Page 5 of Frostbite, Lovebite

The ward shimmered to life in a rainbow of colors, and Match sighed softly to see it working. One down, nineteen to go. Six more he could activate. He'd worry about the remaining thirteen when he ran out of snowdrops.

So he worked, ignoring the biting, ever worsening cold. Whatever the others were doing, they weren't having much luck yet in stopping the jack frost.

By the time he got the seventh ward up, which at least took care of the vast majority of downtown and the very edge oftwo residential neighborhoods, he could barely feel his fingers and he couldn't feel his face.

Fortunately, he could see a shop he'd completely forgotten about in his confusion and dismay over Maddy's behavior and his drive to get the wards up—a flower shop. Eric was sure to have some snowdrops, he used them in a lot of his winter bouquets. It was an adorable shop, all glass-fronted, colorfully lit, one of the shops that had been around nearly as long as the town, owned by his mother, her mother, her father…

Still lit, neon sign said open, perfect.

He hastened across the street, moving as quickly as he dared in the snow—but right as he reached it, the lights and open sign went out. What the hell? Eric was on the other side of the glass, turned away, messing with something on a table.

Match banged on the glass door. "Eric! Come on, I just need some snowdrops real quick! Eric!"

But Eric only walked away as though Match wasn't there. As though they didn't do coffee and talk about plants a couple of times a month. Like he hadn't just bought an aloe plant and some rose petals from him last week.

What in the hell was going on? Eviction? Okay. Maddy kicking him out? Strange, but could still be coincidence. But eviction and two of the shops he frequented most pointedly having nothing to do with him? All on the same day?

Something weird was going on.

Unfortunately, it would have to wait, because he had a job to do even if no one would let him do it.

Dropping his satchel, he yanked off his outer layers until he wore only his perpetual tank top, maroon today, and his arms were bare. Pulling out a match, he struck it, set his left arm alight, and stuck the burnt end in his mouth.

He pressed his fingers to the casting symbols he needed, the flames going to them and burning brighter. Pressing hishand to the door, he willed it to unlock. When it had done so he turned the handle, threw the door open, and stormed inside, going straight for the fridges in the back, ignoring Eric's yelling and sputtering. Glancing through the glass-fronted fridges, he finally found them in the fourth one, yanking the door open and pulling out an entire container.

Throwing cash on the counter as he passed it, he stopped in front of a still-blustering Eric. "I don't know what the fuck is going on with you and Maddy, but refusing to help me when we are dealing with a jack frost could get people killed. If someone dies tonight because you wouldn't give me the damn snowdrops I needed to activate the town wards, I will ensure you never have a single day of peace the rest of your life. I thought you were my friend."

He stormed off, ignoring when Eric called after him. Slinging his bag over one shoulder, he gathered up the rest of his belongings and headed back to townhall.

Inside, safely away from the weather, he brushed off snow and dried off as best he could before pulling all his layers back on. Finally warm, or warm-ish at least, again he knelt to sort through the snowdrops. No doubt he'd be getting arrested for breaking and entering later, possibly theft though he had left money, but that was a problem for later.

Gathering up the thirteen he needed, he stashed the bucket with the remaining snowdrops in the breakroom fridge to return later.

He got the next ward activated, and headed for the next one when the scent of coffee drew his attention. His stomach growled, reminded of food, but a proper meal would have to wait. Coffee, though, coffee would befantastic.

Though it also reminded him of Eric, because this was the coffee shop they always hung out at. Pushing inside, he lifted a hand in greeting. "Hey—"

"We're closed."

"What?" He stared blankly at Heather. "It's barely five, you guys don't close for like three more hours."

"Too much snow," she said shortly, not quite looking at him. "I was just about to flip the sign and lock the door. Sorry, Match, you need to go."

He thought about arguing, but what was the point? There was clearly a trend. Fighting tears, hurt and humiliated, he left.

By the time he got another ward done, though, he could barely keep his eyes open and he wasn't even half done. The smell of coffee and cheap, greasy food washed over him as he passed the Katydid Diner. The namesake, Katy Mortimer, had died last year, but her son and granddaughter continued to run the diner, and it was a favorite spot of those who worked odd shifts and kids with limited spending money.

Inside, he soaked up the warm air, flexing his fingers to get them to unstiffen. Smiling at the man behind the counter, Ronnie, he stepped up to it ready to order the coffee he hadn't gotten before.

"You can't be in here."

Why had he bothered to hope the Katydid would be different? "What a fucking surprise," he said bitterly. "Working my ass off to protect all you assholes from a jack frost and what do I get? Everybody is fucking closed or just plain throwing me out? I have been in that snow for hours, would it fucking kill you to let me buy a single cup of coffee? Fuck all of you!"

He stormed out, tears stinging his eyes, making a mental note to buy some of those handwarmer thingies you just had to like break, or shake, or something. Or bother with putting castings for warmth on his clothes. He'd never needed to before, but usually people were happy to let him come inside and warm up and give him a goddamn cup of coffee.

He'd just gotten through activating four more wards when Benny's SUV pulled up. "What's up?" he asked as they spilled out and gathered around him. "I'm a little over half done. Did you find it?"

"Not it,them," Penelope said grimly. "There's at least two, and Traci says there's probably three of them, but the scents are so tangled and muddled it's hard to tell for certain."

---