Frostbite (Touch of Frost) by Lynn Rush Read Free Book Online Page A

Mandy, can’t you talk to me like a normal human and not be such a jerk?”
    “Maybe if I were normal and human.”
    “You know I hate it when you say that. You. Are. Human.”
    “Oh. So, can you freeze things with your hands? Make ice baseballs? Bench press a motor home?”
    He stood and raised his arms in surrender. “I don’t have the answers to any of that.” He shoved his hands in his hair and left them resting on the top of his head.
    I flopped onto the softness of my bed and scrubbed my face. I didn’t know why I had these powers, how Mom got them, and the not knowing really pissed me off.
    Mom’s scream echoed in my ears.
    I hate what I am.
    The bed sank next to me, and I peeked. Scott sat close. His head hung low. He hugged his stomach like he was cold. Matter of fact, he shivered, too. I sprang to my feet. An electric-blue layer of frost covered both of my arms. Scott’s breath plumed in front of his mouth like little white clouds. Reminded me of Minnesota in the dead of winter.
    “Settle down, Mandy.”
    “Easy for you to say.” I leaned my head into the palms of my hands. They were covered with frost, but they didn’t feel cold to me. I closed my eyes and focused on regulating my breathing. “I have no idea how to control this stuff.”
    “Sure you do. You made a baseball earlier. And it’s already starting to warm up in here again.” He chuckled. “At least our air conditioning bill will be low in the summer. I hear they’re outrageous here in the desert.”
    “Ha, ha.” It’s all funny to him because he doesn’t have to worry about freezing anyone to death by accident. Hell, my time of the month could be lethal. For him especially.
    I walked to my dresser and dug out a hair tie from the top drawer. Maybe we should leave. What if I couldn’t fend the Coats off if they attack again?
    The memory of the day they’d turned me into a killer slammed into me.
    Two jerks towered over me, cloaked in white hospital garb. The chick had a bun on her head with her hair pulled back so tight, her amber eyes slanted. She clung to her precious clipboard like she would a lifejacket in the stormy ocean.
    “Where am I? Where’s Scott?”
    “Scott’s fine. It’s you we want to talk to.”
    “Talk, my ass.” I lurched against the metal restraints again. “You want to dissect me.”
    Knowing how to use my powers better would come in handy right about now so I could freeze these clamps.
    “There will be no dissecting, Mandy,” the tight hair chick said.
    “Tell that to my mom and dad.” Images of their bloody wrists and mangled bodies flashed before my eyes. “You and your damn white coats. You killed them.”
    White puffs of air billowed from the two scientists’ mouths.
    “Mandy.” The tall, balding guy reached for a little silver tray set beside me. “We just want to talk.”
    More needles.
    The restraints dug into my wrists as I thrashed again. “No. Let me go.” I screamed so loud, my throat went numb.
    The woman stepped away from me. The lens of her glasses crackled with frost. “Hurry, Landon, she’s losing control.”
    “Never had control, lady.”
    A dull thud drummed at the base of my neck. My fingers iced over. Glistening white frost solidified the chair I was pinned to. It streamed down the legs and over the puke-green carpet toward the two standing in front of me.
    The man stepped forward, needle primed and ready. I jerked my hand, snapping the restraints. The frost encasing the metal must have weakened it—or my strength was raging like the anger coursing through me.
    I gripped his wrist. Bones crunched beneath the pressure of my fingers. He opened his mouth, but only one last cloud of white air came out as the rest of his body went rigid.
    The scientist behind him screamed. I pointed my free hand in her direction, and ice encased her. Clipboard and all. I ripped the metal clamps off my other arm, waist, and legs, then leapt to my feet. The wires connected to me tugged at my