North Pole City Tales 02 - The Heart of Frost by Charlie Cochet Page A

this was, for this dark force that had infected his precious baby. Had it been anything else, he might not have been so frightened, but this…. Whoever had done this hadn’t intended for him to survive. Even the air around him was thick, making it harder and harder for him to breathe. His lungs ached and his body felt weak. The only thought that crossed through his mind was Jack. He shut his eyes tight to keep his tears at bay. No. He couldn’t end like this. He threw a gloved fist against his window and fought against his harness. If he was going to go down, he’d do so fighting.
    “Jack!” he screamed as he threw his shoulder as hard as he could against the door. If there was even the slightest chance the wind could carry his pleas to its master, Rudy was going to take it. Please, hear me . “Jack, I need you! Please… help me.” He let his head rest against the cold window, his voice hoarse from lack of oxygen. “Jack…. I love you.”
     
     
    J ACK WAS on his third triple vodka, laughing at Hollis’s disgraceful display as he lost his fifth round of conkers by nearly knocking himself out, when a sharp pain pierced his heart, forcing him to nearly double over. He clutched at his chest, puzzled by the strange jolt. What the Holly was that?
    “Jack? Are you all right?” Vale approached him and took his glass from his hand before it could fall to the floor and shatter.
    “Yes. This strange pain just hit me out of nowhere.” The pub’s windows and doors blew open and Jack straightened. That hadn’t been his doing. The wind swirled around him, a chill going up his spine at the faint whisper reaching his ear. Someone was calling his name.
    “What’s going on?” Hollis asked, frowning at him.
    “I don’t know. I have to go.” Jack didn’t wait to hear the rest of his cousins’ questions. He ran out into the streets and summoned the arctic winds to carry him up high above the earth. With swift orders, he shot through the skies toward the causeway, demanding haste. In the distance ahead of him he could see a small dark object, and at first, he dismissed it. The wind whispered at him, beseeching him. Not one to ignore such a call, Jack soared toward the object, stunned when he discovered it was indeed Rudy’s plane.
    There was a thick fog of black smoke surrounding it as it sped toward the mountainside, and a part of him hoped Rudy had long since vacated the aircraft, but as he flew closer, something told him that wouldn’t be the case. There was something different about the smoke, something… menacing. The smoke wasn’t coming from the plane, at least not in a way that insinuated there was some mechanical malfunction. Had it been, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all, not to mention Rudy would have jumped out by now. Why was he still in the plane, knowing it was hurtling toward destruction? Rudy loved his plane, but not enough to go down with it.
    Catching up to the medium-sized aircraft, Jack hit his hand against the window, his chest feeling constricted at the sight of his lover struggling to remove his harness with no luck. Rudy’s moves were sluggish, his chest rising and falling rapidly. It didn’t take Jack long to deduce his sweetheart was having difficulty breathing.
    “Rudy!”
    “Jack!” Rudy’s eyes filled with unshed tears as he pounded against the small window. “Jack I can’t get out! The harness, the window, the door, everything’s stuck!”
    Jack grabbed the door handle, only to be surprised by a sharp burning sensation, forcing him to snatch his hand back. He made another attempt, the handle searing his skin and leaving a harsh red mark across his palm. It couldn’t be….
    “Jack?”
    His head shot up and he met Rudy’s frightened gaze. This couldn’t be. No, he wouldn’t allow it. He reached deep inside him as he summoned his powers to fight this malevolent force created to keep him out. Around them the wind howled and a blizzard engulfed them in white. Shards of