Page 23 of Frost
“You stay as long as you need to. Just don’t forget to call and let me know you’re still alive. Otherwise, I’m sending a search party.”
I snort a laugh before taking a sip of coffee.
“I’m serious. Last time you were there, you got lost for four hours in the woods. Scared me to death.”
No point in telling her I got lost again on my second day here. She’d freak the hell out.
“Are you and Dad doing anything tonight for New Year’s Eve?”
“We’ll probably watch the ball drop and drink a little wine,” she answers. “Nothing too crazy. What about you?”
“Writers don’t have holidays,” I point out. “We eat and then crawl back to our writing caves. No rest for the wicked.”
Mom laughs. “Remember to relax some too. Work is important, but so is self-care.”
She then tells me about the new projects Dad wants to do around the house. He’s building her some shelves for her crafting supplies, and he wants to replace the tile floor in the bathrooms with a more modern look. He can never sit still for long. He always has to be tinkering with something. I’m the same way, but with books.
After twenty or so minutes, we get off the phone and I boot up my laptop to start work for the day. I don’t know when Jack’s going to come by, so I might as well get some writing in while I can. I write a full chapter, then plot the next one, making sure all my ducks are in a row. It’s afternoon when he finally shows.
I hear the door open behind me, closely followed by a cool blast of air at the back of my neck.
“Good afternoon,” Jack whispers at my nape.
I stop typing and lean back against him. “Afternoon.”
He puts his arms around me and rests his chin on the top of my shoulder. “What part are you writing? Are you recreating our time together last night?”
“Absolutely not,” I say with a laugh. “I know damn well that teenagers have sex, but I’m not putting it in my book.”
“You’re no fun.” Jack pulls away, and I turn in my chair to look at him. Fresh snow dusts the front of his blue-and-gray sweater, and his cheeks are a little flushed. The faint pink against his fair complexion is too endearing. “Put on a coat. I’m stealing you away for the day.”
“Are you taking me to your home?” I ask, standing from the chair and rushing to the bedroom to put on warmer clothes. Yeah, I’m a bit too eager to go with him.
“The whole forest is my home, silly mortal.”
“You know what I mean.” I roll my eyes and tug on socks. I then shove my feet into winter boots and tie them before shrugging on a heavy coat and gloves. “Like where you sleep and where you go when you’re not flying through the woods or here being a smart-ass to me.”
“Me? A smart-ass?” Jack hops onto my bed, leg bent beside him and his arm resting on top. He looks sexy as fuck, but I bite my tongue and don’t say it. He’s cocky enough. “I only speak the truth.”
“Will your murderous horse be joining us today?” I leave the bedroom, hearing the bed squeak behind me as he gets up to follow. His footsteps, though, are barely audible. As usual.
“Págos goes where he wishes,” Jack answers, following me outside the cabin. The air is crisp, and I breathe it in as I close the door behind us. “He’s my companion, but he’s still wild, Luka. Free. I refuse to take away his wings.”
Snow crunches under my boots as he steers me toward the tree line. A million thoughts go through my head. Questions I want to ask.
“Go ahead,” Jack says, regarding me with a raised brow. “I can see the questions swimming in your eyes.”
I crack a smile and focus on a group of whitebark trees. “Since Págos is made of ice… can he melt?”
“It’s possible,” Jack casually answers. I snap my head toward him in shock. How can he sound so impassive about such a thing? “No need to be so horrified. If he melts, he’ll turn to water.”
“Um.” I cough to cover a laugh. “That’s what ice does when it melts, Jack.”
Now he’s the one who rolls his eyes. “You know Greek mythology. Tell me. What do you know of the hippocampus?”
I thought a moment. “Isn’t that a water horse?”
“Precisely. Págos is a Pegasus, not a hippocampus, but the same concept applies. If he melts, he becomes water and can travel through the sea, going down below the waves and back up again. His magic keeps him cold enough to stay frozen, though. It would take hours of exposure in scorching temperatures to even cause a drip of water to form on his icy coat. So while it’s possible he could melt, it’s highly unlikely.”
