Page 14 of Frosted Torment

Lex took a confident step forward. “Let’s see if we can help you make sense of it.”

“I saw my mom, and she was beautiful,” I whispered. “Radiant, actually. She wanted me to find out who killed her.”

Jossy shook his head, doubt clouding his eyes. “Are you sure you didn’t see what you wanted?”

“I’m leaving in a week, Jossy,” I confessed, then bit my bottom lip, waiting for him to respond.

His eyes widened as he glanced at Ivy. “And you knew about this, but didn’t say anything?”

She shrugged, meeting her brother’s startled gaze. “I found out before the party, but now do you understand?” She sighed deeply. “I had to do something.”

“Understand what?” I asked, confusion knitting my brows together.

“We knew you would plan this at some point, Noa. But why now?” asked Jossy.

I leaned my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. When I looked at them again, I saw concern covering their faces.

“This isn’t as unexpected as it sounds. I’m pretty sure my godparents know something about my mom’s death, and I’m going to hire a private investigator to help me.”

Lex ran a hand over his chin before walking to the fridge toget a soda, guzzling it in two gulps. He looked back at me with a heavy sigh. “So your job knows?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’ll stay at the bookstore until the end of next semester, but Mr. Dell said I could come back.”

“So that’s why Ivy pushed for the reading,” Lex concluded.

“What does that mean?” I asked, feeling as though I wasn’t the only one hiding information.

CHAPTER 6

Iraked my fingers through my tangled locks. “Y’all are freaking me out.”

“We’ll come back to you leaving, Noa. Finish telling us what you saw,” Jossy urged.

“Um, okay.” I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to remember. “I saw the three of you, but the rest was hazy, fragmented... like puzzle pieces I couldn’t fit together.”

Though I’d been able to trust them, if I mentioned the Baneful, it would get me admitted to a psychiatric hospital. I wasn’t ready to cross that threshold, but I wondered if they were already planning a trip for me to a padded cell. I felt a knot tighten in my chest as fear washed over me.

“Damn it!” I winced at nerves firing off like an explosion in my lip again.

“What is it?” Ivy squealed and scooted back from me.

I cursed under my breath and tried to push out theunsettling thoughts about psychiatric hospitals. I focused on the physical pain at hand – my lip.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her as I rubbed my aching scar.

Except I wasn’t, and despite my efforts, it continued to ache. The uncertainty of why it was happening now terrified me. My anxiety rose no matter how hard I tried to shake it off. Lex furrowed his brow in confusion, his fingers rubbing at the tension in his forehead. He took a long, slow breath and looked at Jossy.

“This is getting out of hand, you guys,” he stated.

Ivy shifted a few times next to me, crossing her legs back and forth, then stood when she couldn’t get settled. Her voice wavered as she looked at her brothers. “This situation isn’t going anywhere, and Noa needs to rest.”

“Sit down, Ivy,” Jossy snapped. “You’ve done enough.”

She pursed her lips and flung herself onto the couch with a huff. “You’re welcome, brother,” Ivy shot back.

“Hey there.” A woman with a rounded figure and blue scrubs walked in, beaming.

“Hello,” I offered, still dazed at my friends’ exchange.

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