The Frozen Witch Book One (16 page)

So I hardened my expression as I followed
them.

Though both of them had their jackets hooked
over their arms, as the sun was out, I quickly shrugged into mine.
Because I could feel it again. The cold. It was marching up my
back, spreading down my arms, and lodging in my chest until it felt
like a snow storm was brewing in my sternum.

Cassidy softened her expression. “How are
you cold? It’s a nice sunny day. You coming down with something?”
she asked suspiciously.

“I just get cold sometimes. I have trouble
keeping warm,” I muttered quietly.

Though reason told me that Cassidy still
hated my guts because I thought she was dirty criminal scum, reason
failed. Cassidy unhooked her jacket from her arm and offered it to
me. “I’m not using it. Take this.”

Shocked, I accepted it.

Instantly Alice snorted. “What, don’t
think we’re capable of kindness? Fancy you’re the only nice person
here?”

Though my jaw naturally stiffened at her
attack, I didn’t bite back. “Look, I’m sorry about what I said
before,” I lied.

Alice snorted again as she picked up on
the lie instantly. “Bullshit. You think you’re with scum. If you
didn’t need our help on this, you wouldn’t be talking to
us.”

While Cassidy appeared to be softening
towards me, I knew full well it would take Alice a couple of
centuries to thaw.

“What did that middle manager mean when he
said we had to be back by usual time and follow usual procedure?” I
asked, wisely deciding to change the topic.

Cassidy’s face exploded into a grin.
“Middle manager? That’s the perfect name for him. Seriously
though,” she quickly frowned and made a pained face, “I wouldn’t
say that to his face. Ben can be a little tetchy at
times.”

Alice grunted. She was striding a few good
meters ahead, but was clearly keeping an ear on the conversation.
“That’s putting it lightly, Cass. If Ben heard that, he would throw
you out the window,” she growled at me.

“It was just a stopgap. I did know his
name. Ben, ha? What’s he in for?” My curiosity got the better of
me.

“Embezzlement,” both Cassidy and Alice
said through a laugh.

“Embezzlement? Figures,” I
commented.

Immediately, Alice stiffened and turned
hard on her foot. “Hard at work judging us all again, Miss Perfect?
Forgotten you’re in here for a heinous crime too?”

“Give it a rest, Alice,” Cassidy said in a
strangely firm tone that didn’t match her boisterous
smile.

She’d clearly already forgiven me. Heck,
she’d admitted she had a talent for hanging out with the wrong
people. Obviously, she was under the mistaken impression that I had
forgiven her, evidenced by the fact she turned and offered me a
cute smile. “Lilly here has already apologized, and that’s good
enough for me. Plus, Alice, should I really remind you how long it
took you to fit in?”

Alice stiffened.

Cassidy returned her attention to me.
“We’re all a bit like this when we first join. Especially those of
us who come from law enforcement,” she said pointedly. “It takes a
while to realize we’re in the same boat.”

I judiciously chose not to comment. We
weren’t in the same boat. I knew full well that I hadn’t
inadvertently killed my grandmother. Or at least… that’s what I was
telling myself. If I had to guess, Vali had indentured me for a
completely different reason. And that reason? Those blue symbols
that would dance over my skin whenever I took my bangles off.
Frowning, my gaze ticked down to my wrists.

Cassidy leaned in and patted me hard on
the back. “So, there’s something I’ve been dying to ask – what the
heck happened between you and Vali out in the corridor? Why did he
come to see you?”

Alice stopped charging ahead and turned,
clearly interested in my answer.

I swallowed. “He was just checking up on
me. Doesn’t he do that for everyone else?”

Alice made a face, and Cassidy shook her
head like a confused cat. “Hell no. I saw Vali precisely once when
he showed up at the prison, offering me another chance. Sure, I see
him around the office, but he’s never latched a manly hand on my
shoulder and pulled me into the corridor. What did you two talk
about?”

I bit my lip.

This was more evidence, wasn’t it? More
evidence that Vali wanted me for some specific purpose. Suddenly, I
remembered the so-called function I’d be attending with him
tonight, and my gut began to curdle with nerves.

Alice instantly frowned. Once a detective,
always a detective, apparently. “What are you holding
back?”

“Nothing, he just wants me to go to some
function tonight. Speaking of which, how long will this take? I
mean, when middle manager – sorry, Ben – when he said we should be
back at standard time, what time is that? I have to be ready by
eight.”

I stopped speaking abruptly.

I stopped speaking, because both Cassidy and
Alice were staring at me in shock.

Cassidy shook her head, looking like a
confused cat unsure of which dangling object to chase.

She planted a hand on her chest. “Sorry?
Vali invited you to a function tonight?”

I paled, realizing I’d probably shared too
much. Reaching a hand up and patting my hair awkwardly, I shrugged.
“Yeah. Why? Is that unusual?”

Both women were shooting me the kind of look
that told me that yeah, it was unusual. It was downright fricking
rare, in fact.

“That’s what Megan is for. She usually
accompanies him on the big jobs.”

It was my turn to shake my head like a
confused cat. “Sorry, big jobs? What do you mean? He didn’t tell me
what this was about—”

“What kind of magic do you practice,
anyhow?” Alice questioned as she crossed her arms.

Now a bolt of fear slammed into my gut. I
shifted uneasily back and cleared my throat. “Um, I’m not really
sure yet,” I lied. “The last few days have been pretty intense – I
haven’t had a chance to figure anything out yet.” That, at least,
wasn’t a lie. The last few days had been more than intense. It was
a surprise I hadn’t broken my neck from whiplash.

“You aren’t joking with us, are you? Vali
actually did invite you to one of the big jobs tonight, didn’t he?”
Cassidy looked so amazed, I could tell this was the most exciting
news she’d heard for weeks.

Me? I just felt progressively more ill as
I looked at the calculating looking Alice’s gaze. “So this is
unusual, right? He doesn’t usually ask rookies to come with him on
big jobs, as you put it?”

Both Cassidy and Alice shook their
heads.

“He only takes strong witches with him,
the ones he can trust,” Alice explained, tone guarded as she
continued to assess me with a narrow-eyed look.

There were two things about that statement I
didn’t like. The first was strong witches. I was just beginning to
come to terms with the fact that I had truly powerful magic, yet I
still had absolutely no idea where exactly I fit in in the grand
scheme of things. Was I somewhere down the bottom in terms of raw
ability, or somewhere on top? And what did that even mean?

“I can’t believe this,” Cassidy said,
clapping her hands as if this was the best thing that had happened
to her in years. “A bunch of the other detectives have been working
here for decades, and they’ve yet to catch Vali’s eye. You? You do
it from the get go. He must have a pretty good reason for focusing
on you. So what can you do?” she asked with clear glee.

Alice cleared her throat in an
unmistakable growl. “Whatever it is, it’s not really any of our
business at the moment. I shouldn’t have to remind you two, but we
have a job to get to.”

Still pale from this new confusing news, I
forced myself to nod.

Cassidy frowned. “Fine, fine. But you have
to tell us what happens tonight.” She actually reached forward and
hooked an arm through mine as if we were the best of friends. “And
if I were you, I’d avoid Megan. As soon as she finds out Vali’s got
another witch, she ain’t gonna be pleased.” Cassidy proceeded to
whistle with some pleasure.

I paled all the more, feeling like I wanted
to crawl home and jump into bed to hide under the covers.

I did not get that opportunity.

After another block, we arrived on a
familiar street.

Instantly, I frowned. Because instantly my
gaze darted over to the two-story brick building on the opposite
side of the street.

The headquarters of Larry’s catering
company, to be precise.

Larry! I’d almost completely forgotten about
him. Now his interactions with Vali slammed back into the center of
my head.

It was Larry who’d delivered that box, Larry
who’d brought the odious Vali into my life. I’d heard when Vali had
threatened Larry – Vali had told Larry to clear out of town and
never come back, or face the consequences.

But right now I watched as Larry darted out
from the store, a briefcase held so tightly under his arm it looked
like he was about to wrench his shoulder from its socket.

I shrugged back, hiding behind Alice’s tall,
strong form as Larry checked the street before jumping into his
Porsche.

“Why are you hiding behind me?” Alice
snapped.

“I know that guy. He’s my
ex-boss.”

“Shit, he’s also our target. Stay there.
Cassidy, call a taxi.”

I knew from experience how quickly Larry
drove. When Larry was in his Porsche, road rules didn’t matter –
only his foot on the accelerator did. “We’re not going to have
time,” I counselled as he shot out of sight. Calling a taxi
anywhere in this town was like calling for a miracle. Maybe they’d
come, maybe they wouldn’t. But you would have to prepare to wait at
least two hours.

Somehow, Cassidy called one instantly. I’d
checked along the street moments before, and there hadn’t been a
taxi in sight. Yet as soon as she jammed her thumb out, one
appeared, coming to a screeching halt beside us.

“God,” I managed as I jolted back in
shock. That shock slammed even harder through my chest when I
realized there was no driver in the taxi.

“Come on,” Alice snapped as she shoved me
in the small of my back and pushed me into the back
seat.

She got in the driver’s side, slammed the
door, and pulled out from the curb with all the speed and grace of
a bullet.

I had exactly no time to do my seatbelt
up, and I was thrown to the side. Cassidy hooked an arm under my
shoulder and kept me steady, leaning around and buckling me up.
“Trust me, Alice drives like crazy.”

I trusted Cassidy, because Alice drove worse
than crazy. She drove bat-shit insane.

“Hold on, where the hell did this taxi
come from? And why didn’t it have a driver?”

Cassidy patted my shoulder tenderly.
“Magic. Now, what do you mean you knew that guy? Middle Manager Ben
is usually super careful not to put us on cases with people we’re
familiar with.”

I gulped, shoulders being shoved into the
seat with such force it was almost as if the taxi was about to
reach the speed of sound. “He owns a catering company. I waitress
for him. He’s my boss. I mean my ex-boss.”

Alice swore. “Ben is obviously distracted.
Cassidy is right – you shouldn’t be put on a case where you know
the perp.”

“Perp?” My voice shook. “What exactly has
he done?”

“We don’t get to know that,” Cassidy
assured me as she settled down and did up her own seatbelt. Despite
the fact Alice had been driving like a stampeding bull, Cassidy had
managed to keep her balance fine. It was either magic, or she had a
pelvic floor of steel. “We don’t get to know what crimes they
commit. We just drag them in. Vali gets to decide how they’re
punished.”

I made a face.

Somehow Alice saw it – she glanced up at
the rearview mirror just at the right moment. “I suggest you stop.
Trust me, kid. I had exactly the same suspicions when I started
here. But those suspicions will get you nowhere. Plus, Vali knows
what he’s doing.”

“He knows what he’s doing, ha? How can you
be so sure? He’s judge, jury, and executioner. If we don’t get to
know why we’re running down some criminal, how can you be sure
they’re a criminal at all?”

“Because we’ve seen personally what these
scumbags can do. Yes, I don’t know every minute detail of what
these perps are up to – but from some of the assholes I’ve dragged
in and the injuries they’ve given me, I feel pretty happy in
concluding they’re not nice guys.”

I wasn’t ready to drop this. The
indignation at the injustice of what was happening to me began to
swell in my gut. I strained against my seatbelt, as if it somehow
embodied everything that was wrong with this situation. “Maybe
that’s the case – but maybe those perps were just scared. And how
are we sure Vali gets it right every time if he won’t share the
evidence with you?”

“Because he’s a god,” Cassidy said. It was
an extremely innocent statement, especially coming from a convicted
felon. And yet, because of its innocence and sheer simplicity, it
struck a chord with me. An uncomfortable one.

“Don’t you worry, I raged against Vali
when he dragged me in, too. But it didn’t take me long to realize
I’m on the right side now,” Alice finished weakly, despite the fact
her voice had started out punching from her throat with all the
force of a storm.