Page 17 of Jack Frost
"Your dinner, my lady." Jack sets a plate atop an unopened box. The omelet is so enormous that its ends are hanging off the plate, oozing cheese. And no wonder—he used a dozen eggs to make the thing.
"I'll be going then," he says, backing toward the door. We both know very well that he could vanish instantly, spiral himself to wherever he wants to go. He's lingering, hoping I'll change my mind.
Why am I changing my mind?
"This thing is ridiculously huge," I tell him. "I can't possibly eat all of it."
He frowns. "Hmm, that's a problem."
"It sure is. A problem you created, so it's only right that you solve it. Get a plate, and a couple of forks and sit your ass down. I'd offer you a chair, but—" I gesture at the roomful of cardboard boxes.
"I don't mind." Jack snatches the forks and a plate and folds his long legs under himself. His knee brushes my thigh, and I shift away from the contact.
He slices the omelet in half, slides a portion onto his plate, and sets it aside to cool. Then he watches me closely as I take my first bite.
It's all I can do not to let my eyes roll up in my head. The warm, gooey cheese in its blanket of salty egg, the burst of tomato on my tongue, the flavor of the mushrooms and peppers—it's all so perfect, so satisfying that I want to cry.
But I won't cry, because I am an adult, a bold explorer of the Antarctic, a crusader for the planet. Not some emotionally overwrought girl brought to the brink of tears by a well-turned serving of breakfast for dinner.
"Well?"
The damn ice-boy is fishing for compliments. "It's fine." But my voice quivers.
"Are you—are you okay?"
"Mmm-fine," I mutter. "Stop grinning like an idiot."
"Can't help it," he says. "You make me happy."
The raw admission sends a twist of stress through my stomach. "Why do you keep saying things like that? It's so weird. Stop it."
His brows contract slightly. "Why?"
"It makes me uncomfortable. You don't know me that well—not at all, really. People don't say those things to each other."
"Maybe they should. Maybe if more people expressed honest emotion, especially positive emotion, the world would be a more pleasant place." He takes a bite of his omelet and winces. "Ugh. Too warm." He shoves the plate away again. "Can you be honest with yourself about what you like? What you want?"
"Sure." Of course I can be honest. Easy. "I want to get unpacked and organized. I want to go to work on Monday and get acclimated, and be useful. They've been keeping me in the loop via email, and there's a lot to do before the benefit."
"No. Not good enough. Those are all items from a to-do list. They don't tap into your deepest desires and motives." He scoots closer. Warily I slant my body away from his. "What do youwant, right now? What do you enjoy about this moment?"
My mouth is suddenly dry. "I'm getting cups. You want some water?"
Jack sighs, defeated. "You have ice?"
"There's an ice maker in the freezer. But can't you just chill the water yourself?"
"I can, but I don't always want to expend the energy. Like you can make coffee at home, but sometimes you want to get it from a coffee shop. It's a matter of convenience, or doing something different."
"So you have like, an energy meter that goes down over time. And then you have to rest to recharge it."
"Yes. I can recharge in small ways, through regular sleep and down time. But eventually, when my energy 'meter' gets too low, I have to go into a dormant state, and that dormant state must happen at a focal point of natural potency, where I can siphon power that matches my element. If I don't successfully refill the well, so to speak, I run the risk of dissipating, and turning into an ice wraith. If that happens there will be no one to stand against Auxesia."
"Auxesia," I repeat, handing him a cup of ice water. "Is she one of the Horae you mentioned?"
"The worst of the bunch." He eyes me as I sit down a careful distance away from him. "I thought you didn't want to know anything else about them, or about me."
I take another bite of omelet and chew slowly, savoring the interwoven flavors. "I suppose you could tell me about the Horae. The short version."
