment later. Then he turned back to Kira. "You can release your power now."

  The conduit slid her gaze to Pandora and held it for a prolonged second, as though trying to memorize her face. Something about her expression was apologetic, almost pained.

  As soon as the fire was gone, Tatsuya flew into hyperspeed, leaving Pandora no choice but to follow. Outside the mausoleum, the rest of his hunting party fell in behind, following as they raced deep into the night.

  At least Jax is safe, Pandora thought as her feet moved of their own volition, churning to someone else's command, leading her miles away from the boy she would always love—the boy who, still unconscious in a tomb, would be cursing her name soon enough.

  I wish I could say the same about myself.

  Unfortunately, Pandora wasn't so lucky.

  There was no doubt in her mind she was being taken to one of the most secure dungeons in the world—the one holding Tatsuya's most prized possessions, all the people she was determined to set free. And she had a sneaking suspicion that if she couldn’t figure out how to escape, she was about to become his crown jewel.

  Instead of being afraid, Pandora just smirked.

  So things were happening a few weeks ahead of schedule—big deal. She was currently being personally escorted to his secret prison. She was going to get a firsthand look at all his security. And she knew his greatest weakness. If everything went well, she’d be breaking his prisoners out before the night was over. Heck, she’d be leaving New York before the sun even had the chance to rise.

  Pandora had always been good at improvising, so as her body raced toward captivity, her mind raced toward freedom.

  Challenge accepted.

  Chapter Seven

  So…things weren't going exactly how she'd planned.

  Okay—they weren't going at all how she'd planned.

  "Pick up the knife," Tatsuya ordered from the other side of her glass enclosure.

  Immediately, she complied.

  "Carve my name into your forearm."

  Gritting her teeth, Pandora slid the blade into her ivory skin, watching red beads bubble to the surface, first a T, then an A, all the way to the end. But she didn't cry out. Didn't gasp. Didn’t make a sound, even as her blood dripped to the floor, joining the pool already soaking her feet.

  It's not really my blood anyway, she thought, looking down at the ever-expanding crimson ring.

  "Now drink," Tatsuya murmured, shoving a blood bag through a thin opening at the base of the cell, a dip in the stone just large enough to make her wonder if escape was possible, all the while knowing it wasn't.

  Pandora dropped the knife, watching as her wounds sealed shut, already forgotten as her body began to heal itself. But her veins scratched painfully, achingly empty, and her throat hurt from the hunger. Her insides burned, too dry, as her mouth turned to sawdust, begging for relief. Greedily, she snatched the bag from the opening, ripped through the plastic, and sank her fangs into the thick liquid, drawing in the sweet relief.

  "We can go on like this forever, Pandora, and I'm starting to think we might have to," Tatsuya continued. He sat on the other side of the glass, legs crossed, face utterly blank. The fluorescent lights cast a sickly, putrid glow over his silver hair. "I have an entire arsenal of weapons crafted from sanded-down vampire teeth and nails, all created for the sole purpose of torturing stubborn souls like yours into compliance. And I've had many lifetimes’ worth of practice on how to use them."

  She didn’t stop drinking.

  She didn’t move.

  "Now, I'll ask you one more time. Would you like to do this the hard way? Or will you save yourself the unnecessary pain and make the vow to serve me?"

  Pandora slid her gaze along the stone floor, over the blood, to the photograph sitting at the other end of her cell. The photograph of a young woman, probably her age, with olive skin and deep brown eyes that seemed to bore into her heart—a defiant young woman who Tatsuya wanted Pandora to hunt down and retrieve.


  Why?

  She had no idea.

  But she did know one thing. There was no way she'd help him, no way she’d become his invisible fighting machine. There was no way she'd be making any vow anytime soon.

  He could make her stab herself as many times as he wanted, could make her play as many torturous mind games as he wanted, but she wouldn't break. She was stronger than that. Stronger than he knew. So strong that he hadn't even realized she was no longer under his spell, under his control. She'd been careful not to look him in the eye for the past hour, to look close but not direct. And the last three times he commanded her to cut his name into her skin, she'd done it out of sheer will, not by force.

  "Answer me," he ordered calmly. "Will you work for me?”

  Pandora looked up, staring into the ridge of his nose, the spot directly between his eyes. Still crouched over the blood bag, she dropped her hand to the floor and felt for the knife. Without glancing down, she carved her answer into her now pristine skin, listening as new droplets fell almost soundlessly to the floor, splashing so softly only a vampire could hear.

  No.

  Tatsuya's nostrils flared. In a blink, he stood, hands clenched, as he took her in with disgust.

  "You think this is the hard way? You think it won’t get worse?"

  Oh, I know it will, she thought but didn’t move. She could play these games for as long as it took. The perfect time to strike would come eventually. And when it did, she’d kill him. None of her other jailbreaks had been so personal, but Tatsuya was the one who’d made it this way by trying to break her into submission. And for that, he’d pay.

  "Cut off your finger."

  Pandora swallowed, clutching the handle of the blade. Before she had time to second-guess, before she made the mistake of revealing she'd broken through his control, she used her vamp-enhanced speed to slash the weapon through the air and slam it into the ground, directly through her flesh.

  This time, she did cry out.

  She screamed.

  Tatsuya smiled. "Next time, it could be your arm or your leg. Next time, it could be so many things an innocent mind like yours probably hasn't considered, things that don't even require weapons, things that will warp your thoughts so completely you can’t tell up from down. So think good and hard about your decision, because when I come back in sixty minutes, I won't be so merciful. Now, look at me."