Chapter 7
“Hang in there,” I whispered.
Nick lay on the cot, barely surviving whatever ate away at him. If it were a bullet wound, I’d grab a med pack and stitch him up. If he had a fever, I’d cool him. Whatever robbed him of his abilities, I couldn’t solve it.
Not yet.
I stood at the computer terminal. Rebooting it had given me access to the security cameras.
I cycled through the exterior feeds. Empty corridors.
Sealed blast doors. Perimeter sensors glowing green.
Everything locked down according to protocol.
It’d slow down most villains, but I replayed how the man walked through a foot of ice.
I needed whatever Charlene had installed in the cabin.
A few minutes ago, the lights along the ceiling had dimmed.
They pulsed weak and irregular, like a failing heartbeat.
I stared at my duffel bag, debating on if I should suit up.
I never thought I’d need it again. The hefty leather served as body armor and enhanced my abilities.
I had taken it out of my locker, expecting to toss it in the incinerator.
Nick stirred behind me. "Danny."
I turned. His eyes were open, focused on something beyond the walls.
"What is it?"
"Something's coming."
Before I could respond, a soft glow appeared beneath the door. I pooled the cold in my hand, ready to make a shield if it exploded. I didn’t think the horned man would resort to such human tactics, but it was better to be prepared.
An envelope slid into the room, edges pulsing a faint yellow. It drifted along the floor until it landed at my feet. It was red with a gold seal. I should have been suspicious. After the last twenty-four hours, this was the least of my worries.
I picked it up and turned it over. In bold black letters: FROST — OPEN IMMEDIATELY.
I tore it open.
Frost,
If you're reading this, the cabin’s gone dark. Surprise! I’m not dead, at least I don’t think so. Tell Nick I’ve got operations covered. Frost, beware, the horned man is coming for you. He’s ancient. The only thing that can defeat him is another myth. Get through to him.
— C
I looked up at Nick. He was sitting now, hand pressed flat against his chest. His whole arm flickered, translucent from fingertips to elbow before solidifying again.
“Is Charlene okay?” he asked. He cared more about her safety than his.
I held it up. “Feisty as ever. She says she’s got operations covered.”
He didn’t respond.
The building vibrated as if the wind had turned into a hurricane.
Not gradually. All at once. The wind screamed against the reinforced walls, rattling the frame hard enough that dust sifted down from the ceiling.
With how thick they made these walls, we shouldn’t notice anything short of an earthquake swallowing the building.
The temperature dropped so fast my breath turned to fog. Frost spread across the walls from nowhere, crawling up from the floor in arcane patterns. Our friend had found us.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A glance at the computer showed the horned man on the other side. With another tap of his cane, cracks ran through the steel. While he thought chilling the room might be threatening, I siphoned the cold, gathering it in the pit of my stomach. With the next tap, the door shattered like glass.
He moved into the room. Tall and wrong-angled. Antlers scraped against the reinforced glass.
I moved between Nick and the door, hands freezing as if I had soaked them in arctic waters. Power coiled up my arms, visible as pale blue light. "Stay behind me."
His raggedy robes dragged frost across the floor. The antler crown sat crooked on his head, points scraping the ceiling. His cane tapped once against the floor.
The sound echoed like a death knell.
“Of all the myths I’ve watched die, yours is the one I wanted the most.” He was confident he had already won. “I’ve waited for you to weaken so I could drink you in.”
I kept my fists in balls, ready to hurl power. But some villains, it wasn’t brute force that did them in. First page of the hero manual, the trick we teach every civilian. Make them talk.
“Why now?”
The horned man stopped moving. The glowing pattern along the floor continued spreading, lightly pulsing as he moved along the walls. His head tilted to the side, horn scraping against the ceiling.
“While they fade, I’ve found a way to remain immortal.” He might be powerful, but he was also cocky. “Once weak enough, I drink their essence. Who needs belief when I’m fueled by deceased tales?”
Aha. I heard everything I needed. Not the greatest monologue, but he had slipped up. I let the chill move down my arms, coating my body in frost. I prepared to hurl everything I had. He wasn’t getting Nick, not if I had anything to say about it.
Ice erupted from my hands in jagged spears, each one sharp enough to pierce a tank. I'd used this technique to pin a rampaging metahuman to a building once. He swept his cane in a lazy arc. The spears shattered mid-flight, fragments melting before they hit the ground.
My stomach dropped. I summoned a barrier. Solid ice three feet thick, reinforced with every technique I'd learned in twenty years on the force. I poured power into it until my hands shook, thickening it until it’d withstand a bomb.
He touched it with one finger. The barrier cracked down the middle. With a slight gesture, the crack widened until he could step through.
His smile was crooked, showing far too many teeth.
My hands were shaking now. Not from cold. From the realization that nothing I had would work. I should have paid more attention to the Mystic or Mage Supreme. Perhaps if I could wield magic like Charlene had used, I’d at least be able to slow him down. I’d never balk at the sorcerers again.
He reached the middle of the room. Each step left smoldering footprints on the frozen floor. I glanced over my shoulder as Nick tried to stand. I heard the scrape of boots on concrete, then his sharp intake of breath as his legs gave out. He caught himself on the cot.
His voice came out weak. "You can't win this."
“I know.”
I had taken down villains twice his size.
This wasn’t about power or sheer strength.
I had never seen somebody bat away my powers as if they meant nothing.
It didn’t mean I didn’t prepare another volley.
I braced my boot as I reached the icy center where my powers lived.
This wasn’t about the mission anymore, I’d go down swinging if it bought Nick another moment.
My legs froze, turning into blocks of ice rooted to the floor. I let every ounce of energy flow through me. The air turned white with frost. The walls iced over completely. My vision blurred at the edges from the drain. Blood trickled from my nose and froze on my upper lip.
He slid backward as he raised his cane. Energy gathered at the tip, black and crackling. “I grow tired of you.”
I tried to dodge, but the ice held firm. The blast caught me square in the chest and threw me into the wall. Concrete cracked under the impact. Ribs broke as he knocked the wind from my lungs. I couldn't move.
He stood over me, cane raised for the killing blow. My last day on the job, and I was about to die from a villain in ratty robes. They better put my picture on the wall.
I flinched as the staff fell. Nick came from behind, standing between us.
Light exploded outward as he caught the head of the cane. Gold and white, bright enough I had to cover my eyes.
The shockwave tore through the safe house. Equipment exploded. Walls buckled. Most of all, the horned man staggered backward, hissing. His form flickered, like Nick’s had. He jerked the cane free and tried for another blow, but Nick slammed a fist against his face, sending him spiraling.
"Not. Him." Nick growled the words, huffing and puffing.
Orbs filled my eyes, making it hard to see. Rubbing the back of my hand against them, I could make out the ash along the floor. The magic had faded, and with it, the horned man. I was about to ask if we had won when the growl came from down the hall. Gone… for now.
I caught Nick as he collapsed. His rosy cheeks were dark with grime.
"Nick. Stay with me."
He opened his eyes halfway. "Had to. Couldn't let—"
"Don't talk. Just breathe."
"Danny." His voice was so quiet I almost missed it. "Why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why save me?"
I didn't have words for what had gone through my head when the horned man raised his cane. I should have said, “Because that’s the mission,” but I couldn’t lie, to him or to myself. So, I said the only true thing I could.
"Because I'm not done yet."
His hand covered mine and gave my fingers a squeeze. "Neither am I."
I looked up from Nick to see crumbling concrete and a security door shattered like glass.
For the second time tonight, the man had destroyed what I considered a secure location.
When supers fought, the collateral damage always skyrocketed.
It seemed it was just as bad when fighting a myth.
I had to take him somewhere safe, and right now I could only think of one location.
From there, I’d call for reinforcements.
The Centurions. The mages. Somebody had to have the answer.
“Believe,” I whispered. I don’t know why that stuck in my head. Somehow… that was the answer. I just hadn’t figured it out yet.