Frost Fire (Tortured Elements)

by Rivers, Olivia

  “Where the hell do you think I got the money?” His tone was oddly composed. Definitely not calm, but at least composed. “I have a job, little Nox. I make an honest living. I don’t destroy people’s lives, or murder, and then call that my ‘career’. I’m not my dad. I’m not Rhaize.”

  She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

  “Don’t,” Drake said. He sighed and let his head fall back, so he was staring at the ceiling of the truck. “Just… Just don’t apologize, okay? You shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have snapped like that.”

  Allai nodded, even though she didn’t really agree. Drake had every right to get pissed, because he was right: He wasn’t Rhaize.

  “So.” She shifted uncomfortably. “Um… What kind of job do you have?”

  He scoffed, although this time he sounded far from amused. “Small talk? Really? I save your ass twice in one day, and you repay me with small talk?”

  “You know, you make conversation really difficult,” Allai muttered. ‘Difficult’ wasn’t really the right word. ‘Confusing’ was better. He seemed to ping-pong from content to flirty to angry in a matter of minutes. She wished he’d pick an emotion and just stick with it.

  “Well, you’re not a whole lot better,” Drake said. “You didn’t say one word to me for the first two years I knew you.”

  “Job,” Allai growled. “What’s your job?”

  “I help run a bookstore.”

  She tried to picture Drake with bifocals on, carefully dusting shelves of reference books. She got as far as the bifocals before she had to suppress laughter.

  “What’s so funny?” Drake asked.

  “You. Running a bookstore. Drake, you were born to be a bouncer, or a mobster, or something at least mildly violent. And you help run a bookstore?”

  “Like I said, I’m not my father. And I like books.”

  Both were perfectly acceptable reasons for him to take the job. But Allai still felt herself smirking at the thought of him working in such a mundane atmosphere. “What do you do all day?” she asked.

  “Stock shelves, ring up customers, pretty much anything that needs to be done. Except customer service. I’ve just never been able to do the whole ‘service with a smile’ thing too well.”

  That was a shame. More people should get to see Drake’s smile.

  “So then you like to read?” Allai asked.

  “Again with the small talk,” Drake muttered.

  “No, I’m actually curious,” she said. “I mean, I just can’t really picture you reading. It’s so… mundane.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, I like to read. I’m guess I’m just a mundane guy. Or at least I try to be. After living with Dad for seventeen years…” He trailed off.

  But Allai got the point. He’d lived seventeen years of hell. He could use a little normality in his life.

  “What’s your favorite book?” Allai asked.

  Drake didn’t hesitate before answering, “The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s by Alexandre Dumas.”

  “I’ve never heard of it,” Allai said.

  He nodded, like this didn’t surprise him. Allai wondered if he knew the truth; she had only read about ten books in her lifetime. Shieldak had always told her they were a waste of time. He’d made her learn to read, of course. But only so that she could understand documents, and not so she could appreciate literature.

  “It’s a good book,” Drake said. “You should read it.”

  “What makes it so good?” Allai asked. “I mean, what’s it about?”

  He paused for a moment. Allai didn’t have to look at him to know that he was biting at his lip as he thought about an answer. “Revenge,” he finally said. “It’s about revenge.”

  Something in his tone made her want to give him another hug. But she was driving, and couldn’t, so instead she leaned into him. Drake flinched and made a little panicked noise in the back of his throat. But then he relaxed.

  It felt so natural. Just leaning into him, breathing in his scent, listening to his rapid heartbeat. It was natural, and somehow thrilling at the same moment.

  After a moment, Drake wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her even closer. She thought about telling him to stop, because she was going to crash the truck if he distracted her anymore. But she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

  “You’re right,” Drake murmured in her ear. His breath tickled her neck, and she stopped breathing for a moment. Her heart pounded. She didn’t want to answer, didn’t want to think about his words. She just wanted to stay in that moment, with Drake close and his voice soft.

  But she knew she had to answer. So she tried a couple times to form words, and finally managed to ask, “About what?”

  Drake pressed his lips against her neck, so that she could feel his smile against her skin. “About this,” he whispered, pulling her a little closer. “It really isn’t so bad.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Two rings, three, four…

  Drake held his breath during the fifth ring. Tanner always picked up. Tanner had to pick up.

  They hadn’t made it to Cleveland. By the time they’d gotten within twenty miles of the city, his truck had run out of gas. Drake had been the one who’d pointed out the flashing red light on the dashboard; Allai had been too tired to even notice it. The next few minutes they’d spent searching for a gas station in a panic, and had finally found this run-down one.

  But at least the gas station had cell reception, and at least he could make the call he’d been putting off. He’d sent the girl inside to go collect some food from the under-stocked aisles, and then walked around the corner to use the cell phone.

  Six rings, seven—

  There was a click on the other end of the line. “Martin residence. Whom am I speaking with?”

  Drake closed his eyes for a moment and let out a little sigh of relief. “Tanner, it’s me.” There was no response, so he added, “It’s Drake.”

  A sigh travelled through the speaker. “I know. You think I don’t recognize your voice?” Tanner sighed again. That was his thing. Tanner never spoke without thinking, and couldn’t seem to think without sighing. “It’s good to hear from you, Drake. I’m glad you’re alive.”

  It was nice of him to say so, but Drake heard the hesitancy in his voice. There was always that tone in his voice when he spoke to Drake; hesitancy, and just a little regret. Like Tanner thought that taking him in had been a mistake. And it probably was.

  Drake licked his lips and tasted sweat on his skin. A cool breeze had started up, and his hair stuck to his forehead. He hated this constant nervousness; was Allai safe, was she emotionally stable, would she survive? All those nagging worries just weren’t normal for him. Quick moments of gut-wrenching fear were what he was accustomed to and what he could handle, because they always came along with some live-saving adrenaline. But these nagging feelings were going to kill him.

  “Drake?” Tanner said. “Are you there?”

  “I’m here.”

  “You sound like you’re by a road,” Tanner said. “Where exactly are you?”

  Now that he mentioned it, Drake noticed all the cars flying past just a few yards away. He shuffled a couple inches closer to the cement wall of the gas station. What he wanted to do was just rest his forehead against the cool cement of the wall and close his eyes. But he resisted the urge and kept talking. “We’re near Cleveland.”

  “We? Who’s ‘we’?”

  “I’m bringing back the girl.”

  No sound came through the speaker for a long moment. All Drake could hear was the sound of cars whipping past on the nearby road, and the jingle of tiny bells hitting the glass door as someone entered the gas station’s store. Then there was rapid muttering, also coming from whoever was entering the store. Drake felt like snarling at them to shut up.

  Tanner finally spoke. “This is Shieldak’s daughter we’re speaking of, Drake.”

  “I know who she is.”

>   “So then you know you can’t just…” Another sigh. “Take her.”

  Drake could hear the deliberation behind his word choice. ‘Take her’. Tanner thought he’d kidnapped the girl.

  For a moment he thought of slamming the phone closed and finding someone else to help the girl. And maybe he’d snarl some retort back at Tanner before he hung up. That’d make him feel a little better, and maybe it’d even stop the anger rushing through his veins.

  But it wouldn’t help the girl.

  “I didn’t just ‘take’ her, Tanner.” He lowered his voice a little, hoping no one would overhear him, and hoping Tanner wouldn’t notice the anger in his voice. “She needed help. She wanted help.”

  Okay, so maybe that last bit was a lie. The girl hadn’t wanted any of this. She probably would have stayed loyal to the Sentinel until the end, if the viper hadn’t shoved her into Drake’s hands. But now she was starting to see her mistake in trusting the Sentinel.

  “Why isn’t Shieldak helping her?” Tanner asked.

  “Shieldak is the one who wants her dead,” Drake replied. His humming-growl thrummed in the back of his throat at the thought. He swallowed it back, and added, “The girl is a Caedes Mage. Someone has been shielding her species with a spell all these years, and… Well, Shieldak found out. He wants her dead now, and my dad is after her, too. They’re hunting her.”

  Tanner sighed, but it was pitying this time instead of thoughtful. “Poor girl.”

  “That’s all you have to say?” Drake demanded. “Aren’t you going to do something to help?”

  “Of course I am,” Tanner snapped. Drake rarely heard Tanner snap; it was a little scary when he did. “If she’s a Caedes, like you say—”

  “She is,” Drake insisted.

  “Then she belongs with us. I can give her political immunity, and she can try to rebuild her life. But…” Tanner cleared his throat. He sounded almost nervous, like he was afraid how Drake was going to react to his next words.

  Drake bit at his lip, holding back the urge to scream at Tanner to just spit it out. “What is it, Tanner?”

  Tanner sighed. “Drake, you know the Chimera’s treaty with Shieldak is shaky at best. If I do something to upset him, it could put us all in jeopardy.”

  He didn’t care. All the Chimeras, and all their powers meant absolutely nothing to him right now. Tanner and Jada and the others could just disappear, for all he cared. The girl was who mattered. She was the one he needed to protect.

  “So then you won’t help,” Drake growled.

  “I’ll help,” Tanner said quickly. “I just can’t look like I’m helping. You need to approach me, not the other way around. I can’t reach out to the girl. That means you need to get back to headquarters. If you can do that, I can give the girl immunity immediately. The treaty says I can take in and look over all Mages who approach me, and she should qualify.”

  “Can’t you just give her immunity now?” Drake knew he sounded like he was begging, but he didn’t care about that, either. “Please. Just announce it to Shieldak and my father.”

  “No. You need to approach me officially and on my land. And just think about it for a moment, Drake. Even if it was safe for me to reach out to the girl, Shieldak would probably only pay attention to the treaty if she’s within my grasp.”

  Drake snarled. Someone probably heard him, but what did that matter? He already had Dad and Shieldak hunting him. So what if the local animal control went after him, too.

  “Calm down,” Tanner said. He sounded patronizing, which was the tone he usually ended up using with Drake. It was like Tanner thought he shouldn’t get exasperated, so instead he tried to be calm and patient. And that just sounded patronizing, which always pissed off Drake even more, which would bring on an even calmer tone. Then the whole thing would go around in circles, until Drake stormed off.

  “You want me to calm down?” Drake growled. “Did you not hear me when I said my dad is after her? It’ll take us at least two days to get to Idaho, maybe three. That’s plenty of time for my dad to catch us.”

  Tanner was quiet for a moment. “You said you’re near Cleveland?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You could try taking a plane from there into Spokane,” Tanner suggested. “Then you’d only be minutes away.”

  It was a tempting proposition. A few hours on a plane, an hour in a rental car, and they’d be home free.

  But his stomach twisted at the thought of the plane ride. It would be dangerous. Probably deadly, because they’d have to get past the French. The French government had strict control over the paranormal world, and they had recently enacted a law that made it illegal for paranormals to travel by plane. Drake hadn’t heard all the details about the new law, but he knew it was put in place to keep rogues from escaping to far-off countries. The penalty for boarding a plane was death, and rumor had it that the French had a spell to alert them of any paranormal creature entering an airport.

  “I can’t take the chance,” Drake said slowly into the cell phone. “With the French…” He trailed off, knowing Tanner would understand.

  Tanner sighed. Drake could picture him nodding curtly, like he always did when he was stressed. “Yes. Yes, you’re right. The French’s wards are too big of a risk.”

  He went silent again, but this time only for a moment. “Drake, my only advice for you is to leave that girl. Keeping her around is a death wish. You know Rhaize better than anyone, you know how dangerous he is. If he’s after her—”

  “If he’s after her, then I’m going to keep her safe,” Drake snapped. He took a deep breath and said, “I’ll see you soon, Tanner. Hopefully in just a couple days.”

  “Yes, hopefully. Goodbye, Drake. And I—”

  Tanner probably said something else after that. Drake wasn’t sure. Because all he could hear was the girl’s scream.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Luke had once told her to never go grocery shopping while she was hungry. Allai remembered that day clearly: It had been rainy, with thunder and lightning, and she’d been holed up in Luke’s room the entire afternoon. She could tell by early evening that he was getting annoyed with her presence, but she still hadn’t wanted to leave.

  ‘It’s almost time for dinner,’ Luke had said. ‘You should go down to the Hall.’

  ‘But I don’t want to leave,’ she’d told him.

  Luke had laughed. ‘Of course you don’t, darling. That’s because I’m much more interesting than those jackass Warriors down there.’

  And she’d grinned at that, even though she knew he was insulting her dad and his men.

  The rest of the evening she’d spent lounging on the end of Luke’s bed, listening to him play the guitar. He’d put up with her, and had even decided it was a fine time to give her some advice about school, and men, and life in general. It was then that he’d advised her to never go shopping when she was hungry.

  It was three years later, but Allai finally understood that advice. She was starving, and her shopping basket was filling up with items she never would have found appetizing just hours before. White-chocolate pretzels, and sour bubblegum, and an energy drink with a label so colorful, it looked kind of dangerous.

  The manager of the gas station, who sat behind the counter, kept shooting Allai suspicious looks. Every time she picked up another item, the manager’s eyes would narrow, like she thought Allai was going to try to shoplift her entire shopping basket. Allai shot the lady her best No-I’m-Not-A-Shoplifter smile, and then continued down the next aisle. It was right next to the window, and as the passed by, she heard Drake’s husky voice coming from outside.

  “I’m bringing back the girl,” he said.

  Allai rolled her eyes. Couldn’t he ever use her real name, instead of calling her ‘the girl’ or ‘little Nox’? It didn’t even make sense that he called her ‘little Nox’. She was a Mage, after all.

  She shook off her annoyance and glanced outside, wondering who he was talking to. Drake stood clo
se to the wall of the gas station, talking into a cell phone. She recognized it as the one Luke had given them.

  She thought about walking out to ask who was on the phone with him, but decided against it. There was no point in interrupting his conversation; that’d probably just piss him off. And she could always ask him later.

  She heard bells jingling, and glanced toward the door to see a man walking in. He was rapidly muttering to himself and glancing around the store with a blank expression, like he was either confused or shocked. Allai noticed him shaking a little underneath his ragged jacket, and unconsciously moved a step away from the man.

  Allai glanced out the window, hoping Drake would get off the phone soon. She’d forgotten to put the money Drake had given her in her pocket, so she’d have to wait for Drake to come in and pay for her. But he was still talking, and still looked intent on the conversation. Allai bit her lip, and glanced to the store manager. The lady was glaring right at Allai.

  Allai shifted uncomfortably as she watched the manager stand from behind the counter and shuffle toward her. She couldn’t help but to feel a little bad for the lady; she was definitely too old to be working this job. But the manager didn’t seem to agree, and walked right up to Allai, her lips in a tight frown and her eyes still glaring.

  “Alright, young lady,” the manager said. “You have one minute to either pay for your goods, or get out of my store.”

  Allai took one step back. “My friend will come pay in just a second.” She nodded toward the window. “He’s outside making a phone call.”

  The manager squinted out the window, and then made a clucking noise with her tongue. “You’re awfully young to be running around with a handsome young man like that, aren’t you?”

  Allai felt heat rush to her cheeks. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, unsure how to respond. But the lady didn’t give her a chance to form a sentence.

  “All you’ve got is that backpack there,” the manager said.

  She nodded to Allai’s bright pink backpack she had slung over her shoulder. Even though it only contained some water and a first-aid kit, Allai had brought it into the store. She hadn’t wanted to leave it.