Free The Frozen Witch Book One by Odette C. Bell

voice a jumble of breath. “But what… what were those
symbols that… covered me last night?”
    He growled. “You will be told everything
you need to be told. So do not ask questions out of
turn.”
    Ask questions out of turn? Last night I had
been completely covered by magical light.
    I stood there and faced him. Half of me
cowered at the sight of the Nordic god of revenge. The other half
couldn’t damp down my curiosity. It couldn’t stop staring into the
center of his eyes, hoping to catch just another glimpse of that
kind heart.
    I didn’t get a chance to see it again,
because Vali turned hard on his foot. He straightened his brass tie
pin before shifting around, picking up his chair, and sitting in it
once more. He sat there silently. And as every silent second
passed, I clammed up more and more, nerves climbing high over my
back and clenching around my throat like hands.
    “I don’t get it. If I can’t remove these
locks, how exactly am I meant to use magic to catch that man, and
why exactly do I have to catch him?”
    “You have to catch him because he is not
just a hitman, but a magical hitman. He uses his abilities – power
no ordinary human should have and powers taken directly from the
gods – to harm others. He has killed over 35 people, some of them
brutally, all in the name of profit. He is irredeemable,” Vali said
so matter-of-factly and so emotionlessly, it was like we weren’t
talking about a human life at all.
    I shivered at the cold expression on Vali’s
face. But more than anything, at the thought of 35 murders.
    Suddenly that shiver turned into a shard
of ice that stabbed me right in the center of the chest. “You… you
honestly expect me to be able to catch this man? I only found out
about magic last night,” I began, getting desperate.
    “Yes, I expect you to catch this man. Like
I said, it’s a test. A test to see whether you are ready to take
responsibility for your sins. You have, as yet, failed to
acknowledge them. If you do not do so by tonight and use everything
at your disposal to catch this man, then…” he trailed off. He
picked up his pen, opened the book, and scribbled something on one
of the pages.
    Somehow I got the distinct impression that
it would be the ledger of my crimes.
    I stiffened, letting my hands fall behind my
back. I curled them into tight fists. That was literally all I
could do. I couldn’t shout at him, and god knows I couldn’t beg. I
would have loved to turn on my foot and stride out of this
building, but I didn’t have that option, either. I was totally and
completely trapped, a magical slave of the Nordic god of revenge.
And yet I still faced him until he finished writing and closed the
book.
    “Until you learn to control your…
abilities,” he said after a considerable pause, “you will be given
weaponry.”
    “Weaponry?” My tone was dull,
dead.
    “A magical gun.”
    “A magical gun?! But I can’t shoot. I’ve
never fired a weapon before!” I began.
    He brought up a hand, so stiff, so cold,
so white with tension it looked as if it had been carved from ice.
He spread his fingers wide in a silencing move. “You will learn. As
I said, you will either dig deep tonight, take responsibility for
your sins, and do everything within your power to catch this man,
or…” he trailed off.
    “Or I’ll die?”
    He met my gaze then nodded once. “Leave
now, Lily-white.” He said my name, stringing it together in one
word. “And only come back once you obtain your target.”
    “Obtain my target?” My breath caught in my
throat. “You want me to bring him in alive?”
    Vali suddenly looked up sharply. “Without
question. For if you murder, there will be no
redemption.”
    I nodded. I nodded even though I didn’t
understand a word.
    I turned on my foot and headed towards the
door. Though it was closed, I heard something unlock, and it
creaked open.
    Before I managed to take a step through
it, I heard Vali shift once more. “You will not