Magic, New Mexico Boxset books 1-3

Chapter 5-1

Chapter Five

Frost stood in the doorway of the dwelling staring in shock at the female. He blinked several times to clear his eyes. Nothing else seemed to register in his mind except that she was glowing… with the bright, soft light of the early morning sun reflecting across a fresh snowfall. The brilliant colors swirling around her settled on her skin like the first touch of frost against the petals of the snow flowers.

He watched the patterns settle around her. As the twinkling faded, the delicate patterns caressed her skin dancing for him. Patterns only he could see. Patterns showing that she was his chosen one.

Time suddenly fast forwarded as he realized that she was in mortal danger. Panic and fear, two emotions that he refused to acknowledge, ricocheted through him as he caught the glint of cold metal and Taar’s massive form behind her.

“Taar!” Frost yelled, throwing his right hand up. “Freeze.”

The dark brown eyes of the female jerked up to his in shock. Her lips parted to form a small, delectable circle as she stared back at him. He barely registered that she had her arms wrapped protectively around the body of the golden-haired mammal. He did look twice when the tiny creature suddenly let go of the tip of Taar’s tail and grinned up at him.

“Move,” Frost snarled as he continued to shoot bursts of ice outward toward Taar.

A confused frown crossed the lovely face of the female as she tilted sideways away from where the icy stream was pulsing. She gasped as she saw the ice-covered mask of the lizard behind her. She stumbled against a chair that had fallen. The movement, combined with the extra weight in her arms, caused her to move backwards instead of toward him. At the same time, Taar’s enraged roar and the sound of shattering ice echoed through the room.

“What is going on? Who are you?” the female shouted in exasperation. “Larry, let… me… go!”

Frost clenched his fingers into a tight fist as Taar wrapped one of his hands in the female’s long dark brown hair while the other raised the sharp blade to her throat. The sound of the Learian’s loud hisses rubbed against his senses like sand against glass.

“Star Ranger!” Taar hissed, ignoring the sharp stinging in his tail and the pulsing shocks burning the palm of his hand where he gripped the female. “I should have known that Passion would send you. This is going to make my escape even sweeter knowing I’ve killed yet another one of you.”

“Let her go, Taar,” Frost responded in a cold, hard voice. “This is between you and I.”

“Not any longer,” Taar sneered. “This one is going to die.”

Frost’s mind worked frantically at a way to get the female away from Taar. Fear and rage burned inside him as the blade in Taar’s fisted claw rested against the pale skin of the female. He fingered the explosives in his other hand. They would stun Taar briefly, but they might kill the woman.

His eyes moved to the slender figure that had become very still. The look of uncertainty and confusion was still in her eyes, but there was something else as well, as if she was trying to understand what they were saying. Her eyes locked with his and he saw she was studying him with a frown. He rolled the small explosives in his left hand. Her eyes moved to his hand before rising to look at him again, this time with disapproval. She gave a tiny shake of her head.

Frost couldn’t hold back his growl of frustration. The stupid female had no idea of the danger she was in! Stiffening his shoulders, he slipped the explosives into the pocket of his trousers. The likelihood of him surviving a hand-to-hand combat with the Learian was slim, but he had no choice. He could not let Taar kill his female.

“Fight me,” Frost demanded in desperation. “Hand to hand, no weapons, just you and me.”

Taar’s bark of harsh laughter resounded through the room at Frost’s challenge. Frost took a step forward when Taar jerked on the female’s hair instead, pulling her back a step and drawing a cry of pain from her. His hands instinctively tried to reach for her before his mouth dropped open as she suddenly turned around in fury and pressed one hand against Taar’s chest. The blade Taar held against her throat vanished into a puff of smoke as she twirled to face the Learian.

He fell back a step when her voice rose in a commanding tone. He didn’t understand a word she was saying, but whatever it was had a profound effect on Taar. The Learian’s eyes widened in shock before he began to shimmer. One second the huge reptilian species stood in front of the female, the next he was gone.

Frost stood frozen in disbelief watching as the woman lowered the golden mammal in her arms to the ground before she grabbed a small, clear container off the floor. With another series of mumbled words, the contents of the container disappeared. When she finally stood straight again, she was holding the container between the palms of her hands with a look of disgust on her face. Inside was a miniature replica of Taar, now only about five inches high.

His throat worked up and down as the female turned her heated gaze on him. He started to stumble backwards when she took a step toward him, her eyes glittering in determination. His vision blurred as she waved her hand at him. Panic gripped him as the world began to grow around him. He tried to turn on his heel, but found he was unable to move as trillions of sparkling lights danced around him for several long, eternal seconds.

His eyes closed as he fought with his frozen muscles, trying to get them to obey him. When he opened his eyes, the golden mammal was looking at him, nose to nose. He grimaced when a pink tongue swept out to lick the fur covering his face.

Fur! I don’t have… Frost thought for a brief moment before his eyes lit on the reflection in the smoky glass of what looked like a cooking device. With a tentative hop forward, he gazed at his reflection. I… I… His brain rebelled at the same time as he felt a firm, but gentle hand, grab him by the back of his neck and lift him. I have long ears! He thought before his mind shut down and he slipped into an exhausted slumber as soothing words washed over him.