Red by Alyxandra Harvey

boots. The forest had none of the sinister quality it had possessed last night; the sun fell through red leaves and bare branches and glowed green through pine and cedars. Birds sang cheerfully. Still, my heart pounded against my rib cage. Something about the melancholy remains of the fire made me ache, made me feel small and exposed.
    That I’d nearly frozen to death on this very spot didn’t help.
    The tree I’d hidden behind to spy on Ethan looked like any other tree, until I got closer. Frost damage had peeled up strips of bark. There were pockmarks where the shards of icicles had bitten into the trunk, like bullet holes. I traced them hesitantly, trying not to spook myself. When I found a long white hair caught in a bit of ragged bark, I could practically hear the frozen breath of that…thing…behind me.
    When I spun around, there was no one, and nothing there.
    I poked through the ferns and the undergrowth, circling the tree warily. There were tracks in the half-frozen mud. Some of them were clearly mine, fitting my boots perfectly. Others led to the lake and back, to the fire pit and back. It was the prints that could only have been made by a large dragging bare foot that had the air freezing in my throat.
    Still, a bare foot implied a human had passed here.
    The idea of an old crazy man who’d been weathered to the point of disfigurement by the elements was strangely comforting. Maybe not for the crazy old man in question, but for me, at least. Still, it didn’t explain the ice and the way I’d felt as if it had been eating me from the outside.
    There were secrets here. Dangerous ones.
    There was a sound, like the one I’d heard last night. Metal on metal and something animal. I ran back to the castle. I wondered if Abby knew what was going on, and if she did, if she’d tell me. I couldn’t help but think of the Cabal, mentioned while Ethan and his friends did whatever weird thing they’d been doing. I didn’t even know what a cabal was. I gave in and tried internet searches for ice monsters and Ethan Blackwood. Like before, the internet connection failed.
    But this time I wasn’t so sure it was a coincidence.
    Despite the fact that Ethan had helped put the fire out and had even defended me to Abby, there was also the way he’d lurked in the hallway outside his dad’s museum, the way he’d grabbed me, and the way he’d come out of the forest bloody on a morning like this one. So even Ethan wasn’t to be trusted.
    Maybe especially Ethan.
    At school, I followed him down the hall, watching as he went to his locker and got his books, as he ignored two friends when they high-fived next to him. He walked to class, and the crowds parted as if he was a rock star. It was annoying.
    It was easier to focus on the mystery of Ethan than it was on long white hairs in the forest and ice that clogged my nostrils until I choked. I could figure him out, even if I couldn’t figure out what I’d seen. Or not seen. I went back to watching him, waiting for him to do something suspicious. He smiled at Justine, but I guessed that didn’t really count. He took notes, glanced at the clock, slouched lazily in his chair. He was gorgeous. I could definitely see the appeal.
    You know, if you didn’t factor in dead bunnies and bloody scratches.
    I must have made a sound of frustration, because heads turned toward me. I felt my face go red and forced my expression into something obnoxious and indifferent. “What?” I said rudely. Ethan was the only one who held my stare with one of his own. He raised an eyebrow. I narrowed my eyes back at him. I refused to be the first one to break the glare. When the bell rang, we both jumped in our seats.
    I was the first one out of the classroom. I spent the rest of the day both avoiding him and spying on him and I was no closer to an answer. I was, however, closer to being accused of being a stalker. Not exactly an improvement.
    I drove to Brontë’s Café to use their wifi. As expected,