Chapter 4

Outside the window, Lila pressed a remote control.

The temperature on the wall display plunged to a lethal -28 degrees.

I looked down at my thermal wristband.

My body temperature had dropped below 95 degrees.

The device began to emit a sharp, high-pitched warning beep.

I pressed the emergency button to contact Tess.

No signal.

Lila tapped her other phone mockingly.

"The warehouse is equipped with signal jammers, sweetie."

"As for that little assistant you brought? The security guards are currently 'interrogating' her for trespassing."

Her smile grew sweeter and sweeter.

"Maeve, who are you waiting for? Julian?"

I didn't answer.

She dialed a FaceTime call on her phone.

A few seconds later, Julian's face appeared on the screen. He was sitting in an airport lounge.

"Lila?"

"Julian! I came to the warehouse to pack up my last few things, but Maeve suddenly showed up and followed me here..."

She spun the camera toward the window, showing me trapped inside the icy vault.

"She locked herself inside the freezer and is demanding I hand over my silver pendant!"

Julian bolted upright from his seat.

"Maeve! What the hell are you doing in there?!"

I raised my stiff hand, tapping weakly on the glass.

My movements were sluggish, my muscles freezing up.

"She locked me in."

"Julian, you know I can't even twist open a bottle cap right now!" Lila sobbed, thrusting her bandaged hands toward the camera. "How could I possibly slide that heavy steel door shut?"

Julian turned his glare back to me.

"Maeve, just tap your keycard against the inner sensor!"

"She cut the power."

"Then wait for the maintenance crew to get there!"

"She set the freezer to negative twenty-eight degrees," I said, my breath fogging heavily in the air.

Julian hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Lila immediately burst into hysterical tears.

"Julian! She has that terrifying curse! If I tried to hurt her, I'd be the one dying right now! Do you really think I'm that stupid? Maeve is just trying to make you think I'm a monster!"

Julian pinched the bridge of his nose, looking incredibly drained.

"Maeve, I've already dispatched a team to your location."

"Stop terrorizing Lila."

I stared at his face through the screen.

"Julian, my core body temperature is dropping."

"Those smart bands glitch all the time."

"You believe her over me?"

"I believe what makes logical sense, Maeve."

With that, he hung up the call.

The moment the screen went black, the final crack in the door of my heart sealed shut forever.

Lila lowered her phone, bursting into triumphant laughter.

"Do you see now?"

"Even if you freeze to death in there, his first instinct will still be to ask if I was scared."

I slid down against the metal shelves, sitting on the icy floor.

My breathing was becoming incredibly slow and shallow.

Seeing that I had stopped responding, the smug grin on Lila's face slowly began to falter.

"Why aren't you screaming? Aren't you terrified?!"

"I can't feel fear if I can't feel the cold."

"Then just die quietly in there!"

She sneered, pressing the remote control once more.

The temperature display flashed to a horrific -32°F.

Suddenly, the high-pitched beeping from my wristband stopped.

Lila blinked, confused. "Did the battery die?"

I closed my eyes slowly.

"No. It just sent my GPS coordinates and a medical distress signal to my mother."

Almost instantly, a loud crash echoed from the warehouse doors outside.

Lila whipped her head around, her face twisting in sudden terror.