Authors: Rain Oxford
Even if that meant making a deal with a demon.
* * *
At the end of a long day, Dylan was just about to
change out of his scrubs when he was paged. Alyssa Cofer, a young girl he had
helped before, was injured. It was difficult for her to get injured since she
was from Skrev; a world of powerfully built shifters that were all huge
compared to Earth’s creatures. Her parents, Hon and Malla, were waiting
impatiently for Dylan’s arrival.
Alyssa first came to Dylan after being pronounced
dead in a traffic accident. When she healed on her own, Dylan discovered she
wasn’t human in the least.
He closed the door behind him and checked the chart.
“Scratches?” He studied the girl on the bed, noting the blood on her torn
shirt, the bloody towel on the floor beside her, and the lack of any pain on
her face. “Let’s see the damage.” He lifted up the shredded shirt and saw three
long scratches that were mostly healed. “What did this?” he asked. The
direction of the marks indicated that something with three claws attacked her,
but the hand must have been huge.
“I don’t know. It attacked me from the fireplace.”
“Was there a fire going?” he asked. The alternative
was to take the obvious holiday-related explanation and he wasn’t ready to go
there.
“No. I was hanging the stockings.”
“I’ve already called someone in to investigate,” Hon
said.
Dylan clipped the file to the end of Alyssa’s bed.
“Someone who knows about the supernatural?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, I don’t see why you brought Alyssa in.
She’s perfectly fine. There’s no infection, her vitals are fine, and there’s no
sign that she lost too much blood.” Shifters of Skrev healed much faster than
humans.
“We want you to do that thing where you check her
skeletons. We just want to make sure she wasn’t harmed in her other forms.”
Dylan had learned it was best not to argue with
worried parents when reassuring them took something as simple as a touch. He
gently touched Alyssa’s arm and let his energy flood her system. Like
echolocation, his energy returned with the image of the three skeletons of her
shifted forms. Her own magic didn’t even hint at putting up a fight.
“She’s in perfect health.”
“Are you sure?” Alyssa asked worriedly. Dylan
honestly wouldn’t recognize her voice if he heard it on the street because the
adolescent very rarely spoke. “Maybe I should stay the night in the hospital.”
“Sorry, kiddo. We only take sick patients here.
Besides, you don’t want to be here for the holiday, do you?” She shook her
head. “Then have a good holiday, stay away from the chimney monster, and don’t
scratch,” he said, pulling her arm away when she tried to scrub at her wound.
“Maybe I should take a peak in your chimney, though. If it was bats or something,
she might need a rabies shot.”
Assuming the shifters of Skrev could get
rabies
.
“Like I said, I already called someone,” Hon said.
“He’ll be here when the plane lands tomorrow and if he finds anything, we’ll
let you know.”
“You do that. If she feels sick at all, bring her
back in immediately. If she has any weird marks, if she feels numb anywhere, if
she starts talking in Latin, anything odd at all, bring her in.”
* * *
When Dylan got home, Mordon was the only one there.
“The boys are spending the night at Stacy’s, Divina said her work was taking
longer than she had expected, and Edward is busy with something on Duran.”
“I thought we were going to have a family night,”
Dylan said, a little disappointed. He tried to keep in mind that they two more
days left until Christmas. “Why are the boys spending the night over there? I
thought Stacy would want some time off what with the mountain in her belly.”
“I think the boys are getting their gang together
tomorrow to solve a mystery. Something’s been extra-odd around here.”
“Such as?”
“Mostly thefts. A lot of toys have gone missing.
Taylor thinks some weirdo can’t afford presents for his children and has been
stealing toys, but I couldn’t find a scent. Xul is watching the boys from a
distance to make sure they don’t get into trouble. Get some sleep.”
“I think that’s a good idea. I have the early shift
tomorrow.” He did soon find himself enjoying a few quiet hours of reading
without the boys yelling about something or his wife… Well, he probably would
have been having more fun if she was there.
* * *
The fact that Dylan was on a flat rock in the middle
of the ocean on a bright day with no visible sun told him he was in the
presence of one of his wife’s brothers. None of his real dreams were so
farfetched. “I’m not giving you my son,” he told the unseen god. This was the
preferred visual of Azenoth; Divina’s most temperamental brother.
After Azenoth’s third Guardian betrayed him, the god
requested for Samhail to be his next Guardian. Although Hail was born to be the
Guardian of Lore, Vretial wanted Hail as his Guardian instead. Dylan didn’t
want Hail to be the Guardian for Avoli or Vretial, but he would let Hail choose
his own path when the time came to it. Dylan refused to let his son even
consider being Azenoth’s Guardian.
“
I know that. You already told me
,” Azenoth
said. His words were more in Dylan’s head than out loud.
That was one of the reasons for Dylan’s refusal.
Azenoth wasn’t the greediest of Divina’s brothers, but he was the one Dylan
trusted the least. He distrusted the god’s motives in particular. Whereas
Vretial would fight, manipulate, and bribe for Hail, Azenoth didn’t really care
who his Guardian was. Avoli relied on Dylan’s wariness of Vretial, which was
actually a good strategy.
“
I decided to find an appropriate replacement for
Rasik instead of making one, but I need someone to train him. I want Kiro to do
it
.”
“And why are you telling me this instead of asking
his god?”
“He listens to you over Erono
.
”
The god had a good point. “I’ll ask him if he’s
willing the next time I see him.”
“Good. You should know that some dark force is
coming your way.”
“When isn’t there?” It didn’t escape his notice that
Azenoth was showing appreciation for his help by giving him a warning. This was
quite a change from the god he knew. “What kind of dark force?”
* * *
“Don’t touch your presents!”
The six-year-old boy moped. His mother was in the
kitchen, but she kept watch over the breakfast bar. Lesley didn’t know why he
had to wait to play with his presents. He played with his Legos in front of the
tree. The Christmas music was too quiet, so he turned the knob on the radio.
The phone rang and his mother yelled at him to turn
the radio down. He didn’t, so she stepped outside through the kitchen door. As
soon as she did, Lesley turned to the tree to play with his presents. He knew
he could open one and reclose it before his mother got back, but he didn’t know
which one to open first.
A soft sound startled him and he looked around, only
to jump back when something under the tree rattled. “Hello?” he called after a
minute. Two reflective eyes stared back at him from between two presents.
But it couldn’t be anything bad, right? It was under
a Christmas tree and it was small.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Lesley said. “Come out.”
Another present rattled before a Golden Retriever puppy jumped out with an
excited bark. “Puppy!” Lesley screamed at the top of his lungs.
The back door opened, his mother yelled, “Lesley, be
quiet! I’m on the phone,” and she then shut it.
Lesley held out his hands for the puppy, which ran to
him with its tail wagging enthusiastically. He hugged the puppy, knowing this
was going to be the best Christmas ever. Then the puppy grabbed his shirt
sleeve in its mouth and started pulling Lesley towards the tree as if playing
tug-a-war.
“No, puppy, come to my room!”
The puppy jerked its head, causing the boy to fall
forward, and began dragging him. When Lesley tried to reach for the couch, the
puppy growled. It pulled him to a small gift box.
“Wait, puppy! What’s wrong?”
The puppy let go of his arm, took his pant leg, and
pulled him easily into the box, which contorted to accommodate Lesley’s
struggles.
“Stop, puppy! I can’t fit!”
When the boy was waist-deep in the box, the puppy
wiggled out and went around Lesley to push him in the rest of the way. Lesley
tried to struggle, so the puppy nipped impatiently at his fingers and nose.
Finally, the boy was all the way in the box and the puppy hopped in happily
after him. The lid magically closed behind them.
Hail woke with a shout, startling Ron out of his
sleep. Ron usually experienced Hail’s visions to make it easier, but that was
not the case this time. “What did you see?” Ron asked, hugging his brother.
They were sleeping over at Drake’s house. Fortunately, their friend could sleep
through anything.
“It was dark and cold. I could feel so many scared
kids. They were terrified. I felt like they were dying, but they weren’t
injured. They were afraid because something is going to eat them.”
“When?”
“Christmas.”
“It was a dream,” Ron said, relaxing a little. “You
were just having a nightmare because of all those scary stories Dad tells us.
Like that dream you had of the toe bats. Nothing is going to happen on
Christmas. It’s just a day like any other.”
* * *
Dylan woke suddenly, despite the peacefulness of the
house, and saw that it was only a few minutes before his alarm would go off. He
got up, showered, and dressed for work, aware the entire time that it was too
quiet. It felt like he had forgotten something very important, but he chalked
it up to being off his usual morning routine. Divina wasn’t trying to tempt him
back into bed, the boys weren’t teasing each other, and Mordon wasn’t…
Huh… Mordon is actually the only quiet one in my
family
.
Dylan went to the kitchen and found the dragon eating
cereal at the table, dressed in his officer’s uniform. Mordon had been almost
scrawny when they first met, but that was before the dragon’s physical traits
kicked in. He was now an inch shorter than Dylan and much heavier built. Of the
two of them, Mordon was the fighter and Dylan was the strategist. Although
Dylan’s magic was superior by far, he preferred to use it for defense and
healing while Mordon used his dragon skills and weapons training to defeat
their enemy. Fortunately, Dylan could usually manipulate the enemy before it
came to a fight.
“I thought you had the day off.”
“I got called in. Three kids at the north end of town
ran away. They didn’t get far; the highway was closed off last night due to
snow.”
“Are you sure they ran away?”
“That’s why I’m checking it out today.” He nudged the
box of Cheerios in a gesture of sharing.
“Shouldn’t there be leftovers? Ron cooks enough every
day to feed the town for a week.”
“Have you seen how much Hail eats?”
“Yes, his metabolism has gone a bit wonky. I asked
Nano about it a few weeks ago and he says it’s normal for the smaller, stronger
people of Dios, like Nila, to have a hyper metabolism in their teens.”
“You mean I have to listen to him crashing around the
kitchen and yelling across the house for Ron to cook something at three in the
morning for the next eight years?”
“No. Apparently, natives of Dios normally have a
growth spurt in their early teens— either they get stronger or bigger. I’m
hoping for stronger, because I’ve seen how big those people can get. Anyway, I
have to get to work.”
“Eat first. You didn’t have dinner yesterday.”
Actually, he hadn’t eaten anything at all the
previous day. “I’m fine.”
“When we first met, you couldn’t go an hour without
whining about food.” He pointed to the counter by the sink, where there was a
buttered bagel on a napkin and a to-go cup of coffee. “I’ll tell the boys you
said to have a good day.”
Dylan was going to be off Thursday and Friday for
Christmas and then on call through New Year’s. It wasn’t a particularly
reliable vacation, but the town didn’t have many doctors.
As he drove to the hospital, he noticed there was no
traffic and most of the stores were closed. Although it was very early, the
diners were always open by this time and there was usually a flock of joggers
making their way down the main street and around the park.
Nurse Manning was at her station as usual when he
arrived, but her smile was strained. “What’s wrong?” Dylan asked.
“I don’t know; I just feel like something is coming.”
* * *
“So, where’s your stash?” Ron asked, peeking over the
mattress of the top bunk while standing on the bottom mattress. When Hail tried
to tickle the back of Ron’s knees, he kicked his older brother and earned a
satisfying grunt.
“I haven’t looked for my presents, booger,” Drake
said. He was about to turn ten, whereas Ron had just turned ten. Although
Drake’s light brown hair had grown back after he recovered from cancer, he was
still too skinny. Being half fae, he had the power to make people obey whatever
he said, but it didn’t work on Ron and it only rarely worked on Hail.
“Liar. Christmas is so important that we should get
presents every day of the month.”
“It’s not about presents. It’s about being with your
family.”
“But we’re with our family all the time. What good
does that do? Now Halloween… that I understood. We got to be monsters and
demand candy.”
“And when are you going to come down from your sugar
high?”
“When he runs out of candy,” Hail said. “Everyone
kept dumping more and more candy in his bag, so we had to go home and empty it
four times.”
“Why are you complaining? I share.” Ron didn’t
actually like sweets that much. The only reason he didn’t just give Hail all of
his candy was because Hail would eat it all at once and be out. Plus, he was
out of Jolly Crunch candies and he needed something to train his father’s demon
with. Xul was a pretty good bodyguard, but the Ancient needed to learn who was
in charge.
“So you guys already know what presents you’re
getting?” Drake asked.
Ron looked at Hail, wondering if he should lie to
spare his brother’s feelings.
“No, Mom and Dad have concealment spells on them,”
Hail said. Hail had visions and could see the future, so their parents had to
come up with new ways to hide the presents. One year, Hail could only see coal,
which was because that was their fake presents which they got first.
Ron and Hail still had strong reservations about
Christmas, since their parents told them that Santa was a giant who stole
children who were bad and made them build toys for good kids. However, they
soon learned that that wasn’t true. Their dad was a prankster, but Ron didn’t
mind at all.
He was always learning.
“Hey, Mordon gave us money to get you and the others
presents for Christmas. Let’s go to the store and you can pick out what you
want. We can call the others to go, too.”
“We’re not supposed to know what our presents are,”
Drake argued. “It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
Ron rolled his eyes. “Do you really want us picking
out your present? Hail would get you shoes.”
“Okay, you’re right. I’ll call the others while you
get ready. It takes you longer than it takes Mom to get ready in the morning.”
* * *
Devon arrived in the tiny town surrounded by
mountains and forests a little past three in the afternoon. True to the
picturesque town’s name, the mountains surrounding it were all covered in snow.
As the plane flew in and he saw the town through the window, he felt a strange
anxiety, as if his instincts were warning him that something very bad was going
to happen.
Something very bad that he couldn’t prevent.
It was such a small town that there were less than a
dozen people on the plane. In fact, he only saw one road in or out of the
place. It felt a little like a trap. The plane landed and he walked through the
gate tunnel into a converted warehouse. To his surprise, Hon was waiting for
him.
Hon was easily recognizable; he still looked to be in
his twenties. He was about six-two with an athletic build, natural tan, brown
hair, and gold eyes. Devon had always known something was off about the
foreigner, but his instincts told him Hon was a decent man, so he hadn’t
questioned his client. Devon recognized the predatory beast in Hon’s eyes.
Every instinct screamed that Hon was a shifter, but not just any shifter. This
time, there was something unnervingly familiar about him.
“Hello, Devon,” he said with a thick accent, which
Devon couldn’t identify.
“Hi. You haven’t aged a day.”
“Genetics are good to my kind. Shall we go?” He
paused as he caught Devon’s scent. “I see why you were not surprised when I
told you what I was. You’re a wizard?”
Devon shushed him instinctively and glanced around.
Hon shrugged. “Up until a few months ago, everyone
was very secretive about it, but now it’s out; everyone here is either a
paranormal, related to one, or married to one.”
Devon grabbed his bag as it came out on the conveyer
belt and they headed for the exit. “How does the council feel about that?”
“Council?”
“The wizard council. They don’t know about this
place?”
“We are pretty secluded. When we get newcomers, it is
a big deal. Our last new residents were a small family with two hellion kids.
They brought a war with them, but it turned out all right for us. The boys’
father is a very powerful wizard who works as a doctor. You should see his
wife. Nobody knows much about her, but she’s gorgeous.”
“I’m here for work, not eye candy,” Devon said.
“Especially not married eye candy.”
Especially not while Astrid is trapped
in Dothra.
Hon shrugged again and pulled a fob out of his
pocket. Outside, it was a clear, sunny day in the low fifties with melting snow
still clinging to the shadows of the trees. One such tree was in the middle of
the small parking lot. “Welcome to White Hills,” Hon’s said.
Yeah, nothing ominous about that
.
A white sedan chirped a greeting.
* * *
“The store is closed due to a family emergency,” Luca
read. Luca, Logan, Drake, Taper, and Tatum were all together with Ron and Hail.
They were also all standing outside the large all-in-one store, shivering and
confused.
The twins were thin, blond, and brown-eyed, with way
too thin clothes on. The weather never seemed to bother them, but that was due
to their parents being from Malta and their power being entwined with nature.
Taper could see, hear, and smell through the senses of animals, so he was great
at spying on people. When Tatum touched an object, she could see the other
people who had touched it, the thoughts they had, or conversations that
happened around it.
Luca, whose father was Italian and mother was
American, was smartly dressed with very dark brown hair and light blue/gray
eyes. He was a vouxeng, which was something like a psychic vampire. He could
absorb and influence people’s energies. He could even kill someone.
Logan, a half-fae with strong skills in illusionary
art, was tall with brown hair and hazel eyes. Although he dressed to blend in
and everything he did was an attempt to go unnoticed, his parents were rich and
the other kids at their school knew it. A lot of students teased him or sucked
up to him. None of them knew that Logan rarely ever saw his parents and was in
constant fear of being forgotten by them all together. After learning his
story, Ron became very considerate of Logan.
“It’s December, though. Where is everyone supposed to
buy their Christmas toys?” Ron asked, just slightly too elegant to start
whining yet. He would wait to see if any of his crew had another plan.
Truthfully, he couldn’t be mad at the owners because he understood that a
family emergency meant everyone in the family dropped everything and pulled
together.
At least that was what it meant to him.
“There’s another store,” Logan said. “I got all my
presents there because there were too many lines here. The prices are better
there. Come on.”
They started down the street in the direction they
came from. “We should have taken the Charger.”
“I’m not driving on these roads,” Luca said.
“Wait, did you say you bought all your presents? You
got to pick them all out?”
“Yeah. My parents send me a check every Christmas,
along with a letter. This time, they forgot the letter and added an extra zero
to the check.” Ron knew Logan would have preferred the letter.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a small toy
store that had an old-fashioned rocking horse and a collection of dolls in the
window. “Sylvester’s Toys?” Ron remarked. “Not very original.” It was, however,
open, so they entered. The store was cramped, dim, and a bit murky. A switch
was flipped and dozens of spotlights, floor lamps, and strings of Christmas
lights lit up the place. Every inch of every shelf and most of the floor was
cluttered with toys.
“Good morning, children!” an older man said, scaring
the kids as he appeared behind them. “Welcome, welcome.” He shut the door.
“What can I help you with?”
“Are you Sylvester?” Hail asked.
“I’m his brother. Sylvester is out buying groceries
at the moment, but he should be back soon. Did you need to speak to him?”
“No, we’re just looking for Christmas presents for
each other.”
“Well, by all means, look around. Everything is
fairly priced, hand-made, and comes with its own decorated gift box. I do ask
that you be quick, though. It looks like the weather’s gonna turn foul this
evening and you don’t want to be caught in it.”
Tatum picked up a doll, groaned as if in pain, and
set it back down.
“What’s wrong?” Taper asked.
“So many kids have touched this, but someone was
very, very greedy. It was just unexpected. And its skin color is too pale.
Dolls should be happy. This one is sad.”
“Heavens! Where are your shoes, young lady?” the old
man asked.
They all looked down to see that the twins were both
barefoot again. They looked just as surprised as the man. Ron rolled his eyes.
“Not again.”