Page 21 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“Ted . . .”
I laughed harder at his serious expression. “A snow machine must’ve set you back quite a bit, but shit, we’re gonna have fun.”
Ryenne looped her hand around my arm and rested her head on my shoulder. “Just as soon as the hangover from hell goes away.”
I nodded. “You should invite Nate.”
Although Ryenne kept her eyes on the snow outside the window, she squeezed my arm in encouragement.
“You guys can build us sleds like you did a few winters ago,” I added.
“Ted, Ry. . .” He ran a hand over his face. “I didn’t do this.” He laughed. “It’s actually snowing outside. Everywhere. Not just here in Colina or Texas. Everywhere.”
He unlocked his cell phone and gave it to me. It took me a few blinks to get the small print into focus, but once I read it, blood rushed to my head, making me lightheaded.
He wasn’t joking. Unless of course this was some elaborate hoax, and he spent hours or days putting together blogs and news reports. Which wasn’t like him at all.
“It’s snowing everywhere?” I handed Donnie’s phone to Ryenne.
“Not just a light snow, but storming,” he replied. “Snow has built up so high in some places people can’t get around anymore. Homeless shelters are overfilled from people trying to get off the street, but a lot of people have already died.”
Ryenne bit on the side of her thumb, a nervous habit she never got under control despite Grandma Richter’s nagging. “Is this like some sort of apocalypse?”
Donnie’s laugh didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You watch too many movies.”
“But you didn’t say no,” Ryenne said.
With a mischievous grin, he sat on her lap. It was enough to make her huff out a laugh as she pushed him to the floor. His easygoing way, always trying to make people—especially Ryenne—feel better was my favorite thing about Donnie.
“It’s just some snow,” he said from the floor. “It’ll die down.”
I crossed the short distance and shuddered at the cold that seeped through my old windows. While the forest beyond my property was heavy with snow, the area surrounding my house wasn’t. There was some snowfall but nothing dreadful.
A woman whispered in my ear, the remnants of a dream I must’ve had last night. Her voice was familiar since I’d been dreaming about her for the past three years. Leanora hissed about vengeance and blood spilling, which made me eager to go back to my dream journal and see if I could remember anything about last night’s dream.
In the distance, a tall tree seemed to move forward, like it’d taken a giant step before it stood still with eyes the color of moss.
“Do you see what comes for you?”Leanora asked, her voice a caress across my mind.
The tree blinked. I swear it did. And when it smiled, its teeth gleamed like a light.
Blinking, I shook my head, and when I looked again, the strange tree monster was gone. And thankfully, Leanora had gone quiet. While I loved writing her story, sometimes her character seemed too real, as if she lived inside me.
“I put a space heater in your well house, just in case,” Donnie said, ripping me away from my thoughts. “Nate did the same at our house, and then he got stuck with Grandma and all her worries.”
I cringed. Grandma Richter was a professional worrier, but it was because of her that Donnie made sure we all had extra space heaters, that our pipes were insulated, and that I even had a generator.
“Is he. . .?” I turned around to ask Donnie about Nate, but he lifted a finger and answered his chirping phone.
Ryenne stood beside me by the window, placing a soft blanket over our huddled shoulders as Donnie left my room to talk on the phone. I pulled the pretty but unfamiliar blanket tighter around me, fingering the soft material and reveling in its warmth.
“It looks so pretty,” Ryenne whispered.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Do you think Donnie remembered to light your fireplace?” she asked.
“I’m sure he did.”
