“I am sorry.” Loki reached out a hand and his fingers brushed mine, surprising me. “I really am.” He withdrew, and I found myself a bit disappointed. I’d had the crazy impulse to grab his hand and hold on. He was somehow both strange and comforting.
“Look,” he said. “I’ll take you there, to California. It will take a few days, but this van should get us there.”
“Is that part of your job too,” I asked, “driving me to California?”
“Sure it is.” He grinned. “Why not?”
Loki punched the buttons on the radio, tuning into a rock station, and I lay back and shut my eyes for awhile, listening to him sing along. He had a nice voice actually, a little bit raspy now and then, but nice. My mind wandered, I tried to picture myself running away to California without telling Dave, but I just couldn’t do it. Charlotte’s face suddenly swam before me, giving me a guilty start. I hadn’t even really considered the girls at school. I was almost positive that Amy and her friends had been taken, the same way I had, but what about Charlotte? Was she one of us? Or was Amy right in thinking she’d missed the cut? I remembered what Loki had said about the experiments with mixing blood not working sometimes. Was Charlotte a cast off? I hoped so, it made me break out in a cold sweat thinking about someone clonking little Charlotte over the head and dragging her off to some ice palace.
I suddenly remembered what the weight in my pocket was, and pulled out my cell phone. I didn’t have to worry if she was okay, I could text her and make sure. My fingers hovered over the buttons for a second. What should I write? Pretty sure I shouldn’t say, “Hey, been kidnapped yet?”
I settled for a simple, “hey” and obviously if she texted me back, she wouldn’t be doing so while kidnapped.
I noticed Loki staring at me.
“Don’t worry, I’m just texting one of the girls at school. She looks like me, but she isn’t tall. Do you think the Queen would want her too?”
“I’m not sure, it depends what she wants them-you guys, for. It sounds like her blood didn’t mix well though, so probably not.”
I heaved a sigh of relief and returned my phone to my pocket, telling myself she was fine, that she would text back in a minute; she was just busy reading a teen magazine or something. That seemed like something she’d read.
We drove on for an hour longer, and Loki took the opportunity to describe his home, the city of Muspelheim.
“You should see it, Megan, it amazing. The palace is all done in oak, with the most beautifully crafted urns and jars you’ve ever seen, all fired in the royal kilns and there are giant feasts in the great hall, where the fire roars eternally in the hearth. Wine flows endlessly, and there is no end to the merriment. “ Loki’s face was glowing as he spoke, and I wished I could see what he was seeing in his memories.
“And what’s the palace of the Frost Giants look like?” I asked eagerly.
His smile slipped a little. “Ah, cold. It’s all made of solid ice.”
My mouth dropped open. “Get real!”
Loki glanced over at me and laughed. “You should see your face! I am real. The whole damn thing is made of chunks of ice.”
I shivered. “Sounds unpleasant.”
“Oh, it is. Horrible place, so cold.”
“I probably wouldn’t feel it.”
He glanced at me curiously, then took one hand off the wheel and seized my left hand, just like I’d wished he’d do earlier. His fingers locked into mine, and his palm pressed against my hand. I could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
“Hey…” I stammered, feeling myself flush. “What are you…”
“Yup.” He released my hand and put his own back on the wheel. “You're freezing.”
“Well, I’m always cold here.” I rubbed my palm, feeling the tingling warmth of contact start to fade. “And you feel hot.”
He gave me another mischievous grin. “Why thank you.”
“That’s not what I meant!” I squawked indignantly, and he laughed,
“I know. I’m just kidding. My body temperature is actually way higher than a normal human being, and yours is way lower, and still dropping.” He regarded me seriously now. “You’ll have to make sure you avoid contact with people. Wear gloves.” His mouth quirked at the corner suddenly. “And don’t go freezing any more boys.”
“So, wait,” I cried. “I can’t touch people? I can’t ever have a normal relationship?”
“With another Frost Giant you could.” He grimaced. “But most of them are horrible in relationships. But you didn’t turn me into a popsicle, did you?”
“No,” I said slowly. “So your heat sort of counteracts my cold?”
“Exactly.”
I let that one stew around in my brain for a while, watching the snow-crusted houses flick past as we drove onwards. I was fairly sure we were back in Grande Prairie, but we must have been on the outskirts or something, because I didn’t recognize the area.
“We’re here.”
We pulled into a long, winding driveway at the bottom of a snow laden hill. The van’s tires crunched and squeaked on the way up, spinning uselessly a couple times, and we almost didn’t make it up. We both heaved a sigh as we crested the hill, finding an empty spot alongside several iced over cars in the tiny parking lot.
“It’s a bed and breakfast,” Loki explained. “I figure they’ll be checking all the hotels, and this place is pretty tiny and out of the way. We’ll wait here a few days. I’m betting they’ll expect you to high tail it out of town right away, so they’ll be watching the roads.”
“Okay great.” I paused in the midst of opening my door, looking down at myself. “Um, Loki?”
“Crap.” He looked embarrassed. “Sorry, of course you can’t go in there like that. They’ll think I kidnapped you.” He shrugged out of the jacket he was wearing and handed it to me. “Here, zip that up over your night gown. It will kind of look like you’re wearing a dress.” He bit his lip, looking worried. “I don’t have any shoes for you though. Damn.”
“How do we explain no shoes?” I looked down at my feet, remembering I’d used blue toenail polish yesterday. How ironic of me.
“Maybe they won’t notice?” He said.
“Yeah right,” I grumbled, but we climbed out of the van and walked to the door together. Oh no, they wouldn’t notice a pair of teenagers, one in a dress and no shoes in below zero weather. Not weird at all.
The walkway up to the house was decorated by little stone dwarves, each holding up a glass lantern. Someone had clearly made an effort at a garden, but it was blanked over by snow.
There was a little arched window set in the door, and Loki rapped on it with his knuckles. After a moment of quite there was the pit pat of footsteps from inside, and the door creaked open to reveal a short woman with glasses and long brown hair.
“Hullo dearies. You must be Loki and Megan. I’m Debbie.” Her voice was high and pleasant and she beamed at both of us. “Come in. Do come in!”
We came in, and she surveyed us with interest, probably taking in the fact that we were both taller than her by several feet, and that I had no shoes on. Whatever her conclusions about us were, she simply blinked and then sang out, “Follow me to your room. This way.”
Trailing after her, I whispered, "How does she know our names?"
Loki smirked. "I called ahead. Knew there'd be two of us if I decided to try to rescue you."
The house was beautifully decorated with antique furniture. We passed the living room, full of dark curling chairs and couches, dusty bookshelves lined the walls and the place was lit by standing lamps with red tasselled lamp shades. We followed Debbie up a long, dark wooden stair case and entered a hallway.
“Your room is just here on the left.” Debbie smiled warmly at us. “Please do let me know if I can help you with anything. My husband Bill and I are always just downstairs within shouting distance.”
“Thank you so much.” Loki gave her a charming smile, and then turned and placed a hand on the small of my back, ushering me into the room. “We’ll be sure to call if we need something.”
Debbie’s footsteps retreated down the staircase as we surveyed our room. It was done up the same way the living room downstairs was, in dark antique furniture.
“Wow,” I gasped. “It's a canopy bed! That’s so cool!”
I ran over and sat on it, the mattress was firm, obviously not an antique. I traced my fingers over the worn down surface of one of the posts. I had always imagined myself sleeping in one of these when I was a little girl. To me, it was what princesses slept in.
“This is so beautiful.”
Loki was regarding me in amusement. He followed me to the bed and sat down beside me. “I’m glad you like it.”
His knee brushed mine as he adjusted his position on the bed so that he was sitting cross legged. I couldn’t help but notice how close he was.
“Cool.” He pointed at the nightstand beside the bed. “There’s even an old fashioned wash basin.” His gaze slid sideways onto my face, and he suddenly smiled.
“I have an idea. Come here.”
My heart gave a surprised lurch as he grabbed my hand. Again, his skin felt incredibly warm against mine. He stood up and pulled me off the bed.
“Come on. I’ll show you something neat.”
I allowed him to lead me to the nightstand beside the bed, where we stopped.
“Stand here.” He guided me in front of him, facing the water basin, a white porcelain jar sat inside it, paintings of pink and blue flowers wrapped around the base and up the spout.
“Is there water in it?” He still had a hold of my hand as I leaned forward to peer inside the pitcher. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Loki brought his other arm around to grasp the handle of the pitcher, reaching around me so his chest was pressed to my back, and his chin was nearly touching my cheek. I could suddenly smell a faint hint of cologne. He tipped the pitcher forward and the water flowed out in a clear stream into the white basin. He stopped when it was half full, and set the jug down on the corner of the night stand.
“Watch this,” he murmured, and his breath was warm on the back of my neck. I tried to repress a shiver as his hand slid upwards from my hand, his fingers curling around my wrist. He guided my hand towards the water in the basin, and I watched, holding my breath, as he skimmed my fingers over the surface of the water. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the surface of the water stilled, a thin crackling noise came from the basin, and I watched in astonishment as the water turned solid in a rapid formation of layers, right down to the very bottom. I gasped and jerked my hand backwards, but Loki held onto it,
“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing. Touch it.”
He let go of my hand, and hesitantly I reached out and ran one finger over the shimmering surface. It slid across my skin like silk, water droplets clinging to my fingers.
Loki’s hands were on my waist suddenly, and he turned me around gently to face him.
“See?” He smiled down at me, his eyes searching my face.
“I turned it into ice,” I whispered, fearing that if I said it loudly I might shatter this fragile new discovery. “I can turn water into ice?”
“You can.”
Loki dropped his hands from my waist and stood back. I wished he hadn’t.
“Megan? Are you alright? You’re looking pale.”
“I need to sit.” I staggered over to the canopy bed and sat down heavily.
Loki perched on the edge of the mattress beside me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you. I just thought you should know…”
“It’s okay.” I shook my head. “Don’t feel bad, I’m glad you showed me. I just…it will take me a bit…” I rubbed my forehead, discovering I was suddenly overwhelmingly tired.
Loki seemed to read my expression. “I’m an idiot. You’ve been dragged out of bed, kidnapped and driven all over the countryside, and then I make you use your ability for the first time. You should be sleeping. Lie down.” He stood and leaned over me to draw back the corner of the comforter. There was no way I was going to argue with that, since the bed looking totally inviting right now. He turned and strode to the door. “Have a nap, you need some rest. I’ll get you some clothes in town. And you’ll need some shoes.”
I smiled sleepily at him. “I don’t need shoes. I’m like frosty the snow man, just get me a corn cob pipe and a button nose.”
He snorted with laughter. “I think your sleep deprivation is making you delirious. Sleep tight, sweetheart.”
The door clicked shut, and my eyes lids drooped closed. The warm glow of the gas fireplace cast an orange light against my eyelids. As I slid into dreams I thought about how he’d called me sweetheart. I decided I liked it.