Page 94 of Frosted Torment

CHAPTER 33

Iclosed my eyes, feeling a torrent of heat surging from my core to my fingertips as I stretched my hands outward.

“Bring it, you devil scumbag!” My lips curled back in a snarl, teeth grinding against each other.

As I summoned the energy within me, rough hands gripped my arms like iron chains. My rage boiled under captivity. The audacity of Vallen to prevent me from ending Vincent ignited the fire within me, like molten rage.

With a violent jerk, I slammed my head backward toward his face while driving a fierce kick to his shin. He didn’t flinch; instead, he hoisted me effortlessly off the ground. My heart pounded with terror and rage as he lifted me like a ragdoll. Dangling helplessly in his grasp hammered home one grim truth—I was outmatched.

Vallen’s voice thundered through me—each syllable crashing like an earthquake. “Apartment now!” The command left an echoing ache in every bone.

My body hummed, and an unexpected surge of energy coursed through me. The bracelet on my wrist pulsed rhythmically under my skin, each pulse faster than the previous one—an ominous countdown ticking away. My mind instinctively focused on the image of my apartment—the familiar haven where I had spent countless evenings in silent solitude.

It was a stark contrast to the chaotic whirlwind that had now become my life—a life that felt foreign and detached from the person I once was. Once again, Vallen had invaded my mind, and this time, I was powerless to resist. As the searing pain in my wrist swelled, images of my living room from every angle and corner flashed in my head.

Orange couch.

Record Player.

Dust Bunny.

Suddenly, it felt as if the solid ground beneath me had given way, replaced by an abyss that sent my stomach spiraling into a free fall. Then, as abruptly as it all began, it stopped.

My eyes snapped open, and I found myself sprawled on the carpet of my living room floor. Flipping over, I blinked rapidly, trying to process a nauseating feeling bubbling in my throat. A feeling all too familiar when I escaped the Lurker demon the night after my birthday. A time when I had no idea what waited for me beyond my bookstore job and my best friends.

Best Friends.

Doubling over, everything in the depths of me came up until dry heaves were all that remained on my carpet.

“Noa,” Vallen stated with a hint of suspicion in his voice, looming over me. “The patio door is open.”

I sat up and heaved again and gasped for air. “I hate you,” I muttered while glaring toward the patio.

Embracing my knees tightly, I met his gaze. “I may have forgotten to close it. People know about my bunny, so they usually don’t pay attention,” I confessed.

He peered out onto the patio while I savored the comforting scent of home enveloping me. Everything seemed undisturbed, yet a subtle unease lingered within me. I rushed to the patio, my heart pounding in my chest, fearing the Baneful or Vincent had snatched her away.

But nestled in her box, slept Dust Bunny, blissfully unaware of the upheaval that had unfolded since I’d last seen her. Relief flooded through me, and I couldn’t help but give her a soft smile and a scratch on her head.

When I walked back inside, Vallen was draping towels from my dryer over the spot where I had vomited.

“Why are you doing that?” I inquired, taken aback by his kindness.

With a weary sigh, he replied, “It’s just a towel to conceal it.”

Running my hand through my disheveled hair, attempting to regain composure, I found my apartment unchanged yet strangely different. A weightiness hung in the air, almost suffocating. The whirlwind of recent events left my head swimming in a sea of emotions. Guilt being at the top of the list.

Lex, Baz, and my grandmother were all dead now, and I couldn’t stop it from happening. Vincent and Maros had me on a hit list until they captured me, and everything in me wanted to kill the one angel standing in the middle of my living room. But he was too powerful.

Even with his essence flowing through me, I couldn’t defeatVallen. The power he’d given me was fading fast, and I knew Callum’s was already gone. Accepting the inevitable, I resigned myself to my fate.

“You can have them.” I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet.

“What?” He raised an eyebrow at me and stood up, his head nearly reaching the bathroom door frame.

I opened the freezer with a creak and pulled out a bottle of peppermint vodka. Setting both items down on the counter with a resounding clank, I shot him a deadly glare.

“Take these fucking secrets and be done with it,” I sneered, forcing a fake smile. “Now, I need a drink. And if you say one thing about it not being good for me or whatever, I swear I’ll find a way to stab you.”

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