Frozen Vengeance Read online

  Angelica is in danger.

  He dismissed the thought as soon as it entered his mind. There would be no way he could sense that unless she was his mate.

  Like most therinthropes, polar bears had one true person they would bond to for the rest of their immortal lives. Each type of thrope had ways of recognizing their mate when they met. Sensing that your mate was in danger was one that was prevalent, and in polar bears a very strong indication.

  There was no way in heaven, hell or the entire universe that that phoenix was Colt’s mate. Fate could not be that cruel. So, he dismissed his nagging unease and scouted out the best place to break the ice on the edge of the pond.

  It was cold enough that the fish would be slow and easy to catch, and he was starving.

  Colt found the spot he liked and knelt down on the bank of the pond. He straightened his spine and held his arms down and out, palms flat.

  With a heave, he arched his back and pushed forward, breaking the ice with one hard shove from his extended hands.

  A smile curled his lips. He sat still and waited, watching the water like the patient predator he could be.

  A slice of silver caught his eye and he reached out scooping the fish out of the water and tossing it onto the snow next to him.

  It was a good-sized fish, but as hungry as he was, it would take five of a similar size to fill him, and he was fishing for two people.

  Not that he needed a reminder of Angelica. He couldn’t get her out his head, something that was annoying him beyond his ability to describe. At least his body was under control—for the moment. He knew that if he thought about the curve of Geli’s ass as she’d walked past him, he’d be back in the same state again.

  Damn it!

  Colt closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. Big mistake. It made his mental picture of her perfect ass clearer.

  Fish, you moron, Colt berated himself, then concentrated on fishing.

  Soon, there were eight fish lying on the bank, and Colt sat back on his haunches. Not bad for an hour’s work.

  He took off his coat and took off his button down shirt, then pulled his coat over his t-shirt again. He’d use the button down as a knapsack to carry the fish back to the ghost town.

  He’d made it into the trees when his ear twitched.

  Was that a wolf’s howl?

  Colt stopped and tilted his head, keeping his body still so he could listen.

  There was a minute of silence before he heard the sound again. Yes, it was a wolf, the sound so feint, it must be at the furthest distance where Colt could hear the howl. That would make the animal about ten miles away, give, or take a few miles.

  Colt was sure it was a wolf, but he wished it had been one of his dogs. He would have recognized a howl from one of them and a whistle could have brought the dog to him.

  He could have sent a message back to the village and his people would have arrived with snowmobiles, which would have made the trek home easier.

  The wolf howled again and Colt ignored it as he made his way back to the ghost town.

  * * * *

  Angelica was not happy. Her back to the fireplace, she kept glancing around the room.

  She had no doubt that there was someone, or rather, something in here with her in this room.

  “What do you want?”

  The shadow flickered again, but on her other side.

  Angelica snapped her head in that direction and caught the feint outline of a man.

  She gave in to her instinct and let her hand engulf itself in flames.

  There is no way fire is going to hurt it if it’s what you think it is.

  Angelica laughed at herself. “Can’t even admit you think it’s a ghost you scaredy-cat.”

  The flicker gained substance.

  “So warm.”

  This time the voice was clear. Deep and male.

  “Who are you?”

  Angelica was starting to feel like she was stuck on repeat.

  “Mi….” His answer was breathy as if he was losing strength.

  “What do you want from me?” Angelica stepped back, almost putting her foot in the grate before she remembered there was a fire behind her.

  The spirit didn’t respond and just as suddenly as the eerie presence had begun, it was gone again.

  “Okay, then.” Angelica smothered the flame on her hand, then smoothed her hands down the front of her robes. “I’m not going to let one little ghost freak me out.”

  Since she’d had the habit of having discourses with herself from a young child, she would ignore Colt’s quip about talking to herself and do it as much as she liked.

  She looked around, trying to decide what to do now that she got rid of Casper.

  Colt had said he was going to find them food. They’d need something to cook it in, if Colt brought meat—please let Colt bring meat.

  Angelica was hungry. The walk through the snow had made her burn calories, and setting her hand ablaze made her use up even more.

  Angelica decided to do a house search and see what she could find. She walked past the stairs into another room. It seemed to be a music room of some sort. A rotting piano stood in the corner and there were dilapidated chairs, too.

  She left the room and turned down the passage. At the end of the hall was the kitchen.

  This house must have been the height of luxury All the newest and best. Now it was nothing but antiquated, but Angelica found some pots and an old stove.

  No need to make another fire, they could cook over the fire in the living room. She picked up a good cooking pot and took it back to the fireplace.

  The wind howled around the edge of the building, causing a shiver to race through Angelica. She didn’t know much about storms other than what she’d learned watching Earth through the viewing tear, but she thought the wind gusting like that might mean a storm was coming. The wind howled again and the whole building rattled.

  Angelica jumped, almost dropping the pot she held as she tried to lay her hand over her pounding heart.

  Where was Colt? He should have been back by now.

  Angelica put the pot down and hugged her arms around herself in the cold. She would keep moving. She realized she hadn’t explored the top floor of the house yet, and this gave her a good excuse.

  She went upstairs, remembering Colt’s advice and testing her every footfall.

  She didn’t find much in the first few rooms, but in the last one, she found the remnants of some old clothing, and on top of the dresser was a wooden box.

  Angelica opened the box with care, and drew in a breath of surprise. Inside, nestled on rotting velvet was a ring. Not a girly ring, but a man’s ring—one of those old ones that bore a family crest and had been used in antiquity to seal letters with wax.

  It was beautiful, with the head of a wild boar emblazoned in the center of the crest.

  Angelica took it out of the box and put it in the pocket of her robes.

  Now you are becoming a tomb raider.

  “Not a tomb, idiot.”

  She laughed. Well at least she still had her sense of humor.

  “Geli,” Colt bellowed from the first floor.

  “You better not have run away, phoenix.”

  She was tempted to ignore the big oaf. He’d dragged her out here, to a world she’d never lived in and put her in snow—snow of all things! It would serve him right if she’d ran away.

  She would never do that, though. Angelica might be many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. She stayed with her captor because she didn’t know how to survive out there…yet.

  But that didn’t mean she was going to take his abuse indefinitely. Eventually, she wouldn’t need Colt any more, and then she’d be gone.

  Angelica ignored the twinge of feeling that idea had caused.

  Another roar. “Geli!”

  “I’m upstairs.” She called back as she started going down the stairs.

  “What were you doing up there?” He stood at the bottom of the sta
irs looking up at a dark glower on his face. “You could have gotten yourself killed. Half this place is rotted to hell.”

  With a sigh, Angelica walked down the stairs.

  “How do I know you don’t plan on killing me yourself? Perhaps a fall through a rotting floor would be a better way to die.” Angelica tossed the words at Colt as she walked past him and put another log on the fire.

  She saw a shirt sitting next to the pot she’d gotten, with fish bundled inside it and was so grateful, she was tempted to apologize for her words.

  His eyes had tracked her as she’d walked and she got the strangest feeling they were lingering on her ass.

  He snorted his response, then added, “Clean the fish so we can get them on the fire.”

  Angelica spun and looked at him. “What?”

  Colt’s expression darkened. He was mad at her for something, she could tell, but had no idea what.

  “I said clean the fish. Hurry up, Geli. I’m hungry.”

  “I don’t know how to clean a fish!” Her voice rose an octave at the mere thought of having to touch a scaly slimy fish and take out its entrails.

  Angelica glared at the fish, her appetite gone.

  Colt didn’t answer, but walked past her, picked up the fish and went to the back of the house to find the kitchen.

  She was amazed he hadn’t yelled at her some more. He seemed to be looking for reasons to find fault with everything she did.

  When he got back, he had the cleaned fish in a pan and was carrying a metal grate he would put over the flames.

  He didn’t speak to her, so Angelica found herself trying to fill the silence.

  “I think there is a storm coming.”

  “There is.” He knelt by the fire, arranging everything to cook the fish.

  “A bad one?”

  “Bad enough.”

  Oh, nice. Do I have to yank his teeth out to get more than one piece of information at a time?

  “How bad is, bad enough?”

  He straightened and turned to her. “Bad enough that we should be grateful we have this place to shelter in. Do you always ask so many questions?”

  “Yes.” Take that a bit of your own medicine. “When you said this was a ghost town—”

  “I meant it was a ghost town.” He walked past her and began to mount the stairs.

  Angelica followed him.

  “As in actual ghosts?”

  “Yes.”

  Grrrr, taciturn jerk.

  “There are real ghosts here?”

  He puffed out a breath and stopped to turn his upper body to face her.

  “You are my enemy and I hate you. What you did to me, I will never forgive. So, quit following me around and asking me stupid questions.”

  Angelica took a step back at his words, so harsh, so hate-filled. She hadn’t done anything to…

  “Wait a minute! I haven’t done anything to you.” She raced up the last few stairs to get behind him again. “You have no right to talk to me like that, or even feel that way about me. I’ve never done you wrong.”

  Angelica had no warning—Colt spun and grabbed her by the upper arms slamming her back into the wall nearest her.

  The house shook with the impact, and dust rained from the ceiling. She held her breath so she wouldn’t start choking on the fine particles.

  “You…you.” It was as if he couldn’t get the word out. “You forced yourself on me. Took sex from me.”

  Angelica had paled, but at those words, hot, color flooded her skin. “That wasn’t me! It was Malta.” She didn’t add that he was meant to be hers to start with. That wouldn’t go over well.

  He leaned right into her face and hissed, “Don’t you fucking lie to me. I was there, you have dark hair.”

  Angelica’s breaths were coming in fast pants. She’d never expected such a violent response making her hate kindle toward Malta. The other phoenix had gone from being a bitch to someone that must be taken out.

  Colt leaned in closer, his lips a breath away from hers, and for some unexplainable reason, she wanted him to kiss her.

  In the midst of his fury, and with her own anger burning hot, Angelica wanted to feel what his lips on hers would feel like.

  She didn’t dare move, and sent up a fervent prayer to whoever was listening.

  Please let him kiss me now.

  Colt pushed away from Angelica and stomped into the nearest room.

  Chapter Five

  Fuck, fuck, fuck!

  Colt kicked a chair across the bedroom he had walked into, and didn’t even notice when the thing disintegrated into splinters.

  You almost kissed her, you moron.

  Fury filled his blood like molten steel, burning through every cell.

  How the hell could he be so stupid. How could his body betray him like this? What was the attraction he felt to the bitch, and how could she claim she’d never done anything to him? She’d fucking sexually molest—

  He couldn’t even complete the phrase in his mind.

  Colt let out a growl of frustration and aimed a kick at another unoffending piece of furniture. He knew he had to get himself together or he was going to murder the Phoenix before he could exact his revenge.

  He stood still and drew in a deep calming breath through his nose, exhaling through his mouth.

  Then, he realized that his inner bear hadn’t tried to surge forward. A questioning frown creased his brow as he searched for his beast inside.

  The creature curled contently in a corner of his mind unaffected by Colt’s fury.

  That was not only strange, it was impossible. The polar bear that resided in Colt’s body with him was far more aggressive than he was, and when Colt’s temper took over, the bear would fight for release. Not mostly—every single time.

  There was no evident answer for his inners beast’s peaceful demeanor, but at least the question had brought Colt some calm.

  He turned and left the room. Geli wasn’t on the landing anymore. He could smell the cooking fish and it drew him back down the stairs to the living room.

  Geli sat next to the fire, with her back to the stairs, her almost coal black hair curling down, and over the curve of one hip. He felt his breath catch and gave himself a mental shake.

  “Are you cold?” He tried to keep his anger in check, but she still turned her face up to him with those large, fear-filled blue eyes.

  “I don’t think I’ve been warm since you brought me here,” she muttered and her shoulders drawn back.

  Good, she was exhibiting some of the spirit he’d seen earlier. That pleased him.

  Colt scowled. Why should he care if she had spirit or not. He decided to change the subject before he lost his temper again. Ironic, because he was not usually quick to anger

  “Why were you asking about ghosts?”

  Angelica had a short inner debate about whether or not to tell Colt about her ghostly visitor, and then nixed the idea. He’d probably find some reason to make it her fault and scream at her again and didn’t know if she could take it.

  “I was curious,” she muttered.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Curious or scared?”

  She turned back to look at their meal. “The fish smells cooked.”

  Colt stepped over to the fire and Angelica scraped her chair back so fast that she felt the back legs snap under the pressure. She didn’t have a chance to scream before she landed on her back staring up at the ceiling. There was a moment of shocked silence, then she smiled, her smile turning into a laugh, and before Angelica knew it, she was laughing so hard, she couldn’t get up.

  A big hand reached down and Angelica grasped it, letting Colt pull her to her feet.

  “The laughter is shock, or do you think landing on your ass is that funny?”

  Angelica reached up to wipe a tear away from her eye. “A little of both, maybe. The fish is burning.”

  Colt spun so fast, he was a blur to Angelica’s eyes as he yanked the grate off the flames, then dropped it with a curse,
shaking his hand to ease the burn.

  Angelica leaned down and scooped the hot grate off the floor, then using the sleeve of her robes, she wiped down a side table, taking off the worst of the dust before putting the fish down on it. “Dinner is served.”

  “So, you are immune to any form of heat or flame?” he asked as he reached for a fish, broke it, and handed a piece to Angelica.

  “Most,” she admitted. She was not going to lay out all her strengths and weaknesses to the enemy, yet she had to face it. This gorgeous man was the enemy—he had made that clear.

  Both of their heads jerked up when the distinctive howl of a wolf cut the air outside, above the screaming of the rising wind.

  “That’s a wolf.”

  Colt gave her a look that said, duh.

  “A wild wolf.”

  Colt seemed to be finding her trepidation amusing. “This is Alaska, so you don’t

  get tame wolves.”

  She scowled at him. “Will they come in here?”

  Colt shook his head taking a bite of his fish.

  “Fair enough.” Angelica decided to follow his lead. If Colt wasn’t worried, then she wouldn’t be either.

  They had long since finished eating and Colt was resting with his back against the wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him, one knee pulled up. His forearm rested on his knee. He was watching Geli as she sat as close as she could to the fire. He had a feeling that she would get into the blaze if she had a choice.

  He could see her shiver occasionally, and he was annoyed to admit that he was a bit worried about her. He’d already given her his coat again, and although the room was toasty to him, she couldn’t seem to warm up.

  One more way to punish her. Let her get cold here in my world.

  Yeah, it was okay to want her to suffer, but to see it happening wasn’t sitting well with him. Seemed he didn’t have the balls to see a woman suffer—even this one. He almost snorted with annoyance at himself.

  “Put more wood on the fire.”

  She looked over at him, and her lips had a slight blue tinge to them. “There isn’t much left, and I want it to last as long as it can.”

  He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Then, he leaned his head back against the wall as if he didn’t care.