Dark Frost Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t done for. Somehow she got her arms in between us and shoved me off her. I stumbled back and landed on my butt, glass digging into my hands and even more slicing through my jeans.
    The Reaper girl scrambled to her feet. In her haste to grab her sword, something soft and white fluttered out of the folds of her black robe and fell to the floor. The girl stretched out her hand, making a frantic grab for it, but I staggered to my feet, lurched forward, and swung Vic at her again, making her scuttle back.
    The Reaper girl glared at me, her eyes flashing like rubies behind her rubber mask, and let out a vicious curse. Then, she did the strangest thing of all—she turned and ran out of the room.
    “Where is she going? Why is she bloody retreating?” Vic snapped, echoing my own thoughts.
    “I have no idea, but she’s not getting away,” I growled.
    I took a step forward, ready to chase after her, when Daphne screamed again. This time, it wasn’t a scream of fear—it was one of rage.
    My head snapped around. While I’d been battling the Reaper girl, Daphne had stepped up to fight Carson’s attacker, using her onyx bow as a shield to block his attacks and the latest arrow from the magical quiver as a makeshift sword. Over and over, the Valkyrie stabbed at the Reaper with the arrow, causing the man to back up. His foot caught on something I couldn’t see, and Daphne stepped forward and shoved the arrow into the Reaper’s chest. The man screamed and stumbled back, the arrow sticking out of his heart like a golden finger.
    Daphne didn’t care, though. She turned around and fell to her knees beside Carson. Tears streamed down her pretty face as she cradled the band geek’s head in her hands. I hurried toward her. Across the room, I saw Logan kill the last Reaper and do the same.
    “Stop, Gwen, stop!” Vic yelled at me.
    I pulled up short of the dais, and Logan skidded to a halt beside me.
    “What? What’s wrong? Are there more Reapers?” Logan asked, his head turning back toward the door.
    “No, it’s the Valkyrie,” Vic said. “Her magic is finally quickening. Just watch and give her a little room.”
    We did as he said. If Vic was right, then Daphne’s hidden Valkyrie power—latent until now—was about to erupt in a big, big way.
    I propped Vic up against the side of the stuffed horse so he could see what was going on. As we watched, more and more pink sparks began to flicker around Daphne, until a continuous stream of magic flowed out of her fingertips. Daphne cried the whole time, tears falling off her face and mixing with the magic in the air. Every time one of the Valkyrie’s tears hit the stream, the magic sparked and cracked, taking on a rosy glow tinged with gold. That rosy glow just kept growing and growing, until it covered Daphne’s entire body—and Carson’s too.
    “Carson,” Daphne pleaded, staring down at the band geek. “Please, please don’t die. You can’t die. I won’t let you. Do you hear me?”
    I didn’t know if the Valkyrie did it herself or if it was just her magic having a mind of its own, but something shifted at her words. The magic coalesced around her, no longer sparking and cracking, but instead filling the whole room with its warm power. Even though I was exhausted from my fight with the Reaper girl, something about that glow soothed me, made me feel stronger, more vibrant, more alive.
    For the first time, I noticed that blood wasn’t dripping out of the gaping wound on Carson’s chest anymore. Instead, the warm, rosy gold glow of Daphne’s magic had settled on top of his heart, right where the Reaper had stabbed him. The glow seemed like—like it was helping Carson. I watched while the rough edges of the wound drew together and then seamlessly healed. In a few seconds, it was like Carson had never been stabbed at all.
    “Healing,” I whispered. “Daphne’s power is healing.”
    “Looks like she’s doing a pretty good job of it, too,” Vic said. “I