Cryostorm (Touch of Frost)

by Lynn Rush

Okay, something was going on with him and her. Did he know her? It was driving me nuts. Already she’d gotten an eyeful of him down at the pool, but now she was in his room getting another eyeful. Up close and personal. I so wasn’t okay with that.

  I reached out for his hand, but as soon as my fingers made contact he retracted and stepped forward.

  “What’s your full name?” Nate asked.

  She clenched her jaw, staring straight ahead, but seemingly at nothing. Her big, blue eyes narrowed.

  “Melanie, what?” Nate went on.

  More silence.

  “You work for The Center.” Nate stepped to the side and picked up the cartridge of darts they’d removed from her thigh. Hell, the table was covered with stars, darts, three guns, taser, and some things I didn’t have a clue what they were.

  She eyed him that time, but her gaze shifted down slightly. Maybe to his lips? Wait, no, his chest.

  “You know me. How?” Nate said.

  Okay, that took me by surprise. She knew him? Was that what he was yelling at her about when we’d come up on them? Had she said something to him?

  “All of us know of you.”

  “Of me?” Nate’s finger went to his mouth again. He paced to the side, toward the bedroom door, then back. “What does this mean?”

  “Josiah Mirius. Created ten years ago. Conceived in a test tube, implanted in a human womb. Enhanced, cleansed DNA.” She pinned Nate with a stare. “Property of The Center.”

  Property. Did The Center think they owned everything?

  Okay, stupid question.

  “Go on.” Nate stopped in front of her, blocking my view. “You saw me in the pool and didn’t act.”

  She slouched into her chair. “Was just looking for a guy to hook up with. Didn’t know it was you—Josiah—until your hussy girlfriend got your shirt all wet and I saw your ID.”

  Hussy? Did she call me a hussy?

  I turned on the cold, focusing on her face. Her eyes snapped wide, then glared at me.

  “You’re a freak,” she hissed. “You all are.”

  “You have no powers, yet you face us, who do. We could kill you and you hurl insults?” Nate paced again. “Why are you here?”

  Oh yeah. He was in full-on protector mode. His language always got…older when he was focused.

  Her jaw tensed again, as if she had already said too much.

  Nate stepped forward, glowering down at her. I couldn’t see his face because he was too much in front of me, but her eyes went wide as silver dollars. “You will answer me.” His voice sounded like he had sandpaper in his throat.

  Melanie’s nostrils flared. She looked away, but with blurring speed, Nate grabbed her neck. I nearly jumped for fear of him snapping it with his strength. He couldn’t outright kill someone like that, could he?

  His thumb pressed against her jaw, turning her head. “Tim, where’s her key?”

  Tim’s eyes flashed red. “Back left pocket.”

  Nate’s free hand reached toward her waist. He made contact, then slid around her backside. My heart hammered. I knew he was getting the key, but why did it bother me so much that he did that? And what was with the voice?

  Melanie’s breaths came hard and scratchy. Tiny gasps, like Nate was withholding too much air. Finally, after several painstakingly slow seconds, Nate’s hand returned to sight, holding the white key card.

  “What room?”

  She coughed.

  “I’ll have Tim find out anyway, so you might as well tell me.”

  She tensed, but said nothing.

  Nate, never taking his focus or grip from Melanie, held the card out to the side. “Tim. Work your magic. Go get anything she has in her room that might help us. Especially computers.”

  Melanie’s face took on a purplish look. I wanted to say something to Nate, but I didn’t dare. Jasmine had said he taught her everything she knew about being an Agent, and Jasmine knew a lot. Even about interrogation.

  I wasn’t sure I was liking this side of my Nate, though. Calculated. Focused. Like he’d been with the information about Scott, Jasmine, and Zach.

  Like a robot. Filled with logic, but no emotion to help guide the decisions.

  Was that how The Center had made him?

  I shook my head. I didn’t care. I trusted Nate. Hell, I totally loved him. This was part of him. He was doing it for our good. To protect us.

  Georgia’s warm hand curled around my fist. I hadn’t realized it, but both my hands were fisted, resting on top of my thighs and iced over. I wasn’t cut out to be this cold-hearted monster, was I? Someone who could watch something like this?

  “Shhh, it’ll be okay,” Georgia whispered, her breath hot on my ear. Evidently my sister was okay with all this.

  Melanie’s gasp grabbed my attention again, and I saw her eyes roll back into her head.

  “Nate?” I whispered.

  “She’s unconscious.” He stepped away. “It’s okay.”

  I wasn’t so sure. But this was my life now—er—still. My life had always been filled with Agents, but this part was new. The whole squeezing-their-necks-until-they-pass-out thing.

  So not liking it.

  Tim burst up from his seat at the desk. “114. Georgia, come with me?”

  “Yes. Stick together. Agents could be on their way. In fact, I’m sure they are. Check her email. Internet is still up.” Nate stepped toward me, then slunk to the table, sitting next to me. “Hurry. Our time is limited.”

  “Shit,” I said.

  More running. At least up until this moment we’d been on our own schedule, never chased, moving all the time to stay “dead” and to hunt down Lois. Now the Agents, either from The Center or Bev, or both, knew we hadn’t really died.

  “I’m sorry, Mandy.” Nate leaned forward, digging his elbows into his thighs and resting his face in his palms. “I’ve failed.”

  Okay, that surprised me. “Failed?”

  “To keep you safe.” He nailed me with a hard stare. “That’s all I wanted to do was keep you safe. Make sure you stayed dead to the world and out of harm’s way, and I failed.”

  “No, you—”

  “She’s notified her co-workers. The only reason they’re not storming this place with darts is because of the weather.”

  “Then we’ll run. We’ll brave the storm and go. Georgia’s heat. I can build igloos. We’ll make it.” I leaned into his shoulder with mine. “You didn’t fail. You’ve got this girl, you’ll make her talk, we’ll learn more about Lois and—”

  “I’ve—she—I think there’s more.” Once again, Nate stumbled. “They’d not known about my survival, but now they do.”

  “Because of me.” Had I not been all jealous and possessive, I wouldn’t have thrown myself at Nate with my wet suit, therefore soaking his white shirt that Melanie saw his bar code markings through. “This is my fault.”

  “Don’t say that. It’s The Center’s fault. My job is to protect you, and I failed.”

  “I’m not your job, Nate. I’m your girlfriend. I—” Tears stung. “Your girlfriend.”

  Nate blinked as if he’d been transfixed. “Girlfriend.”

  He brushed his knuckles down the side of my face, and I leaned into it. Tender, caring, and loving Nate was back. Not duty-obligated-interrogation-artist Nate. Didn’t like him so much.

  The door burst open and Tim strode through holding two laptops. “Holy shit, man. She’s got two computers, two cases of tranq guns, and some wicked-strong netting.”

  “What?” I hopped to my feet. Nate stood beside me, reaching for one of the computers.

  “She’s an observer, then. Stakes things out, calls in for reinforcements. I figured as much.”

  Georgia came in, holding a suitcase. “We threw everything that we could in here.”

  Tim sat down at the desk. “Okay, let’s see who Melanie really is.” He flipped open his own computer and with a few key strokes, okay, more than a few, but I quit looking because I couldn’t make out anything
. “Jody Parsons. That’s who she’s registered as, but we can be sure that’s a fake. Wonder why she told us her real name?”

  “IDs?” Nate asked.

  Tim scooted his chair over to the other computer. “Let me do some looking around on her stuff and see what I can find out.”

  Nate faced me. “Okay, then. Let’s go dig my car out. We need to leave at first light.”

  Chapter 9

  “Melanie Xavier,” Tim said when Nate and I walked into the room. “Agent for The Center.”

  Melanie hung her head low, well, as low as she could considering that red cloth still fastened her to the headrest.

  “She talked?” I asked.

  “Not a peep,” Georgia said. “Tim worked some magic with her computers while you were digging out the car. Snow slowed a little, huh?”

  “Not much, but some.” I clicked the door closed then faced our prisoner. She hadn’t talked, would that mean Nate and Tim would go all interrogator on her?

  “Let me see,” Nate said, squatting beside Tim.

  “I hacked into The Center’s database once I had her name. She’s low-level clearance.” Tim smiled. “Nothing like what you had, buddy.” He slapped Nate’s back.

  “Found file after file tracking Lois,” Tim said. “Melanie came here, probably after seeing what I saw on the name spiders. But once again, Lois eluded us all.”

  “Is Lois an Agent?” I asked.

  Melanie looked toward the dark window.

  “Tim?” I asked.

  “Didn’t find any details on her in that respect. An email a few days ago about how Lois was MIA and that she’d stay a few more days to check more thoroughly, but then the storm rolled in.”

  “Right along with us,” I said, shaking my head. “What do you know about Lois? Why are you after her?”

  Melanie didn’t flinch.

  “She’s trained to not respond, Mandy. She’ll withstand a lot, even die before talking,” Nate said.

  “You made Andrey talk.”

  Melanie flinched at that statement.

  “You know my buddy Andrey?” I asked.

  “Abomination.”

  “Yeah, you like that word, don’t you?” I showed her my back. “We’re not getting anywhere. What are we going to do with her?”

  “Kill her or take her with,” Nate said.

  “Shit.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, well, I knew that was going to be your answer, not sure why I asked.” I looked up into his big, brown eyes. “Can you make her talk, first?”

  “She’s low-level, assigned to get Lois. Not sure she knows much more.”

  “What are these guys, robots? Just blindly doing what they’re programmed to?”

  Nate flinched.

  “Look. I’m sorry. I’m freaking out.”

  “I know.”

  “What’s going to happen with Scott, Jasmine, and Zach now that The Center knows we’re alive?”

  “I’ll tell Martin what’s going on. He’ll watch over them.”

  “What if that’s not enough, Nate?”

  Ding.

  “Whoa. Hold on here. We got a hit on Lois.”

  Melanie’s head jerked up and her focus narrowed in Tim’s direction.

  Georgia hurried to his side. “Where?”

  “Wait.” Nate’s voice boomed, demanding everyone look at him. He jutted his thumb toward Melanie. “Not in front of her.”

  “Look. You guys take the computer to our room. I’ll watch our friend, here,” I said. “Do your planning thing and let’s blow this pop stand. I don’t care how stormy it is.”

  Nate smiled. “I agree.”

  “I’ll stay with you,” Georgia said.

  “No, it’s okay. Go with them. I know you’re anxious about Lois.”

  The three filed toward the door. I walked Nate out, and he brushed his hand against mine. “Don’t have too much fun chatting with her,” he whispered.

  “What?” How did he know?

  “I’m getting to be able to read you pretty well.”

  I smiled. “I guess you are.”

  He turned around, and I clicked the door shut, then faced Melanie. She glared at me with wide, blue eyes.

  I iced my hand down. “Okay, girl. Start talking. Or I’m going to learn real quick how this mean interrogator thing works.”

  “I have to admit, you had The Center fooled.” Melanie shook her head. “Or should I say, Josiah did.”

  “His name is Nate.”

  “Josiah, really fooled them. They didn’t ever second-guess his death. God, I remember reading about him. How they created him. Made me want to kill him that much more.”

  “Kill? You work for The Center. They want to study us. Make more of us.” I sat on the table in front of her.

  “Sure. Whatever you want to believe. They’re scientists. They may want to make more of you freaks, but they want you under their control. Like Josiah was for all those years.” Melanie laughed. “He was their pride and joy. Brightest and best. But their only. For some reason they couldn’t replicate him. Always had a flaw.”

  “He’s not programmed. He broke out of there after he realized what you people do is wrong. Why can’t you see that? We just want to live. Be left alone.”

  “Whatever.”

  So, the nice girl-chat approach wasn’t working.

  “What do you want Lois for?” I asked Melanie. “She a rogue Agent?”

  “Please. Lois is a frumpy old Mom.”

  “Who has evaded you, and us for that matter, for months now. How’s that possible if she wasn’t an Agent?” I walked to my backpack. “What do you want her for if she’s just a frumpy old Mom?”

  Then again, I’d thought Zach’s mom was a normal mom. Turned out she’d been there in California when I was taken last summer. Maybe Georgia’s Lois was that, too?

  “Come on, you were so talkative a minute ago.” Damn, she was calling my bluff on the interrogator thing I’d said. One last try before I turned the cold on.

  I reached into my backpack and pulled out the book. “You looking for this?”

  Melanie’s eyes widened, then her lids rested half-mast over her eyes. Her head ticked to the left, then in the next breath, the skin around Melanie’s fingers turned silver. It shot up her arms, shredding through the long, thermal underwear top she was wearing as she instantly buffed into muscle-woman arms.

  Rope shredded as she yanked her hands free, ripped the cloth collar from her throat, and lunged. Her silver hands aimed for my neck. Since I wasn’t gifted with superspeed, I didn’t get out of the way in time.

  Cold fingers curled around my neck while Melanie’s other hand reached for the book. Thankfully, I had super strength, so she wasn’t able to pull it from my grasp. But, she wasn’t wimpy at all as the grip around my throat indicated.

  I iced down my free hand and planted it on her face. Looked like the steel only covered her arms.

  Oh, and her feet as evidenced by the shin she just kicked. Pain radiated up my leg. I swear bones cracked, and I felt my teeth vibrate.

  Melanie stared at me with blank eyes. Before she’d stared at me with such hatred and disgust and anger, but now, it was empty. Nothing—

  Wait, there was something. A faint red pulse in her left eye, the upper left part of it.

  I iced my face down and clanked it against her forehead. She stumbled back but I slammed my frigid fist into her temple.

  The grip around my neck loosened, but she batted me against the wall next to the door. The wind knocked out of me, and I slithered to the floor. I froze down, her fist clanked off my face, thankfully not getting through the ice, and she grunted.

  She wouldn’t relent, though. Fist after steel fist, she rammed against me. I thought sparks would fly soon. She swung for another hit, but I was able to grab her wrist and crank back. Groaning of cold steel stretching, then the ring of its snap reverberated off the walls.

  Still, she didn’t scream. Just a quiet grunt. Wid
e, worried eyes returned, but only for a flash, then the left one took on that red pulse and went blank again. Then she kicked my feet out from beneath me.

  “That’s it.” I streamed her with ice as she charged. She plowed through the first bit, but I turned it on and poured concrete-thick ice in front of her and cocooned her. Her face went blue, instantly. “Shit.” I might have killed her.

  I stepped to the door to yank it open and remembered my broken shin. My butt hit the floor with a resounding thud and a zinger of pain shot up my spine right to the base of my neck.

  Instant headache.

  I glanced at Melanie. She was still frozen, so I turned the cold on around me, focusing on my shin. The ice tugged at my skin, and I flopped onto my back. The jolt of bones cracking back into place resonated, echoing in my mind. The door burst open and Nate rushed in. Georgia and Tim followed close behind.

  “Mandy!” Nate yelled.

  “Healing,” I whispered, “Georgia, help Melanie.” Then I allowed the ice to fully take me, soothing each and every knick my collision with the wall or Melanie’s wicked fists inflicted. I watched through my sheen of ice surrounding me.

  Tim shut the door while Georgia reached for Melanie’s frozen image. Her finger touched the ice and it turned to steam within seconds. Melanie collapsed.

  “What happened?” Tim asked. “She has steel arms.”

  “Yeah, I’m thinking those records you hacked into at The Center about her were a bit wrong,” Georgia said.

  I pulled the ice back.

  “Shit. That means they know I’m hacking, maybe. Planted a fake,” Tim said.

  “Might not know it’s you, specifically, Tim,” Nate held out his hand toward me, and I grabbed it. He sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth.

  “Sorry.” My hands must have been cold.

  “But you’re right, they know someone’s digging for information.” Nate looked at Tim. “But they probably think it’s me.”

  “Shit.” Tim tunneled his hands through his hair.

  “What?” Georgia asked.

  “Well, then they know about me and Martin, because we all died with you,” Tim said.

  “And Melanie here told the world you’re alive anyway, so it’s safe to say they know everything. So, Melanie said you were their one and only success at making an obedient subject.”