Page 23 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
The man droned on. Calling us humans while referring to himself as a fae. Talking about what he called our endless winter and how it’d brought hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide on our first winter night. Because of this, he appointed himself as our leader, and why his people, other fae like him, would govern our cities to ensure we each received our food rations.
The footage went on to show city after city, town after town inundated with snow. The snowdrifts buried houses in some places, and people couldn’t get out. There were accidents everywhere, from cars to airplanes. Already, the death toll for the homeless population had reached record highs.
It was a bizarre nightmare. I pinched myself to make sure I was awake and not living out some weird fantasy where thesexy prince would rescue me and cart me away to his pretend fae land and make me his queen.
I was only a little surprised when I didn’t wake up.
“He’s joking, right?” Ryenne asked. “This is all a huge joke. A hoax or something.”
Donnie glared at his phone, his fingers wrapped around it so tightly his knuckles whitened.
“Donnie?”
“Whatever that is”—he waved a hand toward Ryenne’s phone—“doesn’t matter.” He stood abruptly. “Someone was killed at the food bank last night,” he said, not looking at either of us.
I waited for my breath to catch and my heart to thud in reply. Instead, I barely reacted and just blinked back at him. Because I already knew this. Knew a dead man was lying on the floor of the food bank.
Dread rose from the pit of my stomach. To keep my hands from shaking, I wrung my fingers into knots around the fabric of my shirt.
“That’s the shitstorm I need to deal with right now, not whatever this whack-job asshole is talking about,” Donnie continued.
I stood on shaky legs, and when I gripped Donnie’s forearm, he held on to my elbow.
“It’s okay, Ted,” he said, trying to reassure me and squeezing the elbow he still held on to. “You’re safe. No one’s taking over Colina.”
I shook my head and licked my dry lips. “The man who was killed... murdered”—I licked my lips again while I stared hard at Donnie’s shirt—“I knew about it before you said anything. How did I know about it?”
His grip on me tightened. “What do you mean?”
I tilted my head up enough to examine his thin lips. “How did I know a man had been murdered at the store?” My voice shook.
“You had a crazy night last night, Ted,” he said, his voice low and calm. “You drank too much and have an insane imagination. You’re just getting some details about last night mixed up.”
My eyes burned with the threat of tears, and I shook my head again. “I think I was there, Donnie. I don’t know how to explain it, but I. . .” I felt it in the marrow of my bones. I was there when the man was murdered, and it was my fault. “Did I-I didn’t kill him, did I?”
Donnie pulled me into a hug when my whole body shuddered. He smoothed a hand over my head down to my back. “You know better than that.”
Against his lean chest, I shook my head again. “I was there, Donnie,” I repeated. “I was there. It’s my fault. He’s dead because of me.”
“Stop,” Donnie said firmly. He gripped my arms and gave me a gentle shake before he hugged me again. “Stop it, Ted.”
He held me tighter, letting me fall apart the same way he’d done so many times in the past. I couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been there for me, something I was so grateful for. I wasn’t sure I could survive if something ever happened to him. I sniffled when he pulled me back, and he kissed my forehead only to blow a raspberry in my hair. That made me huff out a dry laugh.
“Your phone’s cracked,” Ryenne said, suddenly beside me. “It was on the floor of your room, and it has blood on it.” She handed Donnie my phone. “And, Teddy, your car’s not here either.”
Because I hadn’t used my car. I’d?—
“Okay,” Donnie breathed out, his hands on my shoulders. He took my phone and grabbed a small pack of sanitizing wipes from his back pocket. After cleaning the blood from my phone and wiping the whole thing down, he handed it to me. “What time did you get out last night?”
Another shake of my head. “I-I don’t remember anything.” I paused. “People came by with donations after we ran out of food. I stayed to fill the shelves and. . . stock the back room. I don’t remember leaving, though.”
Donnie ran a hand over his chin before grabbing his own phone. He unlocked it, and after a few more swipes, he nodded. “Ryenne texted me just before eleven thirty. It had already started snowing, so I went by the store to pick you up.”
We both stared at the cracked phone. While he’d wiped the blood, I could still see it. I blinked faster to keep the tears away.
“You were still inside the store stocking the back room,” he continued, creating a lie to tell the chief of police. “Because you never listen to me, you left the door unlocked, so I went in and got you.”
“Donnie,” I protested but didn’t continue.
