Page 29 of Frost
It does.
“Silly mortal,” Jack says as another laugh rumbles from his chest. “I ought to make you eat twigs just because you said that. Teach you a lesson.”
Instead, he takes me down to the river. The place he chooses is a lot calmer than the roaring rapids from the other areas we’ve passed during our journey to his home.
“Do you fish?” he asks.
“Not even a little bit.”
“Watch and be amazed.” Jack holds out his hand, and his fingertips glaze over with frost. The air above his palm begins to stir, and then an ice spear appears, as if it were pulled from thin air.
“Holy shit. You can seriously make things just likethat?” I snap my fingers for emphasis.
“Yep.” Jack hands the spear to me and smiles as I take it. “You can grip it tighter, Luka. It’s a weapon, not your cock.”
I nearly drop the damn thing as my body shakes with a laugh. He’s right, though. It might be made of ice, but it’s far from fragile. It’s even a little weighted as I test it in the air, jabbing it forward.
“I feel like a badass,” I say before swinging it again.
“You’re such a boy.” Jack rolls his eyes, but he can’t stop the grin from forming on his lips.
“A boy with a goddamn ice spear.” I jab the weapon forward, then go down into a low crouch.
He snorts. “It’s like I’ve just given you a shiny new toy to play with.” He holds out his hand again and makes a second spear. “Follow me. I’ll teach you how to properly use it.”
We walk closer to the water, and Jack begins his instruction: proper way to hold the spear, what angle my arm needs to be, how much force to use depending on the proximity of the target.
Yeah, 99 percent of it goes over my head. But damn, he sure is pretty when he’s explaining it.
I admire his silver hair, loving the way it sticks up in front and curves up, giving him a whimsical appearance. Then my gaze falls to his blue eyes that look lighter in the snowy setting. Pale lashes surround them, the ends faintly frosted. My eyes trail to his cupid bow lips that are curved to perfection, lips that suddenly form into a grim line.
“Luka? Are you listening to me?”
“Huh?” I tear my gaze from his mouth and meet his eyes. “Of course.”
“What did I just say, then?” Jack puts a hand on his cocked hip.
“You said…” I search my memory and slowly spin the spear in my hand. “Um.”
Jack sighs. “If you weren’t so adorable, I’d whack you upside the head with that weapon you can’t stop fondling.”
“Hey. Don’t make it weird.” I stop spinning the spear.
“If you’re ready, let’s begin.” Jack arches a brow as a challenging gleam appears in his eyes. Without even looking at the target, he throws the spear. It lands in the water, standing straight up. He then wiggles his fingers, and it flies from the water and back into his hand. A wiggling fish is impaled at the end.
“Dude. That was awesome.”
“You try,” he says before moving his hand over the ground and creating an ice bowl to place the fish.
“Okay.” I test the weight of the weapon again in my hand. “As you said earlier, watch and be amazed.”
However, the only thing amazing is the fact my clumsy ass doesn’t fall into the river as I get as close as possible to the water and throw the spear, hitting nothing. Jack uses his magic to bring the spear back and stifles a laugh as I try again and fail. Fishing is definitely not my strong suit.
Needless to say, I don’t catch any fish.
“It’s a good thing you’re pretty,” he says as we walk back to the cave. He’s carrying the bowl with the three fish he caught. “You’re a horrid fisher.”
“I bet I would’ve caught one if I had a fishing pole.” I glance at the weapon in my hand and grin. “But I got a cool ice spear out of it, so it wasn’t a total loss.”
