Page 7 of Jilted By Jack Frost
And the prophecies have never lied before.
They warned that love would be my undoing, that allowing myself to feel anything but cold indifference would spell doom for everything I’ve spent centuries protecting. My subjects. My kingdom. The delicate balance of winter itself.
But if I can get Violet Jones out of my realm before her warmth sets in, perhaps the damage she causes will be containable. Fixable. Something I can hope to reverse.
Though I’m not even sure where to begin when it comes to sending her back home. It’s not the same as sending myself between realms—I am nothing more than a lifelike hologram when I visit the moral realm. Real andnot all at once, thanks to my magic. But Violet Jones does not have magic. She is merely human. Getting her home will require an entirely different sort of magic.
But it’s not impossible. If it were, she never would have found herself here in the first place. It’s just going to take time. Time I may not have, but will somehow need to find.
Everything else has suddenly become secondary. The only thing that matters until she’s gone is figuring outhowI’m going to make that happen.
Violet shivers, but says, “It’s so beautiful here.”
“I take pride in my kingdom.”
She murmurs something beneath her breath, then says louder, “Clearly.”
I turn to cast a look at her over my shoulder. “What was that?”
“I said ‘clearly’.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Before that.”
“Oh, nothing.” She laughs lightly. “Just that this is what I get for wanting a little adventure.”
Violet looks up at the sky as if it has anything to do with this. “I meant Hawaii, not an entirely different fucking planet.” She narrows her gaze, then adds, “One with two moons. Beautiful sky, though. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Too much pollution where I live, you know?”
“Yes,” I say, nodding. “You mortals are disgusting things.”
She presses a hand to her chest and pouts her lips. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said all day.”
“It’s been thirty minutes since I met you.”
“Maybe, but I’d bet it’ll still hold true.”
A good guess on her part, but not one I’m willing to admit to.
“No need to keep talking,” I say instead. “When we get to the palace, I’ll have a servant take you to your room. You can rest and warm up and I’ll figure out how to get you home.”
“So you’re going to lock me in a room until you kick me out of your realm?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. Go wherever you’d like, so long as it’s away from me.”
“Well. I’m feeling more and more welcome already.”
“Then it seems I’m setting the wrong tone.” I don’t bother looking at her as I turn down the cobbled path. The icy gates to my castle sense my magic and begin to open for me in anticipation.
Violet grumbles under her breath. “It was a joke.”
“Semantics,” I reply briskly. Then I turn to face Violet. “So long as we’re clear on you keeping well away from me, Violet Jones, I don’t particularly care what you do.”
“Fine,” she snaps.
“Fine.”