The Ice Twins - Nikki Jefford Page 0,1

table. Her red hair was gathered into a messy bun pulled high atop her head, and she wore a long-sleeved flannel pajama top over black leggings. She smiled at me as I walked by. “Hey, bud. You hungry?”

“Not really.”

“All right. Peridot will be over to prepare breakfast soon if you change your mind.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

My dads pulled their coffee mugs toward them. Right. Like I’d make the same mistake twice.

I shoved my feet into my high-top sneakers, not bothering to lace them on my way out the door. Fresh morning air filled my lungs when I stepped outside. Pinemist always had such a clean, invigorating atmosphere. It’s where I felt most at home.

After taking in another deep lungful, I made my way to the open field behind our cottage and relieved myself, then stared over the green expanse with its bluebells, primroses, and myriad of spring wildflowers blossoming from the sodden earth.

“Come on,” Ronin said.

I turned and smiled at my twin in his denim jacket. That was the good thing about Ronin. Once up, he was raring to go. Must be all that damned undisturbed sleep he got.

We headed away from the field toward the main roads. As I walked closer to Ronin, I wrinkled my nose. “Why do you smell like cherry blossoms and vanilla?”

Ronin groaned. “I went into the bathroom right after Melody. She must have emptied half a bottle of perfume in there. Dude, we need our own place.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“Well, you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.”

Ronin slipped his hands into his pockets. He walked with a slouch opposite me up the lane. “What are we thinking? A cottage closer to town? A condo in California? A townhouse in Dahlquist? All three?”

I snorted. “Sure, why don’t you ask our parents to fund all that for us?”

Ronin shrugged.

I stopped in front of a deep puddle in the road and flexed my fingers. Ice spread across the surface. I concentrated downward, freezing the water to the ground, going deeper into the soil below. Once satisfied, I stepped onto the frozen surface. It held firm without so much as a crack when I walked across in my sneakers.

Ronin worked his magic on the next puddle. I ran ahead of him toward a huge pothole filled with water ahead. My arms stretched. I froze the liquid solid right in time to slide across with a loud “Whoop!”

Ronin glided across after me, laughing the whole time. “Hey, do you think we could freeze an entire lake?” he asked.

“Won’t know until we try,” I offered with a shrug.

We looked at one another and grinned. If Ronin’s face was any indication, I had a wicked grin lifting up my cheeks.

We set off at a jog for Sterling Pond.

The pond lay to the southwest of Pinemist, near our cousins’ cottage. As luck would have it, cousin Alok was there with our niece and nephew. Amelia threw rocks into the pond while little Titus sat on the ground making mud pies.

Alok skipped a stone across, grinning triumphantly after it skimmed the surface eight times before sinking.

“How did you do that, Papa?” Amelia demanded.

I didn’t find it particularly impressive, not compared to elemental magic or cousin Fraya’s skill with a bow and arrow. But Alok was an awesome father, especially considering he’d saved Fraya and Amelia from an elvish douche in Goldendale. We weren’t supposed to talk about that, but I found it admirable. My dingleberry of an older brother still thought Alok was Fae trash. Maybe if he left his golden palace once in a while, he’d see how tirelessly Alok worked to make his family happy.

Before Alok could answer, Amelia noticed me. Her eyes lit up as she screeched, “Uncle Wonin!”

I folded my arms. “Reed,” I corrected. We weren’t technically her uncles, but since Fraya didn’t have any siblings, we’d agreed to be surrogate uncles.

“Can you skip a stone more times than my daddy, Uncle Wonin?”

Hopefully, she didn’t take after her birth father. Apparently, he was a mega imbecile. I kept my thoughts to myself.

“I don’t know. Let’s see, shall we?” Ronin asked, strutting over to the edge of the lake. “Find me a real smooth one, will you?”

“Show us how it’s done, Wonin,” I said.

Ronin stuck his tongue out at me, causing Amelia to laugh. While she went around gathering stones, I stared long and hard at the pond. Wouldn’t that be a neat trick if I froze Ronin’s stone over the surface as it skipped?

Answer: Hella cool!

“Hey, what are you doing?” Amelia asked.

A