Crown of Frost Read online

  Elaine stared down at the mess that surrounded her, uncomprehending.

  “What the hell?” she whispered to herself.

  It couldn’t be a joke. Adam wasn’t capable of that sort of humor. There had been absolutely no trace of sarcasm in his voice, no hint of the bitter fury he’d shown her the last time they’d seen each other.

  He’d simply… forgotten. Everything.

  Liam’s words floated back to her.

  “From now on, as far as you’re concerned, the two of you are strangers.”

  Elaine shook her head slowly. “That’s not possible,” she whispered. Even a small glimpse of Liam’s magic had convinced her that he was powerful… but this was something else entirely.

  If Liam had still been there, she would have had some pointed questions for him… but he wasn’t, she reminded herself. And she had dumplings to buy.

  Elaine was so distracted by her thoughts as she left that she collided directly into the man outside her shop.

  The two of them went sprawling in opposite directions, directly into the snow. Cold, wet slush dribbled up her coat, and she scrambled up to her feet, cursing.

  The man she’d run into was still dazed on the ground, blinking quickly. His knitted green scarf had unraveled from around his face, and his glasses had gone askew. As Elaine stared down at him, she realized that his eyes were a bright, uncanny green — a color that screamed of Arcadia.

  Elaine snatched a handful of seeds from her pocket, and pressed one booted foot to his neck.

  “Stay down,” she hissed. “I swear, I’ve had it up to here with warlocks circling around me like scavengers—”

  The man beneath her boot coughed, and held his hands up sheepishly. “You have the wrong idea!” he choked out hoarsely. “I’m here to help, I swear!”

  Elaine narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me if I don’t believe you,” she said. “What’s your name? Or at least… what do you call yourself?”

  He gave her a weak smile. “Just Simon is fine.” A violent shiver went down his body as he spoke. Another followed directly on its heels, and Elaine frowned.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

  “C-cold,” Simon managed. “This is not… comment dit on…” He dropped briefly into French, his brow knitted. “This is not my environment.”

  Elaine eased up her boot slightly, placing it instead upon his chest. “You’re not much of a warlock,” she observed slowly. “I would have thought you’d fight back at least a little bit.”

  “You’re afraid,” Simon said, with a hint of apology. “You have every right to be. I don’t wish to make things worse.”

  Elaine sighed and stepped away from him. She watched suspiciously, though, as he struggled up to his feet, wiping snow from his coat. As Simon reached down to retrieve his scarf, he gave it a forlorn look — it was soaking wet, and little use to him.

  Don’t feel bad for him, Elaine told herself stoically. Lord Blackfrost seemed nice too, at first.

  Simon sneezed once, pitifully, as though to give the lie to her thoughts. He reached up to adjust his glasses. “Forgive my directness,” he said, tugging his coat more closely about him. “But you are Elaine Halstead?”

  Elaine set her jaw. “Yes,” she said shortly. “I can’t remember the last time so many people wanted to know.”

  Simon winced. “Yes, well. I’m afraid that word has gotten around quite well at this point. All the faerie lords spy on one another. It helps them while away the hours to eternity.”

  “Fantastic,” Elaine said flatly. “And which one do you work for?”

  Simon glanced down at her. “I’m sworn to the Lady of Briars,” he said. “Er. After a fashion. It’s complicated.”

  Fear spiked through Elaine’s chest. She took a step back.

  Surprise flickered in Simon’s eyes. “You know her already?” he asked.

  “Leave,” Elaine told him. “Now.”

  Simon shifted on his feet, clearly unbalanced by the turn the conversation had taken. “I’m not sure what your previous relationship has been like,” he said slowly. “But as mad as she might be, the Lady has still offered to shelter you, if you need help. Given Lord Blackfrost’s renewed interest—”

  “I said leave,” Elaine hissed at him. She opened her Witchsight and tapped into her magic, unfurling one of the seeds in her hand. Phantom rose vines erupted in a rush of power, reaching out for the warlock with wicked thorns.

  Simon felt the change in the air. His eyes widened, and he stepped back, exerting his own power.

  With her Witchsight, Elaine felt it as a whisper of a warm spring breeze. Beneath it, she knew, was the hungry growth of summer, seeded deep into his soul. Simon pushed back at the thorns that reached out for him, exerting his will over them. Elaine felt the edges of the Lady’s power against hers — alien and all-consuming.

  “Miss Elaine!” Simon gasped. “I really don’t want to hurt you.”

  Elaine’s phantom briars inched closer toward him, however, and she narrowed her eyes. “I really don’t think you need to worry about that,” she told him.

  The Lady’s power was affected by the cold. Elaine’s power wasn’t.

  One of the vines writhed its way toward Simon’s ankle. As it closed around his skin, the thorns dug into his psyche, striking at his confidence and his sense of self. Elaine pushed him into a panic — just enough to convince him to leave, though not enough to leave any real, permanent damage.

  Simon staggered, and cast a startled look at his ankle. Witchsight, Elaine thought. He doesn’t just feel it — he can see it, too. He’s a witch, as well as a warlock.

  His resolve wavered beneath the onslaught of her magic. The pinch at his concentration made his own magic falter — then, like a tree breaking in a storm, the Briars fell apart, deserting him all at once.

  Elaine’s power wove around him, digging into his skin. Simon went pale, and his occasional shivers turned into uncontrollable trembling. He fumbled frantically in the pocket of his coat. As his hand came free, Elaine saw the glint of a small brass compass between his fingers.

  Simon pulled the compass to his heart, closing his eyes. And the world turned upside down.

  Elaine had the briefest impression of a distant green sky, and a strange, stationary sun. From the depths of Arcadia, a tangled briar reached out for Simon, carving through her magic’s thorns to pull him into its embrace.

  At first, she was worried that the Briars would reach out for her too, to drag her back with him… but they retreated with a hard snap of reality, and disappeared.

  Elaine was left standing alone in the snow outside of her shop, as the sun went down.

  Chapter 8

  “Three warlocks, Lainey?” Jenna gave her an incredulous look over her dumplings. Her hazel eyes were dull, and there were still dark circles beneath them, but Jenna had assured Elaine that she was fit to do magic anyway. “Okay, look. I’ve never pried into your past. But what did you do to get three of them on your case?”

  Elaine winced. “That’s the thing,” she said. “I don’t remember. Not everything, anyway.” She paused over one of her own dumplings. “The Lady of Briars was always interested in me, though. She’s insane — once she decided she wanted me for her gardens, there was absolutely no stopping her. She terrorized me. When Lord Blackfrost showed up and offered to protect me from her, I was so worn down that I took him up on his deal.” She shuddered, and glanced down. “That… didn’t end well.”

  Jenna narrowed her eyes. “You don’t mean the same Lord Blackfrost that Liam works for?” she said. Her voice dripped with suspicion.

  “Same mantle,” said Elaine. “Different person. I… I killed Lord Blackfrost when I escaped his custody.”

  Jenna goggled. She leaned over the table, and lowered her voice. “You what?” she hissed.

  Elaine took a deep breath. “The new Lord Blackfrost left me with a debt, in return for giving him the mantle. Now, with Liam tracking me down to ask for help, ever
yone seems to think I know something deadly about Lord Blackfrost. But I don’t. I don’t remember how I killed the first one, let alone how I’d kill the second one.”

  Jenna fell heavily back into the booth. A dazed look flickered over her face. “Wow, Lainey,” she muttered. “No wonder my uncle sent me to you.”

  Elaine knitted her brow. Something about the statement tugged at her attention. “You said you’ve got previous experience with Arcadia,” she said. “I’ve spilled my secrets. What about you?”

  Jenna blinked slowly, behind her glasses. She pulled her arms around herself, suddenly more tired-looking than before. “…you really want to know?” she asked in a small voice.

  “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” Elaine said curiously.

  Jenna sighed. “Gabe,” she said. “Arcadia took Gabe.”

  Elaine raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Gabe?”

  A miserable look overtook Jenna’s features. “My best friend,” she said. “No… best friend doesn’t even describe it. I can’t remember a time before we were friends.” She blinked back tears. “But he was mortal and… and it’s my fault, Lainey. I showed him Arcadia. I just wanted to share something with him, something cool and magical.”

  A grim understanding settled into Elaine’s chest. “Something took him?” she asked.

  “Something took him,” Jenna whispered. “But not the way you’re thinking.” She wiped at her eyes. “He’s a warlock now. He’s bound to the Lord of the Looking Glass. He’s not even himself anymore, Lainey, it’s… it’s horrible. He looks the same, and he mostly talks the same, but he’s done really awful things, and none of them bother him at all.” She went silent for a long moment. Then: “I had to leave New York, to hide from him. It really… really sucks.”

  Elaine shivered. Like Liam, she thought. He’s losing himself. How awful must that be, to be so aware that it’s happening?

  “I’m so sorry, Jenna,” Elaine said softly. “I didn’t mean to drag you into this sort of thing all over again.”

  Jenna did her best to hide a sniffle behind her sleeve. “Whatever,” she forced out. “You’ve been teaching me and protecting me this whole time. It’s not like you went out looking to piss off a bunch of warlocks just to get me in trouble.” She fixed her eyes back on Elaine. “What is it with you and Liam? What does he want from you?”

  Elaine winced. “What you just described is… something like what’s happening with Liam,” she admitted. “He’s trying to fight the process. It’s why he needs… what I’ve forgotten. He’s hoping it’ll give him back some of his humanity.”

  Jenna rubbed at her arms. “It’s not enough,” she said dully. “Whatever it is… you can’t fight the kind of hold a faerie lord has on their warlock. Warlocks sell their souls, Lainey.”

  Elaine forced a helpless smile. “I know,” she said. “But I have to try. Maybe it will help… for a little bit, at least. Long enough for me to find a way to buy Liam’s contract from Blackfrost.”

  Jenna gave her a sharp look. “You’re serious?” she said. “You want to try and bargain with a faerie lord? Lainey, that’s…”

  “A terrible idea,” she agreed. “Which is why you ought to stay very far away from me once I actually carry it out.” Elaine glanced at the basket of dumplings in front of her apprentice. “I think those are getting cold,” she suggested.

  Jenna snatched back up her chopsticks.

  “This conversation iddint done,” Jenna mumbled through a mouthful of pork.

  Elaine stayed very carefully silent, instead of responding.

  They still had quite a lot of time before midnight, so Elaine took Jenna up on her standing invitation to watch superhero movies at her apartment. Around eleven in the evening, as the world was being saved for a second time, they bundled themselves up and packed up their magical tools.

  High Park was utterly deserted when they got there. Tucked away quite close to Elaine’s garden shop in Parkdale, the place was normally full of verdant green and winding footpaths — but in the dead of winter, it was so frosted over and covered in snow that the footpaths had disappeared. Elaine and Jenna headed past the lonely children’s garden, toward the picturesque shoreline of Grenadier Pond.

  A thin sheet of ice had frozen overtop a large part of the pond. Jenna nodded in satisfaction, and tugged out a flashlight. “You said looking past the Arcadian veil is really hard,” she observed. “So we ought to take every advantage we can get. It’s memories of Blackfrost you’re after, so we’re going to want to mimic it as much as possible. This is the closest place I could think of to do the scrying. Sitting up in the cold at midnight shouldn’t hurt too much either.”

  A slow, creeping dread had settled into Elaine’s stomach as they walked. Now, as Jenna spoke, she realized why. This is bringing back memories, she thought. Or at least emotions. I guess… that’s a good thing.

  “You’ve been doing some research of your own, I see,” Elaine observed, shoving down her unease.

  “Duh,” Jenna said, with a roll of her eyes. “I’m an academic, Lainey. I always research first.” She offered the flashlight out toward Elaine, who took it obligingly. “Would you mind holding onto this for me? I need to set up.”

  Jenna pulled an old blanket from her bag, and threw it out over the ground. She set out a shallow, metallic kitchen bowl on top of it — then, she fished out a thermos from her bag, and poured the bowl full of freshly-steaming water. She settled onto the blanket, and tugged the bowl closer to herself. A triumphant smile crossed her lips. “We’ve got moonlight,” she said. “Perfect.” Cancer witches could use solid anchors, like the moonstone and silver necklace that Jenna normally wore — but their most powerful affinity was for moonlight, which best fuelled their spells.

  Jenna patted the blanket, and Elaine settled herself across from her apprentice, on the other side of the bowl. Skeletal, frozen tree branches loomed at the edges of her eyesight in the darkness. The fear in her stomach grew. Her breath came more quickly. She closed her eyes, and tried to steady herself.

  “You okay?” Jenna asked warily.

  Elaine nodded. She took a moment to find her voice. “We should… do this quickly,” she said. She didn’t explain herself further, but she thought there might be a flicker of understanding in Jenna’s eyes.

  “All right,” Jenna said softly. “I’m gonna… turn off the flashlight. Don’t freak out, okay?”

  Elaine pressed her lips together, and said nothing.

  The flashlight went out.

  The branches behind her yawned over them in her mind’s eye. The crackle of ice beneath them wormed its way inside her bones. Her body remembered what it was to be cold — utterly frozen and without warmth.

  A tingle shivered through the air. Elaine opened her Witchsight, and saw Jenna gathering up motes of moonlight in her hands. Like a tiny aurora, it wheeled around her, reflecting off her pale skin. The sight of it gave even Elaine’s deep-seated fears a brief pause, as she watched in wonder.

  The light sank down into the water of the bowl, setting it aglow. Jenna leaned forward, and took Elaine’s hands in hers. “Take a look,” she said. “I’m going to turn this into a representation of your mind. We’ll dive in together. I won’t see what you see, but I’ll kind of… nudge you around, wherever you need to go.”

  Elaine nodded, forcing herself to relax. “All right,” she mumbled. “Don’t push yourself though, Jenna. You have to promise me you’ll stop the moment you start feeling overwhelmed.”

  Jenna sighed, and squeezed her hands. “Fine,” she said. “Scout’s honor. Come on, and let’s do this.” Moonlight coiled around her, sinuous and otherworldly. “Focus on the water, and bring up an anchor memory I can start from. What’s the last clear memory you have from before Arcadia?”

  Elaine pressed her lips together — but she turned her eyes to the black water in front of her and did her best to comply. “Lord Blackfrost,” she murmured. “He showed up on Samhain. We talked in my garden.” She
conjured up the image in her head: the shadows coalescing, forming into the tall, pale figure of the faerie lord. His noble features, his frightful blue eyes… but he spoke so softly, she remembered. Lord Blackfrost had calmed her initial fears so easily, with just the right suggestion of interest and commiseration.

  “He offered his protection from the Lady of Briars,” she breathed, falling slowly into the trance. “I asked what he might want in return. He seemed… sympathetic, as much as a faerie can be. He asked only for a rose from my garden in return.”

  Jenna winced. “Ouch. No offense, Lainey, but…”

  “Yeah,” Elaine sighed. The faerie lord in her mind’s eye smiled coldly as she took him up on his offer. “I should have figured it was way too easy. But… he was very good at pretending to care. And I wanted to believe him too badly.” She took a long, deep breath. “He stole me away to Arcadia. He said I would be forever safe from the Lady of Briars at the heart of his realm. So of course… I would never be allowed to leave.”

  The image of Lord Blackfrost in her mind slowly resolved in the pitch-black surface of the water in front of her. There was no longer any kindness in his eyes, feigned or otherwise. The air before him tore open with a howl of wind and snow. Elaine felt the cold begin to creep up her body…

  The image stuttered. Jenna hissed in surprise. Elaine felt her strain her magic, pushing harder. “Damn,” her apprentice hissed. “This is weird. It’s like someone tore your memories into confetti and threw them around everywhere. No wonder you’re only getting bits and pieces.” Jenna’s magic rippled through the water, with a strange twist of light. “I’m not going to be able to brute force this,” Jenna admitted. “I might be able to piece some stuff together if you give me somewhere to start, though. What’s your next clearest memory, Lainey?”

  A tall stone willow, its branches carved from ice. She huddled beneath it, but it gave no shelter against the chill.

  “I remember the Lifeless Garden,” she whispered. “It’s always been there, in my nightmares.”