Black Frost by John Conroe Page A

them
goblins. We call them t’oorcs . The ones I fought belong to
Summer.”
    “Summer is long gone,” I pointed out,
confused.
    He shook his head again, smiling. “I’ve not
had a conversation like this in some time. I mean that the t’oorcs , the goblins you saw belong to another faction of my
world; Summer or the Green Court. I belong to Winter –the White
Court.”
    “And just where is this world of yours? And
how did you get here?” I asked, my head reeling from the surreal
conversation. Maybe the guys in white coats would show up soon to
collect their escapee. But oddly, part of me wanted to believe the
story.
    “I don’t have the words to explain
everything, I’m not a Watcher of the Veil. But our worlds are
closer to each other than the others that circle your star. They
are just….kept separate,” he shook his head in frustration. “We
come here when the Veil that separates them thins enough. Some of
my people, myself included, have enough….,” he paused, scratching
the tip of one pointed ear while he tried to think of a word.
“talent.....ability… to make the leap.”
    I didn’t know what he was talking about, but
I had a grip on the next proper question.
    “Why? Why do your people come here?”
    “Ah well now Mr. Ian Moore, that’s just it
then, isn’t it?” he said. “We come to gather.”
    “You gather here? Like in a group?” I asked,
lost.
    “No we gather as in collecting,” he answered,
his tone just slightly ominous.
    “What do you collect?” I asked.
    “Children,” he said, simply.
    I almost shot him right then, just out of
reflex, but I managed to control the impulse. Nonetheless, his
sharp eyes read enough of my body language to get a hint at my
thoughts. He held both hands up quickly.
    “No fears Ian Moore, I am not a Hunter. They
all belong to Summer. I would not take children, that’s not my
role,” he said.
    “You better explain real quick and just how
the hell do you know my name?” I questioned.
    “Your name is printed on the metal container
on the post. The one that printed messages go in,” he said,
pointing back toward the mailbox at the end of the driveway. “I am
a Guardian, I protect the gateways,” he said, although it seemed
like he had wanted to say more but held back.
    “Why does Summer take children?” I asked,
struggling with the anger building inside.
    “To save our world,” he said with a sad
smile.
    I raised my eyebrows and motioned with the
shotgun for him to continue.
    “We,” he motioned back and forth between us,
“are related, at least enough that our people can interbreed. My
people don’t produce offspring..children frequently. Not like you
do. And our race is much, much older than yours. Our bloodlines
have thinned, weakened. To survive as a race, we need fresh stock.
So when the Veil thins we cross over and Gather new blood. The
Green Court does the searching, as the talents needed to find the
right children have all concentrated in Summer’s bloodline. The
White Court guards the gateways and keeps Summer honest.”
    I didn’t know what that meant, but he had
basically confessed to kidnapping, or at least being party to
kidnapping. As someone with a kid, I wasn’t fond of the concept,
not one bit. Before I could properly express my feelings about
that, I saw his eyes look past me and widen. I risked a fast glance
over my left shoulder at the door.
    Two faces were framed in the glass. I shot my
head back around to see if he had moved, but he was standing still,
his eyes evaluating the girls behind me.
“Ashley! Get away from the window!” I yelled, alarmed to my
core.
    Greer tilted his head sideways, still looking
at the faces behind me.
    “Dad? What’s going on? Why do you have a gun
pointed at that man?” she asked. Then before I could answer, I
heard a noise that scared the crap out of me. The rattle of the
lock as Ashley started to unlock it.
    “Ash, no!” I yelled, skipping back a step and
reaching with my left