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

ice shot toward the plane, only to be melted by the black smoke before they reached the shiny red surface. This was no ordinary spell. Jack would need to reach deeper. As if reading his thoughts, Rudy slammed a fist against the window.
    “Jack, no!”
    Rudy’s fear mirrored his own, but at the moment, saving his lover meant more to him than his own life. Whatever force was at work here, it had been created specifically to keep him out, to keep him from saving his love. Rudy was immortal, but he wasn’t indestructible, and as a Christmas elf, his powers were limited. Jack could survive such a collision, but not Rudy.
    “Jack, you have to stop.”
    Ignoring Rudy’s pleas, Jack did the opposite, calling upon the full forces of his powers. His body burned from the inside out, and his muscles strained in an attempt to maintain control of the conflicting elements within him. “I can do this.” Was he assuring Rudy or himself? Whatever the case, he had to believe he could.
    “I don’t want to lose you,” Rudy pleaded. “Jack, listen to me.”
    “I can do this!” He grabbed hold of the door handle with both hands, ignoring the burning against his palms as the spell worked fiercely to deter him. The fire spread through his body, battling the ice summoned to protect him, to save both himself and Rudy. The color drained from his hands, leaving behind his elemental form. The cyclone of ice and snow swept up the plane and Jack with it, throwing them into a monumental spin, and giving Jack more time to draw on the full force of winter.
    “Damn it, Jack, please! I can’t lose you.”
    “You won’t.” He focused his energy, gritted his teeth as the first signs of fern-frost sprouted on the edges of the window and spread. It was working. He was getting through.
    Rudy put his hand to the glass, his expression one of heartache. “What if I’m not given a choice?”
    “That won’t happen,” Jack growled.
    “How do you know?”
    “I can control it.”
    “Jack—”
    “I won’t let you die!” He released the door and used his feet to push himself away from the plane. With his arms held out at his sides, his vision went white and he raised his face to the Heavens. He prayed to his ancestors and drew upon his father’s power. Whatever reprimand he would receive for it, whatever punishment, so be it, but he would do whatever it took.
    “Jack, no!”
    The skies darkened and thunder erupted above him, lightning accompanying the blinding storm of burning ice. If he couldn’t get Rudy out of the plane, he would soften the landing. On the earth below, the snow quickly gathered, setting down thick blanket upon blanket. Rudy’s screams were drowned out by the fury growing inside Jack as his thoughts went to whoever had the audacity to threaten the life of his lover, to insult Jack by plotting against him , against the Prince of Frost. Someone was going to pay dearly for this. The sharp pain in his heart intensified, the agony resembling a multitude of icy stakes plunging in all at once, and he fought the urge to clutch at his chest.
    He heard Rudy faintly call his name as his body plummeted alongside the plane. The impact of the soil beneath him when he plunged through the layers of snow and hit the earth was excruciating, the tremor wracking his entire frame and knocking the wind out of him, but he couldn’t allow the pain or exhaustion to take over. He had to remain awake, for Rudy. His hand trembled as he reached up from the small crater his fall had created, and he clawed his way up to the snowy surface, falling in a breathless heap. The sharp pain in his heart returned as he dragged himself out, his gaze going to Rudy’s plane, the tail end the only part visible, angled out of the snow.
    Jack’s whole body ached; his skin burned, and his muscles protested every movement, but he pulled on what strength remained to once again summon his powers. The wind swept away the many layers of snow until Rudy’s plane gently