Page 18 of Frosted Torment

Jossy replied, “I warded the area. We’re safe.” He looked directly at me. “That thing was a demon. Some kind of energy in you repelled it.” His eyes darted skyward momentarily. “And you brought us here.”

“Wait, I teleported us from the intersection to... the middle of nowhere?” My voice trembled with disbelief.

Lex passed out water bottles from a stash by the roadside. “Yep, because we can’t do that. We move quickly but can’t just appear anywhere.”

As Lex handed me a bottle, I took a long gulp, trying towrap my head around Jossy’s revelation. The weight of his words felt like heavy chains pulling me down.

A demon? Energy repelling it from me? Teleporting? It all sounded unreal—as if I’d stumbled into an alternate dimension.

CHAPTER 7

My 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 getperspective 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.

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