Page 4 of Some Swans Don't Swim
“Maybe you should have mentioned that first thing,” Sawyer rumbled.
I sighed and shook my head. So, it looked like I wasn’t done with big bads after all. Would I ever be? I seriously hated to consider the answer.
Once we were packed and I explained to my dad what we were doing, it took us roughly two minutes to get to Wyoming with the use of Night’s Fall, my handy bird-sword. For the first time in forever, after the sword spit us out to our desired location, I stuck my landing like a badass. I was so focused on giving myself high-fives and fist-pumping the air, that I didn’t realize everyone was staring at me. Even Cleo.
I grinned, my fist frozen in the air. “I didn’t land on my a-ah!”
The ground went out from underneath me, as it tended to do sometimes, but four pairs of arms and a wet nose were there to catch me. Still, though, my boots skated, desperate to find traction. When I glanced down, I realized why. The street we stood on looked as if it had about three inches of solid ice on it. No snow. Just ice.
“This is what I call winter,” I said.
Jacek laughed. “We don’t usually getthismuch of it.”
Damn, he was right. Ice hung from the tree branches all down the residential street, making them sag toward each other so they formed a sort of overhead dome. It gripped the outdoor Christmas lights on the houses in frozen fists and dripped massive icicles around every rooftop. It was eerily breathtaking compared to Podunk City’s one inch of snow, exactly like what I imagined a winter wonderland would be.
“Wow,” I breathed.
“Agreed,” Sawyer said, smiling at me. “But I don’t know what’s more stunning—the view or your reaction to it.”
I shrugged. “I don’t get out much.”
Jacek nudged my shoulder. “We can fix that, you know.”
Eddie nodded and swept his wild blond hair off his face from a sharp gust of wind. He carried the single book he had on Krampus with him, an old, worn book with loose pages. “Say the word and we can travel anywhere.”
Because now I could. I didn’t think I’d ever felt so free in my entire life.
“There’s that reaction again.” Sawyer switched the bag with all our clothes and supplies in it so he could wrap me close and kiss my forehead.
“Stunning,” Jacek said, taking my hand.
Somewhere in the distance, jingle bells sounded. A lot of them, like those on a sleigh.
Luc must’ve read the direction of my thoughts because he said, “I hate to burst your bubble, but that’s Krampus. Santa doesn’t come until tomorrow.”
“What?” My jaw dropped to the icy ground and bounced. I shook my head, waiting for what he’d just said to stop rattling around and fit somewhere that made sense. “Sorry, what?”
“You know...Santa?” Luc dipped his chin and gave me a look. “You didn’t know.”
“No. I didn’t know.” There had always been presents under the tree from Santa, but I’d just assumed they were from Mom. I thought I was too smart for all that. Turned out I was wrong.
“Another news flash for you.” All of Luc’s leather creaked as he strode closer, all grace on the slippery ice. “Krampus is Santa’s evil brother.”
“What?” Apparently that was the extent of my vocabulary tonight. If the devil would stop dropping truth bombs on me, that would really help.
A car alarm sounded farther up the street and then ended abruptly with a great crash.
Cleo’s brown fur along her back bristled, and she growled low.
“Look alive.” The devil glanced at me. “Or dead. That’s him coming.”
I snapped my gaze back down the street. “Already? I don’t know the first thing about stopping him.”
Eddie cracked open his Krampus book. “I’m looking, Sunshine.” He shot a glare at Luc. “We didn’t have a whole lot of time to prepare.”
“No, wait.” I held out my arm in front of my vamps as if to block them from the coming demon goat. “You guys need to go somewhere safe and let me handle this.”
“There’s an empty house right there.” Luc pointed at a cozy-looking two-story to our right that was decorated with white twinkling lights. “They went to Florida for the holiday.”
