Page 26 of Frost Bound

She’d just attached a small acorn at the front when the sound of horses and jangling armor met her ears.

“Haunts!” Maege yelled.

Everyone bolted upright. Dahlia scrambled to her feet, crown in hand. She scanned the square as people ran in all directions. Her stomach dropped when she couldn’t see her brother. Her mum was going to be so mad. She always said to hide if the ghost-like soldiers began searching the village.

“Cosmos!” she screamed, dodging adults as they snatched up their children and ran. “Cosmos!” Her heart pounded in her ears; she could barely breathe as she searched the square. The horses thundered closer.

“Not fair!” she heard her brother cry.

Frantically searching, Lia spun in a circle, until she spotted Cosmos near the tanner’s, fists on his hips, red-faced. She sprinted through the fountain, ignoring the cold water, and leapt over the other side, skidding to halt behind her brother just as he tried to shove the bigger boy, Wallin, with skin the color of the sky. He didn’t move, but a nasty look crossed his face, and hepunched her five-year-old brother in the face. Cosmos toppled back, crying immediately.

Crimson trickled down his face, and something hot wiggled in Dahlia’s chest. She dropped her crown and brushed her brother’s tears away, patting his nose with the end of her tattered dress. “I know it hurts, but we need to hide.”

“Haunts?” her brother sobbed.

“Yes.” She pointed to a stack of barrels. “Go! I’m coming too.”

Cosmos climbed to his feet, still crying softly as he ran to the barrels and hid.

“Run, you big baby,” Wallin yelled. “The ghosts are coming to get you, and there’s no place to hide.”

Lia slowly faced the boy one year younger than her. Wallin was a bully through and through. Her mum said the reason he was so mean was because his parents hadn’t taught him to love all different kinds of people. But Lia thought he was mean because he liked it.

He stood a head above her even though she was older. He flashed his fangs at her and made a shooing motion. “Run back to your papa.” A pause. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t have one.”

The heat in her chest tightened. “I do. He died.”

“You’re lying. My papa says that he ran away because he didn’t want to be a papa.”

Her face flushed and her fingers curled into fists. “That’s not true. You’re the liar.”

Wallin leaned closer. “He left you because you’re a pathetic, colorless human.”

Her control snapped.

Lia swung, her fist connecting with the boy’s cheek. He cried out and grabbed for her, but she darted beneath his arm and kicked the back of his leg. Wallin crashed to his knees, and she jumped on his back, knocking him flat to the ground. Lia pulled his black hair, her knees digging into his spine.

“You’re a liar and a bully and a?—”

“What is this?” a scary voice growled.

Dahlia froze, blinking out of the red haze that had descended over her vision. She trembled as Haunts surrounded them, white armor gleaming despite the cloudy sky. Her fingers tightened as a pair of black eyes studied her from the top of a huge shaggy horse with sharp teeth. Wallin whimpered, and she came back to herself. She scrambled off of the boy. The boy climbed to his feet, crying.

“What happened here?” the scary Haunt barked.

“She attacked me because I won the game,” Wallin cried.

Lia frowned. “That’s not true. He cheated and hurt my brother.”

“Where is this brother?” another Haunt demanded, his black eyes narrowing in his pale gray face.

Dahlia stiffened, but kept her mouth shut. Haunts stole human children, her mama said. She shivered under the dark gazes of the huge monsters surrounding her. Cosmos had to be safe. He was her responsibility. She glanced at Wallin, who also didn’t say a word. His story would be proved a lie if they found her brother.

“Gone,” Lia commented.

“You wouldn’t lie to us?” the scary Haunt asked, his pale fingers flexing on the reins. He hopped off his mount and grabbed her by the front of her dress. He hefted her into the air.

“N-no, sir,” Lia managed to get out, holding on to his arm while her legs kicked the air. He bared his long fangs in her face and she blanched, tears welling in her eyes.

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