Chapter 10
Sebastian and Emberlin walked through the underground network of hallways until they reached the offices where the elves who worked directly for Santa, and Santa himself, spent much of their time.
He knocked on the door to Santa’s office and heard the familiar, “Come in.”
Opening the door, they found him behind his massive desk with one of the lists. Judging by how long it was, he suspected it was the Nice List, which was considerably longer.
He took off his glasses and set them on the desk, then rubbed his eyes. “I don’t think I’ve blinked for the last hour. Welcome, have a seat.”
“Thanks,” he said, sitting next to Emberlin.
“So,” Santa said, leaning back in his chair, “I’m certain that as a shifter, you’re not interested in your truemate being in danger, but she is a powerful and rare phoenix witch. I spoke to Mother Nature a little while ago, and we discussed what you could do in Northernmost.”
“I’m happy to help out in whatever way is needed.”
Sebastian definitely didn’t want her in danger, but he also wanted her by his side so he could keep her safe. Talk about a conundrum.
“We were thinking that you could hold a dual role,” he said. “If needed at the infirmary, the healer elves could reach out to you for your healing magic assistance.”
“Of course.”
“But in general, you would be on the same shift as Sebastian and part of the security team. You would create what are essentially wards that the security team would wear during their shifts, and you as well, that would alert them to Frost and his evil followers. It would be an extra layer of protection for our people. It’s a huge undertaking with our security staff, and eventually, I’d like all our people in Northernmost to have protection wards to wear. ”
Emberlin hummed in surprise. “So something that could be worn like a ring or a bracelet?”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, wow. I hadn’t thought about that.”
He smiled. “Mother Nature suggested it, and I think it’s a great idea.
The reason the wards would work well, Sebastian, since you may not know this, is that Emberlin’s magic is based in fire and Frost’s is based in ice.
So a ward that’s created by a fire witch to detect ice magic would offer good protection. ”
“What do the wards do?” he asked.
“They won’t stop someone from being harmed,” she said, “but they would give a wearer an idea of something sinister. For example, it would begin to heat if there was dangerous ice magic nearby and would be an early warning system of sorts.”
“That’s cool as hell,” he said.
She beamed at him.
“You can patrol with Sebastian,” Santa said.
“Your magic will give you insight into the magical perimeter, and if you ever see that the perimeter is weakening or feel that something evil is afoot, you would be a great first line of defense. You can work on the wards whenever you’re able to and replenish any used magic as needed. ”
“I’d love to do both of those things,” she said.
“I’ll leave you to orientation with your mate,” he said. “And thank you, Emberlin, for helping to keep our people safe.”
“Thanks for trusting me with it.”
They left his office and first went to the supply building, where she spoke to several elves about creating protection wards.
They agreed to locate the supplies she needed and deliver them to their apartment as soon as they were able to gather them.
Then they walked to the security office, where Sebastian introduced her to the staff, and she was entered into the system as part of the security team.
“We’ll have to get you a uniform,” Hunter said. “In the meantime, grab a walkie and bundle up. It’s cold as you know what out there.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Anything on the docket for tonight?” Sebastian asked.
“Just one witch coming through in the next half hour to replenish her magic.”
“We’ll be there to escort her,” Sebastian said. “We’ll patrol near the Portal to kick off the night and then I’ll take Emberlin around the magical perimeter to show her where we patrol.”
Next they met with Chase, the snow leopard, and the two elves on the shift that night—Bart and Alder.
“Welcome to the team,” Bart said.
“Thank you,” she said.
They bundled up, grabbed walkies, and headed outside.
“Oh crap,” she said when they were out in the cold.
“Yeah, I would say that you get used to it, but cold is cold,” he said.
The others left for their rounds, each starting at a different point and circling the perimeter as well as checking the various buildings.
He and Emberlin walked to the Well and then past it to the Portal, which was a dull whitish gray because it wasn’t activated at the moment. They’d know when the witch opened a portal to come to Northernmost because the Portal would glow bright white.
“It’s so freaking beautiful here,” she said, her head tipped back as she looked at the sky of stars and the glowing Northern Lights.
He thought she was the most beautiful female he’d ever met in his life. “You sure are.”
She lowered her head and arched a brow. “I said it was beautiful here.”
“I think you’re more beautiful than anything else up here or anywhere else.”
“Sebastian,” she whispered, “compliments like that will get you a sexy dinner break.”
He grinned and pulled her close, their bulky coats stopping him from feeling her warmth. “You’re a sexy, gorgeous female. That’s your burden to bear and mine to enjoy as your mate.”
He gave her a quick peck on the lips and they moved around the Portal so she could look at the magical perimeter.
He couldn’t see the perimeter itself because he wasn’t magical.
To him, it looked like a hazy dome over the town, but he could walk through it without feeling it.
A magical person could see the magic itself, which Emberlin said looked like electricity.
The Portal activated, the ancient bones powering as the center of the big structure turned black and began to reveal where the witch was located.
They moved closer to the Portal entrance. “I’ll go through and make sure it’s safe before she comes across, and then we’ll do the same when she’s done.”
“Sounds good. Be careful.”
He nodded.
The portal cleared and a cabin much like Emberlin’s was behind the witch.
“Honor?” Emberlin asked. “I thought you already replenished your magic back in November?”
“She’s from your coven?” Sebastian asked.
“I’m sorry, it’s your sister,” the young witch said. Then she screamed as Talia, wild-eyed and frantic, shoved her aside and raced through the Portal, heading right for the Well.
* * *
“Talia!” Emberlin shouted as her sister ran between her and Sebastian. “Stop!”
“I’m sorry,” Honor said as she got up from the ground, “she told me she had to come see you!”
Emberlin ran after her sister and shouted to Sebastian, “Call for backup. Something’s wrong!”
She gave chase to her sister as she headed for the Well. She saw something in Talia’s fist that looked black, and it appeared to be oozing with dark magic.
Sending a blast of her magic in front of her sister, she threw up a wall of fire, and Talia screamed and fell backward, protecting herself from the heat.
Emberlin stepped gently on Talia’s wrist and reached down, wrenching the stone from her grasp.
“No! No! It’s the only way I can get my magic back! The Well can give it back, I know it can!”
She turned her power on her sister, using her magic to lift Talia from the ground and shove her toward the magical perimeter. She pushed her through the boundary, knowing she’d be trapped out there without magic to get back through.
“Emberlin!” Talia screamed as she landed on her butt in the snow. Rising to her feet, she yelled, “Throw the stone in. The warlock told me it would help!”
Emberlin looked at the stone in her hand, the dark magic seeping from the carved runes and dripping from it like big, fat black raindrops.
“Let me see,” Santa said from behind her.
She turned and handed it to him, then called for her healing magic to cleanse her skin. She felt tainted just holding it.
Sebastian joined Emberlin. “Is she okay? She doesn’t look right.”
“I think she’s bespelled,” Emberlin said. “Her eyes are glazed over.”
Looking at her sister, she said, “What warlock gave this to you?”
“Throw it in the Well! It will return the magic to those who have lost it.”
She sounded frantic, her voice going higher as she pleaded for Emberlin to finish what she’d started.
“This is my brother’s doing,” Santa said. “It’s a Shadow Crystal imbued with his dark magic through these runes. If she’d gotten it into the Well, it would have created weak spots in the magical perimeter and let him into Northernmost.”
“Shit,” Sebastian said.
“Oh, Talia,” Emberlin said.
“I don’t think it’s her fault,” Santa said. He pressed the Shadow Crystal between his palms and his eyes turned bright blue as his hands lit up with a golden glow. The stone shattered in his hands and turned to dust, and then the dust was swept up and out of Northernmost, away from the Well.
“Frost must have tricked her,” Emberlin said. “Bespelled her.”
“Seems like something my brother would do. Try to use someone at their lowest point. He nearly succeeded too.”
“No. No!” Talia yelled.
Emberlin looked and saw a portal open behind her sister and the one she’d come to know was Frost’s number two—Azure—stepped free. He grinned malevolently and reached for Talia, who was trying to get away from him.
Sebastian and Emberlin rushed out of the perimeter and she hit him with her fire magic, sending him reeling backward as her mate grabbed her sister and the three of them hauled ass back into the safety of Northernmost.
Azure stumbled back into the portal, his coat smoking from her fire, and disappeared.
Emberlin looked at her sister, who was sobbing on the ground.
She knelt and lifted her tear-stained face. She could see the spell that had been cast over her to cloak what she was seeing. Using her healing magic, she removed the spell and then listened as Talia told them about a warlock at the waterfall and how he’d wanted her to have her magic back.
“Talia,” Emberlin said softly, “I put your hands in the Well when you were unconscious, even after Santa told me your magic would never return.”
“You did?” she asked.
“Yeah, I did. I had to try.”
Talia swallowed audibly and tried to stifle a sob.
Santa stood next to them, looking compassionate.
“I’m sorry you were tricked, Talia, but the reality is that once your magic is gone the way my brother took it, it’s gone forever.
No one—warlock or witch—can return it to you, and the Well will no longer recognize you as a witch.
You are welcome to touch the Well yourself to verify what I’ve said and what your sister explained, but it won’t change anything for you. I’m sorry. I’m really very sorry.”
Talia sat on the cold ground for several moments and then walked over to the Well alone and put her hands into the magic.
When nothing happened, she knelt next to it and rested her head on it. “I hate not having my magic. I feel so lost.”
Emberlin sat next to her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep you safe, and I’m sorry that you were taken.”
“It’s not your fault. I might have been upset about the turn of events, but we were both at fault for not replenishing our magic before the waterfall healing, and I’m just as at fault as you in the whole scenario.
You could have died out there. I could have been turned to evil or killed.
We’re both alive, and I think that I’ll be okay, but I’m not going to talk to any warlocks anytime soon. ”
Santa cleared his throat.
“Present company excluded.”
Emberlin and Talia hugged and talked for a few minutes while they waited for Mother Nature to appear, who’d been called to get Talia and take her back to the coven. After hearing what had happened, Mother Nature said, “I’m going to have to reinforce our own magical barriers, damn that evil male!”
“Would you lend your magic to our perimeter as well?” Santa asked. “With Emberlin’s fire magic and your power as North Corner, it would make it a very powerful perimeter.”
“I’d be happy to,” Mother Nature said.
The three of them stood at the perimeter and pooled their magic. Emberlin could see the magical shield turn a dull gold color as it was enhanced with not only Santa’s warlock magic but Mother Nature’s earth magic and Emberlin’s phoenix magic.
“Powerful indeed,” Mother Nature said. “Now I’m off to reinforce my boundaries.”
“Do you need me to help?” Emberlin offered.
“The Corners will help me, but thank you, dear. Come along, Talia. I’m going to make you a magical ward so you recognize Jack Frost if he ever comes to see you again.”
Talia hugged Emberlin. “Thanks for saving my butt.”
“Anytime.”
“I’ll come to the pack on Christmas Day. I want to celebrate my big sister finding her mate.”
Emberlin smiled. “Love you.”
“Love you more.”
When the two were through the Portal, Emberlin turned to her mate and said, “This was a freaking exciting first shift.”
“Let’s not have any more exciting shifts, okay?”
She took his hand and grinned. “Spoilsport.”