9. Violet
Chapter nine
Violet
J ack slips into the library earlier than usual the next morning.
I wish I could still be pissed at him for being such an asshole yesterday—but hypocrisy doesn’t suit me well. So instead of telling him to fuck right off, I waggle my fingers at him and wink. “Someone missed me.”
“Not even a little bit,” he responds coldly, but he strides toward me with his eyes locked on mine, and the frosty feeling around my heart tightens. “I’m just hoping we’ve found a way to get rid of you, after all.”
Jack wraps an icy hand around my wrist, tugs me toward him, and suddenly—
I can’t see or hear or smell or feel. I just know that I Am. I exist, I’m real, and yet I am not. I have become a version of myself that does not exist and yet has not ceased to exist either. This, I think, is what it feels like to be infinite. To be nothing at all. To be—
I heave in deep breaths as my legs give out beneath me and I fall to the ground, my body all at once sore and feeling new. I’m half-convinced that I’m about to throw up. Every one of my senses that used to feel normal has now been overwhelmed, and I wait until I settle back into my body, until being tied to one no longer feels strange.
I ask the question to the empty room, even though I know I’ll get no answer.
“What in the flying fuck just happened?”
Hours.
Literal hours, ones that feel like months all on their own, pass. I’ve long since given up on trying to read any of the dozens of books stacked around me—I can’t think of anything other than Jack. Or, more specifically, what the hell it is he did (or tried to do) to me earlier this morning.
And then all at once he’s back. Standing in front of me like he never left, except for how disheveled he looks compared to this morning. His hair is all out of sorts, windswept every which way and sticking up in odd directions, the white spikes almost looking like they’re made of icicles now that they aren’t so carefully styled.
He exhales a long, exhausted-sounding breath and doesn’t spare me a glance before turning and heading for the door, snow falling from his boots with each step .
“That’s fine,” I deadpan. It stops Jack in his tracks. “Don’t acknowledge me. Don’t even try to explain what you did to me earlier. Or why you were gone for four hours and don’t even seem to care enough to even check to see if I am okay after that.”
He lifts his head to the sky, as if exasperated. Like he’s the one who’s spent half the day waiting for him to return.
Then he turns around and looks me in the eye. “I attempted to take you with me when I went back to Earth. My hope was that I could merely drop you off and go home. It didn’t work.”
“It felt like I left my body.”
“You likely did. Your mortal body isn’t meant to travel to and from realms like mine is. Actually, it’s a surprise to me you’re sitting here, arguing with me like usual. I expected profuse vomiting.”
“Well, you were gone a while.”
“Time moves differently here.”
“ That differently? It was morning when you left. The moons are setting now.”
He groans. “Fine. There were… things I needed to tend to on your planet.”
“ Oh ? Little Jack Frost, do you have a fuck buddy?”
“A what ? You know what—no. Don’t answer that.”
“It’s no strings attached fucking. Or do you prefer the term making love , you absolute prude?” I snicker.
“ No . No, that’s enough out of you.”
“And not nearly enough out of you . What’s going on with Earth?”
Jack stares at me for a long moment. I can see the conflict in his eyes. The debate. He doesn’t look away from me once as he decides if he’s going to tell me the truth, or if he’s going to tell me to fuck off.
“Do you remember when I said my realm has been getting warmer as of late?”
“Yes,” I drawl. Though remembering how cold I felt when I first got here, I’m not sure how that’s possible.
“ Your realm seems to be suffering the opposite effect.”
I frown. “Where’d you go?”
“I was attempting to take you home.”
“So Colorado? It’s winter there.”
He narrows his eyes at me, the blue in them turning colder than the first frost of winter. “I am the reason for your winters. I did not give you that .” The way he emphasizes ‘that’ makes my skin prickle with unease.
My heart stills in my chest, and then it picks up again in overtime, hammering against my ribs like it’s trying to escape. Fuck. The implications of what he’s saying hit me like an avalanche.
“The blizzard? Is it still there?” I can barely get the words out, my throat tight with fear of his answer.
“I’m very much hoping that the ‘blizzard’ you were foolish enough to walk into was nowhere near as bad as the one they were fighting, or I might honestly have to send you to our alchemist for intelligence testing.” I open my mouth to speak, but Jack continues on. “That’s why I was there for so long. I was…diffusing it, if you will.”
I frown slightly. “That sounds… considerably less fun than fucking.”
His pale blue skin makes it easy to note the light blush that colors his cheeks. “Quite. ”
Something about his boyish embarrassment is… endearing to me. Cute. So at odds with the usual harsh, regal side of him I am usually treated with.
But I clear my throat, shake my head, and force myself to focus. “So, you were in Salida then?”
“I was wherever it is you came from. I don’t memorize all your made up names of carbon copies of the same cities and towns. I used my magic to try to pull you back to a familiar place and landed in a hospital full of people wearing those ugly clothes you first arrived in.”
“They’re scrubs ,” I reply, frowning. “They’re not meant to get your dick hard.”
Jack shakes his head, distaste written all over his features. “If you’re done interrogating me, I’m—”
“No,” I cut in. “Not yet. If you were at the hospital, does that mean you saw my friend Alana? Was she okay?” Guilt seeps into my bones. I’ve been so busy trying to get home that I’ve hardly thought about how worried Alana must be.
“I wouldn’t have known her if I met her,” he says, shrugging. “The whole town was chaos, however. I’m not sure any of them would have identified as ‘okay.’”
Fuck . A cold pit forms in my stomach that has nothing to do with Jack’s magic. The image of Alana trying to handle a hospital full of emergencies without me hits like a physical blow.
“Take me back.” My voice comes out stronger than I expect. “Right now.”
“Did you miss the part where I said that did not work?” Jack runs his fingers through his messy white hair. “Your mortal form seems unable to handle the transition. ”
I push up from my chair, slamming my hands on the desk. “I don’t care if it makes me puke my guts out. My best friend is dealing with a crisis alone because I was stupid enough to walk into your magical blizzard.”
“It’s not just about vomiting. If I any try harder, you could die .”
“Then figure out another way! You’re supposed to be this all-powerful winter king, aren’t you?” My voice cracks. “There has to be something.”
Jack’s expression hardens. “Your friend is one person. My entire realm is at stake.”
“She’s not just one person to me.” The tears building in my eyes make me even angrier. “Alana’s been there for me through everything. When my dad died, when I almost quit nursing school, every single time I needed someone.”
“And now she needs me,” I add quietly. “I can’t just sit here in your fancy castle reading books while she’s struggling.”
Jack turns away, his shoulders rigid. “The warming of my realm seems to be connected to the winter weather in yours. If we don’t solve that first—“
“Then help me solve it faster!” I grab one of the ancient books and wave it at his back. I’m very tempted to chuck it at his head. “Stop avoiding me and actually work with me. The sooner we figure this out, the sooner I can go make sure my friend is okay.”
He remains silent, but I catch the slight drop in his shoulders. Finally , a crack in his icy armor.