Page 6 of Frostbite, Lovebite

"Especially as it's so fucking cold and getting colder. They vanished for now, and with it so dark now it's not safe to hunt for them in the woods, even for us. We were gonna warm up, get some food, and come up with a plan."

"We'll help you finish the wards first. Surprised you're not further along," Ronan said. "Did you run into trouble?"

"Of a sort, nothing I couldn't handle though it may come back to bite me in the ass later," and waved the matter aside when Benny and Ronan started to ask more questions. "Let's get this done, because I'm exhausted and food would be great."

Ronan continued to regard him with concern, which was sweet and disconcerting because Match really didn't feel like sharing all the humiliating parts of his day, but he was going to have to eventually and look like a pathetic fucking fool in the process. Thankfully, Ronan didn't say anything, only pulled him in close whenever they were driving, and stayed close while he activated the wards.

"We swung by your place so I could take care of your pixies, by the way," Ronan said. "Didn't want you to worry about them."

"Thank you," Match replied, because he had been worried about them, he'd just been forced to ignore that worry for bigger problems. He'd left them with extra food before, but that had been when he'd planned on being back really late or first thing in the morning.

By the time it was finally finished, Match was dead on his feet. He'd wolfed down a couple of protein bars while he worked, but they'd barely made a dent in the energy depletion. Being a witch could be a real bitch sometimes.

They convened at Benny's house like usual, and Match nearly wept to see the food that was already laid out, no doubt done by Benny and Traci's neighbor, Joan, who was always helping that out with things like this. Nothing fancy, just food from like at least four fast food places, but who needed fancy? Not Match. He needed calories, and he preferred they be easy to get and delicious. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, salad, cheeseburger, fruit cup, and a sweet tea the size of his head.

"Almost feel human again," he said when he was finally finished. Around the table, everyone else looked much the same, since everyone but Penelope used up calories on a level with professional athletes.

"I'm glad I don't pay your food bills," Penelope said. "My family tries to convince me I eat too much, but around ya'll I feel like I don't eat enough."

"It can be a bitch on a day like this," Match said around a yawn. "So what's our glorious plan?"

"Rest," Benny said. "In the morning, we'll put Penelope and Traci back on scouting. When we have a general area, you'll make certain they can't leave that area and then we'll start narrowing it. We'll also have to figure out how to divide them, because taking on all three at once is a fool's game, but one problem at a time."

"I can't believe there's three," Match said. "That isn't possible. They're born of vengeance, and three murders happen at the same time and they all turn into jack frosts? That's hinky."

Ronan lifted his head from where he'd rest it on his folded arms. "You think they were what, made on purpose? Is that even possible?"

"It's notimpossible, but the only other option is that someone went out, caught three different jack frosts, and brought them here. The amount of knowledge, skill, and sheer effort that would require is astronomical. Look how exhausted you all are just from tracking and fighting them. No, depressing as it is, murdering three people and forcing them into becoming jack frosts would be easier and more effective, especially since you could set control spells in place right from the start. Butwhy."

"I can't answer why, but after a nap I can definitely find likely victims," Penelope said. "That will give us something to work with."

"Sounds good," Match replied around a yawn. "I'm gonna go crash." While he waited for the cops to show up to arrest him, but he wasn't dealing with that problem until it knocked on the door. Hopefully it would keep until the problem was resolved, because he really didn't want to bother the others with whatever weird ass drama he had going on, least of all in the middle of this mess.

Upstairs, he took the guest room he normally used when he was here, because Benny and Traci had a truly ridiculous house, though that was partly because as the leader Benny was expected to have room for his whole team at all times. This house had always served that purpose, and continuing that tradition meant a lot to him.

In his room, he threw his clothes in a laundry basket he kept there and took home periodically, then headed into the bathroom and took the hottest shower he could handle. He hadn't been in there long when the door opened and a familiar figure stepped inside. "Room for one more?"

"Always," Match said, "but don't expect anything frisky, I'm fucking tired."

Ronan laughed and took over the washing, deft and graceful as always, even in the most mundane things. "I'm going to sleep like a rock, that's for certain. Should have seen the bastards, creepy as hell."

"Seen pictures, even a shaky video my aunt took once a million years ago," Match replied. He soaped up Ronan's hair, then his own. Thankfully, the showers in Benny's house were as ridiculous as the rest of it, one more than capable of handling two people, triple showerheads and everything. Sometimes he came over just to use the fancy shower and take a nap in peace, though rarely, because the last thing he wanted was Benny harassing him about just moving in or something. He loved his friends, but none of them understood how much he just wanted to be on his own without having to rely on anyone else, not be the roommate they felt sorry for and shit.

Once they were finished showering, he pulled on gray sweats and a navy blue tank top. Exhausted though he was, he was still happy to admire Ronan in nothing but sweatpants, sword and armor tattoos shimmering ever so faintly.

After they were in bed, lights out, Ronan asked, "Are you all right? You've seemed slightly off since we went to your apartment."

"Lemme process a little longer."

"Okay." Ronan kissed the back of his neck, and was asleep shortly after.

Lying there safe and warm in Ronan's arms, secure behind the wards he'd laid around the house, his problems almost seemed distant and minor. But two people he had considered friends had refused to help him, hadn't eventalkedto him really. On the same day his parents' old friend had evicted him with no warning on a bogus reason.

Eviction notices usually gave you five days with circumstances like this, and he was already down one. Just four days to capture and kill three jack frosts, get a storage unit, pack up and transport his stuff and, most painful of all, rehome his pixies.

Thinking about it, when he'd had some of them for years and now he'd soon have sprites because of the breeding male he'd caught back in December… it wasn'tfair, he had gotten permission. He was a good tenant, there'd never been a single complaint. He was a good customer, a good friend, a goodwitch.

Hopefully it was an easily fixed problem, but he had the sinking feeling things were only going to get worse. Much, much worse.

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