“It’s not a thing,” Lucas swore, shaking his gloves to rid himself of the rest of Eliot’s pocket-contents—except for the two brass tins. He raised one to study it.

Kaley tilted her head. “Why don’t you want me to see that paper?” She tried to lunge for his pocket, but Lucas caught her ‘round the waist and spun, wicked smile returning.

“It’s a secret for now, Trite.”

Kaley pushed him off. “I thought we decided to air out all our dirty laundry back there,” she said.

Lucas made a repulsed face. “Air out our what?”

“It’s an expression. It means we decided to keep things out in the open. What’s on that note?” she asked again. “Does it involve me?”

A twitch of his mouth. Another of his left eye. “No.”

Kaley drew back. “What does Eliot Gray want with me?”

“Well, I’d like to have my frostbit things back, for starters.” Kaley and Lucas jumped at Eliot’s voice booming through the trees.

Kaley pressed a hand against her settling heart as she took in Eliot’s dark, furrowed brows and his mouth tipped down in an ugly scowl.

“Apologies, Gray. She threw your button over there.” Lucas nodded in the general direction.

But Eliot’s eyes sank to murky blue. “Give it back, Leutenski.”

“Hmm,” Lucas thought about it. Then, “No.”

Kaley looked between the two and backed away a pinch.

“I’d fancy a quarrel,” Eliot said, gripping a Patrol weapon he had not been carrying before, and Lucas smiled.

“At last.” But Lucas’s jests turned cold as his eyes dipped to rust. He unhooked his staff from his back. “For Mikal,” he added, and Eliot’s hard face drained of colour.

“Leutenski…I didn’t have anything to do with the unmerry tidings that befell Mikal.” Eliot’s words had less steam now.

“Scrape his name from your tongue.” Lucas’s staff exploded with silver hairs of ice. “We’ll settle this as Patrolmen. We’ll settle this the way my mentor would have proposed.”

Eliot’s shoulders tightened. “Fine.” Icicles grew from his weapon too.

“First to drop the other in the snow?” Lucas proposed.

“First to draw blood,” Eliot countered, and Lucas’s topaz gaze narrowed. “And you’ll wish you’d given me my belongings back when I asked.”

“What’s the prize? Your creepy letter?” Lucas braced himself on his heel.

“The prize is a visit with Helen.”

Kaley’s attention fired to the curly-haired ex-Patrolman. “You’re not going anywhere near my sister.”

“That’s all I want. I’ll take nothing less.”

“Ragnashuck, I guess I’d better win, then. And when I do,” Lucas cut in, “you must stay far away from both Trites.”

Eliot’s face changed. “For how long?”

“For the remainder of your unmerry timestring. Forever.”

Eliot’s Patrol staff dipped, and he raised a flat hand. “Wait. I cannot agree to that.”

“You raised the stakes.”