Frosted Torment (Marked Mortals Saga #1)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

M y mind reeled in shock. I tasted the metallic tang of blood inside my cheek while I chewed it, my eyes darting between Jossy and the mangled remains of my beloved truck.

“Let’s pretend for a moment that’s true,” I said, my throat bobbing as I forced down a swallow.

Jossy stopped drinking and screwed the cap back on his bottle. “It is.” His voice was flat and certain.

“But how?” My voice cracked in bewilderment. “I’ve never done anything like that before in my life.” I gulped down the cool water in relief, draining the entire bottle in a few thirsty swallows.

“We don’t know the details yet.” Ivy’s smooth voice held a note of mystery.

“You said the searing pain in my shoulder was venom.” I looked to Jossy for confirmation.

He gave a solemn nod. “It tried to paralyze you. ”

Baneful. It had to be one of them. They were demons?

I trudged toward the gravelly roadside, straining to hear Jossy explain how the creature appeared in my truck and pursued me. His voice faded behind me.

My phone lay smashed on the sharp rocks; the cracked screen was now dark and useless.

I shoved it into my back pocket anyway and remembered my vape. Still safe, I grabbed it and took the longest, soothing draw of my life to steady my fraying nerves. I had to get a grip before I completely unraveled.

Lex materialized in front of me, his piercing eyes fixed on me.

I exhaled the vapor faster than I had inhaled it. “Jeez! What?”

“Don’t go rummaging through the wreckage. It’s dangerous,” he advised with raised brows.

I waved him off and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, thanks, Lex.”

My tone came out more biting than intended, and pain flashed across his gorgeous face. The man I’d pined for now looked as though I’d broken his heart.

I blinked. “Sorry. Um, thank you for saving my life.”

Lex’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m not trying to make this worse for you, Noa, but you should be dead.”

“You didn’t have to save me,” I stated, taking another inhale from my vape.

He shook his head and his voice turned gruff. “I don’t want you dead. Quite the opposite. I only want to help you gain some perspective.”

I cleared my throat, holding his gaze. “It’s difficult to get perspective when my best friends are wielding magic at intersections and battling demons, Lex.”

My brain struggled to believe his intentions, but I grasped what he meant. Nothing logical explained the fact that I was still walking, talking, or breathing. I suppressed the thought and pushed it down.

Way down, but I was grateful for his rescue. My stomach churned as I stepped on the glass scattered along the shoulder of the road.

“May I look at least?” I gestured behind him to the crumpled truck.

“Don’t touch anything,” Lex cautioned.

I inhaled, absorbing the catastrophic scene. The truck was so mangled I couldn’t tell front from back. As I drew nearer, I noticed a foot protruding from the weedy ditch beside one of the massive tires, which had rolled closer to the road’s edge. A woman lay motionless face down in the dirt, dressed all in black with heavy boots, showing no signs of life.

My body shook as I wondered if she was the thing that had attacked me, or an innocent bystander. I prayed it was the former. I inched closer when Lex’s iron grip clasped my wrist.

“Stop!” Lex’s voice echoed across the fields surrounding us.

His eyes pleaded with me, and his chest heaved. He wouldn’t let me go until I agreed. His raised voice echoed across the empty fields surrounding us.

His eyes pleaded for me to obey. I nodded, and he released my arm, poised to grab it again if I moved any closer to the woman. His strength astonished me.

I pivoted to see Ivy and Jossy, their eyes resembling flickering lights and expressions taut. My head swiveled back to Lex, remembering what I’d noticed in his eyes on New Year’s Eve. I’d thought it was a trick of the light then, but now Lex’s eyes churned like fog rolling over a stormy sea. I looked back at Jossy and Ivy, theirs now subdued.

My voice trembled. “What’s going on with your eyes?”

“Noa, breathe. We’ll explain everything.” Jossy stepped toward me, his tone gentle. “But something very wrong has happened here, and we need to figure it out.”

I glared at him and folded my arms. “Answer the damn question!”

“Not until I know you’re thinking straight,” he said.

Ivy shook her head, her curtain of purple hair swaying gently. “I don’t think she’s ready yet.”

“Back the fuck off!” I shrieked and raised both hands for them to stop.

The tension mounted as we stood circled together, everyone on edge. My body shook with adrenaline and fear, and my feet flexed in my shoes. I struggled to keep my trembling hands steady at my sides.

“Stop avoiding this and do not lie to me, Jossy.” I kept my eyes glued to him. “I want no part of dark magic, demons, or these Baneful beings. But someone here better start explaining now.”

Lex’s eyes flickered at me, one brow raised. “But you talk to ghosts and do tarot readings?”

“What I do is not dark magic, jerk. Besides,” I lectured, “Uno and Dos took off when all this started.”

Lex stood upright, his voice a mere whisper. “I’m not trying to make it worse for you, Noa. Or even more difficult. ”

He turned away from me with his hands up in defeat and walked toward the church parking lot.

“And another thing,” I called after him. “What I do is a spiritual connection with the other side. I was born with this gift!”

He spun back toward me, irritation lacing his voice. “As were we. What exactly do you think all this is?” He flung his arm out, gesturing around us.

My eyes narrowed, holding his gaze. “Not sure, but it can’t be anything good. I saw you using those freaky powers.”

“The same ones that saved your life, Noa.” His voice rang with conviction. “I will do everything I can to protect you. Always.”

His words surprised me, and I stood unable to respond. Ivy moved toward me as I glanced back at the woman next to the tire. Jossy touched her arm and shook his head, but Ivy wrapped herself around me anyway. A sense of calm engulfed my body.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She leaned her head on my shoulder, her silky hair brushing my cheek. “Helping. I don’t blame you for the fear and panic, Noa. But we need to talk about it calmly.”

“That demon is dangerous,” Jossy advised, his tone grave. “And she’s the one who scratched you.”

I touched Ivy’s head as a rush of calm flowed through me and released a relaxing breath. “I’m good. You can let go.”

Ivy bounced in delight as I stepped away. “The ability to soothe and ease situations is one of my powers,” she divulged.

“Uh huh,” I said, my jaw tense. “Are you the Baneful?”

“How do you know about them?” Jossy moved closer, and I took another step back.

“My mom warned me about them,” I admitted .

He chuckled, and a deep rumble fell from his chest. “Of course. You probably thought we would send you to a head doctor.”

I rubbed my fingertips together down by my sides and squinted up at him. “You were in the middle of an intervention with me, so yeah.”

Standing next to the demon, I placed a foot on her side and pushed hard. She rolled to her back and her head flipped toward me. The snapping beak and teeth I saw in the intersection were larger than I had expected. She choked for her last breaths of air and convulsed against the ground.

Her claws dug into the ground, and I stumbled backward, falling onto the road and scraping the palms of my hands. The gear shift from my truck protruded from her throat, then her head hit the ground one last time with a piercing squeal. Terrified, I crab-walked backward into Jossy’s legs, then grabbed my chest.

He reached down to help me stand as her skin began to melt. Tendons sloughed away, exposing black bones. Her body disintegrated into a puddle of thick, putrid disgust, resembling tar.

It didn’t take long before the inky blackness faded, transforming into a dull gray hue. I took another step back, my eyes fixated on the grotesque mass that was once a living, breathing something. As if on cue, it cracked and crumbled into a pile of ash, leaving nothing behind but a sickening, sulfurous odor in its wake.

My body shook in terror at what lay in front of me, and before I had a chance to process what I’d seen, the wind picked her up and blew her across the road. I looked for a way out, but my friends blocked my straight shot to the church.

“Get away from me!” I shrieked, my heart pounding like a jackhammer.

I bolted past Lex and Ivy, their faces a blur as I pushed through them. As I reached the steps, what felt like a punch to the chest knocked me backward. Red hair filled my vision as Jossy swallowed me into his arms.

We fell to the ground, and his body hardened like granite around me, refusing to let go. I struggled for breath while screaming to no one. Jossy grew stronger with the strength of a full army, but his pressure on my body was careful, like handling a precious artifact.

He didn’t want to hurt me, only stop me from fighting him. I gave up, knowing my attempt to escape was futile.

“Are you done, Noa? Stop before you hurt yourself.” His voice was rich and warm.

Tears streamed down my face as I gasped for breath. “Tell me you’re not one of them.”

He spun me around to face him. I flinched, unsure of what he would do next, but he relaxed and caressed my cheek with the back of his feather-light hand.

“I would never, could never, hurt you,” he whispered, his voice heavy with sadness and regret. He slipped his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me into him. “We’re not the Baneful.”

My fear betrayed me again as I cried on Jossy’s shoulder, trying to block out the world.

“We know the truth about your mom,” he added. “What happened in the fire. And we know why you’re struggling. ”

I looked up at him to make sense of it all. As Ivy and Lex approached us, I saw it. Everything I knew about them began to fall into place as his words sunk in.

“You know?” My lips quivered as I stared at them in disbelief.

Jossy nodded, his eyes intense. “We’ve known all along.”

Clutching at his shirt for support, I asked the question burning in my mind. “My mom was right. They’re all coming for me, aren’t they?”

Before Jossy could respond, Ivy pulled me to my feet, breaking me from Jossy’s protective shield. I stood frozen in anticipation as Lex rejoined us.

“I don’t care what happens to me anymore,” Ivy declared. She looked deep into my eyes. “Yes, they’re coming for you, Noa, and you killed one of them.”