Frost & Bothered (2 page)

“What’s acceptable aside from lawn crews?”

“I don’t know. Bottle of wine? House plants? I don’t want any house plants though. Always forget to water them. Not that you have to get me anything. Housewarming gifts are optional.” I slowed down to a complete crawl a few seconds before the car in front of us hit an icy patch. Its back end slewed sideways as the driver tapped the brakes and over-corrected. I concentrated, using my telekinesis to stop the slide before he hit a station wagon with a “Baby on Board” bumper sticker. Regaining control, the driver managed to straighten out his car without sliding again. “I’m seriously considering teleportation as my main means of transport this winter.”

“I can see why. What’s for lunch?”

“There’s plenty of places to choose from around the campus.”

“Pizza?”

I groaned. “Dude, we ate pizza four times last week.”

Soames shrugged. “What can I say? I like pizza.”

“So do I, but not in excess.” I barely swallowed a gasp of surprise as a figure stepped in front of my car. The car ahead showed through her as Ginger smiled and lifted her hand in a wave.

Guess she was tired of being ignored. I drove right through her, checking the rearview as she disappeared from sight.

“You seem kind of jumpy lately,” Soames said.

“I haven’t been sleeping well. One of the perks of being psychic is really vivid dreams.”

“Dreams, or nightmares?”

“Both. I’m used to it.” I was, to a degree. The constant dreaming about Ginger was new, and I’d begun seeing her while conscious roughly two weeks ago.

Soames gave me a healthy side-eye. “Uh huh. Any chance you’re regretting breaking off things with Nick?”

“No. I mean, I feel bad about hurting his feelings, and I miss some of the stuff we used to do together, but I know it was the right decision.” Completely true. It’d taken me a couple of weeks to figure out why I’d jumped into dating Nick, but I had finally admitted it was mainly because I’d been lonely. Almost all my friends had significant others, so I’d also felt left out.

Terrible, awful reasons to get involved with someone.

Throw in the fact Nick had been a bossy butt and overprotective, it’s a wonder we’d lasted even a few months. Besides... “There are some things,” I saw Ginger standing on the sidewalk to the right, a stake jutting from her chest and her blood-coated nightgown glued to her figure. “You just can’t come back from. He went through my phone to see who I’d been talking to. People who trust each other don’t do stuff like that.”

When I’d broken up with him, Nick had also gotten angry enough to nearly lose control and shift. Why? Jealousy of Logan.

And what had I turned around and done? Agreed to a future dinner date with Logan.

Gah, why did everything about life and adulthood have to be so damn complicated? I downshifted and used my TK to nudge another car when its front tires lost traction. Ginger waved at me from its backseat as we passed, baring her bloody fangs in a smile. The teen sitting beside her, furiously texting on his phone, obviously had no clue he was sharing the backseat with my delusion.

She was a delusion. A visual hallucination brought on by guilt and lack of sleep. Had to be that. No one else ever reacted to her presence, not even the dogs.

I seriously needed to find a new therapist.

A clump of snow fell from a traffic light, hitting the hood of my car with a thump. Soames sighed. “I love this weather.”

“It makes a huge mess and results in tons of accidents.”

“Wow, aren’t you the little downer? Think of the fun. Snowball fights and building snowmen.”

I wrinkled my nose. “That requires being outside and freezing off body parts.”

“Fine. How about the fact it’ll melt and help fill up the lakes?”

“Okay, that’s a plus.” Texas had been suffering from drought conditions for nearly a year.

“See? Bright side to everything.” He smiled at the street ahead. “Plus, it’s beautiful.”

I scanned the slushy street, dirty cars, and hunched, scurrying people on the sidewalks. No sign of Ginger now. The sky was a dreary mass of gray clouds. “You need your eyes checked, dude.”

He laughed. “Winter used to mean the clan spent a lot of time together, after working hard the other seasons to make certain we’d live through the cold months.”

Ah, the simple life of days gone by, before the Melding. Back when the supes were merely scary stories to humans. They’d been stuck in their own realm, circa the Dark Ages or similar, and apparently had spent a lot of time trying to kill each other, from everything I’d learned.

Yeah, I could see why he’d find the depressing view beautiful. No one was after him, and all he had to do to fill his belly was stop at a restaurant or a grocery store.

For some, times were easier in the modern world.

S
anto Trueno Community College’s campus spread out over six city blocks, and to my eyes, looked way more inviting than either of the other two colleges the city boasted.

For one, the buildings were more modern, none taller than four stories, and the landscaping had been handled with an eye to student safety. Trees were spaced well apart, with their lower branches trimmed to provide a clear line of sight up to about five feet. All the shrubbery was less than two feet tall. There were benches, every one of them placed under a light. The sheltered benches had clear plexi-glass on their sides and backs, with only their little roofs opaque.

It wasn’t a place someone could easily sneak up on you, even at night. I’d driven past hundreds of times, and the campus was always lit up like an over-achieving Christmas tree at the first hint of dusk.

If we’d had books or backpacks, Soames and I would’ve fit right in with the students walking around. Most seemed to be heading toward classes, but a few groups stood around, smoking, or hanging out and talking.

“Where are we going?” Rock salt crunched under Soames’ hiking boots.

“I think the Admissions Office first. Someone there can either give us a list of his classes, or tell us who can.” I shoved my hands deeper into my coat pockets, my purse dangling from my wrist. “I need to invest in some long johns.”

“Some what?”

“Thermal underwear.”

“Wuss.”

I bumped him with my arm. “It’s thirty-two degrees. That’s cold to us mere mortals.”

He chuckled. “You’re a psychic. Make yourself a nice pair of warm air mittens.”

“I’d probably set my coat on fire, and I like this coat.”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to suffer.”

We reached the first building and I checked the sign. “Bingo.”

The interior felt like a blast furnace after being outside. I unbuttoned my coat as we walked down the hallway, our soles occasionally squeaking on the blue and white tile flooring.

The Admissions Office was at the other end of the building. Soames pushed open the door, letting me enter first. I’d noticed that most of the male shifters I knew tended to open doors for women. Personally, I liked it, because I’d had plenty of practice opening doors for myself. The guys got bonus points if the door handles were icy.

“Hi, how can I help you?” The girl behind the waist-high counter smiled. She was blonde, her hair held back with barrettes on both sides, and she wore a pair of red-framed glasses. Very studious looking.

“Hi. My name’s Discord Jones. We’re private investigators, and I need to see about getting a list of classes for one of your students. He seems to have gone missing, and his mother’s hired us to find him.”

“Oh. Um, I don’t know if I can give that information out.” She bit her bottom lip, her shoulders dropping.

I smiled. “We don’t need any personal information. Just a list of the classes he’s taking, so we can talk to his instructors and classmates.”

“Well,” she looked at Soames, who leaned against the counter with a smile.

“You could write that down for us,” he suggested, and gave her a wink. “Maybe your phone number too?”

Gah. I felt like kicking him in the ankle, and almost hoped she’d be offended. But no, she nodded and went to a computer, returning a few minutes later with a sheet of paper. Soames glanced at it while taking it from her. “Thank you, Sheila.”

I waited until we were in the hallway before saying anything. “That was crappy.”

“What was?”

“Pretending you wanted her number.”

He stopped. “I wasn’t pretending. She’s cute.”

She had been rocking those red glasses of hers. “So you’re really going to call her?”

“Yes. I’ll ask her out for coffee. That’s the no pressure kind of thing, right?”

I had to realign my thought processes. “Uh, yeah. Pretty much.”

“I mean, unless you tell me not to call her.”

“Come again?”

Soames shrugged. “You’re clan now, and a queen.”

“I’m what?”

He hesitated, studying my face. “No one mentioned that to you?”

“Uh, no, or I wouldn’t be asking ‘what the hell’?”

“Right. You’re clan, and an adult female. That makes you one of our queens. So you get to boss us around. The men, I mean.” He snorted. “Come on, you know we’re the only shifter species ruled by women.”

“Oh.” I did know that, but hadn’t really thought what it meant. Especially not in context of me joining the clan.

His eyes twinkled. “I’d bet money Logan wouldn’t mind you bossing him around.”

Instant face fire. “Dude, shut up, or I won’t let you call Cutie Pie back there.”

“Sorry.” The grin on Soames’ face said otherwise, but we’d reached the outer door. I buttoned my coat.

“You really wouldn’t call her if I told you not to?”

“I really wouldn’t.”

“Oh, the power rush.” My own grin made an appearance as his faded. “Kidding. Just one thing.”

“Yes?”

“You do know that ‘no’ actually means no, right?”

He pushed the door open for me. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“Actually, no, everyone doesn’t.”

Soames grunted. “Well, we do.”

“Mega Douche didn’t,” I said while walking through the door.

“Mega...oh, you mean Harrison. He’s not a typical tiger. Guy has some serious issues.”

I snorted. “You think?”

“But our Queen made her point, loud and clear.”

We both smiled, and I said, “Yeah, she did.”

Terra had stomped the guy into the ground even though he was three times her size. “And it was a glorious thing to behold. Where to first?”

He checked the list. “History class.”

W
e didn’t have much luck throughout the afternoon, not until a girl stopped us on our way out of the building where Frederico’s last class met. “Hey, wait up.”

She was shorter than me, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a round face. “Lacey Carter. I heard you say you were looking for Rico.”

Well, if she’d heard us, why hadn’t she said something then? “Yes. Do you know him?”

“We’re working on a project together. Well, we’re supposed to be, but he postponed last night to hang out with his friends.” Her lips tightened, the only sign of miffiness about being blown off.

“I see. Are those friends students here too?”

“Two are. They hang out at O’Banion’s after class most days. I can point them out to you if they’re there.”

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

Lacey cocked her head, scanning us. “You two are really private detectives?”

“Yes.”

“Huh. I thought only old people were. Rico’s really missing?” She began walking, surging ahead to lead the way. We fell in behind her. Soames wasn’t able to reach the door first, and Lacey shoved it wide as she went through.

“He didn’t make it home last night. His mother is worried.” I followed her out as Soames stretched to keep the door open for us.

“The first thing she does is hire a couple of PIs?” Lacey shook her head. “Helicopter mom much?”

I nearly snapped at her, Mrs. Guerra’s relief that her son was alive still fresh. “Like I said, she’s worried.”

Dusk was on the way, so all the lights had come on. We crunched our way down the sidewalk. The college’s rock salt expense must’ve been astronomical.

The girl snorted. “Maybe he got drunk and crashed at a friend’s.”

“Possibly.” The negative vibe coming from her was grating at my nerves. However, she was helping. “We’ll find out.”