Free Frozen Vengeance by Evi Asher Page A

louder than Athera expected and she jumped a little, then lectured herself on keeping her nerves settled and her wits on the task.
    Her thoughts scattered when the door opened and a man appeared. He was tall—
    past six foot—with dark, shaggy cut hair. His face was clean-shaven and he looked young, but the power of his body belied that. Cord after cord of ripped muscles was visible on his bare torso and Athera couldn’t help but let her eyes travel the length of his body. Tattered jeans hung low on lean hips, a PlayStation game controller grasped loosely in his right hand, and his feet were bare.
    The smile that lit his face when he saw Trin took him from hot to supernova and Athera swallowed a sudden surge of desire.
    “Trin, honey, how have you been.” He stepped forward and wrapped long arms around the witch in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet.
    “Have you come for our Guitar Hero rematch? This time you aren’t allowed to cheat.”
    “Oh, don’t you go there. I didn’t cheat, so it is not my fault you can’t play the Bohemian Rhapsody worth a damn.” She was grinning, and Athera sensed a genuine affection between the two.
    Trinity sobered. “We are here on serious business.”
    Only then did the man look around the rest of the group, a frown creasing his smooth brow.
    He tensed. “We?”
    “These are the Outsiders—Archer, Scarlet, Athera, and Zane.” Trin pointed them out in sequence. “This…” She slipped an arm around the man’s waist, and Athera was sure it was to make Archer relax a bit. “This is Laz. He is a dear friend, and not that evil, so play nice, ‘kay?”
    Laz was still frowning. “It must be important if you brought Outsiders to my home, Trinity” He stepped out of the way. “Please, come in, everyone.”
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Angelica came to consciousness with a lazy slowness. She was shifting towards the delicious warmth in front of her, rolling in her semi-conscious state. A large hand halted her progress.
    “Stop, Gelibean! You’ll roll right into the fire.”
    The deep timber of Colt’s voice made her feeling of contentment deeper and Angelica half purred, still trying to move close to the heat. “Flames won’t burn me,” she said in a sleep-roughened voice.
    “Maybe, not normally.”
    She felt Colt pick her up and put her in a sitting position. “But you are not at full strength. The ghosts sucked a lot out of you.”
    Ghosts
    Everything came back to her in a flash and she stiffened and opened her eyes. She looked around, fear burning in her blood. They were in a small space under a large tree. The ground under her was relatively snow-free, and there was a large fire burning right in front of her. Colt was on his haunches next to her, a concerned look etched on his features.
    “They are gone.”
    Colt must have sensed her fear.
    “We are far from the mine. How are you feeling?”
    Angelica did a mental inventory of her aches and pains—sore joints and a drained feeling. The cold from the trunk of the tree seeped into her back and she shivered. “I’m fine.” She stretched her back and Colt moved away from her to the other side of the fire, reaching for more wood and fiddling with its placement as if he didn’t want to look at her.
    “I suppose you saved my life?”
    He snorted.
    “Okay, so in your mind, it isn’t a shining good deed, but thank you anyway.”
    He looked up and pinned her with a hard look.
    “Don’t thank me, Geli. I saved your life so I could take it myself.”
    Anglelica swallowed, he seemed so intense. He had every intention of killing her and from the look on his face, making her suffer first.
    “I suppose that telling you again that I’m innocent and I’ve done nothing to you wouldn’t help?”
    He glared at her, ice in his stare. “Lying will make me hate you more, and I don’t think that’s possible.”
    Angelica looked down at her hands in her lap. She sat cross-legged as close to the edge of the fire as she can