Chapter 12
The following evening, Sebastian sat at one of the long wooden tables in the dining hall with his cousins Declan and Gabriel.
The low hum of conversation from the other tables and the clinking of dishes filled the air as the elves moved around, cleaning and replenishing the buffet line.
The scent of cinnamon from freshly baked bread filled the space, setting a festive mood in the room.
Solstice was just around the corner, and there was a sense of relief in the air that even though the battle against Frost had taken a toll on them, they were all still standing.
He looked at Declan, who sat with Winterlyn, their hands linked as they talked about the holidays with the pack. Gabriel silently drank a cup of coffee since he was taking Sebastian’s shift so that he and Emberlin could have a night off.
Sebastian smiled. He was so damn grateful for his family, and he was fully blessed with Emberlin in his life.
As his thoughts turned to her, he thought about all they’d promised each other once he’d been able to shift back to human, keeping each other safe and their future family no matter the cost. Frost couldn’t be allowed to win, because his mate was magic and she was all that was good and light in his world.
He wouldn’t tolerate her having to turn to darkness to replenish her magic.
“You’re thinking about your mate, huh?” Gabriel asked. “You get this goofy smile on your face when you’re thinking about her.”
Sebastian chuckled. “Just thinking that I’m damn lucky.”
His gaze turned to the entrance to the dining hall where Emberlin walked in with Trouble, the healer elf, their two heads together as they laughed.
They parted ways, and she joined them at the table, giving him a kiss on his cheek and dancing happily in her seat as she saw the plate he’d filled for her.
His wolf let out a low, contented growl.
“It’s crazy how much we’ve been through in a short time,” he mused. “But it feels like, after all those challenges, there isn’t anything we can’t do as long as we have each other.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet, Sebastian,” she said, her eyes glittering with happiness.
“Just for you, sweetheart.”
“Hey, I heard that Talia is doing better after spending time with Mother Nature,” Gabriel said.
“She is,” Emberlin said. “Mother Nature had to perform a cleansing ritual on her with the Corners to get rid of the traces of dark magic that he’d used on her, and she sounds more like herself now.
She’s figuring out how to live without magic, and the coven is being really supportive of her.
She’s going to join us at the pack on Christmas Day. ”
“I’m really glad she’s better,” Winterlyn said. “I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“And we’re all looking forward to some downtime,” Declan said. “I think we’re all ready to run with the pack.”
As they chatted about the upcoming pack celebrations, Sebastian felt at peace. He and Emberlin had been through hell together, but they were going to make something beautiful out of all that chaos.
A family.
Little phoenix-wolf rugrats.
And a whole damn lot of love.
* * *
Jack Frost stared at his 3-D map of Northernmost and the intricate replica of the Well of Magic.
He might as well have been looking at a map of Canada for all the good the map did him.
The magical protections around Northernmost were now tripled, with not only his brother’s warlock magic but that meddling Mother Nature and the phoenix witch as well.
And those three together had changed his plans.
But Jack was nothing if not the kind of male who could pivot on a dime and come up with a new plan.
Just thinking about that phoenix witch made his blood boil. He didn’t like how close he’d come to nearly being stripped of his magic. He sure as hell wouldn’t get close to her again.
There was a knock on his office door, and he turned from the map, calling, “Enter.”
Azure strode in with a tablet in his hand.
“You’ve got good news for me?” Frost asked as he sat on the edge of his desk and reached for a cigarette and his favorite lighter.
“Oh yeah,” he said, his black eyes alight with mischief.
As he lit a cigarette, Azure turned on the tablet and set it on the desk, showing a table with addresses around the world.
“Did you know they don’t put their data online until December first?” Azure asked. “And they don’t post previous years’ data either. I had to convince a hacker to do some work for me.”
“What did you find out?”
“He always starts off in the South Pacific because he’s watching the time zones. The hacker found the last ten years of historical tracking data, and it lines up.”
“Where is his last stop?”
“Hawaii. He’s pretty systematic how he travels, so we can figure out from the previous years’ the last street he should be on.”
Jack stared at the screen and the data.
His brother had delivered billions of toys around the world.
And humans just had to track him and let kids in on the “magic” of the season. Which was pretty advantageous for Jack, since now he knew where his brother would be right before he returned to Northernmost.
“Excellent,” Jack said.
“Are you going to reach out to Grim for help?”
Jack looked at Azure. “Grim? Why would I reach out to him?”
Just thinking about the most powerful reaper in the world made his nose ache. The last time the male showed up, it had been to punch Jack in the face and tell him to steer clear of his reaper niece and her Guardian mate.
“You said you were going to use the reapers and Grim to go after the security team in Northernmost.”
Jack waved a hand dismissively and moved to his desk chair. “Grim is playing good guy now, or I guess what some people would call morally gray, so he’s no use to me anymore.”
“Oh. So what’s the plan, then?”
Jack took a long drag on his cigarette before tapping it on the edge of the ashtray made from the skull of an elf.
“Now that the perimeter is infused with other kinds of magic, we can’t take my brother out when he’s away from Northernmost. If he dies while he’s outside of the perimeter, it won’t get rid of the magical barrier, and I won’t be able to get inside. ”
“Oh-kay?”
“So you’re going to take him out inside Northernmost, and I know just how you’re going to do that.” He leaned over and tapped the tablet. “Have you ever been to Hawaii? I hear it’s lovely at Christmas.”
* * *
Thank You for Reading Enchanted By Her Guardian