Frost (9 page)

"And you were human at that point."
 

"Yes. Mostly. Not important. What is important is that I didn't know until after the two of you were born until Jack Frost met an untimely—" He pursed his lips. "—an unfortunate accident. And when a deity dies another has to take its place. We draw from humans for many of the positions. Nature learned I'd fathered two children and sent me to get you. When I discovered all the hell she'd had to go through—I decided to leave you with her. Choosing one of you wasn't a favoritism thing—it's just that Jason found me in the forest first."
 

I nodded. What else was I going to say?

"Jason took over as Jack Frost with a bit of training by another lad who was equally eager to be Jack Frost. His name was Lee."
 

"So why didn't you make him Jack Frost?"
 

"Because he wasn't—he didn't have the natural talent. And he's a barbegazi."
 

"A what?"

"Ever heard of Santa's elves?"
 

"Well yeah."
 

"Those are barbegazi which aren't really elves but a kind of winter dwarf. Lee fancies himself a candidate for a better job but he doesn't stand a chance—not with scion readily available. Jason was born to it
because
he was scion, same as you. You're half deity by birth. Which again—my mistake. Not something we're supposed to do."
 

"So, you getting mom pregnant was a bad thing?"

"Not bad, just frowned on. Back then I only half listened to Nature about the dangers of humans and deities and power. We try to stop the half breeds because of wild magic." Winter's shoulders lowered. "Nature wasn't happy I only brought one of you back. That whole half breed thing again. She didn't want you in the world, carrying around the power of a deity. But I knew Jovita needed you to keep her sane. So I made sure to seal your power one night as you slept and then told Nature you didn't survive."
 

A wolf howled somewhere and I blinked. "You…you sealed my power?"

"Yes. Unfortunately when Jason died the Natural Order took over and the spell was dissolved. Thus your hair," he pointed at my head. "That annoying ability to make frost at a touch? Are you making a room cold now?"
 

I nodded slowly, a little panicked. "Yeah…"
 

"Ever heard the saying nature abhors a vacuum?"
 

"Yes."
 

"It's true. So the minute Jason died, the role fell on you."
 

Mom's words came back to me. "So you really are going to turn me into Jack Frost."
 

He held up his hand. "No. No I'm not. I promised your mother I wouldn't do that. And right now I'm playing dumb about your existence. But you keep using your power and she'll zero in on where you are. Jack—if you want to stay human and lead a normal life you're going to have to stop freezing things."
 

I'm not sure when I rolled over from disbelief to
wow this is real
, but it didn't matter. What did matter was preventing anything from taking me away from Sarah and our baby and the life I'd carved out for myself. "But I can't stop. I'm not even controlling when it happens. It just does."

"That's the problem with wild magic and why it's frowned on." Winter rubbed at his chin. His white hair twinkled under the gray sky.
 

"Can't you just make that spell again? Seal it up?"

"'Fraid not. I could when you were eight because you didn't believe in it. But now that you're older—it just won't work. And you've already manifested it—which as I said—is obvious from your hair. And let me be frank here," he leaned forward. "Nature hates hybrids. Wild magic users."

"Why?"

"Because of what happened to Jason," His expression shifted and I saw genuine sadness reflected in his eyes. "Hybrids—like you—or as your friend Crow calls
Nunnehi—
breeds with it the innate desire for love and companionship. Being born with both worlds—mortal and immortal—things get a little fuzzy."
 

"I'm not following."
 

"If Nature chooses a human to become an incarnation—not sure what else to call us—then it's done after death. Doing it that way is much easier because most of the time the chosen doesn't have a problem accepting it and never desires to go back to their former life. But hybrids—eh—you don't really die. And if you do die, like Jason, it's pretty much a given Nature can't chose them again. Why? No one knows." He looked up at the sky. "Not much time left so you have to listen very carefully. Lee really wants the job, but the job apparently wants you. The time limit on this is usually about seventy-two hours and you have forty-eight left. If you want to stay human you're going to have to not use the power. If she finds you, physically, she'll try to convince you to take the position."
 

"She can't make me do this."
 

"No. She can't physically make you—but Nature's shrewd. You know that. She'll basically fuck with what's most important to you."

I shifted in the snow. "Look—if Lee wants the job just give it to him. He worked with Jason right? So—" I shrugged. I was frustrated and a bit overwhelmed.
 

No. I take that back.
 

I was
really
overwhelmed.
 

"Lee doesn't deserve the job, Jackson. And Nature will do everything in her power to prevent him from getting it."
 

"Why?"

The snow around us increased in thickness as the wind picked up. "Because he's the one that convinced your mother to kill your brother."
 

-10-

The wintery wonderland of Fargo vanished and I found myself back in the empty room. Santa wasn't around (thank God!) and I could still hear the sounds of the kids in the rec room. I checked my watch, but since I hadn't looked at it before I visited dear old dad it didn't mean a lot to me. I couldn't figure out if I'd been gone at all.

But believe it or not, Winter's words echoed in my head.
Stop using it.
 

How does one stop using a power that can't be controlled? Nuts.
 

Winter's words came back to me about Lee. I didn't know who this Lee was but they were responsible for my mother going off the deep end. I was pretty sure mom was our perp, but I wanted to wait on the forensic evidence first. I also wanted more info on Lee, but no amount of shouting for Winter or dad brought the vision back. And I sure as hell wasn't going to hunt down Santa just so I could lay another one on him and teleport back to Winter.
 

Either way, I had a doozy of a story for Crow later and shoved my hands into my pockets as I walked back into the room.
 

Amelia saw me and smiled wide as she waved. I was drawn to her and knelt next to her.
 

"I was afraid you'd left," she said in a quiet voice.
 

"No. Just had to talk to Santa for a bit."
 

She looked to her left then her right. "You know that's not really Santa don't you?" she said in a low voice.
 

Laughter bubbled up inside and when it spilled out, Amelia joined me. But we weren't laughing about the same things. "Amelia, never believe you know more than you think you know. But I have a question to ask you."
 

"Yes?"

"Did Jason ever mention where he lived?"

"Well yes he did. He lived here."
 

"Here?" I glanced over at the door to see Crow and Sarah talking quietly. "You mean he lived at the hospital?"
 

"Yes. He said he had to stay here since his presence protected us." Amelia tapped her chin, her new hat still perched on her bandana swathed head. "I think he said it was downstairs. But I don't know where. I never saw it."
 

That was all I needed.
 

I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and grabbed Crow. "Sarah, are there empty rooms downstairs?"
 

"Empty rooms? Well I guess so. The floor between the morgue and the lobby is empty. It's used for storage right now. Why?"
 

"I'll be right back," I leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips. Now that I had a better handle on what was happening—even if it was so far out as to be nuts— I felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of me. "I need Crow for a bit. Don't leave without me. We're still looking for Jason's killer."
 

Crow never asked me what I needed him for in the elevator. The first time he spoke was when the elevator opened to a darkened hall.
 

"Oh. Fun."
 

I smirked at him and slowly pulled my gun. He did the same and we held them up as we walked carefully into the hall. I found a light switch and flipped them. A few lights flickered on to our right. Following that corridor we found one of the rooms unlocked, and inside of there we found what I believed were my brother's things.
 

There weren't many. Folded neatly on an old
 
hospital bed were three shirts, two hoodies and several pairs of jeans. In a black bag on a rolling table was a tooth brush, tooth paste and a shaving kit and comb. There wasn't much else in the room. New sheets on the bed and a newly purchased blanket.
 

I moved my hand over the top hoodie. The softness of it made my fingers tingle. The color was indescribable. I couldn't say blue and it wasn't azure. It was thick and looked very warm.
 

"Jack," Crow said from the bathroom. "I think you should see this."
 

I walked past him to the door and looked in.
 

Resting comfortably on the sink counter was a knife, but it wasn't like anything I'd ever seen. Black leather wrapped the hilt beneath a curved guard and to my surprise, what looked like a clear, plastic sickle blade. But when I picked the knife up it was heavy. And the blade wasn't plastic. In fact I didn't know what it was. Real Crystal? Whatever it was, it would probably cut anything. "I don't know what this is or what it's for."
 

"It looks expensive." Crow's expression was a little odd, like a mixture of worry and wonder. "I would keep that close to you."
 

"Why? It wasn't important to Jason. He hadn't had it on him."
 

"True, but it might be he was protecting it by leaving it here?"
 

"But why have a knife like this?"
 

"Maybe he used it as a foci."
 

"I don't want to know what that is." I moved away from him and back to the bed. "Got something to tell you Crow, so sit down."
 

Once he was comfortable in a chair I told him everything that happened in the room upstairs. And when I finished he didn't look any different than when I showed him the ice power. No weirded out look, no muscles tensing like someone ready to bolt out of the room to run from the crazy person. He just looked…
meh
.
 

Crow did lean forward and with his elbows on his knees. "So who is this Lee? What do they look like? Are they human or hybrid?"
 

I shrugged. "The old man didn't say. Just…that he was the one that talked mom into killing Jason. And now she wants to kill me."
 

"And Nature wants
you
to be Jack Frost and not him."
 

"I guess."

"You're a wanted man, Jack, in this life and in that one."
 

He had no idea.
 

I put the stuff in the back of my car, taking extra care with the knife, and took Sarah out for a late lunch. We picked a place that had a working air conditioner and offered cold salads. I wasn't really hungry but I needed to drink and eat. Sarah talked about the kids and how happy they were. But she was worried most about Amelia.

"Why?"
 

Sarah set her fork down and wiped her mouth on her napkin. "I told you about the chemo, so she's very fragile emotionally. What I discovered today from the other kids is the promise Jason made her. And she believed him. She still believes what he said will come true."
 

"What did he promise her?"
 

"Jason promised her she'd see snow before she died. And he said she'd see it on Christmas. I think she's clinging to that wish. She's stubborn and she's watching her window all the time, waiting for it to happen. It breaks my heart to know she's going to pass away without ever seeing it. I know he was just trying to make her feel better—but dammit. He died and now we have to deal with the aftermath."
 

My phone rang.
 

Sarah put a hand on mine. "Answer it."
 

I looked at the phone's screen. The call came from Crow. "Frost."
 

"Hey, I need you over at Blankenship's house."

Oh no. "What is it?" I locked eyes with Sarah.
 

"They found Donna Blankenship in her house. Someone stabbed her in the back and left her in the kitchen. But there's more."
 

"More?"
 

"Rucker thinks it's Brian Bishop. Blankenship's filing cabinets were open. Someone went through them and pulled one particular file." He paused. "Sarah Heine."
 

I tried not to let Sarah see the panic in my eyes—but she was good. She knew me too well. I talked a bit more with Crow and hung up.
 

"You tell me right now, Jackson Frost," Her voice was low and serious.
 

I relayed what Crow told me and watched her expression. As usual she was calm and very poised. "Why would he look up your name?"
 

She laced her fingers together on the table. "Because the case you mentioned before? The one Blankenship used to put Bishop in jail? I was the attending physician. I found the damage he did to his daughter."