Page 9 of Frosted Torment

I swallowed hard. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“No,” he insisted. “The party ended an hour ago. Now, get your ass up and go.”

“Fine!” I stood and pushed open the stall door, ready to tell him where to go, but he’d left. I stomped my heel on the ground. “Fucking security, assholes!”

I gave myself a once-over in the mirror, then turned on the cold water to rinse my mouth. Monogrammed paper towels sat to my right, so I wet them and wiped my face. At least the waterproof mascara did its job and stayed in place, even though it wrecked my false lashes. Once I peeled them off, I leaned in to fluff my hair and grabbed a mint before heading out to find Ivy and her brothers.

But first, I’d give that jerk a piece of my mind for yelling at me.Except when I walked into the hall, the house was empty, and the music stopped. All the lights were on, and I didn’t see any guests.

I clamored down the stairs and cupped my hands around my mouth when I spotted Jossy in the foyer. “What happened?”

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “The party’s over!”

“What? Why?” I stumbled toward them, dodging strewn party favors.

Ivy snapped her compact closed with a snap, then shoved it into her purse. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?”

I gaped at her, my tone drenched in skepticism. “Are you joking? It’s only been like twenty minutes.”

I fished out my phone to check the time - 2:00 AM. The room spun as I looked from the bar to the stairs and back.

“More like two hours, Noa. You sat down with that psychic and I turned around for a second, but when I looked back, you were gone,” she remarked.

My chest felt like a thousand elephants were sitting on it, but I shut my eyes hard to think. My mind was hazy from the reading. The echo of my heel coming down on the floor carried throughout the foyer, and Jossy took me into his arms. He rubbed my back in a circular motion.

“Slow breaths, Noa. What happened?” Jossy asked.

I opened my eyes, focusing on his pristine suit that looked as though he’d just put it on. Not a speck of New Year’s clung to him. We breathed in tandem as he massaged my arms.

I shook my head as helplessness washed over me. “I did that reading.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Some woman near the bathroom was doing psychic readings. Ivy thought it would be fun.” My voice quivered, and a sharp pain lanced through my skull.

Jossy’s face turned fiery red, like his hair. He glared at his sister. “Are you insane, Ivy? Do you have any idea of the ramifications of your actions?”

Lex sidled over, placing a hand on Jossy’s shoulder, then guided him toward the exit.

Jossy’s voice echoed with anger through the hall and returned to his sister. “Of course you do!”

“What’s he talking about, Ivy?” I looked at her, bewildered, trying to make sense of Jossy’s cryptic words.

She blinked those sun-gold eyes at me and winked. “You’ll see.”

Lex made his way back over to me and Ivy. His face hardened with a tick of his jaw. “We need to get her home. I’ve got a ride-share outside.”

My body went numb, hands tingling. I clawed at my shirt, feeling it constrict around my throat. “I can’t breathe. My pulse is gone!”

Ivy cradled my face tenderly in her hands. “You’re breathing and talking, Noa. Focus on my voice.”

“It’s going to be all right,” Jossy interjected, steering me outside and down the steps. “But Lex is wrong. You need to go to the hospital.”

Lex removed his leather jacket, swaddling me within its folds. “I don’t think that’s wise, brother. Make the call, and we can handle this.”

Jossy rubbed his lips with one finger and exhaled a breath.He situated himself up front with the driver as a wad of cash appeared in his hands.

“Get us to this address as fast as you can, and this is yours,” Jossy urged.

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