Page 28 of Jack Frost
"Like Newt Minnick." Jack stalks away from me, toward the copier.
"He's a director. A relationship with him would be inappropriate."
"That's what he wants, though."
"No, he said there will be others at dinner. He's just being nice, welcoming a new employee."
Jack lays a hand on the copier and watches frost creep outward from his fingers, glazing the machine. "He wants to fuck you, Emery. And you know it."
At those words from his mouth, my face turns hot, and warmth pools deep inside me.
"Why wouldn't he?" Jack continues, without looking at me. "You're more than gorgeous. You're clever and honest, sharp and transparent as ice. You sparkle even when you don't mean to."
I can't speak. My pulse throbs hot in my throat.
"Want me to come along tonight?" Jack removes his hand from the copier, and the frost recedes.
"Why would I want that?" I'm still breathless from what he just said to me. "You think I need protection? I can handle myself."
"Of course you can. But even the most capable person—man, woman, or otherwise—needs backup on occasion. Like the other night, with that horny drunk."
"I would have been fine. You're the one who showed up looking half-dead. Scratch that—seventy-five percent dead. What exactly happened that night?"
"I pushed Auxesia hard, and she pushed back. Unfortunately she did more damage to me than I did to her. She'll take a little time to recharge, and then she'll be back, enflaming more of the world. Right now she's testing the limits, starting different fires in various places, noting how the humans respond, and how fast I react. Soon she'll start a major onslaught—I can feel it coming."
"Is that how you know where to go? You can feel the fires?"
"I can sense a shift, yes." He runs his fingers through his silky white hair. "It's like I have very fine threads in my mind, and those threads run all over the world. I can feel the ones that are being strained and scorched. The sense is stronger when my energy is full, but the lower it gets, the weaker my instinct is."
"That's why you asked me if I'd heard about any big fires, when we first met." I plop into my seat and scoop up another paper to fold.
He nods. "I was still a little disoriented, and not fully recharged, so I couldn't tell."
"Yes, yes, I woke you up too early, I know."
"It's fine. I'm glad I could help you. Meeting you has been the highlight of my life as Jack Frost."
My heart thumps tenderly in response, but I stifle the swelling emotion and retort, "Just the highlight of your life as Jack Frost? Not of your entire existence? Damn. You must have known some gorgeous, accomplished women during your human life."
"Of course I did." I don't look up from my folding, but I can hear the smirk in Jack's voice as he continues. "I was a skilled and handsome sculptor, very popular in the art community, and a tragic figure because of my impending and inevitable demise."
"And then, like a beneficent vampire, Kheima arrived to offer you eternal life." Which is another reason why I cannot and will not allow myself to slip into a relationship with this beautiful, magical man. I won't be the cliche, the young human woman who falls for the immortal guy. I won't. I refuse.
"Eternal life, yes. What she cleverly left out of the deal was her intent to withdraw and let herself fade, while I took on the war alone. I had to shoulder the responsibility of an entire planet's safety, when all I wanted to do was make beautiful art."
"We don't all have the privilege of indulging our best talents all the time." I glance morosely at the box of papers. "I wish I could be out in the mountains with a camera instead of doing this. But here I am. Besides, you shouldn't be complaining. Most climate activists would kill to have power on your level—the ability to actuallymake change happen. Don't you realize how valuable that is? Don't you care about the world?"
"Of course I do! Maybe I didn't at first, but since I transformed, I've come to realize its beauty and complexity on a level no human could ever understand."
My gaze snaps to his. "Oh really? Arrogant much?"
"It's not arrogance. When you're one of us, one of the elemental gods, you experience everything differently. It's a fact."
Jealousy coils inside me, but I don't have time to bark a retort or press for details, because my coworker Alice walks back into the office. "Still not done with those, Emery?" She clucks her tongue. "I guess you can take a later lunch then. I'll go now with Jocelyn and Phineas, and you can have the one o'clock shift."
"Great!" I bare my clenched teeth in a smile.
When Alice leaves, I glance around for Jack, but he's gone.
