Frost's Touch (Book One of the Eternal Warmth Trilogy)

XIV. Explanations

XIV

Explanations

     Uh oh.

     Those were the two words Jack thought when Iana asked what he meant. And he panicked too.

     “I meant back where I lived.”

    Iana wasn’t having any of it. “No, you didn’t. How old are you?”

    “Eighteen?”

    “Lie.”

    Damn she could see through everything.

    Well, Jack thought, here goes nothing.

     “I’m very old,” was all he said.

     “How old?”

     “Would you freak out if I told you I was older than you thousands of times over?”

     “I don’t understand,” Iana said, looking at him curiously.

     “I’m thousands of years old, Iana.”

     Iana’s eyes widened, and she took in a big breath, and exhaled shakily.

     “That’s a lie.”

     “Unfortunately,” Jack said, “it’s not.”

     “Then how are you still alive after thousands of years and not be decaying or- or dust.”

     “I’m going to explain that in a minute.”

     “I’ve got time.”

     Jack took a minute to look around, and because of his heightened senses, he could hear every water drop fall of a leaf, smell all the wild berries the rabbits were picking for their young, and see every hair follicle that blew from the wind on Iana’s head. Some say these things were gifts, but Jack only thought them as a part of his curse. Over his very long life he’s seen things he never should have and wished he didn’t.

     “ I- in the curse Lillian put upon me, she made me never feel warmth, and could never touch anything without freezing it, or using my frost. It said that I would eternally try to find my other half, so she ripped my soul in have, and gave the purest part of it to the person who was born best for me. That person would be the only human being or object that wouldn’t freeze at my touch.”

     Iana’s eyes were wide and her bottom lip was trembling. And it took everything for Jack not to kiss her to stop her shaky lip. Jack’s hands fisted at his sides to push away the urge to envelope her in his arms.

     “Am- am I that person?” She asked, “is that why I’m involved? Because you said everything froze at your touch, and you have touched me a couple times and I haven’t froze yet. So is it me?”

     Jack could only manage a nod, and looked at her guiltily. Her head was bowed and he could see a few tears fall down her cheeks. Slowly, ever so slowly, he moved himself closer to her and cupped her cheeks, wiping away the drops from her golden skin.

     Iana looked into his eyes, and Jack was shocked with how blue they were. He peered closer at them and as he looked closely, he saw flickers of hazel and yellow.

     The loneliness of his long life slowly vanished as he was captivated by Iana’s eyes, and for the first time in a long, long time…

He felt warm.