Frost & Bothered (Discord Jones Book 4)

by Gayla Drummond

  “Okay, I can wait.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I don’t want to be the reason the others aren’t found.”

  I had already liked him for the not-being-Aslan apology. Now I liked him more. “Okay, we have our plan.”

  Plans were great to have, but not knowing important information tended to throw giant wrenches into them.

  Connor hadn’t seen the ice golem, or any other living thing during the two days before our arrival. All we’d seen was the ice golem and him. Though we were alert, we weren’t actually ready when the first attack occurred, not long after we left the cave.

  “What the hell?” I yelped as the ground around us erupted, spewing forth a few dozen short, grayish white creatures. None of them were over two feet tall, but they all held long, sharp icicles, which they quickly proved unafraid to use.

  “Snow gremlins.” Logan kicked one away after slapping aside its frozen spear. The gremlin shattered when it struck a half-buried rock at landing.

  “Ow, you little,” I shook my hand and kicked the gremlin who’d poked it. The satisfying thwock of boot connecting to face meant my retribution hit its intended mark. Another one poked me in the leg. “Okay now, that is not nice.”

  There were too many of the snaggle-toothed little freaks for us to keep them away. I called up my pyrokinetic ability, and started blasting them with fire.

  Connor cheered, before he and Logan began tossing the gremlins around, trying to keep them off of me and break up the clumps they gathered into. I kept blasting away, while dodging the little critters’ increasingly violent stabs.

  “Last one,” Connor said, planting his foot between the gremlin’s legs to heave it into the air. I hit it with a ball of flames. “Done!”

  “Good, let’s get moving again.” Logan picked up the leather bag. “How are you doing, Cordi?”

  “Not too tired yet.” I was hungry though. One little package of breakfast bars didn’t last long, but we only had three packages left.

  “Okay, forward march, people.”

  Connor and I obeyed, following him. We took a break about an hour later, and had a brief discussion before deciding to eat one bar each. They came two to a package, so we’d still have something for later.

  Break over, we began walking again, and the ground before us trembled, then snow flew as more gremlins leaped into view.

  So much for my paltry lunch. “This is not a friendly place.”

  “It does kind of suck.” Connor scowled at the advancing gremlins. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  Logan looked at the sky. “We’re going to run out of daylight if this keeps up. I want to find shelter before dark.”

  “Well then, gents, step back. I’ll handle these guys. You can get the next batch.” I eyed the gremlins. They were scurrying forward, sticking close to one another. Tapping into my telekinetic ability, I let it build up before throwing out both of my hands. “Cordi smash!”

  Gremlins flew backward, their icicle spears shattering. Quite of few of them also shattered, but the rest climbed to their feet. More than one shook its head before they began running toward us again.

  “They just don’t give up,” I complained. “Fine. How about a welcome bonfire?”

  I created a wall of flame, and the gremlins ran right into it. None of them tried to avoid it at all. Their high-pitched screams of rage hurt my ears, but the sounds faded quickly as the little creeps melted. “There.”

  “Awesome.” Connor held up his hand, and I high-fived him. When our palms met, he flinched. I looked down at the same time he did, to see the sharp, icy point jutting from the left side of his stomach.

  Logan whirled around, kicking the gremlin away before stomping it to pieces. I tried to keep Connor upright, but he was too heavy. I did keep him from slamming to the ground as he passed out. “Logan!”

  “Right here.” He pulled the melting spear out of Connor.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of ready to go home, and see about coming back with an army of elves.”

  Logan checked Connor’s side. “I’m good with that. At least we found one of the missing.”

  “Okay. Here we go.”

  Logan took hold of Connor’s hand, and mine, when I held it out. I teleported us, and we hit something in between, bouncing off it and appearing in mid-air.

  “Holy...”

  We landed in a snowdrift, creating our own shower of the white stuff. It was also dark, and I wondered if we’d teleported into the future or something. “Crap.”

  “You all right?”

  I sat up and wiped snow from my face. “Yeah. Are ... uh-oh.”

  Logan sat up, looking where I was. “Is that...?”

  The hound growled.

  “Nope, not mine.” I scooted forward. “We’re friendly, just lost. If you could maybe give us directions, we’ll go away.”

  “Hold, Leandra.” Thorandryll stepped out from under a tree. At least, I thought it was him. The bow and arrow pointed in our direction made me take a closer look. Same golden hair, same face, but his eyes were dark instead of pale. “Who are you?”

  “Discord Jones. Why do you look just like Thorandryll?”

  The elf lowered his bow a few inches. “He is my brother. You’re human.”

  “That’s what I keep telling everyone.”

  “What is a human doing in the company of two shifters? And in Unseelie lands?”

  “Freezing my butt off at the moment. Mind if I stand up?”

  “Slowly.” He watched me, while his hound watched Logan and Connor.

  “Thorandryll’s never mentioned a brother.” I dusted snow from my coat. “What’s your name?”

  “Kethyrdryll. How do you know my brother?”

  “He hired me to solve a problem.”

  Kethyrdryll stared. “He hired a human to handle something for him? How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  “Why would I lie about that? He gave me a hound, too.”

  “Which hound?”

  “I don’t want him here until I need him. Wherever here is. Unless this is your sidhe?” Had we made it home after all? “Wait. You said Unseelie lands. Who or what are they?”

  Kethyrdryll raised his bow. “How can you know my brother, but not who the Unseelie are?”

  “Because I apparently didn’t read enough fairy tales before the Melding. Would you please put that bow down before someone loses an eye or something?’

  “No. You are the first people I’ve seen in,” he hesitated. “Quite some time, and you are not Unseelie.”

  I sighed. “I asked nicely.”

  “You did,” Logan agreed.

  “I’ve blown up a god. You’re not going to be much trouble, dude. Put the damn bow down, now.” I glared at the elf. The hound crept forward. “Stop right there, pup. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I will if you try to hurt us first.”

  Leandra froze and sniffed several times. “She smells of my son.”

  “You’re Leg... uh, his mother?”

  “Who are you talking to?”

  “Your hound. Long story, but I can understand dogs. And hounds.” How could she be Leglin’s mother? “He said he was three...”

  Kethyrdryll lowered his bow. “Hounds are quite intelligent, but they aren’t skilled with tracking time.”

  “Oh.”

  “You said something about the Melding?”

  “Yeah.” I glanced at Logan and Connor. “We’re cold, hungry, and he’s injured. Do you have shelter nearby? I’ll be happy to answer what questions I can, once we’re out of the cold.”

  “What’s the name of my brother’s personal healer?”

  “Alleryn, and he’s my friend. A good friend.”

  The elf nodded, putting his arrow away. “Follow me.”

  FOURTEEN

  His camp wasn’t far away, and was surrounded by a tall, thorny barrier. When Kethyrdryll touched it, the vines or whatever parted, forming a tunnel.
/>   “I offer you hospitality,” he said. I glanced at Logan, who nodded. Connor was still out, and Logan had him over one shoulder.

  “Thank you.” I followed the elf into the tunnel. It wasn’t long, maybe six feet. His shelter was a pavilion, divided into two parts. One had hangings across the door, the other didn’t.

  A white horse stood in that side, covered with a blanket and eating hay.

  “Where’d you get hay?”

  “I always travel prepared.” Kethyrdryll pulled back one of the door hangings. “Please come in.”

  We did, and I blinked, because the pavilion was definitely bigger on the inside. Elves apparently knew a few Time Lord tricks. Or maybe Time Lords had learned elf tricks. Or elves were the seed idea for that series? I shook my head. Focus, Cordi. “Nice place.”

  “Thank you.” He gestured to an opening on the left. “You can lay your companion in there. He is healing?”

  “Yes, thanks.” Logan carried Connor through the opening and I followed to look. It was a room with a comfy-looking cot. Logan bent, easing Connor onto it; I stepped forward to help remove the younger shifter’s boots and jacket.

  “How long before he’s better?”

  “Pierced some organs. Maybe a day.”

  Kethyrdryll brought in a tray. It held a bowl of steaming water, some clean cloths, and a glass jar. “The salve will help.”

  We cleaned Connor from the waist up and Logan applied the salve. After he was done, he laid the last clean cloth over the wound and I covered the younger man with a blanket before we left the room.

  “If you wish to wash, the bathing chamber is through there.” Kethyrdryll gestured to the back of the pavilion, past the short, rectangular table and chairs in the center of the main room. “Clean clothing will be waiting.”

  I noticed four chairs. Had there been four when we had first walked in? “Bathing chamber? Like, a tub with hot water?”

  He smiled. “Yes.”

  “Oooh.” I took a step before looking at Logan. “You go first.”

  Logan shook his head. “I can wait.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. Go ahead.”

  “Thanks.” I untied the belt of my coat and shrugged out of it. Logan took it, and I hurried to the section of hangings Kethyrdryll had indicated. Slipping through them, I had to stop and stare. It was a smallish room, but there was a large, raised, blue marble tub, a toilet behind an ornately carved wooden screen, and a counter with a sink, its marble matching the tub. A towel and the promised clothing waited. I liked the elven idea of camping a lot right that moment. “Jackpot.”

  Kethyrdryll pulled out a chair for me and I sat, feeling like a princess in the red dress I wore. My feet were warm for the first time since we’d arrived in the wintry realm. The thigh-high stockings were nice, but I really loved the soft, over-the-knee, dark green boots. “Thank you.”

  “Wine?”

  “Um. Do you have hot tea?”

  “Of course.” A teapot, delicate china cup, and sugar bowl appeared on the table before me.

  “Is the food magic?”

  Kethyrdryll chuckled quietly. “No, but it has been magically stored to ensure it does not go to waste.”

  “Oh.” I poured and added sugar, taking a sip before saying anything else. “All right. Who are the Unseelie?”

  He sat down at the head of the table, to my right. “Our people are divided into two courts, Seelie and Unseelie.”

  “Light and dark, good and evil?”

  “Life is never that simple, Lady Discord.”

  I nearly choked on my tea. “I’m not a lady with a capital L. Alleryn calls me Cordi.”

  “What does my brother call you?”

  “Miss Jones.”

  His lips twitched. “I see. The Unseelie are the dark to our light, but they are not evil. They tend to certain... unpleasant matters. They handle duties that are necessary, but distasteful.”

  “Ah. They’re the folks that get the job done, whatever it is. Okay.” I tilted my head. “They’re not dark elves, though?”

  “The dark ones were annihilated centuries ago, and they were renegades from both courts who turned to forbidden magics.” He paused. “How do you even know of them?”

  “Your annihilation missed one. Dalsarin. He’s dead now. We helped your brother hunt him down. He was in cahoots with a god, Apep. That’s the one I blew up.”

  Kethyrdryll blinked. “Interesting. You mentioned the Melding?”

  “Yes, that’s what the breaking of the Sundering is called.” My turn to pause. “Uh, how long have you been here, and why are you here?”

  “I was sent to discuss a sensitive matter with the Unseelie Queen. I did feel the shift of magical energies, but... it is always night here, and always winter. That makes it difficult to judge the passage of time for those of us who aren’t Unseelie.”

  My eyes had gone wide. “Dude, the Melding happened almost eight years ago. You’ve been stuck here all that time?”

  “Apparently so.” Kethyrdryll shrugged it off with a faint smile. “The more important questions are why it closed the portal, and why no one has come to meet me.”

  My brain had quit at the knowledge he’d been sitting in one spot for years. I blinked. “Not everyone’s territory came through, but the people did.”

  “Not the Unseelie,” Logan said as he left the bath chamber. “Or if they did, they’ve been silent.”

  Kethyrdryll gestured at the chair to his right, and Logan sat across from me.

  “Does that mean we’re stuck here, too? Forever? I don’t want to be stuck in an endless winter night forever. My dogs need me. The clan needs you.”

  Logan held up his hands to stop my babbling.

  “You’re tired.”

  “Yes, but I’d be panicking even if I wasn’t.”

  Logan smiled. “Don’t panic. We have towels.”

  I had to laugh. “Right. Everything will be fine because we have towels.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand why towels are a source of comfort,” Kethyrdryll said, and I began laughing again.

  Once started, it took me a while to stop, and the elf’s concerned questions about hysteria and other ailments didn’t help. Neither did Logan’s fight to keep from laughing with me, as his face contorted into expressions that tickled my funny bone even more.

  At last, I managed to stop, wiping my eyes on a linen napkin as exhaustion weighed down my body. “Sorry. Had to vent.”

  “It’s okay. Feel better?” Logan asked.

  “Yes and no. I could sleep for days, but that’s not going to help anything.” I took a deep breath, and it escaped as a giggle.

  “Perhaps a meal and rest is in order for all of us.” Kethyrdryll snapped his fingers and dishes of food began appearing on the table. My teapot slid backward and a plate, fresh napkin, and silverware popped into existence in front of me. A bowl of broth appeared, too. I breathed in the steam, appreciating its garlicky fragrance. “Mm, real food.”

  “Is there another kind?”

  “Yeah, it’s called ‘junk food’. I’ll introduce you to it when we get home.”

  Logan aimed a smile across the table. “There’s the Cordi I know.”

  “A hot meal is guaranteed to bring her out,” I said. We began eating, and my stomach jumped for joy at being filled with something besides breakfast bars.

  “Is my brother doing well?”

  I swallowed. “As far as I know. He’s healthy and irritating. Elves played a major part in talking sense to everyone after the Melding.”

  “What was it like?”

  “No clue. I conked out at midnight and was in a coma for three years.”

  Kethyrdryll’s gaze sharpened. “You slept that long?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you gained much power.”

  I finished my soup. “How do you know that?”

  “The Sundering drew most magic away from the human realm, but there were humans who were b
orn into magic. You’re descended from one of those families if you slept and woke with power enough to ‘blow up a god’.”

  “Oh.” Made sense. “I’m not the only one.”

  “Of course not. It’s highly unlikely those families would all have died out, as often as humans breed. But did any others sleep as long?”

  “I hold the coma record, as far as Alleryn knows. He worked at the hospital, and helped me a lot after I woke.” Which reminded me I had a lot of questions about that for the mahogany-haired elf.

  “And you’re one of my brother’s people.”

  “Uh, no. I’m one of his.” I tilted my head toward Logan. “People. The clan adopted me. I work for your brother sometimes, when he needs a private investigator.”

  “She’s employed by Lord Whitehaven,” Logan said.

  “Ah. I begin to understand. Interesting. And she is a queen of your clan, as well.” Kethyrdryll’s dark blue eyes twinkled. “I’ll wager that discomfits my brother greatly.”

  The soup bowls disappeared, replaced by some sort of baked fish drizzled with a pale red sauce. Wine-based, I decided after trying a bite. “Thorandryll thinks I’m stupid.”

  “Beg pardon?”

  “He keeps trying stuff.” I wasn’t going to admit I still had to fight the hazies around the Prince. “People don’t try to overwhelm other people unless they want something.”

  “You’re wise for someone so youthful.”

  But not brave enough to have a private “come to Jesus” meeting with Thorandryll. Yet. It would happen one day. Maybe even one day soon. “More like I don’t think a mere human can compete with his high opinion of himself.”

  Logan snickered and the elf chuckled. “My brother can be a bit, ah, arrogant.”

  A bit? Oodles. I concentrated on the fish and its rather spicy sauce.

  “Hey.” Connor staggered out of his room. “There’s food.”

  Logan jumped up to help him over to the table. Connor kept his hand over his side, grimacing as he sat in the last remaining chair. “Who’s he?”

  “Our host, Lord Kethyrdryll.”

  “Oh. Thanks for the bed.” Dinnerware appeared in front of him, and Connor sniffed the fish. “And this.”