As Cold As Ice by Mandy Rosko

men hate having to reschedule their
fun.”
    The smile faded from Jessica’s mouth. “I
didn’t know he had paranormals fight down here so often.”
    “ Often enough. Not always
to the death, but it’s still never good.”
    They made it to the double doors, and Soren
pulled the shackles out of his wide and deep white pockets. “Hold
out your wrists.”
    “ I was hoping you’d
forget.”
    Soren smiled, but there was nothing happy
about it.
    Jessica looked over at the arena. “Give me a
second before you do that,” she said, stepping away from him.
    “ Just be quick, we need to
get back upstairs.”
    Jessica nodded, looking back to the mess
she’d made. The ice crystals that spiked up from some of the brick
she’d blasted, branching off into other places like tree branches.
The spots that were untouched were obvious, but it was the fact
that her ice had been so cold it had shattered the brick that made
her happy.
    And then she looked over at those nice,
comfy-looking seats Markus and the rest of his asshole friends sat
in while they watched, or ignored, the paranormals who were
fighting for their entertainment.
    Stuff like that was supposed to be illegal.
Even paranormals had that many rights, but Markus didn’t care.
    She launched a rocket of cold at the deep
leather seats. Then another. And another. Jessica shot her hands
forward until the ice surrounding those chairs was so thick she
couldn’t even see the leather seats beneath it.
    Her chest heaved again with the force of her
attack. She shivered as the sweat that had started to glisten on
her body began to chill enough that even she was cold.
    She turned back to Soren. His arms were
crossed, but she didn’t look angry. More curious. “I guess I can
make up some reason that caused you to accidentally put all of Mr.
Layton’s seats inside an ice cube.”
    Jessica went back to Soren and held her
wrists out. He put the shackles back on her with no pleasure on his
face.
    Jessica tried to ignore the little shiver it
brought her when he touched her skin. “Just tell him I thought I
saw him sitting there.”
    Soren gave her a look, and those blue eyes
magnified the warm, shivery feeling inside her. “Yeah, right.”
    *****
    The next two days were spent undergoing more
tests, most of which were administered by Soren, and a couple by
Charles. Though she was still incredibly angry and frustrated by
Soren and his new policy of not taking advantage of her, she would
prefer him over Charles any day.
    The way he put his hand on her shoulder and
stared into her eyes, the way he called her sweetheart, irritated
her beyond belief.
    Jessica’s last name wasn’t Frost for a
reason. Despite the incredible irony that came with having a name
like that, most other women—and even some men-—thought she was
incredibly cold when it came to the way the opposite sex treated
her.
    She could be walking down the sidewalk in
the city and be catcalled a hundred times over and it wouldn’t
bother her. Having an older man call her ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’, or
‘darling’ was never a problem, either. The age thing also had
nothing to do with it. For one thing, it was only pseudo-insulting,
and for another, it only became insulting and demeaning if she let
it.
    Words had power only when
people gave them power. Jessica was a big believer in that, and she
would be damned before she had anyone accuse her of being overly
sensitive. But she just fucking hated it when Charles touched her
hair and got a little too close.
    She kept her anger to herself, however. For
one thing, it was her own fault he got it into his head that he was
allowed to do that. She was the one who hadn’t backed up when he’d
tried to kiss her.
    Jessica made sure to pull back every time he
tried after that, however.
    She wasn’t about to tell him his advances
weren’t wanted, either. Not when she could use them to her
advantage. Also, pointing out to him that he made her uncomfortable
only seemed like it