Page 95 of Suffer No Fools
Klaus screamed. He dropped the glass ball to the floor, where it shattered. The room temperature flash-froze, chilling Stan's skin. He countered with a warming weave, covering Klaus and Vadim with it, since they were closest to the blast.
Klaus attacked the Frost-like creature with magic Stan couldn't see, and it sagged to the floor. Its jaws were still locked on Vadim's ankle. Long after Vadim had yanked free and the wound had stitched itself back together, Klaus swore a long, obscenity-laden tirade.
Vadim inspected his ankle and shook his head. "I'll ask Yvette to take a look at it, but it's healing better than I thought it would."
"You helped her heal Jasmine," Klaus reminded him. "But fuck, Vadim, we can't have undead things crawling out of the dark and biting at our ankles. This is unacceptable!"
"You couldn't feel him." Vadim reached for Klaus, and he approached, burying his face in Vadim's shirt. "He was too newly undead."
"I wasn't looking," Klaus admitted. "I assumed they'd taken him with them. It makes perfect sense that they left him here. One more distraction in a long line of them."
"What else did they take?" Vadim glanced at Bea. "Who? Allora?"
"She's above us in the tree," Klaus said. "I think."
Stan cringed at the uncertainty in his voice. Klaus was always so sure of his powers. This had made them question everything.
Stan's mind was still reeling, too. He didn't understand why they'd killed Frost. He'd tied off the weaves they'd placed over the ocean so that it would stay atop the ocean all winter. Killing him wouldn't have ended the spell. Stan sensed their absence, though, through Hugo. Something had broken the ice. Had they coerced Frost to end it and then killed him anyway?
Tovey shook Stan's shoulder. He was the last one in the room with Bea, Vadim, and Klaus so far ahead of them, their voices echoed in the hall.
"Let's go home," Tovey said.
"We should bury him." Stan pointed to the lifeless body on the floor before them. Besides being cold and stiff when Stan picked him up, there were no obvious signs of injury. It reminded him of Vadim's death weaves, but this felt worse. There had been no consent here, and no attack unless Frost had tried to fight his way out.
The others were still gathered outside the sentinel oak's entrance. They looked on as he laid Frost's body to rest among the sentinel oak's roots.
"Where is Fanidra?" Stan asked once everyone had said their goodbyes to Frost.
"She was above with us the entire time," Bea said. "She wouldn't even leave to eat lunch. She stayed ..." Bea's face crumpled. "She stayed with Frost over lunch. Do you think she's part of this?"
"He didn't have a mark on him," Stan said. "Looked like death magic to me."
"She doesn't have any healing," Bea said. "Unless ..."
"No. She has not been lying to us this entire time," Vadim said. "That's impossible."
"She's still here," Klaus glanced up at the tree. "Up there."
"We're going home," Tovey said. "Hugo needs to rest." He met Stan's gaze, but even with their bond, Stan couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"I'm staying." Stan couldn't leave, not when he had so many questions. He wasn't smart, but he needed answers.
"I know." Tovey nodded in farewell, and then he turned Hugo toward the pool, and home.
Stan's heart ached to watch them go, but he had to assess the threat still on the island. The sentinel oak no longer pulsed with alarm, but Stan's heartbeat sounded its own warning, and probably would until they dealt with Coryn.
They found Fanidra and Allora on the fifth level of the tree, high enough to look out over most of the surrounding foliage. Stan felt like he would pass out if he took another step.
Vadim looked relieved to see them, but wary.
"You all were magnificent today," Fanidra said. "I would have been worthless against them, but you ..."
"Remove your necklace."
Fanidra frowned, but her hands immediately went to her neck to undo the clasp. She wasn't wearing any bracelets, and her pants were rolled up to mid-calf with nothing around her ankles.
Once it was off, she handed it to Klaus, and they both looked her over.
