The snow was still coming down when we walked outside. We stood there for a moment, and then I looked at her, all decked out in my royal finery and was struck by her willingness to put herself in harm’s way. “Thank you.”
She glanced at me. “You’re welcome.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this. I mean, I kind of can. You’re pretty fearless. I really admire that about you, Buttercup.”
She squinted at me. “Thanks. But don’t get all mushy on me. That’s not my gig, you know?”
I laughed. “I know. But you need to hear how much I appreciate your part in this.”
“We’re both winter elves. It’s as much my responsibility to help end this as it is yours.”
“Thank you.” Those words weren’t enough. “I promise you won’t be in there long. My dad and his council are going to come up with a solution very soon.”
“I know they are.” She tipped her head toward the end of the street. “Our ride has arrived.”
I turned to see a black SUV with the Nocturne Falls pumpkin logo on the side. Inside the pumpkin was the town name. I guess this was an official vehicle.
Chet, the bouncer from the Insomnia nightclub, hopped out and came around to open the door for us.
“Hey,” I said. “Do you work for the town too?” I hadn’t been to Insomnia in a while. Greyson liked to hang out there, seeing as how he worked part time for the owner, a reclusive retired reaper by the name of Lucien. Because of that, I stayed away. Running into him would be awkward. Especially if Sin was with me.
Chet smiled. “Hi, Miss Frost. Yes, I do a little driving for the town when needed, which isn’t often. Happy to take you and your friend to the park.”
“Well, we appreciate it.” We got in and he shut the door. I waited until he was back at the wheel to ask my next questions. “So you know about Birdie? And what’s going on?”
“I know she’s being held hostage by yetis who came in through a magical portal that’s linked to the North Pole.”
“You pretty much know the whole thing, then.” I sat back.
He shrugged and glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “Word travels fast in this town.”
“I’ll say.” I stared out the window, wondering how many of the people who knew what was happening were also blaming me. At least for the moment, everything that was going on could be fixed. I checked the snow globe in my purse, but the snow was still.
I closed my eyes and wished as hard as I could that the exchange went well, that neither Birdie or Buttercup were harmed, and that my dad would find a solution to all of this before something happened that couldn’t be fixed.
Balfour Park looked the same as when I’d last seen it, which hadn’t been that long ago, but I’d sort of expected there’d be a crowd at some point. Chet let us off and we walked up to the entrance where Deputy Blythe was still on gate duty.
Sheriff Merrow, his brother Titus, their sister Bridget, Hugh and Sebastian Ellingham, and Pandora Williams, witch and real estate agent, met us as the deputy waved us in.
Sin’s black SUV arrived as we walked toward those waiting.
Hugh’s uneasy smile greeted us. “Royalty becomes you, Miss Evergreen.”
Buttercup had the box of fudge tucked under one arm. She did a little curtsey. “Thank you.”
I held up one finger. “Quick question. How are you keeping the crowds away? I thought this place would be mobbed by now.”
“We cast a spell,” Pandora said. “Me, Marigold, and our mom, Corette. We set up a disillusion spell over the park. Any human who looks at the park won’t see anything but snow, and they’ll get a feeling that there’s a better place to be. Can’t do anything about what supernaturals see and feel, but the humans are who we need to protect.”
“That’s good. Thank you.”
“Sure thing.” She smiled. “Gotta protect the property values.”
Sin joined the group. “Hey.”
“Hey.” His presence went a long way toward calming my nerves. I gave him a little smile, then shifted my focus to Sheriff Merrow. “So. Any thought on how you want to do this?”
“We’ve been working on a plan,” he said.
Hugh Ellingham patted the messenger bag hanging off his shoulder. I hadn’t noticed it because the black bag blended with his black overcoat. “Delaney sent me with a large quantity of chocolates. We’re going to make a trail of them that leads from the fortress to Miss Evergreen.”
Pandora stepped in closer. “That’s when I’ll work my magic. Literally. I’m going to cast a spell of enchantment over her. The yetis will be drawn to her like woodland creatures to a Disney princess.”
I nodded. “And with the container of fudge she’s carrying, they should be unable to resist.”
Titus crossed his arms, his gaze tapering. “While the yetis are occupied with their new queen, Hank and I are going to storm the castle and get Birdie out.”
I hoped Titus didn’t end up another giant wolf-cicle like he had the first time. “I can help. I can make a snow ramp up to the top. That way you won’t have to jump to the top. Or jump down when you have Birdie.”
Titus nodded. “Much appreciated. It would be easier if we knew where Birdie was inside the fortress, but hopefully she’ll hear us and meet us halfway.”
An idea popped into my head. I held up my hand. “Give me just a second to talk to Sinclair. Sin?” I tipped my head to one side, urging him to join me in a private conversation.
We walked a little ways off.
“What’s up?”
“I was wondering…could you send Ada in to do some recon?” Ada was his ghost helper. He’d explained to me after her part in his daring rescue of me (at the hands of jewel thieves, no less), that she was an entity who’d attached herself to him after he’d moved to Nocturne Falls. It happened sometimes, he said. Necromancers were an easy target for lonely ghosts because the ghosts could sense that the necromancers were capable of seeing them.
Fortunately for Sin, Ada was the helpful type.
He nodded. “Great idea. She’d love that. Let me call her.” He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, they were silver-white with no visible pupils. I’d never seen that before. “Ada, I need your help.”
The older woman appeared between us, wearing the same long flannel nightgown and sleeping cap that she’d worn the first time I’d seen her. And just like that time, she was still transparent. The white of the snow made it worse, actually. I had to really focus to see her. “What can I do for you?”
He pointed at the ice castle. “I need you to go in there and find the woman the creatures who built it are holding hostage. We need to know where she is so our rescue party can find her when they breach the walls.”
She nodded. “You got it.” Then she disappeared.
She returned a second later.
“That was fast,” I said.
She smiled. “Efficiency is life.”
“I’ll remember that.”
She looked at Sin again. “She’s on the second floor in a room in the middle. Those little blue creatures are all around it. Like they’re guarding her.”
“Snowballs. But that’s about what I suspected. Thank you, Ada.”
“Yes,” Sin said. “Thank you so much.”
She smiled, her face crinkling up in a way that reminded me of my aunt Martha. “Happy to help.”
Ada vanished and we rejoined the group. Sin shared what we learned.
Sheriff Merrow nodded. “That helps a lot, thank you.” He looked at Buttercup. “Are you ready?”
“Oh yes.” Buttercup rubbed her hands together nervously. “Not saying I’m losing my nerve, but sooner would be better than later.”
Sheriff Merrow tugged at the brim of his ball cap. “All right. Pandora, Hugh, Sebastian. You’re out front with Miss Evergreen. Sinclair, Titus, and Miss Frost will join me to head around the side and get into position for the recovery. We’re going in as soon as the bulk of the yetis ar
e on the ground. Anything goes sideways, send up the signal.”
“The signal?” Buttercup asked. “What’s that?”
Sebastian Ellingham pulled a flare gun from the pocket of his overcoat. “We thought this would be easiest to see.”
My eyes widened. “I think you made a good choice.” I turned to Buttercup. “I know you’re not big into hugging, but I’m going to hug you.”
She smiled, but the tremble of her bottom lip gave away her nerves. “It’s okay.”
I hugged her, hard. “Thanks again,” I whispered. Then I let her go before I teared up myself. “See you on the other side.”
I walked around the long way with Sin, Titus and the sheriff. “I feel eyes on us.”
“Mm-hmm,” Titus said.
Sin just sighed. And while none of us looked at the fortress, the feeling of being watched was unmistakable. The yetis knew something was up.
“They can probably smell the wolf in us,” the sheriff offered. “Or they recognize the scent from Birdie and are curious.”
“Maybe.” I hadn’t thought about that. “Doesn’t matter, though. That chocolate will become their main focus soon enough.”
“Sure about that?” Titus asked.
“I was right about the doughnuts.”
“Yes, you were,” Sin said.
I smiled a little, really happy he’d come along.
We stopped behind a stand of pine trees and turned to watch. From this angle, we could only see about a few feet out from the front of the castle but not the wall itself. Hugh and Sebastian were almost done with the path of chocolates. How close to the ice wall it started, I had no idea, but it stopped just in front of Buttercup.
Her hands were at her sides. Her right hand seemed to be pressed to where the dagger was strapped to her thigh. Couldn’t blame her for wanting that reassurance. But otherwise, she stood with the same regal bearing any true royal would have had, chin up, facing the inevitable onslaught like she’d been born for that moment. And maybe she had been. I was proud of her for all kinds of reasons.
The Ellinghams retreated until they were a couple yards away from Buttercup. Pandora was off to the side, behind a big drift of snow.
Small, furry blue shapes had begun to gather at the top of the ice wall.
“Look,” I whispered.
The Merrow brothers nodded.
“It’s working,” Titus said.
“And they already know we brought them doughnuts with no strings attached. Probably won’t take as long for them to investi—”
Three yetis slid down the ice wall and out of sight.
“That’s my cue.” With one eye on Buttercup and one eye on the section of the wall in front of me, I lifted my hands and started forming the snow ramp. It was tough going. This magical snow was slow to respond and stubborn, just like the ice in my apartment had been. I grunted a little at the effort.
“You okay, babe?”
I nodded at Sin. I could do this. I would do this.
“Anything we can do to help?” Hank asked.
“No,” I whispered, trying not to break my concentration while still keeping tabs on Buttercup.
Sin seemed to sense what I was struggling with. He took up the lookout spot. “There’s about fifteen yetis approaching Buttercup. Wait. Fifteen in front and I’d say another…twenty behind them. The chocolates are almost gone from what I can see.”
The ramp grew, slowly inching up the wall. Stupid stubborn magical snow.
“There must be forty of them now. They’re clustering around her in a semicircle. They don’t seem to be going any closer than about three or four feet.” He leaned to the side a little. “Pandora must be doing her thing. Her hands are up like yours. The air around Buttercup is sort of shimmery. Must be the magic.”
The ramp was about halfway up. Sweat trickled down my back, and my hands were starting to shake.
Titus and the sheriff crouched near the front of our spot, anticipating the moment they could leap into action.
“A second row of yetis is forming. Maybe another twenty in that group. They’re staring at her. And I think sniffing the air.”
The eggnog fudge was working. I smiled for a second, then gave up on any facial expression that took effort. The snowy slope was nearing the top. Maybe two feet away. Close enough. I stopped building it and started working on compacting it enough to hold the weight of three people.
Sinclair made a soft, throaty noise. “The yetis are bowing down. That has to mean something.”
Hank punched his brother in the arm. “Means it’s time to get Birdie out of there.”
“Ramp’s ready,” I managed. “Go.”
The two of them leaped forward, shifting into their wolf forms and racing up the incline to the top of the fortress. Despite the work I’d put into it, I didn’t trust the snow to hold on its own, so I maintained my focus and my magic to keep it strong until they were back down.
That didn’t take as much effort as building the ramp, so I was able to shift a quarter of my attention to Buttercup. Just in time, too, as she let out a little squeal.
I sucked in a breath. “Sin.”
“I know,” he answered.
The yetis had swarmed her and were now carrying her crowd-surfing-style back to the fortress. I looked at the top of the ramp, but there was no sign of Titus, Hank or Birdie.
I knew they had to get to the center of that fortress, but I still willed them to hurry. I willed Birdie to be okay. I willed the yetis to just go home already.
A tuft of blue danced at the wall’s edge. A yeti? No. Birdie. I sighed in relief. One of the wolves leaned over the wall, letting her hold on to him as she climbed over. She dropped onto the slope.
Her feet went out from under her, and she plopped down onto her backside. She started scooting down the ramp, which was fine with me. Down was down.
Hank and Titus came sailing over the wall right behind her, although in their wolf forms, I wasn’t sure which was which.
They hit the snow and caught up to Birdie, woofing at her. She grabbed hold of the fur at their necks and they took off, pulling her down the ramp like sled dogs without a sled. When they reached the bottom, I dropped my hands and released my magic.
The slope crumbled like bad cake.
I went to my knees along with it, exhausted from the effort I’d put in and a little heartsick that Buttercup was now the yetis’ prisoner. Don’t get me wrong, it was great that Birdie was out of danger. I was thrilled about that. But I was torn between my happiness over getting her out and the sadness and anxiety of Buttercup taking her place.
Sin went to his knees beside me, his arm around me for support.
I took a deep breath and leaned into him. At least Buttercup would do better against the cold. And she had the dagger and her cell phone. I took as much comfort in that as I could and lifted my head to watch Birdie and her nephews run toward me. They radiated happiness, and that put a smile on my face as well.
“Princess! You did it!”
Titus offered me a hand. I waved it off. I wasn’t ready to be on my feet just yet. “Wasn’t me. It was Buttercup and your nephews and Pandora.”
She kneeled down and Sin moved out of the way so she could hug me. “You were a big part of it.”
The hug felt nice. “Thanks. But I think I might pass out now.”
I must have done exactly that, because I woke up in the back of the sheriff’s car. The heater was on and it felt like it was a thousand degrees. Birdie was in the front seat. “Oof. Am I being cooked?”
She cranked the heat off. “Sorry. Didn’t want you to get a chill.”
I rubbed my head. “How long was I out?”
“Only about ten minutes,” Birdie said.
“How are you?” She was wrapped in a blanket and still looked kind of pale to me.
“I’m okay. Better now.” She smiled at me. “You ready to go home?”
“Yeah. I’m more than ready for this whole thing to be over.” I sat up
. “Hey, where’s my purse? I need to see if my dad’s found out anything new.”
“Should be on the seat next to you.” She pointed.
I glanced down. Yep, there it was. I dug into it and pulled the globe out. The snow was still until I gave it a good shake.
My dad’s face showed up a couple seconds later. “How did the swap go?”
“As planned. Birdie’s out, she’s also here with me, and Buttercup is in.” I looked through the windshield at the fortress. There was no movement or sign of yetis. Sin was standing with the Ellinghams. “I guess she’s okay.”
“Good. Have you found anything else out about Myra Grimshaw?”
“No, but Birdie was the one doing the investigating. And she’s only just been freed, so…”
“Right.” He nodded.
Birdie leaned over the seat. “I’ll get back on it as soon as I’m home and on my laptop.”
He looked toward her voice. “Thank you.”
She glanced at me. “Did you tell him about her being adopted?”
“What was that?” my dad asked.
I answered him. “Birdie found out Myra Grimshaw might have been adopted. Which we think could mean she was actually a winter elf and not fae like she claimed. Does that help you at all?”
His eyes narrowed. “It might. Can you get me her date of birth?”
I looked at Birdie.
She nodded. “I’ll have it to you as soon as I get home.”
“Did you hear that?”
“Yes, thank you. With that info, I should be able to track her down. Winter elf adoptions are a rare thing.” He paused for a moment. “I have some news too.”
“Which is?”
He shook his head. “Not good. The tinker who was in charge of the snow globes in question is Eustace Brightly. And apparently Eustace put a little of himself into the magic that operated them. We don’t know if he did it intentionally or not, but because of it, our tinkers now have been unable to successfully close any portal created by one of his snow globes.”
“What do you mean a little of himself?”
“You’ve heard the saying blood, sweat and tears?”
“I have.”
“We think he used blood. Just a drop.”
Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard Page 13