Frosted Torment (Marked Mortals Saga #1)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

W e drove until the cabin was out of sight. Anytime the wind picked up or the rocks popped up under the truck, I focused on Baz running ahead of us to ease my fears. Ena had a shotgun, but she was still human. The wards seemed okay, but I didn’t trust that to last either.

I looked out of my window up into the sky. “How do the wards work, Ena?” I asked.

“Oh. Um.” Her brows rose as she hesitated.

“Are you not allowed to tell me?” I inclined my head in her direction, keeping the hunting jacket close to my chest.

“I’m not,” she said, her voice disappointed. “Vincent determines who can know the specifics.”

I sank back against the seat. “Interesting,” I sighed. “So, not all of your family knows about everything going on here, then?”

She shook her head. “They know about the angels, but the wards don’t extend into our land because the demons won’t go there,” she said with a grateful smile. “Besides, most of us don’t see a need to get involved in angel business.”

I shook my head, laughter tinged with nervousness escaping my lips. “I understand if you can’t share details about the wards, but I hope they don’t weaken again.”

Ena gripped the steering wheel tighter, her smile faltering. “Don’t worry. Vincent made sure of that last night.”

“Yeah, he mentioned that.” I adjusted my body against the door and prayed that Nakoma would heal Ivy. Dawson should have an update when we got there. I inhaled, filling my lungs with air, and then said, “Vincent said you would help with the ceremony to save my soul. What will you do?”

She hesitated before speaking, then her words almost got lost in the hum of the engine. “The ceremony... it’s a sacred rite, and Vincent... he keeps the details shrouded in mystery. Even from me,” Ena admitted, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.

“Are you serious?” My annoyance spilled out.

“He believes that the less we know, the safer we are from prying eyes and dark forces.” As Ena navigated the winding road, her gaze turned distant. “He’s careful.”

Vincent seemed paranoid, and his mysterious ways were starting to wear thin on me. Ena’s evasive answers only stoked my impatience. I leaned my head against the window, staring out at the passing landscape.

The dirt road curved to the right before splitting into two paths. One led into the woods, but a locked cattle gate blocked the entry. The other continued on toward the mountains, fading into the distance. We pulled up in front of the gate, and Ena shifted the truck into park.

“We walk from here,” she said, and turned off the engine .

“Ena,” I pressed, my voice firm, “I need to know more about this ceremony. How can I prepare if I’m kept in the dark?”

She glanced at me with a troubled expression. “Noa, you have to trust Vincent. He knows what he’s doing.”

“I want to,” I replied with sincerity, “but this is about my soul.” I won’t sit back and let angels or anyone dictate my fate.”

Silence shrouded us as Ena stared at the barbed wire fence that twisted between the tree line. Was it meant to guard against real threats, or was it an illusion of safety? Sunbeams filtered through clouds overhead but failed to pierce the chill settling over me. I slipped into Nevaeh’s coat, letting its warmth envelop me as I wrapped it around myself.

“Hey,” Ena offered in a soft voice. “As soon as I learn anything new, I’ll tell you.”

“I appreciate that.” I nodded, but something in me said I should find more answers on my own.

A slush puddle full of mud greeted me as I opened the door, and I leaped over it. Ena hurried around the front of the truck, and I stumbled into her, but she caught me before I fell.

“Thanks.” Embarrassment flooded my cheeks as she handed me a pair of crumpled brown gloves. I turned them over to inspect them. “What are these for?”

She gestured to the locked gate, also wrapped in thick rope. “To help me open that.”

The gloves were thick. The type a rancher would use to snag up barbed wire fences. The same fences installed throughout the forest around us.

Ena waved me in her direction as I slipped them onto my hands. She showed me where to stand and instructed me to pull on a rope fastened to the middle of the gate. She pushed from the other side.

Baz exhaled a deep breath and shook his jowls. The loose skin flapped as he attempted to shake off the weight of worry that hung in the air.

“I’m going to circle the outskirts and meet you on the other side,” he declared. “Stay close to Ena.”

“You can’t leave me!” I protested, my pitch rising like a string ready to snap.

Baz took a step closer to bridge the distance between us, then lowered his head to look into my eyes. “She can protect you, Noa,” he reassured me, nodding in her direction.

I glanced at Ena. She was sifting through a retractable belt loop key ring to find the right key to unlock the gate. Unfortunately, when I looked back, Baz had sauntered off, nowhere in sight.

“Don’t want to annoy you or seem impatient,” I interrupted her as I strode toward the gate. “But Baz took off,” I said, exasperation trickling from each word.

She threw her hands in the air, losing her place on the keychain. “That damn wolf has been nothing but a pain in the ass since he got here.”

I shot her a curious glance. “How so?”

Ena’s eyebrows pinched as she searched for the key again. “He’s gone for all hours and disappears without telling anyone.”

I squinted under the cover of my hand as I looked around the property. “Maybe he’s been getting familiar with his new form and the lay of the land.”

“Who knows?” Ena shrugged with a sigh and found the right key .

I exhaled a deep breath and walked over to her. “How far is the house from here?” I asked.

She looked at me over her shoulder, jiggling the key into the lock. “Right through here,” she said with raised brows. “And you’re not annoying me, by the way. You’ve been thrust into this world without any warning. I probably would’ve shit myself had I not grown up with it either.”

My jaw dropped at her candor. “Really?”

“Hell, yeah,” she continued and jerked her fingers hard to the left. The lock popped open, and she smiled.

“It’s wild and a little freaky,” I replied, feeling the gravity of my situation bearing down on me. “Like a mythical legend, except it’s flesh-and-bone reality now.”

She nodded, a flicker of pride igniting in her eyes. “Most days it is,” she said, pausing for a moment as a shadow crossed her features. “Except my mom doesn’t think so.”

“Why not?” I asked, curiosity piqued.

Ena sighed as her fingers wove through a loose strand of hair that had slipped across her forehead. “She saw it as a burden rather than a blessing. She couldn’t handle the expectations and the responsibilities,” she murmured with a hint of dissatisfaction. “Living under a spotlight felt to her like always being watched and having to uphold this image.”

“Not to mention all the secrecy,” I interjected, sensing the weight of her mother’s discontent on her shoulders. “So she never helped out here?” I pressed, wanting to understand this legacy that both fascinated and haunted her.

“She passed on it, but I found it fascinating,” Ena confirmed, with a sparkle taking over her eyes. “When I got back from nursing school, I had my own ceremony with them. ”

My skin tingled, and a shiver of delight raced through my veins at the thought of another human learning to navigate this world.

“And when I took the angel’s sacred offering,” she continued with her eyes closed. “It was a weird experience and I had a panic attack.”

She clapped her hands together and then blew into them for good luck. Pulling hard on the gate, she said, “Lex helped me through it, though. Help me open this, will you?”

Ena showed me how to wrap my hand around a thick rope hanging from a pipe in the center of the gate. When she gave me the cue, I tugged hard with my hand in the loop. We both groaned, and the gate opened a few inches more.

“Are you allowed to tell me about the offering?” I squeezed my eyes shut as my strength tested me.

“They left you with me because I can help protect you, so I’d say yes.” She grunted as she pulled harder. “I received the essence of an angel.”

My grip loosened on the rope, and I straightened, curiosity blooming within me. “Vincent mentioned the essence to save Ivy. What exactly is it?”

“Keep pulling, Noa,” she said, her voice taut like the rope in our hands. “That rock closer to you,” she pointed with one hand, “kick it as hard as you can while pulling at the same time.”

Securing my hands in the coarse rope again, I tugged with all my strength. It held me while I lunged at a stone wedged between the crumbling dirt and the gate. I struck it many times with my steel-toed hiking boots .

“You don’t open this gate often, do you?” I asked with a ragged breath.

Ena’s forehead creased as she shook her head. “Not anymore. And to answer your other question, angel essence is the very blood flowing through their veins.”

My eyes widened at this revelation. “Fascinating,” I murmured, my mind racing to comprehend that detail.

“And if depleted,” she continued, her voice dropping to a rough whisper, “they die. Like us, but it takes longer.” Her gaze met mine—piercing and profound—offering a glimpse into a mystical world I had only begun to grasp.

“Why would they give it away?” I asked, dropping the rope.

I walked over to the rock and used the tip of the boot to make an indentation around it. Ena didn’t complain, which surprised me. Due to the way she leaned against the gate, I could see she needed a break.

“The angels need a human connection to our land,” Ena noted. “It all comes together in their formula so that the ceremonies will work.”

After scooping out what dirt I could from around the rock, we summoned one final burst of exertion to wrench the gate open. I wedged my boot under it and overcame the stubborn rock’s tenacious grip on the soil.

“Finally!” she exclaimed with fervor and punched the air.

My mouth curved into a smile. “Not bad.”

Wrestling with the gate left my skin flushed and damp. I peeled off the gloves and jacket, then swiped my gritty hands across my jeans. The brisk wind kissed my skin, and I closed my eyes, savoring the moment until Ena’s voice stirred me .

“You gotta help me close this thing from the other side, Noa.” She laughed, nearly breathless.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I panted as I looked back toward the truck, nervous that she had forgotten to grab the gun.

“We don’t need it through here, and by the time we reach Dawson’s, we’ll have all the protection we need.”

I decided to trust her, so I laid my jacket and gloves on the rocky ground to help close the gate. Once we tied it up and padlocked it again, I felt trapped. We were two vulnerable humans surrounded by a forest brimming with guardian wolves and other wild animals.