Frostfire (2 page)

“A document?” Dad shook his head. The bags under his eyes revealed how truly tired
he was, and his dark eyes were confused. “I was drafting a letter for the Trylle.
What was she working on?”

“I’m not entirely sure, sir. I believe she left it in her office, if you’d like to
have a look at it,” Konstantin said.

“I suppose I should.” Dad nodded wearily, then turned to me. “You can go on, Bryn.
I’ll be home soon.”

“No, it’s all right,” I replied quickly. “I can wait for you.”

Dad shrugged in a way that said I could suit myself, and then he started down the
corridor toward the Queen’s office.

Konstantin went after him, but he turned back to me as he did. “Don’t worry. We won’t
be too long, white rabbit,” he promised me.

I turned away, hoping my cheeks wouldn’t burn at Konstantin’s use of a nickname. It
was one I’d heard a few times in my life, but it never really stuck.
White
because of my fair complexion, and
rabbit
because that was the symbol of the Kanin.

As soon as they were out of sight, I put my hand on my stomach and let out a shaky
breath. Having my first taste of official duty left me feeling intoxicated and light-headed,
but that last exchange with Konstantin made me weak. I’d never been that interested
in boys, preferring to focus on my training, but now I finally understood what my
friends meant when they were going on about being in love.

But all too quickly the adrenaline from talking with Konstantin began to fade away,
and for the first time all night I realized how tired I really was. I hadn’t slept
much the night before because I’d been so excited to work at the party, and corralling
drunk Kanin townspeople was more work than it sounded.

Dad hadn’t been gone with Konstantin for long, but my feet were beginning to throb
and I needed to get home and get to bed. I knew where the Queen’s office was, so I
thought it would be best to go down and let Dad know that I was heading out. Plus
it would give me a chance to say something more to Konstantin.

The office wasn’t far from the front hall, and I’d almost made it there when I heard
a surprised yell, a man crying out, “
No!
” I froze at first, trying to register it, then it was quickly followed by an agonized
scream.

If my head wasn’t swimming from the night, I would’ve noticed sooner. And a second
too late—maybe even a split second too long—I realized that it was my father screaming.

I ran to the Queen’s office and threw open the door.

When I’ve later tried to remember that moment, I can’t see the rest of the room. It’s
all a haze and a blur, but the one thing that’s focused—and it is in perfect, startling
clarity—is Konstantin standing over my dad. His sword is drawn, and the blade is dark
crimson with blood, as my dad lies bleeding on the floor.

Konstantin looked up at me. His handsome face, usually bright and confident, was chillingly
blank. He almost appeared dead, except for his gray eyes—dark and frightfully alert.

“I’m sorry,” Konstantin said simply. “I am bound to something much higher than this
kingdom, and I must complete my mission.”

“Bryn, get out of here!” Dad yelled as Konstantin raised his sword again.

Weaponless, I did the only thing I could do—I charged at Konstantin. As I ran at him,
he pivoted, turning his sword on me. I felt the thin blade sliding sharply through
my shoulder, but I barely registered the pain. The only thing that mattered was stopping
Konstantin from killing my dad.

I knocked him to the floor, and I managed to punch once before he threw me off him.
And then I heard other voices behind me. Other members of the Högdragen had been alerted
by the yelling.

In a flash, Konstantin was on his feet and diving out the window behind the Queen’s
desk. Glass shattered, and the cold and snow billowed into the room. The other guards
ran after Konstantin, but I went back to my dad, kneeling beside him.

His shirt was stained red, and I pressed my hand to the wound on his chest, trying
to stop the bleeding. Dad put his hand over mine, and his dark eyes were filled with
worry.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” I told him as I tried to blink back my tears.

“No, Bryn, you saved my life.” He reached up, touching my cheek with a bloody hand.
“You did amazing tonight.”

I stayed with my dad, pressing my hand hard against his chest, doing everything in
my power to hold the life in him, until the medical staff came and pulled me off.
They whisked him away, promising that he would be just fine, and thankfully, they
ended up being right.

But after they’d gone, I stayed behind, alone in the office. My crisp white uniform
was now stained red with my dad’s blood, mixing with my own from my shoulder wound.
I stared out the broken window.

It was snowing so hard that it had already covered up Konstantin’s tracks. Whatever
I had been stupid enough to think I’d felt for Konstantin was gone. He had been my
hero, but none of that mattered now. He’d tried to kill my dad, and now I would stop
at nothing until he was brought to justice.

ONE

ambushed

April 8, 2014

Three years of tracker school—including extensive combat training, courses on social
etiquette, and peer integration—and none of it ever changed the fact that I really
hated human high school. Every time I started a new school to get close to a new charge,
I found myself rethinking my career choice.

Back before I chose to go to tracker school, rather than finishing out Kanin high
school to become a farmer or a teacher or maybe a horse trainer, I remember watching
the trackers come and go from missions. They all seemed so worldly and powerful. They
earned the respect and admiration of everybody in Doldastam.

I imagined the kinds of adventures they must be having, traveling the world. Most
of them stayed in North America, but sometimes I’d hear stories of a tracker going
off to England or Italy, and some even went as far as Japan.

The prospect of traveling and protecting my people sounded exciting and noble. Then
I had graduated, and I spent the next four years actually doing the job. If only I
had known how much of my “missions” as a tracker involved wearing itchy school uniforms
and trying to keep up on slang so I could fit in with spoiled rich kids, I might’ve
reconsidered.

It was during lunch on my fifth day in Chicago, as I followed Linus off the high school
campus, when I realized they were watching him, too. I wasn’t exactly sure who “they”
were, but I’d spotted the car—a black sedan with tinted windows—parked nearby several
times since yesterday morning, and that was too much for coincidence.

As I trailed behind Linus and two of his friends, deliberately staying far enough
behind so he wouldn’t see me, I wondered if the mystery men in the sedan had noticed
me yet. If they were staking out Linus, then they had to have seen me, since I’d been
interacting with him. But that didn’t mean they knew who I was. At least not yet.

Tracking was usually simple when done correctly. The first step was surveillance.
I found the target—in this case Linus Berling—and for the first day or two I did nothing
but watch him. The goal was to figure out who he was and what he liked, so it would
be easier to earn his trust.

The second step was infiltrating his life, which was why I was wearing a ridiculous
prep school uniform with a blue plaid skirt and a cardigan that felt too warm.

With a combination of bribery, charm, and a bit of Kanin skill, I’d gotten as many
classes with Linus as I could, and started bumping into him “accidentally.” We’d talk
a little, I’d bring up his interests, laugh at his jokes, and ingratiate myself to
him.

This would lead to step three. Once I had the target’s trust, I’d drop the bombshell
on them about who they really were, and hope like hell that they’d believe me. Usually
they already had inclinations that they were different, and if I’d done my job right,
everything would fall into place.

Then it was just a matter of getting them back home, preferably with trust fund in
hand.

Now there was this issue with the black sedan, bogging things down right at the beginning
of the second step, and I had to figure out what to do.

Linus and his friends from school had gone into a restaurant, but I didn’t follow
them. I stayed outside, watching through the front window as they sat down at a table.
In his dark blue blazer, Linus’s shoulders appeared broad, but he was actually tall
and lean. After watching him fall half a dozen times during gym class, I knew he’d
be no good in a fight.

The restaurant was crowded, and his friends were talking and laughing with him. Whoever
was following him in the dark sedan, they were trying to be inconspicuous, which meant
that they wouldn’t want to create a scene in a place like this. For now, Linus was
safe.

I walked away, going around the restaurant and cutting through the alley. When I came
back to the street, the sedan was parked a few feet from me, but I stayed in the alley,
peering around the corner. I did my best to blend in, and once again, I found myself
wishing that I had more Kanin blood in me.

Even this close, the tint on the windows of the car was still too dark for me to see
through. I needed more information, so I decided to call Ridley Dresden.

He was the Rektor, so he might have a better idea of what was going on. The Rektor
was in charge of trackers, organizing placements, assigning changelings, and basically
just keeping us all in order. Because of his position, Ridley was privy to more information
than I was, and he might be able to shed some light on the sedan.

Before I called, I decided to use the video option on my phone. It seemed like a smarter
choice, because then I could actually show Ridley the car instead of just describing
it to him.

But when Ridley finally answered—shirtless, with his brown curls even more untamed
than normal—I realized that maybe I should’ve sent him a text first, letting him know
that I’d be video-chatting with him.

“Bryn?” he asked, and behind him I saw movement as someone got up, wrapping themselves
in a dark comforter. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes. And no,” I said, keeping my voice low so people walking by on the street wouldn’t
hear. “Sorry if I’m disturbing you.”

“No, it’s okay.” He sat up straighter, and the rabbit amulet he wore on a leather
strap around his neck slid across his bare chest. I heard a girl’s voice in the background,
but I couldn’t understand her. “One second.” He held his hand over the phone, covering
both the camera and the mic, but I could still hear him promising to call her later.
“Sorry. I’m back.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working right now?” I asked, raising a disapproving eyebrow.

“I’m on a lunch break. It’s called a nooner,” Ridley said, meeting my gaze with a
devilish gleam in his eye.

The year I graduated from the tracker program was the year Ridley became the Rektor.
I hadn’t really known him before that, but his reputation had preceded him. Everyone
regarded him as one of the finest trackers, but though he was only twenty-four, he’d
been forced to retire three years ago. He was still youthful looking, especially for
a guy in his mid-twenties, but thanks in part to his persistent stubble, he couldn’t
pass for a teenager any longer.

But that was the only bit of his reputation that I’d heard about. He had a long history
of being a serial dater, and this wasn’t the first time I’d accidentally caught him
in a compromising situation.

But over the years he’d proved himself to be an excellent Rektor and a loyal friend.
So I tried not to fault him too much for his escapades.

“But anyway, what’s going on with you?” Ridley asked. The glint in his dark eyes was
quickly replaced by concern.

“Do you know anything about someone else following Linus Berling?” I asked.

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Is there any reason for someone else to be tracking him?” I clarified. “Anyone else
from Doldastam, or another Kanin tracker? Maybe even from another tribe?”

“Why would anyone else be following him?” Ridley shook his head. “You’re his tracker.
You’re the only one that should be on him. Did you see someone?”

“Not exactly.” I chewed the inside of my cheek and looked up from the phone at the
dark sedan, which hadn’t moved. “I haven’t seen any
one
, but this car has been following him.” I turned the phone around to show it to Ridley.

“Which one?” Ridley asked, and I tilted the phone to show him more directly.

“The black one with the windows tinted. Do you recognize it?”

Ridley was quiet for a moment, considering. “No, I can’t say that I do.”

“I was afraid of that.” I leaned back against the brick wall and turned the phone
back around to me. Ridley had leaned forward, like he’d been inspecting the image
of the car closely.

“You haven’t seen anyone get in or out of it yet?” Ridley asked.

“No.” I shook my head.

“It could just be a human thing,” Ridley suggested, but he didn’t sound like he believed
it.

“I don’t think so.” I sighed. “I’m gonna go check it out.”

“Okay.” Ridley pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded once, reluctant to agree
that I should put myself in a possibly dangerous situation. “Just don’t do anything
stupid, Bryn.”

“I never do,” I assured him with a smile, but that just caused him to roll his eyes.

“I mean it,” he insisted. “Investigate, but do not interact with them until you figure
out who we’re dealing with. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can run the plates or find
out anything on that car. I’ll check in with you later today, okay?”

“Okay. And I’ll let you know if I find anything out.”

“Stay safe, Bryn,” Ridley said, and before he could say anything else, I ended the
call.

According to the clock on the phone, I only had twenty minutes left of lunch and then
afternoon class began. My options were limited, but I knew I didn’t want to wait outside
all day, hoping the passengers would make a move so I could see them. If somebody
was after Linus, I needed to find out who it was before something bad happened.