Kiss of Frost

two schools mingled together, talking, laughing, and saying hello to old friends.

I dragged our bags over to one of the walls and stood there, just staring at everything and trying hard not to gawk. Despite the creepy statues, the hotel really was gorgeous. Back when my mom had been alive, we'd taken plenty of vacations, but we'd never stayed anywhere as nice as this. Powder was the kind of place where everything was designer this and designer that, right down to the chocolate mints they put on your pillows at night.

'Pretty impressive, isn't it?' a low voice murmured beside me.

I turned my head and found myself staring at one of the cutest guys I'd ever seen. Seriously. He was just… perfect. White blond hair, intense blue eyes, fantastic cheekbones. And if all that wasn't enough, he had a great body, too. I could see his muscles, even underneath the black turtleneck sweater he wore. He looked to be about my age or maybe a year or two older. At first, I didn't think he was talking to me-I mean, why would he? — but then, when he kept staring at me, I realized that he was.

'Yeah,' I said, breathless. 'It's amazing.'

'So is the view from where I'm standing,' the guy said.

And then he smiled at me.

It was like someone flipped a switch and suddenly turned on all the lights in the lobby-okay, okay, all the lights everywhere-because the guy went from cute to downright gorgeous,helped along by the two tiny dimples in his cheeks. Seriously, all that and dimples, too. He looked like a model who'd just stepped out of the page of some artsy fashion magazine. He was just that good-looking-the kind of guy you just couldn't help but stare at.

'You here for the Winter Carnival?' he asked.

I nodded. 'Yeah. You?'

He nodded back. 'The same. What's your name?'

It actually took me a second to remember it. 'Gwen,' I said. 'Gwen Frost.'

He smiled again. 'Well, Gwen Frost, I'm Preston, from the New York academy. I take it you go to the one down here in the Carolinas? I know you don't go to my school, because I'm sure I would have noticed you before.'

All I could do was just nod and try to keep my mouth from falling open. Was he-was heflirtingwith me? It sounded like it, but I wasn't completely sure. I hadn't had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Before coming to Mythos, I'd had exactly one boyfriend for a grand total of three weeks. And now that I was at the academy, guys still weren't tripping over themselves to talk to me.

'I just started going to Mythos this year,' I said. 'This is my first Winter Carnival.'

He nodded, like I'd just said something cool and interesting, instead of reciting stupid boring facts. We stood there in silence for a minute, while kids moved in the lobby around us, laughing, talking, and texting on their phones. I kept sneaking looks at Preston out of the corner of my eye, waiting for his girlfriend to show up. A guy that cute? Hehadto be with someone already.

But no one came over to us-no girls, no guys, no professors. And I started to wonder what it would be like to flirt back. Just a little bit.

Before I could open my mouth to try, I spotted Daphne waving at me. The Valkyrie had a couple of plastic key cards in her hands, and she started threading her way through the crowd in my direction. I waved back at her.

Preston glanced down and checked his watch. 'Well, I gotta go. I'm sure my roommate's got our key cards by now.'

I nodded, even though disappointment filled me. So he hadn't been flirting with me after all-he'd just been killing time until he could go up to his room. Of course he had. I should have known it was something like that from the start. Guys like him just didn't flirt with girls like me. I winced, thinking I'd probably come off like a total loser.

Preston stared at me, his blue eyes bright and warm in his handsome face. 'I've got to hang out with some friends this afternoon, but I hear there's going to be an awesome party tonight over at the Solstice coffeehouse. Maybe I'll see you there?'

My heart stopped, sputtered, and thenthump-thumpthumped in my chest. Okay, okay, so he wasn't exactly asking me out, but it sounded like he wouldn't mind if he ran into me later either. And given my stupid, unrequited, disastrous crush on Logan, I'd take what I could get.

'Maybe,' I said, trying to play it cool.

Preston smiled at me a final time, then headed across the lobby.

A few seconds later, Daphne broke free of the crowd and stepped over to me. When I didn't immediately turn toward her, the Valkyrie snapped her fingers in front of my face, making pink sparks flash everywhere and fall to the ground like raindrops.

'Earth to Gwen. What are you looking at?'

'Oh, just this guy I was talking to.'

Daphne's black eyes narrowed. 'What guy?'

I tried to point out Preston to her, but there were too many people between us and him, and he was walking away too fast for her to really see him.

'He looks cute,' she said, standing on her tiptoes to try to get a better look. 'At least from the back.'

'Believe me,' I murmured. 'He is.'

Daphne elbowed me in the side. 'See? I told you there would be guys here from the New York academy, and you've met one already. And you didn't want to come.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Yeah, yeah. You're my genius best friend, always looking out for me.'