I hadn’t taken more than two steps when my phone vibrated, signaling a text message.
—Don’t worry if you can’t call later. I won’t expect you home tonight. Mom.
Disbelief dropped my mouth open. I read the text again, but her failure to mention why I’d be gone told me as well as words could have: She’d seen me staying the night with Erik.
God. What had she seen?
Heat spread across my cheeks. My mom almost never did anything like this. Despite her uncanny ability to look into the future and see trouble coming, she adhered to a strict “I’m Not Telling” policy, particularly in regards to my older sister’s and my futures. She’d only broken her rule a few times that I knew of—once to tell my sister to hide a drunken friend’s keys, and once to warn me that a boy I was dating in high school would hit me in a jealous rage after he saw me talking with another guy.
I hadn’t believed her. Joey had been one of the sweetest kids I knew. Then one night at a friend’s party, I grabbed a couple of drinks before making my way into the living room where my boyfriend waited. He’d stared at me with an expression that I couldn’t identify, until I realized that he’d seen me chatting with a guy from my Calculus class in the kitchen. I recognized his fury then, and saw his clenched fist—but I still hadn’t believed that he’d try to punch me until he’d swung.
My mom’s warning had prepared me. I’d ducked; he’d missed. So I tossed my drink into his face and slammed my knee into his crotch. He’d probably pissed blood for a week, but he never hit me.
Nothing my mother saw was inevitable. If she didn’t interfere, events usually progressed as they originally would have. But just because she saw something didn’t mean it had to happen.
And I wouldn’t be staying the night with Erik. She’d completely misread that future.
—You’re SO wrong, I texted back. I’ll be there.
I started up the driveway. A few seconds later, her reply came.
—Just be careful.
A little shiver ran up my spine. She never said ‘be careful’ lightly. Coming from someone with her ability, a ‘be careful’ could drive a person mad worrying about what she’d seen and what was going to happen to them.
My mother hadn’t said it to me in fifteen years—since the night of that high school party. One of the reasons I always prepared myself was so that she wouldn’t worry. She knew that I carried all of that stuff in my bag…yet she still told me to be careful?
Slipping the phone into my coat pocket, I returned to the Jeep. A lockbox sat under the passenger seat. I dialed the combination and lifted the lid. Inside, my 9-millimeter pistol lay nestled in gray foam. I made sure the safety was on and tucked the weapon into my bag—right next to a box of condoms.
I didn’t plan to use either. But I did like to be prepared.
Frozen will be available on June 15, 2013, for 99¢.
We hope you have enjoyed these excerpts! Our full booklists are available on the next pages.
Other Works by Jessica Sims
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Midnight Liaisons
Vixen in Wild & Steamy
Beauty Dates the Beast
Out With a Fang in The Undead in My Bed
Speed Mating in Fire & Frost
Must Love Fangs (August 2013)
Other Works by Carolyn Crane
URBAN FANTASY
The Disillusionists
Mind Games
Double Cross
Kitten-tiger and the Monk in Wild & Steamy
Head Rush
Devil’s Luck
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Code of Shadows
Conjuring Max in Fire & Frost
Mr. Real
Friar Jack (Coming 2014)
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
The Associates
Against the Dark
Off the Edge (Summer 2013)
Untitled - The Associates #3 (Winter 2013)
Other Works by Meljean Brook
STEAMPUNK ROMANCE
The Iron Seas
Here There Be Monsters in Burning Up
The Iron Duke
Epilogue Novella: Mina Wentworth and the Invisible City
Heart of Steel
Epilogue Novella: Tethered
Riveted
Wrecked in Fire & Frost
Salvage in Enthralled (July 2013)
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The Guardian Series
Falling for Anthony in Hot Spell
Demon Angel
Paradise in Wild Thing
Demon Moon
Demon Night
Thicker than Blood in First Blood
Demon Bound
Demon Forged
Blind Spot in Must Love Hellhounds
Demon Blood
Demon Marked
Ascension in Angels of Darkness
Guardian Demon (August 2013)
Unconnected Works
In Sheep’s Clothing in Under Her Skin
Frozen (June 2013)
FIRE & FROST
Copyright © 2013 by MELJEAN BROOK, JESSICA SIMS, and CAROLYN CRANE
“Wrecked” © 2013 by Meljean Brook
“Speed Mating” © 2013 by Jessica Sims
“Conjuring Max” © 2013 by Carolyn Crane
“Frozen” excerpt © 2013 by Meljean Brook
“Vixen” excerpt © 2011 by Jill Myles
“Mr. Real” excerpt © 2012 by Carolyn Crane
Title font “Northwoods High” by Allen Chiu at dafont.com. Used with permission.
Cover design by Meljean Brook.
Cover photo © olly - Fotolia.com.
Proofreading by Brenda at The Eclectic Editor.
Additional proofreading by Fedora Chen.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ISBN: 978-09894-611-08 (EPUB)