Secrets of the Frostbound Cottage (Witchlight Magical Mysteries)

13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Since we were doing a stealthy break in I was prepared to use my lockpicks, but the door opened as soon as I gently pressed the handle. Huh. That was useful and unnerving in equal measure. What kind of kidnapper didn’t lock up their captives? The kind that knew they were never getting away, that’s who. That didn’t bode well for the amateur hour that was about to follow.

As soon as we walked into the frost-filled home, I built a quick fire and used a little petrol to get it started. I flicked the lighter, lit the kindling and a small flame leapt into life.

I watched impatiently as the ice around us started to melt slowly, revealing an area of wet floor. Though that patch was substantially less slippery, the remaining ice was taking far too long to melt and most of the floor was still like an ice rink. I looked at my trainers and wondered dubiously whether I should risk a spot of skating.

The puppy suddenly moved towards our impromptu bonfire. ‘Careful!’ I hissed to her as she grabbed one of the flaming sticks. ‘Those are hot!’

I shouldn’t have worried. She’d taken it by the unlit end and was dragging it just above the ice, her little feet splaying outward for balance. It rapidly became clear that she’d agreed with my assessment that the fire was taking too long and she was trying to clear a path for me to walk on.

‘Good girl. Good girl!’ I murmured.

Her claws clicked on the ice as she went forward bravely, but a few steps later the flame went out and she was forced to go back for another stick. It was the slowest approach to save victims I’d ever seen as we inched forward and tried to remain silent. She was barely warming the ice.

‘Good idea,’ I murmured to her. ‘But I think we can improve on it.’

Skating it was. I unscrewed the top of the petrol can and crept across the ice, pouring a little petrol as I went. Before long, I’d done a painstakingly slow lap of the room.

‘Mind out of the way,’ I cautioned the pup, then flicked the lighter again and watched the flames leap along the trail of petrol. The fire didn’t burn for long but it left a melted path so I could reach the elves. And, most importantly, I hadn’t set the whole place on fire. Yay.

There was a tiny bit of petrol left, but not much, so I put the can a careful distance from my little bonfire, which was still burning nicely.

I froze as I thought I heard a creaking noise above me. Maybe it was from the heat we were creating or the noises of an old thatched house … or maybe it was the creature that had caused all this waking up and coming down. I swallowed hard and fervently hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Moving far more quickly now we had a proper path, I ran back to the elves and bent down beside Orla’s mum, Simone. I shook her gently. ‘I’ve come to get you out of here,’ I whispered next to her ear. ‘Can you hear me?’

As I shook her a little harder, desperation reared its head. ‘Can you hear me?’ I repeated.

Her large eyes blinked and fear flashed across her pale face until she focused on my face. Confusion clouded her expression, then just as quickly it was gone and the fear had returned. ‘You need to get out of here!’ she whispered desperately. ‘Leave! Hurry! Save yourself. Leave, before he comes.’

‘I’ve got you. It’s okay,’ I said firmly. ‘I’m here to help you. Who’s doing this? Can you tell me who’s done this to you?’

Her face scrunched with pain as she forced out the words. ‘He’s a… He’s in so much pain,’ she said, her forehead creasing.

It was clear that she was weak and could barely think straight. I suspected she was talking about her husband, Barrie, whose plumes of breath were growing fainter.

‘Do you have any strength left?’ I asked. ‘Any power? Any magic?’

She squeezed her hands tightly and shook her head. ‘He’s drained it all,’ she said weakly. ‘The flowers. He forced us to make the flowers. But wait… Maybe.’ Her eyes squeezed shut as though she were trying to force some semblance of magic to resurface.

‘No, don’t. Save your strength, okay?’ I said. ‘Just tell me – do you know how he’s doing this? How is he draining all your power? If I know that, maybe I can work out how to stop him.’

Her chin dipped slightly and she looked down, but all I could see was the water pooling from the melted ice. ‘It’s on me,’ she said faintly. ‘On my chest.’

As I moved my hand to her shirt, I met her gaze and she nodded, giving me permission to open it. The moment I ripped apart the fabric, I saw it: embedded in her skin directly over her heart a small stone was pulsing faintly with icy-blue light.

‘Do you know what will happen if I pull it off?’ I asked.

She shook her head. ‘No. But if you don’t, I’m as good as dead anyway.’ Her bright green eyes locked onto mine, giving me permission to try, and I knew that there was no other choice.

‘You’re Orla’s mother?’ I said. ‘Simone?’

Her lips parted in a small gasp and her brows furrowed. ‘How do you know Orla?’ Her voice trembled. ‘How do you know my baby girl?’

‘She sent me to find you.’

Tears welled in the elf’s eyes. ‘My darling. I love her. I want you to tell her…’ She choked on her words. ‘Tell her we love her so much. We should never have left her.’

‘You’re going to tell her yourself,’ I said firmly. ‘I’m going to get you out of here.’

The puppy wasn’t being idle whilst I spoke to Simone: she was trying to wake the other elves by nudging them gently with her cold, wet nose.

I turned back to Simone. Who knew if my next action would condemn her or save her? But if I couldn’t release her magic back to her, she wouldn’t survive anyway. When I raised my eyes to hers again, she nodded firmly. ‘Do it.’

I clawed my fingers around the edge of the stone, praying it hadn’t gone deep enough to kill her when I removed it. Holding my breath, I closed my eyes and, with one sharp tug, pulled the embedded stone free from her flesh.

Simone desperately smothered her gasp. Her head snapped back and for a heart-stopping moment I feared the worst – then a rush of colour flooded through her body as her skin warmed with life. ‘My magic,’ she said. ‘I can feel it. It’s coming back!’

Her relief and awe hit me with such force that I struggled to breathe. I was woefully out of practice in containing my empathy skills. In the human world I didn’t need to be careful and I’d got damned sloppy.

I sucked in a couple of desperate breaths to get my emotions under control. ‘That’s great,’ I said with a smile. ‘Let’s get the rest of them free. You help this one, I’ll go to the far end of the room and help the others. We can work our way into the middle. Just rip out those damned stones as quickly as you can.’

Simone nodded decisively and turned to the elf nearest to her, her husband Barrie. I headed for the elf at the far corner of the room. I was clasping the stone in his chest, ready to pull it from him, when a scream pierced the air. The heart-wrenching shriek was so loud that the house shook, giving me flashbacks to the demon’s final moments.

The colour drained from Simone’s face and she turned to me, eyes wide in panic. ‘He’s awake,’ she whispered in a trembling voice. ‘He’s awake, and he knows what you’ve done.’