I pressed my fingers hard into my palms as they rounded into fists. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

  She moved, the shimmering fabric of her dress shifting around her form as she switched her legs over and crossed them the other way.

  She tilted her head, white-blond tassels tapering down her neck. She was stunning. Even if you were an ordinary human and you had no idea about the existence of magic, you would realize there was something otherworldly about her. She looked like a painting come to life.

  She continued to watch me for several seconds, and I never uncurled my fingers. I kept my back ramrod straight and my expression as stiff as steel as I considered her warily. “What do you want, and who are you?” I repeated once more, my voice punchier than I would have thought were possible several months ago, let alone several weeks ago.

  “I am just like you: a goddess of the Drift,” she said. She brought a hand out and gestured to me. At first, her expression was welcoming, but then it stiffened however subtly, her brows locking together as her lips pushed hard above her teeth. “Well, not just like you; for you are half-human. I am a full goddess.” She brought her hand back and flattened it over her chest, her elegant, long fingers spreading over the shimmering fabric.

  It was my turn for my brow to drop and press hard against my eyes. “What do you want? How did you get in here?” I demanded.

  “While this quaint mansion and its magical protection may be able to keep out humans, it cannot keep out one of your kind. For it was one of your kind – your grandmother – who built this place.”

  My back felt as if somebody had poured concrete into my vertebrae. I’d never stood straighter and nor had my teeth ever clenched as tightly as I sneered. “What do you want?” I demanded for the third and final time. I was not the kind of girl to reach for a weapon, or at least I hadn’t been the kind of girl who would reach for a weapon. Now I had a Drift sword, the option was always there. I threatened to do just that as I unhooked one of my fists and spread my fingers wide.

  So far the woman had only looked on at me with a range of curiosity and mild disdain plastered over her perfect features. Now her cheeks grew a little slack as her gaze stiffened. “There is no need for that. I am not here to attack you, frozen witch.”

  “Then what are you here to do?” I let the question blast out of my lips as if it were a shot from a gun.

  She pushed up from the chair. She unhooked her arms. She took a step towards me, that blue-white dress glistening as it swung against her svelte form. “I’m here to offer you assistance.”

  “Assistance?” I arched an eyebrow high. Though she’d told me there was no need to draw my sword, that didn’t mean I relaxed my grip. I kept my hand spread stiffly, and wouldn’t close my fingers until I was 150% sure she wasn’t here to attack me.

  She took several steps to the side, brought her hands around her back, and grasped them gently. She kept her head angled towards me.

  The room was large enough that she could keep pacing, and I’d walked far enough from the wall that she could pace all the way around me, circling me like a shark.

  I watched her warily, waiting.

  “We can help each other,” she announced.

  “How can I help you?”

  “Stop the invasion that is coming.”

  “Invasion?” My eyebrows clunked low over my eyes. “You’re talking about the fake gods?”

  Though she’d seemed calm up until now, I saw a flash of true hatred burning in her gaze as I said that term.

  “Yes, I am talking about the Betrayers,” she said the word, spitting it with such vehemence it was as if she wanted to poison the very air with it.

  Again, I narrowed my eyes and watched her.

  “I will help you prevent the invasion. I will help you track down their doorways into this world.”

  I tipped my head back and locked my gaze on her. “What do you want in return?”

  She unhooked her hands from behind her back slowly and spread them wide. The move was almost mesmerizing, like a dance, except this woman was no ordinary dancer. She was possessed with such impossible elegance, I couldn’t help but stare at her.

  I didn’t lose my nerve. Nor did I loosen my fists.

  “In return, I let you keep him.”

  My brow clunked low over my eyes. “Who?”

  “That fake god of yours. Vali.” Her lips stiffened as she said the word.

  I didn’t reply.

  “I’ll also show you how to bring her back,” she added in a much lower tone. She tilted her head down and stared at me from underneath her eyebrows. It was a calculating move, and I couldn’t ignore how watchful she became.

  Though I tried to hide my reaction, I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know who she was speaking about. It was obvious: my grandmother.

  I felt my cheeks pale, knew I looked as ashen as a corpse. “You… can do that? Bring her back from the dead?” I should have controlled myself, but I couldn’t. At the mere possibility that I could return my grandmother’s life to her, my heart sang, and I lost control of my nerve. For the first time, I let my grip slacken.

  The goddess’ gaze ticked towards my hand, but she didn’t form a sword of her own and slice my head off.

  She smiled. It was a subtle move, and it barely ticked her lips up to the left. But it was enough to show her interest. “Of course she can be returned. For, though her human side died in this realm, her goddess soul persists in the Drift. I can teach you how to find her. I can tell you how to bring her back. In return—” She took a sudden step my way until she stood right in front of me.

  “And in return?” I questioned, staring up into her gaze.

  “And in return, you will help us reclaim the realm of the gods. You will help the divine ascend once more.”

  I stared right up into her gaze. “Help you?” I repeated, my voice staccato.

  “Help me.” She dipped her head low, and for the first time, I saw her true eyes. Perhaps she’d spelled her irises to look more like a human’s, but suddenly they burst with illumination. It looked as if someone had thrown a match into her pupils and they had kindled into flame.

  She reached a hand up to me. I stared at it.

  I ticked my head back and looked at her once more. “I don’t understand. If you are a real goddess from the Drift, then why were you in the realm of the gods? I saw you at that party. You prevented me from eating that food.”

  “Yes, for if you had consumed those grapes, I would have lost the only weapon I have had in centuries.”

  Had she just referred to me as a weapon?

  I didn’t react. I simply continued to watch her. “What were you doing in the realm of the gods?”

  “Gathering information. Watching them. Using what little power I have against them to prevent their odious plans.”

  Was she lying?

  I couldn’t tell. The only thing that seemed certain was that she needed me for something.

  Maybe this was where I should stop, pluck my phone from my pocket, and call Vali for assistance.

  I didn’t.

  I couldn’t keep running back to him. I had to start forging my own path forward.

  So I took the woman’s hand. I shook it. Did that mean I was agreeing to become her weapon? Did that mean I was agreeing to start a war between the gods?

  No. All it meant was that I agreed to move forward. For I would see this story through to the end.

  Suddenly there was a blast of light visible through the windows beyond, and the room shuddered as thunder powered from overhead.

  I didn’t even wince. Nor did she as she stared into my eyes and smiled.

  Thank you for reading The Frozen Witch Book Three.

  The Frozen Witch Book Four

  The Frozen Witch Book Four

  Everything is different now. Not only has Lilly found her power, but she’s found her courage, too.

  And she’ll need it. She may have become Vali’s equal, but that comes with a heck of a lot of strife.

  If she wants to live, she’ll have to fight. If she wants Vali, she’ll have to sacrifice everything….

  1

  It was a new day.

  I stood close to the window, staring down at the lawn of the manor beyond. I’d moved back into my grandmother’s house.

  I hadn’t severed ties with Vali – far from it. As for whether our relationship had developed further, I couldn’t answer that. Both of us had been too busy since returning from the realm of the gods to give that lingering kiss too much thought. The prospect of the end of the world filled my every waking moment.

  I stared from the turning circle and tilted my head back, casting my gaze to the road beyond. I saw a car heading through the gates and making its slow way up the gravelly path.

  I didn’t have to squint or reach for a pair of binoculars to recognize the car, even though it was still out of sight. With Vali, I could sense him. Plus, he’d called ahead.

  I’d been sipping from my grandmother’s delicate china teacup, but now I carefully placed it into the saucer on the table beside me, wiped my hands on my trousers, took a tight breath, and turned.

  I walked out of the room, latching a hand on the carved wooden banister of the stairs as I strode down them. By the time I reached the bottom, the door had opened. Vali had a key, after all.

  In he walked, one hand in his pocket, his head tilted toward the ground. It wasn’t like he couldn’t see me. Yet it took several steps until he inclined his head up to face me. Even then, he hesitated. He always hesitated before making eye contact these days, and I knew why. I wasn’t the same little girl he’d contracted several months ago.

  Now? We were equals. It was going to take him a long time to adjust. Vali loved being at the top. He lived to look down at people from his tower, lived to judge, lived to punish. Yet that wasn’t all he did and wasn’t all he was. There was so much more to him. If there hadn’t been, I never would have kissed the guy.

  “Any news?” I managed, my lips barely moving.

  It took a moment, but he shook his head. “Still nothing. Though I’ve been searching everywhere, I have no leads.”

  I made no attempt to be polite as expletives spilled from my lips. I rubbed my chin, shifted it about, and tilted my head back to face him again.

  He was looking at me. Even when he tilted his head to the floor and apparently locked all his attention on the pattern of the carpet, he still gazed at me out of the corner of his eye.

  His actions brought a smile to my lips. There’d been a time when I’d been the one scared to look Vali in the eyes, but how quickly things change.

  “You’d better come in, then,” I said as I motioned toward the stairs.

  “No.” He took a step forward, the move snapped, and locked a hand over my elbow. There would have been a time when he would have grabbed me with strong, hardened determination. Now I felt how hesitant his move was, almost as if his fingers were apologizing for reaching out to touch me.

  I looked at him, an expectant rush tingling through my stomach. Academically, I knew we didn’t have time to further our relationship, but my body didn’t heed my mind. My stomach clenched, and I became way too aware of his lips and the hard angle of his jaw.

  He hesitated before speaking as if he was remembering exactly what it was he wanted to do with his mouth. “Something has come up, and I need your help.”

  I took a moment to appreciate that Vali, the God of Revenge, wasn’t ordering me around as one of his servants, telling me to go and investigate a case. Nope, Vali the faux god was staring at me, his focus growing ever more gentle as he looked pleadingly into my gaze.

  I tilted my head back and nodded. “What do you want?”

  He sighed, his expression cracking with frustration and loss. “Bradley’s finally woken up. I need your help to interrogate him.”

  I understood exactly why he was being so hesitant. My stomach cramped so hard I swore a boa constrictor had me in its coils.

  I tried my hardest to control my expression, but it fractured as I sucked in a shaking breath. “He’s awake?”

  Vali nodded. It accentuated just how tense his muscles were. Though the movement might have also accentuated his jaw and brought my attention back to his lips, all thought of kissing them was gone as another wave of fright shoved hard through my gut.

  I might have recently found that I was a real goddess – or at least a demi-goddess who now had her own super powerful Drift sword – but that didn’t mean I was immune to everything the old me had found frightening. Bradley was one thing that would always affect me.

  Despite everything that he’d done to me, I still owed him something. Even though he’d made a pact with Loki, I couldn’t abandon Bradley – he was family, after all.

  Vali watched me carefully. It was obvious he was looking for the concern I was trying to cover-up as I sucked my lips in and clenched my jaw tightly.

  “Where is he?” I asked.

  “Back at my tower. In lockdown,” he added with a growl.

  Not of course that Bradley was in any position whatsoever to escape an unlocked room, let alone one of Vali’s super secure cells. The effects of letting Loki possess him would haunt Bradley for life.

  I nodded tightly. “Why? Why did he finally wake up?”

  After the event with Loki, Bradley had fallen into a coma. Though Vali had never actually said it, I knew full well that he’d been concerned Bradley would never wake up. But now apparently Bradley was fine. Fine enough to be out of the hospital and in one of Vali’s cells.

  “What are we waiting for, then?” I looked right at him.

  He smiled, and it was the kind of smile that was trying to tell me I’d changed. I didn’t need Vali to tell me that. I could feel it. Heaven knows it still surprised me every waking hour. If you’d told me several months ago that I would undergo a magical transformation where I would find out I was half a goddess who had the fate of the world resting on her shoulders, I would have laughed in your face. But I couldn’t exactly ignore the breakneck adventure I’d been on. More than that, I couldn’t deny how it had taught me self-reliance and a sense of personal power. I’d changed in exactly the kind of way that now allowed me to push past Vali, head out the door, walk over to the front door of his car, open it, and get in front of the wheel. I didn’t need a man driving me anywhere.

  I watched Vali hesitate. When he saw me there, he shrugged and got into the passenger seat.

  I gunned the engine, tore down the driveway, and headed through the gates. They closed automatically.

  They were magical, you see, and so was I .

  2

  It didn’t take long to reach Vali’s tower. It was a different experience walking in as an equal than it had been when I’d been his lowliest slave. Though I was darn certain Vali hadn’t bothered to explain to his other so-called contracted sinners what exactly had happened between us, I could tell people knew something was different. For one, Vali no longer pulled me around by the arm and snarled at me that I’d killed my grandmother. Oh, heck no. Instead, he walked a step behind me.

  He had an uncharacteristic pensive look on his face. I only glimpsed it because of the reflective wall paneling.

  Ever since this whole mess had begun with Loki in the realm of the gods, I’d realized Vali was so much more than I’d ever imagined him to be.

  Back in the beginning – when I’d met him after I’d foolishly broken into that office and opened the Drift box – I’d always assumed Vali didn’t have a range of emotions. Nope. The guy was only capable of showing one feeling – anger. No matter the situation, his face would always twist in contorted rage.

  Now I realized I was wrong.

  I thought I was conflicted finding out about my grandmother and the Drift. But for Vali, it would be different. His people expected him to harvest humans like cattle.

  And yet Vali, the God of Revenge, had grown a conscience.

  I wondered if he was battling with it right now as he continued to walk several steps behind me.

  From past experience, I knew exactly where we were going, and I took myself through the warren of basements until we reached one of the interrogation cells.

  As I stopped before it, my stomach kicked with nerves. Hello, kick was a generous term. The exact somersaults my stomach performed made it feel as if it were trying to push out of my torso and flop onto the floor.

  Though I seriously didn’t want to show any weakness around Vali, I gently clenched my teeth and told myself it would be okay.

  I didn’t owe Bradley anything anymore. I’d saved his life. Surely that was enough?

  I stopped in front of the doors, arching my head over my shoulder as I waited for Vali to catch up.

  He made eye contact as he shifted past, a magical symbol appearing over his palm.

  Ever since I’d found out what he truly was, I’d paid a great deal more attention to when he used magic. I couldn’t help but wonder where or who it came from. If the fake gods required the life-flames of humans to exist and practice their power, then the force allowing Vali to open this door had to come from somebody else. Was it Cassidy? Alice? Or had it been me before I’d learned the truth?

  Vali ticked his gaze up and locked it on me. We watched each other. I didn’t need to be a genius to realize that while I was questioning what he was thinking, he was doing the same with me.

  With a soft click, the door opened. Vali nodded down low and swept an arm forward as if he were a game show host indicating that I’d just won a prize.

  Ha, what a super fancy prize – Bradley, the guy who’d always made me feel truly inferior. If I won him on a game show, I’d throw him back and go for the car and a set of steak knives.

  I could feel Vali’s gaze on the back of my neck as I shifted past into the room. It was a distraction, just the distraction I needed from my wildly churning gut. Seriously, it felt like some ambitious milkmaid was trying to churn butter in there.