Kissed by Ice(46)

As I lay in the bath thinking about my boyfriend—or whatever he was now—I found myself becoming increasingly morose. There's nothing like the thought that your boyfriend is slowly dumping you for something over which you had no control to make a girl feel thoroughly depressed. I'd barely noticed the water growing colder by the minute. I was too wrapped up in thoughts of Inigo. Too busy being miserable. My gloomy thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Room service. My stomach rumbled as I started to clamber out of the bathtub and realized I was stuck. I couldn't move. The water around me had turned into a solid block of ice.





Chapter Seventeen



Thank gods for bathroom phones in good hotels. I snatched it off the wall and dialed Trevor's room even as my teeth began to chatter. When he picked up, he sounded half-asleep.

"You need to get a copy of my room key and get in here now," I snapped. I slammed the phone down without waiting for his response. Goose pimples had broken out pretty much everywhere, and I couldn't feel my legs.

I'd already turned on the hot water tap, but it wasn't cutting it. My body kept turning the water cool the minute it touched my skin. The ice simply wasn't melting fast enough, and the water level was already precariously close to spilling over the top of the tub. I had no choice but to turn off the taps.

Out of desperation, I grabbed the plastic shower curtain and yanked it from its hooks. It collapsed on me like it was going to smother the breath from my lungs. Panicked, I batted it away from my face and wrapped it around me as best I could. There was nothing I could do about the lower half of my body, currently encased in ice. I tried to call the Fire, but it was as if the powers inside me had gone to sleep. All I could do was wait.

At some point, the knocking on my door had stopped. Damn. There went my dinner plans. My stomach grumbled in protest.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard Trevor at the door. "Morgan?" he called.

"In the bathroom," I replied.

He stepped to the door, stopped, and stared. "What the hell?"

"Good question," I said, teeth chattering. "One m-minute I'm taking a bath, and the next my b-bathwater is frozen s-solid." I swished the curtain aside so he could see my legs in their ice block. It was like Han Solo on a really bad day.

"Call the Fire" he said, kneeling beside the tub.

"Y-you think I-I didn't try that?" I said testily. "Apparently, my powers have gone on vacation." Actually that didn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe I needed a vacation.

"This isn't a joke, Morgan," he said. "Your legs could get frostbite and be seriously damaged. You could even die."

"Gee, thanks f-for the p-pep talk. You think I h-haven't thought of that? I'm u-up to my waist in ice and w-worried about a lot more than j-just my legs."

His cheeks turned pink.

Trevor reached out and took my hands. "Let's try something," he said. "Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on the Fire."

Like I hadn't done that at least a dozen times since I called him. I scowled, but did as he said. I didn't see how him holding my hands could help, but I went ahead and gave it a try. As I focused I could almost feel the energy Trevor was pouring down through my hands. The Fire inside me stirred sluggishly. I pulled at it harder, willing it to do something to get me out of this situation. It didn't. Instead, it seemed to curl up like a cat preparing to go back to sleep.

"Focus, Morgan," Trevor ordered. "The Fire must obey you. It is yours to command. Make it obey you."

That was easier said than done, but I took the energy Trevor was pouring into me and reached down inside me. I grabbed the Fire around its virtual throat and practically yanked it out of me. In a rush, it came roaring out, screaming in anger as it went. Trevor scrambled back out of the way. The Fire wouldn't harm me, but it could burn Trevor to a crisp.

The Fire lapped hungrily at the ice, irritated the frozen water didn't burn. I tossed the shower curtain away before it could melt and crossed my arms over my chest. I was less worried about being naked and more worried about being cold. Slowly the ice began to steam, then melt, and finally turned back into a pool of water. As soon as my legs were free, Trevor yanked me from the tub. I collapsed on top the shower curtain, naked ass in the air, shivering. The Fire continued to dance along my skin, warming me from the inside out. Luckily it didn't seem to affect the shower curtain for all that it was made of plastic. I guessed it must be one of those fire retardant materials. Three cheers for OSHA.

Trevor handed me a big fluffy towel to wrap myself in, then sat next to me on the tile. He stared at me for a full minute. "Let me guess," he said. "You're channeling Water now."