Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard

by Kristen Painter

  Pain from the cold reached into my shoulder and back now, making my teeth rattle with the unrelenting sting. My fingers might be black with frostbite for all I knew. That thought filled me with weakness and my resolve disappeared.

  I sat back, tugging the dead weight of my frozen arm out of the portal.

  “See?” Sin said.

  Nate let out a terrified yelp, and we turned to look.

  The portal had frozen over, trapping Nate’s arm in it.

  I jammed my other hand through, breaking the portal open again. “Get out,” I hissed at Nate. “Get your hand out.”

  He jerked back, nodding and rubbing his arm. Then he crawled backward until he hit the shelves behind him. “Something bit me.”

  Blood dripped from his hand.

  A new terror went through me. “Did you get blood on the portal? It’ll close.”

  With my arm still in it. My heart was thumping in my chest, panicky at the thought that I might lose my hand. “Answer me.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Ice formed around the edges of the portal. I glanced at my frozen hand for the first time since I’d gotten it out. My skin was gray from my fingertips to below my wrist. I tried to move my fingers.

  Nothing.

  I looked at Sin. “How many more yetis?”

  “Thirteen.”

  “Hurry up,” I shouted.

  Two more went through.

  The ice at the edges expanded. Time wasn’t running out, it was gone.

  I took a breath. “The portal is closing.”

  My father and my uncle turned to look at me. Realizing what was happening, my father leaped over the railing and shoved the yeti in his hands into the portal. He had to push to get it through what was left of the opening.

  “Sinclair. Now.” The command in his voice was clear.

  Sin hauled me back, freeing me from the portal as it seized up. The hard surface shimmered with magic, then the ice disappeared, replaced by a puddle and some broken shards of glass. The broken snow globe was just that now, nothing more.

  “It’s done,” Nate whispered.

  “But there are still yetis left,” I said. “Ten of them. That’s more than enough to destroy the town.”

  “Nine,” one of the firemen said. “We miscounted.”

  “Nine. Still nine too many.” I slumped against Sin. I hurt so much I wasn’t sure I’d be conscious much longer.

  “Get her to the hospital.” My father was talking to Sin like I wasn’t even part of the conversation.

  “Dad,” I said. “The yetis.”

  “Your uncle and I will deal with them.” His gaze went back to Sin. “The hospital.”

  Sin scooped me into his arms and ran up the stairs. The brigade flattened themselves against the wall to make room. I watched over Sin’s shoulder as my father and uncle froze the rest of the yetis. They weren’t going easily. One nipped my father, shredding his shirt and leaving behind three bloody scratches.

  “Be careful,” I called out, but no one was paying any attention to me anymore.

  Sin didn’t stop. He dodged the rest of the brigade with their arms full of snarling blue beasts and kept heading for the door. Tempus glanced at us for a second, but the yeti he was holding had the sleeve of his fancy daytime pajamas firmly between its teeth.

  “Good luck,” I told him, but he was too busy pulling the thing off him to answer.

  Myra’s house was in total chaos. I felt a little guilty for leaving, but what choice did I have?

  “I can walk,” I said as we left the house behind.

  “No need,” Sin answered. He stomped down the sidewalk and put me onto the first seat in the bus, then jumped behind the wheel. “I’m going to drive.”

  He did too. Probably faster and more recklessly than any school bus had ever been driven. If there had been kids on it, he would have headed for jail time.

  As it was, I wasn’t sure I was going to survive the ride. “Hey, slow down, this isn’t exactly a luxury vehicle. These bumps are shaking my teeth loose.”

  He looked at me through the big rearview mirror. “Sorry. Just worried.”

  “I’m going to be fine.” I looked at my hand. The skin didn’t seem quite so gray now and I could twitch my fingers a bit. Plus, it hurt like someone was smashing it with a hammer over and over again, so the fact that I had feeling in it had to be a good sign.

  Or maybe that’s what a frostbitten, dying hand felt like. In that case, it wasn’t so good.

  Either way, I needed Sin to stop driving like my life depended on how fast I arrived at the hospital, because it didn’t.

  I smiled at him when he let off the gas a bit, despite the incredible pain. “Thank you.”

  He frowned. “You’re not losing your hand because of me.”

  “I’m not losing it because of anyone. I can handle the cold.”

  “Have you ever been so cold you turned gray before?”

  No. “I can’t remember. Maybe as a kid.” That wasn’t exactly a lie, but I didn’t want him freaking out. Or laying the speed on again. I reclined in the seat, resting my feet on the upholstery and my frozen arm across my stomach. “I’m beat.”

  “I’m sure you are.”

  I was. It felt like the enormity of what had just happened had suddenly hit me. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep the pain away.

  I couldn’t, though. The pain was too intense. I did my best to rest until we arrived at the hospital, which thankfully wasn’t too much longer.

  The school bus wouldn’t fit through the emergency portico where the ambulances dropped patients off, so Sin parked as close as he could and we went in.

  I insisted on walking. It gave me something else to think about besides the throbbing.

  Turns out, the sheriff had called ahead. Hospital staff were waiting for us. I was put in a wheelchair and whisked away for tests and meds and all sorts of fun stuff.

  An hour later, I was in a bed, having been admitted, and doped up to the point that I wasn’t sure if I still had an arm or not. And I didn’t care.

  Sin came in as the nurse was leaving. He had a big bouquet of roses, and Birdie.

  I grinned. “Hiya.”

  “How are you, Princess?” Birdie rushed to the side of the bed. “Sin filled me in. Has the doctor talked to you yet?”

  Sin put the flowers on the window sill and came around to the other side of the bed. He looked like he wanted to take my hand, but didn’t.

  I smiled at him too. I was happy they were here. I was happy I was here. I was just happy. The drugs were pretty good. What had Birdie said about the doctor? Had he talked to me? I thought he had. What had he said? I thought hard. Which was hard. “I have hands,” I announced, lifting them up.

  I was a mummy from the elbows down. “Hey, what’s all this?”

  “Those bandages have to stay on,” Birdie said. “At least for a little while.” Then she snorted and looked at Sin. “I don’t think we’re going to have much of a conversation until she’s got a little less happy juice in her system.”

  “Happy juice.” I laughed. “I like that.”

  “Obviously,” Sin said. “I like that you’re going to be fine.” His smile faltered. “I was so worried about you.”

  I felt bad for making him worry, but I loved the way he was looking at me. All lovey and sweet. “I’m indestructible.”

  Birdie rolled her eyes but Sin chuckled. “I don’t know about all that.”

  “Sure, I am. Just like my dad.”

  “Speaking of your dad, you’ll be happy to know that your father and your uncle got the rest of the yetis frozen, then Tempus managed a new sleep song that relaxed just the yetis and they were able to load them onto the sleigh. According to the sheriff’s text, they took off for the North Pole about ten minutes ago.”

  Sadness replaced the happy I’d just been feeling. “They left without saying goodbye? But-but I’m in the hospital!”

  “No, babe, sorry, just your uncle and
Tempus left. Your father is on his way here. To the hospital.”

  “Oh. Okay. That’s nice.” Sleep had begun to creep in around the edges of my consciousness. “Are they going to execute my hands?”

  “Execute?” Birdie’s brows shot up. “You mean amputate? For lands sakes, no. I guess you don’t remember what the doctor told you. You’ll need some therapy on your right hand, but you’re going to be fine. Just rest, recovery, and therapy.”

  My lids were heavy. They started to close. “That sounds good. How’s…Butter…”

  Sweet, soft darkness wrapped around me, and I drifted away on the raft of meds that was carrying me into sleep.

  “She’s fine. You rest now, Princess,” was the last thing I heard before the lights went completely out.

  The next morning, I was a new person. Still in pain, but much better. That was the good old supernatural healing at work. I told the nurses no more meds. I was a winter elf. I could handle a little ache. Plus, my memories of the day before went hazy not long after I’d gotten to the hospital. I chalked that up to the stuff they’d given me. With everything going on, I really needed to remember things.

  My dad was my first visitor of the day. He brought me a peppermint milk shake, which was a huge improvement over the hospital breakfast I’d had. The food had been fine, but I was craving sweets.

  I sipped on it while he talked.

  “The doctors want to keep you for another day. Don’t give them any grief about it, all right?”

  I did my best to look shocked. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “You already told the nurses not to give you any more pain meds.”

  “Because my hands don’t hurt much anymore.” Well, my right one did, but I could deal.

  He gave me a look. “Just do as the doctors ask.”

  “I will.” Was that a promise? It didn’t feel like a promise. I changed the subject. “How’s Buttercup?”

  “She’s being released today. She probably still needs a day of rest at home, but she’s going to be fine.”

  “I’m so glad to hear that. What about her head, though? The yetis seemed to have her under their spell pretty hard.”

  “Their magic disappeared when they went back through the portal. She’s completely herself again.”

  I let go of the breath I’d been holding. “That is such a relief. We owe her.”

  “We do. I’ll come up with an appropriate thank-you after I get back.”

  My dad was really good at thank-you’s. I wondered what he’d cook up. I glanced toward the window. Everything was still white outside. “Speaking of you getting back…I’m kind of surprised to see you. Don’t you and Uncle Kris have some yetis to deal with?”

  “Your uncle already left with Tempus. He’ll drop the yetis off in the nearest forest.”

  “Then how are you getting back?”

  “I’m flying out tomorrow. First class, naturally.” He grinned.

  I rolled my eyes. “Naturally.”

  Then a little spark lit his eyes. “And you’ll be happy to know I’m taking Nate with me.”

  “You are? That’s awesome.” I was thrilled that my father had relented.

  “He proved his good character. He deserves a chance to see the North Pole, to learn about his heritage. He is Eustace’s son. Nate should get to know what an amazing man his father was. Not to mention we could use his help closing the four portals we opened during our experiments.”

  I was so proud of my dad. “You’re a pretty amazing man.”

  My dad smiled. “Thanks, honey.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek, then pressed his forehead to my temple for a long moment. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Thanks, Daddy. I wish you weren’t going back tomorrow, but I understand.”

  He straightened, brushing his hand down my cheek. His gaze held a wistful look. “I wish I could stay longer too. Maybe you could come up for a visit again soon.”

  “I’d like that.”

  He sat on the edge of the bed. “You can bring Sinclair if you’d like.”

  “Funny you should mention that, but I just said something to him about visiting the North Pole. I’d love for him to see it.”

  My dad nodded. “He’s a good man, Jay. He loves you very much.”

  I stared at the blanket covering me. “He’s never said that. We haven’t used that word yet.”

  “Whether it’s been said or not, I can see it in his actions. He cares about you very much.”

  I lifted my gaze. “Why did that sound like a reprimand?”

  “It wasn’t. Just that…you seem to be a little…fickle when it comes to men.”

  “Dad! I’m not fickle. I was dumped. Sort of. Look, Cooper went home to help his mom recover from heatstroke and Greyson ditched me because I was dating Sinclair and he didn’t like the idea of sharing me with a necromancer. It’s just how things worked out.”

  My father tipped his head to one side. “So what are your intentions toward Sinclair?”

  “Shouldn’t you be asking him what his intentions are with me?”

  “How do you know I haven’t?”

  Good point. “I like him. A lot.”

  “Do you love him?”

  I sighed because the word pushed a wave of emotion through me. A longing that I’d never felt before. “More than is probably healthy. But I don’t want to scare him away. I’m a lot to handle. I come with a lot of royal baggage. Not everyone understands what that means until they’ve been around my family.”

  “He’s been around us.”

  “A little. And royalty looks fun until you dig into the nitty-gritty of it and figure out how much work it actually is. And how much responsibility.”

  “Is that why you want to bring him to the North Pole?”

  I nodded. “He needs to see what my future holds. And he deserves a chance to back out if it’s overwhelming.” Although the thought of that made me sadder than anything else had in a very long time.

  “He won’t,” my father said softly.

  “How do you—”

  The door to my room opened and Sinclair stuck his head in. “Am I interrupting?”

  “No,” my dad said. “Come in.” He got off the bed. “I was just leaving.”

  Sin came over to the bed. “Don’t go on my account.”

  “I’m not.” My dad looked at his watch. “I have a meeting with Hugh and Sebastian Ellingham in half an hour.” He patted my leg through the blanket. “I’ll be back to see you this afternoon, sweetheart.”

  “Okay, Dad.”

  He gave Sin a nod and left, closing the door behind him.

  Sin smiled. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Really, really good.” I held up my hands. “Ready to get these bandages off and go home.”

  “I’m sure you are. Spider’s doing well, by the way. Did the doctor say when you can get rid of them?”

  “Tomorrow, I think. I hope so. I want to put my bracelet back on. Which had better still be in my coat pocket.”

  “I’m sure it is, but I can check for you.” As he went to the closet, his brows bent. “You seem a lot more like yourself today.”

  “No more pain meds. They were making me loopy.”

  His sweet laugh filled the room. “That’s for sure.” He held up the bracelet. “It’s here. You want me to leave it in the pocket?”

  “It should be safe there.”

  His expression turned serious on his walk back to the bed. “I wish I could hold your hand.”

  “You can. Just be gentle.” As if he was anything else with me.

  He took my hand in his like he was cradling a small bird. “I am so thankful you’re going to be okay. You and Buttercup and Birdie. But especially you.”

  “Thanks.” I couldn’t help but see the new streak of silver in his hair. The one he’d earned so that I could speak to Myra. How many minutes of his life had that cost him?

  He looked into my eyes, and suddenly I wondered if something was wrong. He seemed�
��uncertain. A little chill went through me. My dad thought Sin loved me, but maybe this whole thing with the yetis had been too much.

  Maybe he was breaking up with me.

  His gaze shifted away from mine. “I need to tell you something.”

  I braced myself. Those words combined with him being unable to look at me could only mean one thing. I was getting dumped. Again.

  Son of a nutcracker. “No,” I blurted out.

  He looked up. “What?”

  “No. I don’t want to hear it. Not while I’m in the hospital. It’s not fair. I can’t deal with this right now. I don’t want to be all weepy and sad and miserable and stuck in the hospital.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I pulled my hand out of his, which wasn’t hard to do since he was barely holding it. “I’m talking about I am not letting you dump me while I’m still trying to recover from frostbite. It’s not nice and it’s not fair.”

  He stared at me, openmouthed, but nothing came out. Apparently, I’d shocked him into silence.

  Good. Because I was not having it. I sat back, gingerly crossed my arms and looked out the window while I tried not to cry.

  The single hot tear rolling down my cheek was outstanding proof that my efforts were useless, but still. I was putting in the work.

  Loud, raucous laughter erupted out of him.

  I whipped my head around to glare at him. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”

  “Oh, babe, honey, no. I’m laughing because of how completely wrong you are. I’m not breaking up with you.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No. Not even close.” He took my hand in his again. “I love you.”

  I sniffed and broke into a big, shy smile. “I love you too.”

  “Good.” He stuck his free hand in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. “Because I got you something.”

  “Oh?” I tried not to hyperventilate over the fact that the box looked the perfect size to hold a ring.

  One-handed, he opened the box and revealed the most beautiful diamond solitaire ring set with royal blue sapphires on the sides.