Chapter 10
Pixie stood with her mate outside the shimmering magical perimeter. Hunter was still in his polar bear form, his breath making clouds in the cold air. Maverick and Sebastian, in their snow leopard and wolf forms, were nearby, scanning the darkness for signs of Frost and his evil followers.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the sky though.
She’d never seen Santa come back into Northernmost.
Hunter grumbled and nudged her with his nose.
“Oh, it’s him!” She grinned as Santa’s sleigh appeared, highlighted by the Northern Lights. She leaned against Hunter and watched as the sleigh lowered slowly toward the magical perimeter. She barely breathed, so captivated by the sight.
Unease rippled through her.
Her wings twitched and she straightened.
“Hunter,” she said. “Something’s wrong.”
He growled softly, scanning the area. His fur was dusted with snow, his muscles taut under his massive frame. He was ready to fight. The entire security force was. But no one knew where the attack would come from.
The sleigh dipped lower, passing through the magical perimeter. She could tell by the way the sleigh moved so slowly that Santa was tiring, his magic nearly depleted.
There was movement at the back of the sleigh. It looked like the stars were moving in a strange, unnatural way.
Her heart lurched in her chest as she saw a figure appear, rising behind Santa.
“No!” She flapped her wings and shot into the air, cutting through the magical perimeter and racing toward the sleigh. Below her, Hunter bellowed in alarm.
She saw something shiny in the male’s hand as he raised it to strike and knew it had to be Azure because Frost had silver hair and this male had dark hair.
Azure raised a thin blade, aiming for Santa’s unprotected back.
Pixie slammed into Azure and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him backward.
He let out a strangled curse as he lost his grip on the blade.
She didn’t give him time to react. With a mighty heave, she dragged him from the sleigh, her wings straining against his weight.
She used her momentum to carry Azure outside the magical perimeter.
When they cleared it, she let go, hovering in the air to watch as he tumbled toward the frozen ground and the waiting shifters.
Pixie didn’t hesitate. She dove after him, landing nearby just as Hunter and the others charged forward.
A fury of fur, claws, and snarls descended on Azure.
Hunter hit him first, a massive wall of muscle and power, sending Azure skidding backward.
Maverick lunged, claws flashing as he raked them across Azure’s arm, dark blood splattering onto the ice. Sebastian struck next, his wolf fangs snapping at Azure’s leg, nearly taking him down.
They had him! They were going to take out Frost’s second-in-command.
Then she saw it. Movement in the darkness.
Her stomach dropped.
An army was coming toward them, Frost’s evil followers heading to Northernmost.
Pixie soared upward with a powerful flap of her wings, desperate to see what they were dealing with. Her heart pounded as she confirmed what she’d feared—a wave of Frost’s evil followers was coming.
“There’s an army!” she shouted. Inside the perimeter, the security force surged forward, warriors rushing out to meet the oncoming threat. The night erupted in battle cries and the clash of bodies as the two opposing forces met.
She looked at the Well and spotted Santa beside it, the golden glow of his magic replenishing surrounding him. He couldn’t leave the perimeter to aid in the battle. If he stepped beyond it, Frost would have direct access to him.
At least he’s safe now.
But the moment of thankfulness was short-lived.
A viselike grip clamped around her ankle and bitter cold shot up her leg.
Before she could react, she was yanked from the sky.
She screamed as her body whipped downward, her wings helpless to stop her.
Then, she was flung like a ragdoll into the darkness.
The wind rushed past her ears and her stomach lurched as she twisted in the air and tried to get her bearings before she slammed into the ground.
The impact sent a burst of snow fluffing around her, the ice like sandpaper on her exposed skin.
She barely had time to push herself upright before she felt someone loom over her.
Azure.
His eyes were glowing an unnatural purple, a herald to his warlock nature. He might be a minion of Frost’s, but he’d been powerful as a warlock before he turned evil, and that made him infinitely more dangerous.
She scrambled away from him, her pulse thundering in her ears. Why were they still fighting? Frost lost. Santa was safe.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Azure sneered. “You really thought it was over?” He stalked toward her with slow, measured steps.
Behind her was the safety of Northernmost and her mate, fighting for his life with his friends against Frost’s followers.
“You lost.”
“We’ll take you instead, little fairy,” he said, his voice filled with malice as molten silver strands of magic flowed from his fingers like thorny vines that crept on the snow toward her. “If we can’t kill Santa this year, your magic will replenish Frost.”
“No!” She flapped her wings and rose into the air.
She was stopped by a shockingly cold pain around her calves and looked down to see the magical vines tethering her to Azure.
He jerked on the vines and she was yanked down, crashing to the ground on her hands and knees, the unnatural cold of the vines burrowing into her bones.
“I’ll keep you for myself. Frost lets me sometimes.
When you’re turned evil and part of his followers, I’ll enjoy using you until there’s nothing left.
” The vines slithered higher up her legs.
Rage and panic ignited inside her. No!
With a furious shout, she twisted away from Azure, grabbing the vines with her bare hands. She called on her shadow magic and the shadows answered, surging beneath her like inky ribbons. They curled up her arms and licked at her fingers.
Azure frowned as he realized his dark magic vines weren’t working.
Then she struck.
She thrust the shadows toward the vines, and they wrapped around the silver vines, sinking into them. The vines unraveled.
With a twist of her wrist, she yanked the silver vines and flung them back at Azure. He barely had time to dodge them. While he stumbled to avoid being hit with the vines, she launched herself skyward, desperate to put distance between them.
She just needed a second to regroup, to get to Hunter and help him and the others.
As she turned in the sky toward Northernmost, not liking how far away she’d been tossed, a presence colder than the very depths of winter around her surged through the air.
A laugh, haunting and cruel, echoed through the darkness.
Frost.
Before she could fly toward safety, bitter cold hit her wings and they froze in place, and she tumbled to the ground once more.
Her wings were frozen solid and heavy against her back.
The impact knocked the breath from her lungs and pain exploded through her body. She tried to get up, but the weight of her frozen wings was too much.
A wave of bone-deep, paralyzing cold whispered across the battlefield as she saw Frost walking toward her.
She tried to move, tried to summon her shadow magic to cloak herself, but her magic wouldn’t respond.
Snow crunched under his boots.
He loomed over her.
“You should have stayed out of this,” Frost said.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as terror flooded through her.
Then a massive white blur shot over her, hitting Frost with the force of an avalanche.
Hunter!
He and Frost tumbled to the ground as Hunter roared in fury.
Frost disappeared in a flash of bright light and Hunter bellowed in rage. Then he turned and loped toward Pixie, and she could have cried in relief.
He tucked her under his furry arm and carried her toward Northernmost.
Her wings ached and the ice seemed to be moving deeper into her body. She shivered uncontrollably, even in his warm embrace.
Then Azure appeared like an unwanted wraith, brandishing a blade and swiping at Hunter. Her mate bellowed and tossed her away from him and attacked Azure.
She flew through the air and past the magical perimeter. She braced for the impact she was sure would come, but instead, she hit someone’s arms. Her vision blurred as the cold overtook her, but she smelled peppermint and cocoa.
She heard Santa shout, “I’ll get her to safety.”
She wanted to ask Santa to take care of Hunter and make sure he was okay.
He’d fought his way to her and saved her, not only from Azure but Frost.
As she slipped into unconsciousness, her veins feeling like they were filled with ice, her last thought was of Hunter.
Her mate and protector.