Frost Line Read online

  It was the way of things. The Hunters were long-lived, and they served a vital purpose. But it wouldn’t do for mercenaries who could travel between worlds to be invincible. That would give them far too much power.

  Nevan wouldn’t have deserted. No, he was either dead, or he’d taken the deck and teleported to Aeonia, perhaps to steal any credit and favor for himself. But where was Strength?

  If Lenna had remained in this world, they’d feel her. They’d be able to locate her. Esma searched for the energy of a Major Arcana in Seven, which should be easy. Nothing. She tried again, knowing she hadn’t been mistaken, but feeling bound to make the effort, anyway.

  So … had Nevan killed her, or possibly taken her back to Aeonia?

  Or had Caine killed Nevan, and teleported with her and the deck?

  Stroud—who had surely been thinking along the same lines—turned to look at her. He knew as well as she did that returning to Veton empty-handed would be disastrous for their health and well-being.

  Before they could discuss their next step, a man stumbled out of the house Lenna and the child had run from a short while ago. He glanced in their direction, grumbled something nonsensical, and studied the tracks in the snow that led to the woods. When he muttered, “Fuck it,” and turned away, she understood him very well. Something was not to his liking, and he was disgusted.

  The man limped around the house and disappeared from view. Esma opened her mouth but before she could say anything, an older woman with white hair stepped out onto the porch of the house next to the one where Strength had been. She looked at them, waved, and asked, “Can you believe it? Snow! Too bad it didn’t come on Christmas. I’d like to see a white Christmas.” Then she squinted. “Oh, I don’t know you. Who are you? Are you Amber’s friends?”

  Esma had no idea who this Amber was, but nodded her head.

  The woman smiled. “I expect Elijah and his little friend will be out here before too much longer, building a snowman and throwing snowballs. Tell him I’ll make them some hot chocolate when they get too cold!” The woman hugged herself, shivered, and went back inside her house.

  Interaction with the local inhabitants was best avoided. Esma and Stroud exchanged a glance, then of one accord they began walking toward the woods and whatever they might find there.

  “This ‘Elijah’ must be the child who was with her,” Stroud commented.

  “My interpretation of the events, with the man entering the house and then Strength and the child running from it, is that for some reason she’s protecting the child. Perhaps if we find him we will have a way to her.”

  “But we have no way of locating a Seven native,” he pointed out, frowning.

  “We know what he looks like, we know his name, we know he lives here. We can’t sense his energy, but we can use our other faculties.” Such as our brains, she thought somewhat caustically, but left the words unsaid. She liked Stroud well enough; there was no gain in antagonizing him.

  On the other hand … why ignore the most obvious explanation of what had happened, and why they could no longer sense anyone. “Caine must have taken her back to Aeonia,” she said with a sigh. “She couldn’t have returned unless she had the deck with her. It must’ve been in that bag she wore.” The bag she’d carried hadn’t seemed large enough, or special enough, for such important contents, but what other explanation was there? The most valuable artifacts were often in the most modest containers. “If Elijah is in those woods, we can grab him, return to Aeonia, and find out exactly how attached Lenna is to him. Maybe she’ll give us the deck in exchange for his safety. The main thing we need to do is retrieve the deck and give it to Veton. Everything else is secondary.”

  There were far too many uncertainties in that scenario, but even a hundred uncertainties were preferable to returning to Veton with nothing.

  Lenna suffered the Hunter’s half-embrace as he held both her and Elijah, and in an instant they were elsewhere. She barely had time to register the sharp sting of energy on her skin, the heat and speed, before it was over. She fought off the dizziness—which didn’t seem to affect him at all—and realized that in the flashing moment she had instinctively grabbed Caine’s shirt, her fingers fisted in the cloth. She swiftly released him, wanting some distance from the disturbing physical contact with the Hunter. She had to stay close to him; she did not have to touch him. Unfortunately, he didn’t drop his arm from around her waist but continued to hold her close.

  Another split second let her realize he was holding her until both of them were able to take stock of their surroundings. It wouldn’t do for her to lurch away from him in surprise, or do anything else that would bring unwanted attention to their abrupt appearance out of thin air.

  They were no longer in the woods, but she doubted they had traveled any great distance. There was snow on the ground here, too, and the atmosphere felt the same. Instead of being surrounded by trees and well-kept homes, they stood near a large blue metal box filled with refuse, with tall buildings rising around them. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, thankful for the cold weather because how noxious would this smell during the summer?

  “Wow!” Elijah shouted. “That was so cool!” He started jumping up and down. “Do it again! Do it again!”

  Caine sighed. “Later.” He searched the area, looking into the big blue box, digging around within it, and coming out with a long, tattered brown canvas bag with a broken strap. He unzipped the bag and, one after another, removed his weapons and stored them inside. He did keep one sheathed knife tucked at his spine. She doubted he was ever without at least one weapon of some sort on his person, and usually more.

  He slipped the canvas bag beneath the blue box, giving it a push so it was well hidden, then he took Lenna’s hand, put his other hand on Elijah’s shoulder, and steered both of them between the buildings toward a broad avenue where loud vehicles on wheels swished back and forth. She stifled her resentment of being pulled along as if she were a pet. She wasn’t stupid; she understood the importance of staying close enough to him that he could shield her energy from the other Hunters.

  “Where are we?” she asked, not letting him see her annoyance because that would give him a power over her, knowing how to prickle her composure.

  “We need somewhere to stay while we work everything out. This is a hotel,” he said, indicating the building beside them. “It’s as good a place as any.”

  She looked up at the hotel, which was constructed of an unimpressive pale brick; many windows lined the building, marching upward in perfect rows that struck her as boring but efficient. They reached the avenue, and she got a better look at the vehicles. There had been nothing like this here the last time she had bothered to study Seven, but evidently what felt like a year or so on Aeonia was a much longer time elsewhere.

  “What are these conveyances called?” she asked, indicating them with a slight movement of her hand.

  “Automobiles,” Caine replied. “There are different types, such as cars, different sizes of trucks, vans, SUVs.”

  His knowledge told her that he’d visited this world often. She herself valued knowledge so much that she wasn’t hesitant at all to ask him questions. “How does one operate them? Do you give them commands? Do they decipher thoughts?”

  Elijah blinked up at her as if she was speaking a different language entirely, his mouth falling open.

  “No,” Caine said. “They are physically steered, using a small wheel inside, and pedals that increase or decrease the speed.”

  “Hmm.” She thought the steering wouldn’t be difficult, but operating different pedals at the same time could be troublesome. Teleporting was much more efficient.

  Caine turned them toward the hotel, and she saw a set of large glass doors … which opened as they approached.

  Neither Caine nor Elijah seemed concerned or impressed by this fact, so Lenna remained silent. Omniscient doors were a convenience she hadn’t considered before.

  Inside the air was warm and had an od