Frost Read Online Free PDF Page B

jostled by the bumps and ruts in the road, trying hard not to hyperventilate. It was impossible to tell how long we’d been driving. Especially because I could have been unconscious for hours, for all I knew. My back was stiff, and my cheeks were tight where tears had dried. Plus, the smell of smoke was giving me a headache.
One of the men—Caleb, I thought—spoke up suddenly. "What's that?"
The van began to slow.
Neither man spoke for several seconds, and then the other voice said, "Roadblock?"
"Oh, that's just great. ‘We’ve got a girl tied up in the back, officer. Hope that's not a problem.'"
"I’ll deal with it." Caleb’s voice again, this time low and threatening.
“Of course you will. Freeze first, ask questions later, right? That seems to be your method.”
I processed this while the van slowed to a halt. Freeze? As in what I’d done to my first kiss?
An electric whir signaled the van window being rolled down, and then someone said, "Hello, boys..."
A shout came from outside, and I stiffened against the ropes. There was a dull thud and a muffled groan, and someone yelled, "Caleb!" and then the voices cut off abruptly.
More shouting, shuffling, clunking and then something slammed into the side of the van, and I gasped. Silence. Then a scraping sound behind me. I concentrated on breathing evenly, every muscle in my body so rigid that I was almost vibrating. My eyes shifted rapidly behind the blindfold, panic bursting my chest.
Something creaked, metal against metal—the van door—and fresh air blew in across my left side. There was a distant grunt, and I pictured someone levering themselves into the back of the van.
I couldn't stand it any longer. "Who's there?"
The shuffling moved closer, and something brushed my cheek. I flinched, and whatever it was drew back.
"Hold still," a deep voice murmured. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Fingers grasped the blindfold, tugging it upward. The sudden flood of light made me blink furiously, my eyes watering. Gradually, his face came into focus. A mop of dark curls framed a friendly face with warm, brown eyes. He had a black earring in both lobes, the wooden kind, and a short layer of scruff on his jaw. He was smiling at me. He was adorable.
He also wasn’t moving.
"Could you untie me, please?"
"Oh!" He blinked. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Here. I'll help you sit up." He looped one arm under my shoulders, guiding me into a sitting position.
I flinched when he reached for my wrists to tug at the knots. My emotions were all over the place. It wouldn’t surprise me if I accidentally froze him. “Just be careful…”
When he looked up, I flushed, not sure how to explain. His mouth curled at the corner in a half smile, and he bent his head, returning to the knots. “I’m not worried. I’m Loki, by the way. You must be Megan."
"How do you know my name?"
"I was sent to make sure they didn't get you."
"Sent by who? And who are they ?" The ropes went slack, and I sighed with relief, rubbing at the sore spots on my wrists. “Thanks. We should go to the police right away. Wait, are you the police?”
Loki shuffled down toward my feet, still on his haunches, and began picking at the knots at my ankles. He bit his lip like he was trying to repress laughter. "They really didn't tell you anything, did they?"
"Tell me what ?" The men had talked about freezing someone earlier. Maybe this wasn’t something the police would be able to help with. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that I can't feel the cold? Am I some kind of genetic freak? Wait, is this a government thing?"
"Um..." Loki smoothed a hand over his jaw. "Something like that. Come on. We have to get you somewhere safe. These guys won't need their van for a while. We’ll borrow it." He helped me to my feet, his hands on my waist as he guided me across the piles of junk heaped in the back of the van.
He jumped down off the tailgate, boots crunching on the snow, and offered me a hand. "Come on. Steady now."